Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Ironically, I was reading up on the Kilauea Volcano today . . .
PHILIPPINES VOLCANO BLOWS - The Taal volcano, about 37 miles south of Manila, erupted Sunday and has caused some great consternation in the Philippines, including the Manila Airport (MNL) shutting down operations due to ash in the air. The Philippine Institute of Volcanolgy and Seismology (yes, there really is such an institution) issued an on-going alert suggesting that further eruption activity could produce lava as well as ash. If you've got a trip the the Philippines planned in the near-term, you might want to double-check on the situation, especially if you're flying into Manila. This may affect me personally, as I'm scheduled to do a FAM (familiarization) trip with Atlantis Puerto Galera & Atlantis Dumaguete, leaving in 12 days. Hopefully the volcano will have calmed down some by then, or at least the airport will resume flight operations. Fingers crossed.
40% OFF A SECOND INDO AGGRESSOR TRIP - As many of you know if you've been following TWARS, we've been able to offer a 40% discount off of a fabulous 11-day trip April 6-17 on the Indo Aggressor to The Forgotten Islands, which is a chain on the southern side of Indonesia. (We've already got 5 Reef Seekers on that one.) We need to point out that there's a SECOND week available, also at 40% off, in case either the first dates didn't work for you or if you really want to make a memorable trip and do back-to-back weeks. The dates for the second trip are April 19-30. Whereas the first trip goes from Maumere to Saumlaki, the second trip reverses that, starting in Saumlaki and heading back to Maumere. And if you would like to do BOTH trips, since there's two days between the end of #1 and the start of #2, we've made special arrangements with Aggressor for you to stay on the boat instead of disembarking to a hotel. Both trips offer great savings but if you like uncrowded boats, the second trip (April 19-30) might be ideal for you. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to find out more and get your spot reserved.
LEARNING WITH REEF SEEKERS - It's not a dive since it's a Photo Class but you might learn a thing or two. And this applies to beginners and well as seasoned shooters. It's an informal class taught at Reef Seekers West(wood) and you're encouraged to bring digital copies of your shots with you as well. Note that the date was moved from Wednesday to Thursday but it's still 7-10PM. $25 gets you in the door and on your way to better images.
DIVING WITH REEF SEEKERS - If you want to take a plunge, how about Saturday over to the Avalon Underwater Park for a trio of dives? Although conditions haven't been the greatest lately, they've got to start improving sometime soon. And this is a good time of the year to go because the Park is less crowded than it is in the summertime. 9AM going over out of San Pedro and 5:30PM coming back. $150 gets you the dives, tanks, taxi, Express, and oodles of fun.
UNDERWATER CLEANUP FEBRUARY 22 - This is also a good time to start thinking about signing up for the 39th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup as part of the Reef Seekers team. We'll be at the Green Pier again and although our groups are small, we always have a blast and frequently bring home prizes. This is a 1-dive event but if you want to keep diving, we'll get you an airfill and then ship you over the the Underwater Park. Or you can have us stow your gear for you for the afternoon so you can get lunch and enjoy the awards & prize ceremony that starts at 1PM. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to sign up. Like our regular trips, this one's also $150 but includes your event registration as well.
ANOTHER LITHIUM-ION BATTERY FIRE - NOT a dive boat this time but it was aboard a container ship. It seems that last weekend, a misdeclared container aboard the Cosco Pacific caught on fire and was discovered (after the fire was extinguished) to contain lithium-ion batteries. Those are the types of batteries we have in most of our rechargeables and which are considered a prime suspect in the fires on both theConception and the Red Sea Aggressor. It sounds like this fire was contained within the cargo container and was put out by the ship's firefighting abilities. But it further underscores the potential dangers these type of batteries may pose. In my mind, a key question is whether or not these fires happen more frequently at sea than on land, which might indicate that something about using them in a salt air environment makes them more likely to ignite, or if these fires occur at the same frequency on land as at sea and may indicate that lithium-ion batteries are simply too dangerous to use. Hopefully, further study by the NTSB can yield some usable information.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SINCE SEPTEMBER - I'm speaking Monday night (April 13) at the Sole Searchers Dive Club meeting and we'll be talking about boat safety and what we're learned in the aftermath of the Conception and Red Sea Aggressor fires. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the El Torito in Pasadena, 3333 E. Foothill Blvd., just north of the 210 freeway (exit at Madre, the exit right after Sierra Madre Blvd.). Festivities start at 7PM.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
PHILIPPINES VOLCANO BLOWS - The Taal volcano, about 37 miles south of Manila, erupted Sunday and has caused some great consternation in the Philippines, including the Manila Airport (MNL) shutting down operations due to ash in the air. The Philippine Institute of Volcanolgy and Seismology (yes, there really is such an institution) issued an on-going alert suggesting that further eruption activity could produce lava as well as ash. If you've got a trip the the Philippines planned in the near-term, you might want to double-check on the situation, especially if you're flying into Manila. This may affect me personally, as I'm scheduled to do a FAM (familiarization) trip with Atlantis Puerto Galera & Atlantis Dumaguete, leaving in 12 days. Hopefully the volcano will have calmed down some by then, or at least the airport will resume flight operations. Fingers crossed.
40% OFF A SECOND INDO AGGRESSOR TRIP - As many of you know if you've been following TWARS, we've been able to offer a 40% discount off of a fabulous 11-day trip April 6-17 on the Indo Aggressor to The Forgotten Islands, which is a chain on the southern side of Indonesia. (We've already got 5 Reef Seekers on that one.) We need to point out that there's a SECOND week available, also at 40% off, in case either the first dates didn't work for you or if you really want to make a memorable trip and do back-to-back weeks. The dates for the second trip are April 19-30. Whereas the first trip goes from Maumere to Saumlaki, the second trip reverses that, starting in Saumlaki and heading back to Maumere. And if you would like to do BOTH trips, since there's two days between the end of #1 and the start of #2, we've made special arrangements with Aggressor for you to stay on the boat instead of disembarking to a hotel. Both trips offer great savings but if you like uncrowded boats, the second trip (April 19-30) might be ideal for you. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to find out more and get your spot reserved.
LEARNING WITH REEF SEEKERS - It's not a dive since it's a Photo Class but you might learn a thing or two. And this applies to beginners and well as seasoned shooters. It's an informal class taught at Reef Seekers West(wood) and you're encouraged to bring digital copies of your shots with you as well. Note that the date was moved from Wednesday to Thursday but it's still 7-10PM. $25 gets you in the door and on your way to better images.
DIVING WITH REEF SEEKERS - If you want to take a plunge, how about Saturday over to the Avalon Underwater Park for a trio of dives? Although conditions haven't been the greatest lately, they've got to start improving sometime soon. And this is a good time of the year to go because the Park is less crowded than it is in the summertime. 9AM going over out of San Pedro and 5:30PM coming back. $150 gets you the dives, tanks, taxi, Express, and oodles of fun.
UNDERWATER CLEANUP FEBRUARY 22 - This is also a good time to start thinking about signing up for the 39th Annual Avalon Underwater Cleanup as part of the Reef Seekers team. We'll be at the Green Pier again and although our groups are small, we always have a blast and frequently bring home prizes. This is a 1-dive event but if you want to keep diving, we'll get you an airfill and then ship you over the the Underwater Park. Or you can have us stow your gear for you for the afternoon so you can get lunch and enjoy the awards & prize ceremony that starts at 1PM. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to sign up. Like our regular trips, this one's also $150 but includes your event registration as well.
ANOTHER LITHIUM-ION BATTERY FIRE - NOT a dive boat this time but it was aboard a container ship. It seems that last weekend, a misdeclared container aboard the Cosco Pacific caught on fire and was discovered (after the fire was extinguished) to contain lithium-ion batteries. Those are the types of batteries we have in most of our rechargeables and which are considered a prime suspect in the fires on both theConception and the Red Sea Aggressor. It sounds like this fire was contained within the cargo container and was put out by the ship's firefighting abilities. But it further underscores the potential dangers these type of batteries may pose. In my mind, a key question is whether or not these fires happen more frequently at sea than on land, which might indicate that something about using them in a salt air environment makes them more likely to ignite, or if these fires occur at the same frequency on land as at sea and may indicate that lithium-ion batteries are simply too dangerous to use. Hopefully, further study by the NTSB can yield some usable information.
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED SINCE SEPTEMBER - I'm speaking Monday night (April 13) at the Sole Searchers Dive Club meeting and we'll be talking about boat safety and what we're learned in the aftermath of the Conception and Red Sea Aggressor fires. The meeting is open to the public and will be held at the El Torito in Pasadena, 3333 E. Foothill Blvd., just north of the 210 freeway (exit at Madre, the exit right after Sierra Madre Blvd.). Festivities start at 7PM.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
