Ken Kurtis
Contributor
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Want to travel??? Upcoming 2017 vacation trips:
• March 17-25 - Bonaire [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 6 SPOTS LEFT ]
• July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 6 SPOTS LEFT ]
• September 1-6 - Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle Amie [ WE'VE ONLY GOT 6 SPOTS - ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT ]
• November 2-12 - Fiji (SW area near Suva) on the Fiji Aggressor [ 10 SPOTS TOTAL - ONLY 1 FEMALE-SHARE SPOT LEFT ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• DIVE - Wed., 2/15 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• DIVE - Sat., 2/25 - 36th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup (6:00AM - $150 w/event, boat, & taxi)
• DIVE - Wed., 3/1 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• CLASS - Wed., 3/15 - Photo Workshop (7PM in Westwood - $25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
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Rain, rain, go away . . .
BREAK IN THE WEATHER - I know we need the rain but couldn't it rain DURING the week instead of the weekends? I was talking with one of the boat captains this past week and let's face it, January (and February) are pretty slow months for them anyhow but with the recent rains, they've been losing to weather what few charters they might have had. This coming weekend's not looking much better as the current forecast - which could admittedly change - is calling for rain, and in significant amounts, starting on Thursday evening and going pretty much through Tuesday. Yikes!!! Looks like Friday will be the heaviest stuff in terms of overall accumulation. We certainly need the rain to replenish reservoirs and the like but I guess this is an example of "Be careful what you wish for."
SAFE TO DIVE AFTER THE RAIN? - One of my students asked me about diving after the rain and said he'd heard you shouldn't beach dive for 72 hours following a storm. Maybe, maybe not. It certainly depends on the beach and I'd say there's no hard-and-fast rule. The best thing to do is check with the closest lifeguard station to see what's what. A lot of it depends on if the beach is close to storm drain runoffs. An example of that might be Corral Canyon in Malibu. There's a storm drain that literally dumps out under PCH and cuts through the west end (which is perceived as the north end by the directionally-challenged) of the beach and into the ocean. During heavy rains, all sorts of stuff might be washing down from on high and into the beach waters. But prevailing currents will then have an effect and move things around as well. Since the prevailing longshore current runs from west to east, if you dive on the western upcurrent side of the outfall, you might be OK. But on the eastern downcurrent side, you might find a higher trash/bacteria count. Just use some common sense. Most of the time, what's really affected by the storms - and not just at Corral - is the visibility. This is because whenever a cold front (aka a rainstorm) moves through, it's usually followed by wind. All of that chops up the water both above and below and generally mucks up the viz. So sometimes the issue with diving after a rainstorm has nothing to do with whether or not it's a health issue, but simply whether or not you can see things, like your hand in front of your face.
AVALON CLEANUP LOGO - Congrats to Sarah Anderson who submitted the winning design this year for the logo for the Avalon Underwater Cleanup on February 25. Here it is:
SPEAKING OF THE CLEANUP - Although it's a little less than two weeks away, on-line registration closes on February 16, which is this coming Thursday. So if you'd like to be part of the Reef Seekers group, I need to have you registered by then (which I'll likely do Wednesday evening). We're always a compact group these past few years and we'd love to have you join us. The general sked is to go over on the 6:00AM ferry out of Long Beach, have some breakfast, enter the water starting at 9:30, out by 11AM, have a little lunch, enjoy the awards ceremony from 1:00-2:30 (or do some more diving in the UW Park), get in a round of Miniature Golf at Golf Gardens, maybe get some ice cream or just stroll around Avalon, and then ride the 6:05PM ferry back. (There's also a 3:50PM if you prefer.) Long day but for a good cause. Call us (310-652-4990) to sign up with Reef Seekers or go to the website to do it on your own (USC Wrigley Institute | WIES–CCD AH UW Cleanup > Wrigley > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences).
SQUID DIVE THIS COMING WEDNESDAY - Due to the impending storms, I'm guessing it's doubtful. But if you're interested, by sure to call or e-mail us to get registered. We'll make a weather call no later than 3PM Wednesday. But my guess at this point and looking at the forecast is that it's iffy at best.
ONE FINAL SPOT ON THE NOVEMBER FIJI TRIP - We're down to a single female-share spot on our Fiji trip November 2-12. What's really nice about this trip (other than we're diving Fiji) is that we've got the entire Fiji Aggressor to ourselves. And even better than that is that it's only 10 spots for the full boat. So this will be a really nice, "intimate" crowd. And what we have left is one female-share spot in a deluxe stateroom. (And if you're an interested male, as long as it's OK with the female roomie, I don't have any issues with a mixed-sex sharing.) We'll get a chance to explore Fijian reefs around Suva and Viti Levu, plus we'll get to interact with some of the locals through a village visit and them coming out to greet the boat at various places. Best of all, Fiji Airways has extended their fare sale through next week, so what was a $1,400 fare is now only $794. If you need more details, check out our trip page (Foreign Trips), give us a call (310-652-4990), or shoot us an e-mail to this addy.
NAVIGATIONALLY-IMPAIRED NO MORE - Despite the weather issues Saturday (choppy seas and big surf), we were still able to get in our Navigation Class by making it a totally dry land-based session. We generally teach this in two parts anyhow, with the first part being navigating on land (easier for me to see you and make corrections) before we then take it underwater. But with Vets Park pretty much not diveable and the grassy area we use for the first half a muddy morass, we moved it to my place in Westwood where we were also able to use the huge (and empty) Federal Building parking lot as our navigation course. So it was a great way to learn how to run reciprocals and boxes and the like, and then down the road, we'll finish up with an underwater jaunt and hopefully have the same level of navigational success. The point is, where there's a will, there's a way.
SAD STORY WITH A SOMEWHAT HAPPY ENDING - The sadness started out with a mass stranding of pilot whales in New Zealand, with 650 up on a beach and 350 of them dying. But the next morning, some 240 whales that had been on the beach overnight had re-floated themselves with the high tide, and 17 remaining whales on the beach were helped back into the waters by volunteers and the whales rejoined a large pod offshore. You can read more about it here: After Heartbreak, A Happy Ending: 200 Whales Escape Stranding In New Zealand. Sometimes, these stories DO have happy endings.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and don't get washed away in the coming deluge.
- Ken
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2017 vacation trips:
• March 17-25 - Bonaire [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• June 10-17 - Isla Mujeres (early in the Whale Shark Season)
• July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 6 SPOTS LEFT ]
• July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 6 SPOTS LEFT ]
• September 1-6 - Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle Amie [ WE'VE ONLY GOT 6 SPOTS - ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT ]
• November 2-12 - Fiji (SW area near Suva) on the Fiji Aggressor [ 10 SPOTS TOTAL - ONLY 1 FEMALE-SHARE SPOT LEFT ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• DIVE - Wed., 2/15 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• DIVE - Sat., 2/25 - 36th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup (6:00AM - $150 w/event, boat, & taxi)
• DIVE - Wed., 3/1 - Squid night dive at Redondo (6PM - FREE!!)
• CLASS - Wed., 3/15 - Photo Workshop (7PM in Westwood - $25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
———————————————————————————————————————————
Rain, rain, go away . . .
BREAK IN THE WEATHER - I know we need the rain but couldn't it rain DURING the week instead of the weekends? I was talking with one of the boat captains this past week and let's face it, January (and February) are pretty slow months for them anyhow but with the recent rains, they've been losing to weather what few charters they might have had. This coming weekend's not looking much better as the current forecast - which could admittedly change - is calling for rain, and in significant amounts, starting on Thursday evening and going pretty much through Tuesday. Yikes!!! Looks like Friday will be the heaviest stuff in terms of overall accumulation. We certainly need the rain to replenish reservoirs and the like but I guess this is an example of "Be careful what you wish for."
SAFE TO DIVE AFTER THE RAIN? - One of my students asked me about diving after the rain and said he'd heard you shouldn't beach dive for 72 hours following a storm. Maybe, maybe not. It certainly depends on the beach and I'd say there's no hard-and-fast rule. The best thing to do is check with the closest lifeguard station to see what's what. A lot of it depends on if the beach is close to storm drain runoffs. An example of that might be Corral Canyon in Malibu. There's a storm drain that literally dumps out under PCH and cuts through the west end (which is perceived as the north end by the directionally-challenged) of the beach and into the ocean. During heavy rains, all sorts of stuff might be washing down from on high and into the beach waters. But prevailing currents will then have an effect and move things around as well. Since the prevailing longshore current runs from west to east, if you dive on the western upcurrent side of the outfall, you might be OK. But on the eastern downcurrent side, you might find a higher trash/bacteria count. Just use some common sense. Most of the time, what's really affected by the storms - and not just at Corral - is the visibility. This is because whenever a cold front (aka a rainstorm) moves through, it's usually followed by wind. All of that chops up the water both above and below and generally mucks up the viz. So sometimes the issue with diving after a rainstorm has nothing to do with whether or not it's a health issue, but simply whether or not you can see things, like your hand in front of your face.
AVALON CLEANUP LOGO - Congrats to Sarah Anderson who submitted the winning design this year for the logo for the Avalon Underwater Cleanup on February 25. Here it is:
SPEAKING OF THE CLEANUP - Although it's a little less than two weeks away, on-line registration closes on February 16, which is this coming Thursday. So if you'd like to be part of the Reef Seekers group, I need to have you registered by then (which I'll likely do Wednesday evening). We're always a compact group these past few years and we'd love to have you join us. The general sked is to go over on the 6:00AM ferry out of Long Beach, have some breakfast, enter the water starting at 9:30, out by 11AM, have a little lunch, enjoy the awards ceremony from 1:00-2:30 (or do some more diving in the UW Park), get in a round of Miniature Golf at Golf Gardens, maybe get some ice cream or just stroll around Avalon, and then ride the 6:05PM ferry back. (There's also a 3:50PM if you prefer.) Long day but for a good cause. Call us (310-652-4990) to sign up with Reef Seekers or go to the website to do it on your own (USC Wrigley Institute | WIES–CCD AH UW Cleanup > Wrigley > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences).
SQUID DIVE THIS COMING WEDNESDAY - Due to the impending storms, I'm guessing it's doubtful. But if you're interested, by sure to call or e-mail us to get registered. We'll make a weather call no later than 3PM Wednesday. But my guess at this point and looking at the forecast is that it's iffy at best.
ONE FINAL SPOT ON THE NOVEMBER FIJI TRIP - We're down to a single female-share spot on our Fiji trip November 2-12. What's really nice about this trip (other than we're diving Fiji) is that we've got the entire Fiji Aggressor to ourselves. And even better than that is that it's only 10 spots for the full boat. So this will be a really nice, "intimate" crowd. And what we have left is one female-share spot in a deluxe stateroom. (And if you're an interested male, as long as it's OK with the female roomie, I don't have any issues with a mixed-sex sharing.) We'll get a chance to explore Fijian reefs around Suva and Viti Levu, plus we'll get to interact with some of the locals through a village visit and them coming out to greet the boat at various places. Best of all, Fiji Airways has extended their fare sale through next week, so what was a $1,400 fare is now only $794. If you need more details, check out our trip page (Foreign Trips), give us a call (310-652-4990), or shoot us an e-mail to this addy.
NAVIGATIONALLY-IMPAIRED NO MORE - Despite the weather issues Saturday (choppy seas and big surf), we were still able to get in our Navigation Class by making it a totally dry land-based session. We generally teach this in two parts anyhow, with the first part being navigating on land (easier for me to see you and make corrections) before we then take it underwater. But with Vets Park pretty much not diveable and the grassy area we use for the first half a muddy morass, we moved it to my place in Westwood where we were also able to use the huge (and empty) Federal Building parking lot as our navigation course. So it was a great way to learn how to run reciprocals and boxes and the like, and then down the road, we'll finish up with an underwater jaunt and hopefully have the same level of navigational success. The point is, where there's a will, there's a way.
SAD STORY WITH A SOMEWHAT HAPPY ENDING - The sadness started out with a mass stranding of pilot whales in New Zealand, with 650 up on a beach and 350 of them dying. But the next morning, some 240 whales that had been on the beach overnight had re-floated themselves with the high tide, and 17 remaining whales on the beach were helped back into the waters by volunteers and the whales rejoined a large pod offshore. You can read more about it here: After Heartbreak, A Happy Ending: 200 Whales Escape Stranding In New Zealand. Sometimes, these stories DO have happy endings.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week, and don't get washed away in the coming deluge.
- Ken
