Ken Kurtis
Contributor
TWARS (This Week at Reef Seekers) - Feb. 4-11
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Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (REDUCED PRICING - Buddy Dive - easy, reliable diving)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (8 confirmed - room for 4 more)
• July 14-28 - Sulawesi, Indonesia with our friends at Murex (includes a day at Lembeh Straits)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Feb. 8 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Feb. 10 [PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE] - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Sat., Feb. 24 - Catalina Express - 37th Avalon Underwater Cleanup ($150)
• Thu., Mar. 1 - CLASS - Photo Workshop ($25)
• Sat., Mar. 10 - Aquarium of the Pacific - Diver's Day (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Mar. 17 - Catalina Express - Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., Mar. 22 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
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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What a game. And how cool that the BACKUP quarterback becomes the MVP?????
TIM BURKE MEMORIAL TYPO - I made a mistake in the newsletter with the day (not the date) of Tim's memorial service. It's next week, Sunday, February 11. (I incorrectly had Feb. 11 as Saturday.) It is Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, at Queen's Wharf in Long Beach (in the restaurant) starting at 1PM.
THE AVALON CLEANUP IS COMING - Three weeks to go. It's on Saturday, February 24, but registration to dive closes February 15. (If you want to come as a non-diver, that's fine and we can do that fairly last-minute.) We're going over on the 6:00AM boat out of Long Beach, will get settled at the Green Pier, and then go have breakfast. The dive is from 9:30-11:00AM and then you can either keep diving the Park or we'll have your gear stored for the rest of the day. Remember it's all for a very good cause (Catalina Conservation Divers and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber) so we hope you'll either join us or sign up on your own.
SQUID TIME AT VETS - We've seen a bunch of reports from people diving Vets in the last week or so. Some reports of live mating squid here and there but nothing consistent yet. However, there are TONS of eggs all around, generally out if the 70-foot range. We've got a Squid Dive (it's FREE) scheduled for this Thursday evening, meeting at Vets at 7PM. The good news is that many times the squid mating sightings tend to follow the full moon, which was a few days ago. The bad (but not horrible) news is that the Wet Sand surf forecast shows the surf building Monday and Tuesday, peaking at 4', but then backing down Wednesday and Thursday to about 2'. So we shall see. But we've already got people signed up for this so, weather permitting, it's a go. If you're interested, let me know. And realize we usually make a weather call around 3-4PM day-of-dive. But when we can dive this, it's a REALLY cool night dive, even without live squid. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
AVALON NEXT SATURDAY (NOT THE CLEANUP) - We'll be doing a pre-Cleanup dive in the UW Park this coming Saturday (2/10). This appears on some of the schedules we gave out as the 17th, but I had a schedule change of my own and had to move it up a week. Extended forecast is calling for 71º and mostly sunny skies. The general plan is to get in three dives with a break for lunch somewhere in there. It seems the Black Sea Bass have moved out for the winter but there are always good things to be found in the Park and, if you haven't been diving for a while, you can also use this as an informal refresher. If you're interested, give us a call at 310/652-4990 and get yourself signed up.
GIVE ROATAN SOME THOUGHT - It's a ways away (October 27 - November 3), but our Roatan trip is shaping up nicely with about ten people already committed. Because this is a land-based trip (Anthony's Key), we can keep adding people as long as there are rooms, but we cap this at a max of 16 for us. The general outline is three dives each day, two morning and one afternoon, food's included, we've got rooms with over-water decks, and it's a really pleasant place to be. Plus Anthony's has a really good/slick operation. We had some weather issues last time but hopefully that's behind us. The land portion of this trip is $2,195 (includes crew tip) and the airfare on United (through Houston) is running a bit over $700. (American & Delta are also options.) If you need more info or want to sign up, either e-mail me here or call me at 310/652-4990.
SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS - I liked the Tide ads. I generally like the Budweiser "Dilly-Dilly" campaign but the one with the Bud Knight left me a little flat. However, the Bud spot where they shut down the brewery to can water for disaster relief I thought was a winner (and a bit of a tear-jerker too). Don't know what was up with the Scientology ad that ran, but it may have been a local insert and not national. I also liked the Eli Manning spot where they were rehearsing future touchdown celebrations. But what a game and what a finish. Of course, the fact of the matter is that the Patriots scored every time they had the ball except twice (Brady fumble and the last Hail Mary play), and the Eagles scored every time THEY had the ball except for the time they punted. So maybe not exactly a defensive gem.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
——————————————————————————
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (REDUCED PRICING - Buddy Dive - easy, reliable diving)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (8 confirmed - room for 4 more)
• July 14-28 - Sulawesi, Indonesia with our friends at Murex (includes a day at Lembeh Straits)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
——————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Feb. 8 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Feb. 10 [PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGE] - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Sat., Feb. 24 - Catalina Express - 37th Avalon Underwater Cleanup ($150)
• Thu., Mar. 1 - CLASS - Photo Workshop ($25)
• Sat., Mar. 10 - Aquarium of the Pacific - Diver's Day (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Mar. 17 - Catalina Express - Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., Mar. 22 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
—————————————————————————
What a game. And how cool that the BACKUP quarterback becomes the MVP?????
TIM BURKE MEMORIAL TYPO - I made a mistake in the newsletter with the day (not the date) of Tim's memorial service. It's next week, Sunday, February 11. (I incorrectly had Feb. 11 as Saturday.) It is Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, at Queen's Wharf in Long Beach (in the restaurant) starting at 1PM.
THE AVALON CLEANUP IS COMING - Three weeks to go. It's on Saturday, February 24, but registration to dive closes February 15. (If you want to come as a non-diver, that's fine and we can do that fairly last-minute.) We're going over on the 6:00AM boat out of Long Beach, will get settled at the Green Pier, and then go have breakfast. The dive is from 9:30-11:00AM and then you can either keep diving the Park or we'll have your gear stored for the rest of the day. Remember it's all for a very good cause (Catalina Conservation Divers and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber) so we hope you'll either join us or sign up on your own.
SQUID TIME AT VETS - We've seen a bunch of reports from people diving Vets in the last week or so. Some reports of live mating squid here and there but nothing consistent yet. However, there are TONS of eggs all around, generally out if the 70-foot range. We've got a Squid Dive (it's FREE) scheduled for this Thursday evening, meeting at Vets at 7PM. The good news is that many times the squid mating sightings tend to follow the full moon, which was a few days ago. The bad (but not horrible) news is that the Wet Sand surf forecast shows the surf building Monday and Tuesday, peaking at 4', but then backing down Wednesday and Thursday to about 2'. So we shall see. But we've already got people signed up for this so, weather permitting, it's a go. If you're interested, let me know. And realize we usually make a weather call around 3-4PM day-of-dive. But when we can dive this, it's a REALLY cool night dive, even without live squid. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
AVALON NEXT SATURDAY (NOT THE CLEANUP) - We'll be doing a pre-Cleanup dive in the UW Park this coming Saturday (2/10). This appears on some of the schedules we gave out as the 17th, but I had a schedule change of my own and had to move it up a week. Extended forecast is calling for 71º and mostly sunny skies. The general plan is to get in three dives with a break for lunch somewhere in there. It seems the Black Sea Bass have moved out for the winter but there are always good things to be found in the Park and, if you haven't been diving for a while, you can also use this as an informal refresher. If you're interested, give us a call at 310/652-4990 and get yourself signed up.
GIVE ROATAN SOME THOUGHT - It's a ways away (October 27 - November 3), but our Roatan trip is shaping up nicely with about ten people already committed. Because this is a land-based trip (Anthony's Key), we can keep adding people as long as there are rooms, but we cap this at a max of 16 for us. The general outline is three dives each day, two morning and one afternoon, food's included, we've got rooms with over-water decks, and it's a really pleasant place to be. Plus Anthony's has a really good/slick operation. We had some weather issues last time but hopefully that's behind us. The land portion of this trip is $2,195 (includes crew tip) and the airfare on United (through Houston) is running a bit over $700. (American & Delta are also options.) If you need more info or want to sign up, either e-mail me here or call me at 310/652-4990.
SUPER BOWL COMMERCIALS - I liked the Tide ads. I generally like the Budweiser "Dilly-Dilly" campaign but the one with the Bud Knight left me a little flat. However, the Bud spot where they shut down the brewery to can water for disaster relief I thought was a winner (and a bit of a tear-jerker too). Don't know what was up with the Scientology ad that ran, but it may have been a local insert and not national. I also liked the Eli Manning spot where they were rehearsing future touchdown celebrations. But what a game and what a finish. Of course, the fact of the matter is that the Patriots scored every time they had the ball except twice (Brady fumble and the last Hail Mary play), and the Eagles scored every time THEY had the ball except for the time they punted. So maybe not exactly a defensive gem.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
