Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Super Bowl, Earthquake, Roatan, and more
(please scroll down for details)
Fly Eagles, fly . . .(please scroll down for details)
SHOULD THERE BE A SUPER BOWL MERCY RULE??? - Can you say "rout"??? I would have liked a more exciting game but hat's off to the Eagles for a dominating performance. And while I generally enjoy watching the game, what I REALLY like is watching the commercials.
BEST & WORST COMMERCIALS - I liked the Little Caesar's ad with Eugene Levy's eyebrows and I thought the Stand Up to All Hate with Snoop Dog and Tom Brady was very powerful. I also thought tag line for the Harrison Ford Jeep spot (" . . . even tough my name is Ford") was clever. But the Coffee Mate Cold Foam Cream (with the tongues) left everyone where I was watching going "Ick!!!" And what was up with that Kanye West ad? Both weird and dumb.
Now for the dive-related (and more important) stuff . . .
CARIBBEAN EARTHQUAKE - There was a 7.6 magnitude jolt yesterday that was centered 129 miles southwest of the Grand Cayman and which was felt throughout areas of the Caribbean. There aren't any reports of damage anywhere but there was a tsunami alert issued right after the shaking was felt. The concern was that it could have generated a 3-9-foot tall wave, which could have caused considerable damage to low-lying islands. However, the alert was cancelled a few hours later as it seemed that no tsunami was generated. Whew.
FREE SCUBA GEAR IF YOURS WAS LOST IN THE FIRE - One of our longtime customers called us the other day with a very generous offer: Since he's stopping diving, he'd like to donate his gear to someone who lost theirs in the fires. He always had top-line stuff and it was well-maintained and serviced regularly. I think he'd rather give everything to someone rather than doing it piecemeal but you never know. As you can see from the photos, he's got reg, BC, wetsuits, a Spare Air, and a bunch of weights. If you're in need and interested, contact me and I'll put you in touch with him.
AVALON CLEANUP FEBRUARY 22 - Just another reminder of this annual event that helps clean the harbor and which benefits both the Avalon Rotary and their "Beautify the Underwater Park" campaign as well as benefitting the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. And if you don't want to dive, they're still looking for volunteers for some of the day-of staff positions as well. You can sign up for both by going to this website: https://www.avalonharborcleanup.org/
ROATAN TRIP FILLING - With our Easter Island trips (March) and our Maldives trips (Sept/Oct) taking up my time, I haven't been talking about our Roatan trip (June 28) as much as I might normally. So I've been making up for that with newsletter blurbs and TWARS mentions as well, and here we go again. I'm happy to report it's filling nicely. We'll be an Anthony's Key and the great thing about that - other than that they run a really great operation - is that it's all-inclusive. So the $3,195 fee you'll pay to Reef Seekers includes a double-occupancy room, three dives each day plus two night dives, breakfast/lunch/dinner daily, crew tip, airport transfers, and we've even included the 19% government tax. One other great thing about Anthony's - and this is one of the better deals around - is that if you'd prefer a room to yourself, their single supplement rate is ridiculously cheap. Whereas most places will charge you an additional 50-75% of the regular rate, the add-on for Anthony's is around $275. What a deal!!! Depending on where you're flying in from, airfare will add another $750-1,000 (which is about what we paid last year). If you want to join us, give us a call at 310/652-4990 or send an e-mail to this address.
VALENTINE'S DAY IS THIS FRIDAY - The reminder applies for both men and women but usually it's the guys who need the romantic nudge so the point is, don't forget to do something special for your valentine this week, preferably on Friday (the Big Day).
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving together in 2025!!!
- Ken
