I love Marine Education. It has all of my favorite things in life. Learning, adventure, the ocean, animals and sometimes it has the ability to show kids and adults a whole new world that inspires them for the rest of their life!
Recently I talked with Ross Tuner the Executive Director of Guided Discoveries, Inc.
Guided Discoveries Guided Discoveries is the company that organizes and oversees the education programs at Catalina Island. Specifically Catalina Marine Institutes three different locations on the island, the Tall ship expeditions aboard the SSV Tole Mour as well as an AstroCamp program. These are amazing programs that have been enriching the lives of kids and adults since 1978 when they started at the Isthmus. The following year they moved the program to Toyon Bay and currently are reaching about 49,000 people a year with their different educational programs.
Force Fins association with Guided Discoveries is as historic and impressive as the programs they provide. Ross Tuner the President and Executive Director of Guided Discoveries were buying duck fins from Dive and Surf, but he had a few problems with the fins. One, the heel strap kept breaking; second the other options from duck fins at the time were too big of a fin for the kids to move through the water. This is when Bobby Meistrell suggested Force Fin© Force Fin swim fins for the program and they have been using Force Fins ever since.
The Fin bin at Catalina Island Marine Institute. Photo by Jeff Chance
A lot of the kids were in the 6 to 8 year old range and needed a fin that would not induce cramps and would be flexible enough to satisfy a wide range of skill sets for the hundreds of kids going through the program. Force Fin was the answer and Force Fin is being used to this day in their programs. They use other fins from time to time, but Ross explained to me that when you have a practical Marine education program where you are getting people into the water, you have a huge range of skill sets. Kids that spend all day in the water and kids that have never been in the ocean, kids that are very athletic and kids that are not so inclined are all mixed together and you need equipment that will accommodate them all.
Participates in Catalina Island Marine Institute eduction program look for their Original Force Fins for the day. Photo by Jeff Chance
With Force Fins the kids dont get cramps, it is easy for them to fin around for the whole morning or afternoon and not be completely wiped out and from an economical view it makes sense. We dont have damaged or broken fins to replace, just those that get lost in the water
When I asked Ross about the huge numbers of kids and adults going through the program I wondered why his orders were always in lower numbers. He simply said ,we dont replace fins that are worn out because they dont. We order fins because they get lost.
Out of the 49,000 people on a good year a majority of them go through the marine programs and that means they get wet. They snorkel and they scuba dive, in fact they certify four to five hundred people a summer. Now that is impressive. They have three locations on the island and I was told that they could have in the range of 300 people, but spread out over the three locations, in the water in the morning and 300 more in the afternoon entering the water with mask fins and snorkel on and ready to explore the Pacific Ocean.
I would like to thank Ross Tuner of Guided Discoveries Guided Discoveries and Jeff Chance program director of Catalina Island Marine Instituteat Toyon Bay for the continued support and time to explain to me why they continue to use Force Fin; Economics (longevity of the product), satisfies a wide range of skill sets for different people (flexible) and it allows their students to fin for hours with out experiencing cramps!
Recently I talked with Ross Tuner the Executive Director of Guided Discoveries, Inc.
Guided Discoveries Guided Discoveries is the company that organizes and oversees the education programs at Catalina Island. Specifically Catalina Marine Institutes three different locations on the island, the Tall ship expeditions aboard the SSV Tole Mour as well as an AstroCamp program. These are amazing programs that have been enriching the lives of kids and adults since 1978 when they started at the Isthmus. The following year they moved the program to Toyon Bay and currently are reaching about 49,000 people a year with their different educational programs.
Force Fins association with Guided Discoveries is as historic and impressive as the programs they provide. Ross Tuner the President and Executive Director of Guided Discoveries were buying duck fins from Dive and Surf, but he had a few problems with the fins. One, the heel strap kept breaking; second the other options from duck fins at the time were too big of a fin for the kids to move through the water. This is when Bobby Meistrell suggested Force Fin© Force Fin swim fins for the program and they have been using Force Fins ever since.
The Fin bin at Catalina Island Marine Institute. Photo by Jeff Chance
A lot of the kids were in the 6 to 8 year old range and needed a fin that would not induce cramps and would be flexible enough to satisfy a wide range of skill sets for the hundreds of kids going through the program. Force Fin was the answer and Force Fin is being used to this day in their programs. They use other fins from time to time, but Ross explained to me that when you have a practical Marine education program where you are getting people into the water, you have a huge range of skill sets. Kids that spend all day in the water and kids that have never been in the ocean, kids that are very athletic and kids that are not so inclined are all mixed together and you need equipment that will accommodate them all.
Participates in Catalina Island Marine Institute eduction program look for their Original Force Fins for the day. Photo by Jeff Chance
With Force Fins the kids dont get cramps, it is easy for them to fin around for the whole morning or afternoon and not be completely wiped out and from an economical view it makes sense. We dont have damaged or broken fins to replace, just those that get lost in the water
When I asked Ross about the huge numbers of kids and adults going through the program I wondered why his orders were always in lower numbers. He simply said ,we dont replace fins that are worn out because they dont. We order fins because they get lost.
Out of the 49,000 people on a good year a majority of them go through the marine programs and that means they get wet. They snorkel and they scuba dive, in fact they certify four to five hundred people a summer. Now that is impressive. They have three locations on the island and I was told that they could have in the range of 300 people, but spread out over the three locations, in the water in the morning and 300 more in the afternoon entering the water with mask fins and snorkel on and ready to explore the Pacific Ocean.
I would like to thank Ross Tuner of Guided Discoveries Guided Discoveries and Jeff Chance program director of Catalina Island Marine Instituteat Toyon Bay for the continued support and time to explain to me why they continue to use Force Fin; Economics (longevity of the product), satisfies a wide range of skill sets for different people (flexible) and it allows their students to fin for hours with out experiencing cramps!
