Stella and the Blue Hole

[Ocean One]

Was at the Blue Hole this past weekend with the usual crowds and viz was down as can be expected. Dove Perch Lake on Sunday with no one else there. Viz was 30ft. and water temp 55.
Something I learned this weekend and wanted to pass along. Stella is NOT an employee of the City of Santa Rosa. She is a self employed contractor with the city and receives no benefits from them. All equipement; the compressor, tanks and fill lines belong solely to her and are maintained at her expense. She did a great job of pumping out tanks as fast as she could with her ONE line. When the new building is completed, I thought she would get all new equipment along with the impressive new digs supplied by Santa Rosa, wrong again! She will receive no help and have to use the same well worn equipment she has now in the brand new building. How do I know this? I asked her about the new building while waiting for a fill. I was astounded!!
Wouldn't it be a great idea to start a collection to help Stella out with new or maybe some better used equipment to go in the new building. If any RMO knows how to set up a donation fund with a bank, I would be in for $100 to help start the fund.
Stella is a great lady who works dang hard every weekend to make ends meet and keep us diving. Any thoughts, takers or helpers????

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, and $5 fills, no charge for tank use, on site virtually every weekend seems like a very good deal. I am going to take her some tank O-rings next time - and I guess tipping her direct would be acceptable. My bud is in vacuum cleaners, gave her one in exchange for fills (we go once or twice a year - shoudl last thru the decade), but she gave it to her son. :silly: She is a nice lady. Hate to lose her, but I think supporting her business directly may be better than side gifts.

Not against your noble idea, just offering thots...

 

[BigBubbaJ]

I just talked to Stella today about this, and she said that Bubble Divers in Denver just rebuilt and set up the entire rig. It looked pretty nice to me.

She seems content with it all, and I don't think she feels the need for anything but what she has.

We got prompt and friendly fills all day on Saturday and Sunday... so I don't think I will donate to the collection fund.

Waterskier1 did bring a lot of extra food, so I'm sure she appreciated the lunch more than anything else. She definitely has it under control would be my take.

She did say that she is reading ScubaBoard now, btw. (in printouts:14

Justin

 

[DandyDon]

I just talked to Stella today about this, and she said that Bubble Divers in Denver just rebuilt and set up the entire rig. It looked pretty nice to me.

She seems content with it all, and I don't think she feels the need for anything but what she has.

We got prompt and friendly fills all day on Saturday and Sunday... so I don't think I will donate to the collection fund.

Waterskier1 did bring a lot of extra food, so I'm sure she appreciated the lunch more than anything else. She definitely has it under control would be my take.

She did say that she is reading ScubaBoard now, btw. (in printouts:14

Justin

She did join SB as Santa Rosa Stella and posted an Intro: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/introductions-greets/230434-santa-rosa-dive-center-up-running.html

Yeah, if she needed something, that'd be different - If she would say so?

You know, I never thot about offering her lunch, but then we don't carry food there like some do. Nice touch. And I think I will tip her, as $5 flat rate is cheap...

 

[RonFrank]

I think the best thing to do for now is to wait. Stella may or may not be involved with the new setup. It is going to be at least 18 months before we know what her plans will be.

I spoke with Stella a lot this weekend. Santa Rosa is hell bent on doing a number of things, the least appealing of which is the fact one will have to drag all diving stuff through a building to get to the Hole.

Stella is undecided on if she will be involved once the new setup is ready to go. If she decides to not stay involved, then a fund to help her is somewhat pointless.

I think the diving will remain relatively unchanged for at least the next year. Once the construction completes (scheduled to start May 1st), then we will have to reassess the situation, and make some decisions on what to do. The decision maybe as simple as to just use the new facilities, but I'm kinda waiting to see what they are going to be charing for air fills, and for entrance costs.

 

[Tjack]

Stella Rocks! Without her, I for one, would not be able to dive the Hole as there are no air fills anywhere close to Taos, NM where I live. She is always friendly and has a great sense of humor. Stella and the Santa Rosa dive shop is my LDS.

 

[Waterskier1]

Stella is awesome! I too wouldn't be able to enjoy the Blue Hole if it were not for her. I only have 2 tanks, and I would not drive over 700 miles round trip for a two-tank dive.

Stella rents (leases) space from the city....a left over from the previous arrangement when she was just an employee of the dive shop that owned that equipment and originally rented the old building just for storage space. Through unfortunate circumstance she ended up with the equipment in lieu wages owe her. She seems undecided at the present time as to what she will do when the new building is complete. I think a major decision factor will be how much rent the city will charge her. That may price her out of the business. She also told me that she would never consider selling equipment. There is little demand for it there, and she thinks she would be better sticking to what she does best, and others can not do. She may expand her line of replacement mask straps, fin straps, and other misc parts to t-shirts and hats advertising (is that the right word?) the Blue Hole. Most of us thought that was a great idea! With the compressor work mentioned by BigBubbaJ, and the help of Rob from Flatirons helping her get all her tanks hydro inspected and eddy current tested (VE) she has most under control right now. Of course, that could change next week.
It sure was nice to see her open on Friday, and then all day Saturday and Sunday.

 

[DandyDon]

Interesting post WS, let me comment within...

Stella is awesome! I too wouldn't be able to enjoy the Blue Hole if it were not for her. I only have 2 tanks, and I would not drive over 700 miles round trip for a two-tank dive.

Haha, I own one but don't like to carry it to Santa Rosa so wonder why I do own it. My home bud doesn't own one; we always phone Stella to ensure we can get tanks and fills from her.

Stella rents (leases) space from the city....a left over from the previous arrangement when she was just an employee of the dive shop that owned that equipment and originally rented the old building just for storage space. Through unfortunate circumstance she ended up with the equipment in lieu wages owe her.

Oh really?! I never knew about that.

She seems undecided at the present time as to what she will do when the new building is complete. I think a major decision factor will be how much rent the city will charge her. That may price her out of the business. She also told me that she would never consider selling equipment. There is little demand for it there, and she thinks she would be better sticking to what she does best, and others can not do.

Yep, I agree.

She may expand her line of replacement mask straps, fin straps, and other misc parts to t-shirts and hats advertising (is that the right word?) the Blue Hole. Most of us thought that was a great idea! With the compressor work mentioned by BigBubbaJ, and the help of Rob from Flatirons helping her get all her tanks hydro inspected and eddy current tested (VE) she has most under control right now. Of course, that could change next week.
It sure was nice to see her open on Friday, and then all day Saturday and Sunday.

She seems willing to open up and provide tanks any evening after her day job and would probly make other arrangements as well. She seems overly trusting with her tanks, as I have never seen her keep a drivers license or credit card and her tanks are often carried off premises to Perch Lake or kept for night dives. I can only hope she doesn't get burned for that.

 

[Ocean One]

Thanks to everyone who has responded! Stella is a gem and I certainly hope she is able to hang-in there with the new building. Guess it looks like the best suggestion is to set back and see what happens! In the mean time, continue to feed her well and lil extra tips money can go a long way!

 

[RonFrank]

Thanks to everyone who has responded! Stella is a gem and I certainly hope she is able to hang-in there with the new building. Guess it looks like the best suggestion is to set back and see what happens! In the mean time, continue to feed her well and lil extra tips money can go a long way!

Actually, just using her for fills helps her a lot. Many LDS's do NOT use her for fills, but rather send the students down with ample tanks. Fortunately that did not work out well for a couple CO Springs shops, and she was plenty busy this past weekend. We always try and provide her with food, which she also appreciates greatly.

Stella is a Gem, and let's hope when the dust settles she decides to stay. I think this is mainly based on what Santa Rosa will charge her. Santa Rosa seems to think they need a full service dive shop, and maybe they do. But not to support the majority of the divers currently diving there.