Ken Kurtis
Contributor
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Want to travel??? Upcoming 2016-2017 vacation trips:
• August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks [ SOLD OUT - LEAVING NEXT WEEK ]
• August 13-20 (WEEK 1) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOLD OUT!!! ]
• August 20-27 (WEEK 2) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOLD OUT!!! ]
• November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT ]
• 2017 - July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• 2017 - July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 10 SPOTS LEFT ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Now we know what it was like living on Krypton . . .
RED SUN - The Sand Fire, which as I'm writing has now covered 30,000 acres (roughly 47 square miles) and is still only 10% contained, is definitely a nightmare but the ash cloud it produced Saturday that hung over West L.A. and Santa Monica (as well as parts of the SF Valley) produced what appeared to be a red sun in the sky. (Superman fans will understand my Krypton reference above.) I happened to drive yesterday late afternoon from Marina del Rey to Santa Monica and then to Westwood and I was amazed by the numbers of people I saw standing with their cell phones pointed skyward, taking a picture of the red orb. Even more amazing was that the skies (at least in the Westwood area) were perfectly clear and blue today (Sunday). BTW, lost in all of this news is that there's a second fire burning up in Big Sur, the Soberanes Fire, which has burned 11,000 acres and is only 5% contained. This is simply NOT going to be a "good" fire season.
SHARKS NEXT WEEK - Amidst all of this fire turmoil, we are still prepping for next week's departure to journey to Isla Guadalupe aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie to seek out some Great White Shark action. We made this trip twice last year and we're looking forward to returning with a new batch of shark-seekers. We should have a Wi-Fi connection on the boat and will try to post images to our Facebook and Smugmug pages when we can.
ATOMIC SHARK - Although I'm actually looking forward to "Sharknado: The 4th Awakens" which premiers next Sunday on the SyFy Channel, tonight on SyFy (and I'm sure it'll repeat throughout the week) is "Atomic Shark" where lifeguards save people from radioactive sharks. I'm pretty sure it's not a documentary but if you're looking for some campy escapist fun, this may be the ticket.
GOOD NEWS FOR SHARKS - In a more serious vein, there was some good shark news this week as Cosco, China's largest shipping line, has pledged a total ban on carrying shark fins and shark fin-related products. This comes after an embarrassing discovery earlier this month of hammerhead shark fins being transported on one of their ships. Credit to WildAid Campaign Manager Alex Hofford (Alex Hofford) for writing a letter asking for the ban. You can read more about this in an article from the South China Morning Post: No to shark fin: China’s biggest shipping line Cosco pledges total ban on carrying product.
BRILLIANT POWER STRIP IDEA - While we're on our Guadalupe trip, we'll be taking lots of pictures. That means we'll also be recharging lots of electronics like laptops, cameras, batteries, strobes, GoPros, etc. One of the problems nowadays seem to be that with the size of some of the adapter plugs, you might have an 8-socket power strip, but because the plugs are so big or configured weirdly, plugging in one actually covers up two or more sockets. Enter Quail Electronics (in Livermore, CA), who has designed an ingenious 8-socket power strip where 6 of the 8 sockets rotate (there are 2 fixed sockets) that gives you full access to all 8 sockets (ROTATING POWER STRIP BY QUAIL ELECTRONICS). Plus, there's also a surge protector built in and a clever clip at the end of the strip to aid in power cable routing. (This will also be good if you have a lot of things plugged into a single strip for your desktop computer as I do.) Although you can buy them directly from Quail, they have a $100 minimum order so a better bet might be to order through MonoPrice in Rancho Cucamonga. They've got them for $17.99 each. In fact, MonoPrice is a great source for all kinds of plugs and cables. I've used them for years at the suggestion of our ace repair guru, Robert Stark. Here's the direct link to the power strip page: 8 Outlet Rotating Surge Strip - 2160 Joules - Monoprice.com.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2016-2017 vacation trips:
• August 1-6 - Isla Guadalupe & Great White Sharks [ SOLD OUT - LEAVING NEXT WEEK ]
• August 13-20 (WEEK 1) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOLD OUT!!! ]
• August 20-27 (WEEK 2) - Isla Mujeres & Whale Sharks, cenotes, and statues [ SOLD OUT!!! ]
• November 3-16 - Maldives on the Manthiri [ ONLY 1 SPOT LEFT ]
• 2017 - July 7-19 - Yap Immersion #1 (special 13-day trip featuring all that Yap has to offer) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 5 SPOTS LEFT ]
• 2017 - July 21-August 2 - Yap Immersion #2 (week #2 - same sked as above) [ LIMITED TO 12 DIVERS - 10 SPOTS LEFT ]
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
———————————————————————————————————————————
Now we know what it was like living on Krypton . . .
RED SUN - The Sand Fire, which as I'm writing has now covered 30,000 acres (roughly 47 square miles) and is still only 10% contained, is definitely a nightmare but the ash cloud it produced Saturday that hung over West L.A. and Santa Monica (as well as parts of the SF Valley) produced what appeared to be a red sun in the sky. (Superman fans will understand my Krypton reference above.) I happened to drive yesterday late afternoon from Marina del Rey to Santa Monica and then to Westwood and I was amazed by the numbers of people I saw standing with their cell phones pointed skyward, taking a picture of the red orb. Even more amazing was that the skies (at least in the Westwood area) were perfectly clear and blue today (Sunday). BTW, lost in all of this news is that there's a second fire burning up in Big Sur, the Soberanes Fire, which has burned 11,000 acres and is only 5% contained. This is simply NOT going to be a "good" fire season.
SHARKS NEXT WEEK - Amidst all of this fire turmoil, we are still prepping for next week's departure to journey to Isla Guadalupe aboard the Nautilus Belle Amie to seek out some Great White Shark action. We made this trip twice last year and we're looking forward to returning with a new batch of shark-seekers. We should have a Wi-Fi connection on the boat and will try to post images to our Facebook and Smugmug pages when we can.
ATOMIC SHARK - Although I'm actually looking forward to "Sharknado: The 4th Awakens" which premiers next Sunday on the SyFy Channel, tonight on SyFy (and I'm sure it'll repeat throughout the week) is "Atomic Shark" where lifeguards save people from radioactive sharks. I'm pretty sure it's not a documentary but if you're looking for some campy escapist fun, this may be the ticket.
GOOD NEWS FOR SHARKS - In a more serious vein, there was some good shark news this week as Cosco, China's largest shipping line, has pledged a total ban on carrying shark fins and shark fin-related products. This comes after an embarrassing discovery earlier this month of hammerhead shark fins being transported on one of their ships. Credit to WildAid Campaign Manager Alex Hofford (Alex Hofford) for writing a letter asking for the ban. You can read more about this in an article from the South China Morning Post: No to shark fin: China’s biggest shipping line Cosco pledges total ban on carrying product.
BRILLIANT POWER STRIP IDEA - While we're on our Guadalupe trip, we'll be taking lots of pictures. That means we'll also be recharging lots of electronics like laptops, cameras, batteries, strobes, GoPros, etc. One of the problems nowadays seem to be that with the size of some of the adapter plugs, you might have an 8-socket power strip, but because the plugs are so big or configured weirdly, plugging in one actually covers up two or more sockets. Enter Quail Electronics (in Livermore, CA), who has designed an ingenious 8-socket power strip where 6 of the 8 sockets rotate (there are 2 fixed sockets) that gives you full access to all 8 sockets (ROTATING POWER STRIP BY QUAIL ELECTRONICS). Plus, there's also a surge protector built in and a clever clip at the end of the strip to aid in power cable routing. (This will also be good if you have a lot of things plugged into a single strip for your desktop computer as I do.) Although you can buy them directly from Quail, they have a $100 minimum order so a better bet might be to order through MonoPrice in Rancho Cucamonga. They've got them for $17.99 each. In fact, MonoPrice is a great source for all kinds of plugs and cables. I've used them for years at the suggestion of our ace repair guru, Robert Stark. Here's the direct link to the power strip page: 8 Outlet Rotating Surge Strip - 2160 Joules - Monoprice.com.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
