Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (SOLD OUT)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (2 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Mar. 22 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Apr. 7 - Redondo - Navigation class (single dive - $25)
• Tue., Apr. 10 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Apr. 28 - Catalina Express - Underwater Park ($150)
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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It was a beautiful day to go 26.2 . . .
CONGRATS TO THE MARATHONERS - The marathon goes up Sepulveda and crosses Ohio which is literally five blocks from where I live. So I went out at 8:30AM to see the lead men and women runners go by and then went back out shortly before 11AM to look for Reef Seekers DM Mitch Jacoves, who I think now runs more often than he dives. Mitch is a part of the L.A. Road Runners (I believe he's a coach or team captain) and when I caught up with him at the 20.5-mile mark (Ohio/Sepulveda), he was encouraging a fellow RR along. I'm happy to report that Mitch finished (yet again) in a net time of 4:54:20. I took a bunch of marathon photos and put them up on SmugMug. If you're interested, you can view them through this link: https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/…/LA-MARATHON-2018-at-OhioSe…/ .
WE DIDN'T GO TO AVALON ON SATURDAY - I was hoping to have a wonderful report for you along with some pix to share but we had one of those triple-witching-hour things where one diver canceled on Friday (ear infection) and the other two bailed Saturday morning at 6:29AM (a last-minute personal issue) so I simply pulled the drapes shut, crawled back into bed, and went back to sleep. I heard some mixed reviews about diving in general at Catalina on Saturday, most likely due to runoff from the rain, and saw a couple of things from people who said it was OK (but not spectacular) on Sunday. C'est la vie. We'll try again at the end of April.
A SPOT OPENED UP ON THE ROATAN TRIP - I just had a cancellation for Roatan so we've got a female-share spot available now. This is shaping up a s a lovely trip and it looks like we'll have enough people (around 15) so that we'll have a boat all to ourselves. Cost of the trip is just $2,195 (plus airfare) but that covers you for all diving AND all meals at Anthony's Key in one of their top-level rooms on the Key with a deck over the water, as well as a the crew tip. It's a pretty good deal. A $500 deposit will hold your spot. If you're interested, give us a call at 310/652-4990.
CHAMBER DAY EARLY-BIRD PRICING ENDS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS - Just a reminder that you can save $15 on the Chamber Day dive by signing up and paying for your spot before March 31 at 11:59PM. Up until that time, we're offering an "early-bird" rate of just $95/diver. After that date, we go to our regular price of $110. (For both, there's also the mandatory $30 food-and-air added on to the price.) Please remember that Chamber Day is a fundraising event and not a normal dive day charter. Due to the logistical issues involved, if weather conditions preclude the dive boats from safely going out on Chamber Day there will not be a make-up day. If weather forces us to cancel you will be transferred to the Flying Dutchman, and you will be given an additional 10 daytime raffle tickets. The bottom line in all of this is that your continued support of our Chamber, in whatever form that takes, is essential for our Chamber to remain available and on-watch 24/7/365. And that means we need you to sign up for Chamber Day 2018 by calling a sponsoring shop or club, by calling our main number at 310-652-4990, or by going to our secure server at www.chamberday.org. Come alone or bring a buddy, but don’t miss this special event!
THERE'S ALSO CHAMBER EVE AND THE V.G.D. VIP PACKAGE - Reef Seekers has a table at Chamber Eve (as do other stores and clubs) but no matter where you sit, give some thought to treating yourself to the V.G.D (Very Generous Diver) VIP Package. You'll get in early (6PM), have access to a private lounge and bar all evening, will get free preferred parking, extra raffle tickets, a t-shirt, and you'll be supporting our Chamber. You can get this package as a $75 add-on to your Chamber Eve ticket when you sign up at www.chamberday.org . If you've already purchased your ticket, you can add the V.G.D. VIP Package on by calling Chamber Day HQ (which is also Reef Seekers) at 310/652-4990.
THURSDAY SQUID DIVE LOOKS DOUBTFUL - I'll keep it on the sked, but given what the weather is shaping up to be this week (heavy rain Tuesday night into Thursday night), I'm thinking not only is the Thursday Squid Dive not going to happen, but that you'll likely be willing to pay NOT to go. WetSand is predicting 4-5' surf Wednesday and Thursday (and even into the weekend) so to say this doesn't look promising is likely an understatement.
FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE WEEK - This one comes from Jeff Reimer, who was a member of our Avalon Underwater Cleanup crew. In Jeff's own words: "On the clean-up I found an iPhone. Brought it home as one of my mementos. Cleaned it up and put it on my desk and didn't even think about. Last week, I figured maybe I could get access to the SIM card to see what was on there. I don't have an iPhone so I took it to work and my friend who has an iPhone plugged it in to charge it. A few minutes went by and he yelled for me to come over and - lo and behold - the phone came on. It was a beautiful family on the screen! But it was locked so we couldn't do anything. But then we took the SIM card out and tried it in his iPhone. It identified the phone with its number! I called it and got an answer. They live in Newport and I said I could bring it to them. And that's what I will be doing next Saturday after a couple dives. And it will be another great story of one of my endeavors of the underwater world. She said she lost it on the Super Bowl day, which was February 4th. February 24th was the Cleanup so it spent 20 days at a depth of 20 feet. Maybe I should contact Apple about doing a commercial for them." Good for you, Jeff. Karma can be wonderful and I believe you will be duly rewarded.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• April 14-21 - Bonaire (SOLD OUT)
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (2 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
—————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., Mar. 22 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Apr. 7 - Redondo - Navigation class (single dive - $25)
• Tue., Apr. 10 - Redondo - Squid Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Apr. 28 - Catalina Express - Underwater Park ($150)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
—————————————————————————
It was a beautiful day to go 26.2 . . .
CONGRATS TO THE MARATHONERS - The marathon goes up Sepulveda and crosses Ohio which is literally five blocks from where I live. So I went out at 8:30AM to see the lead men and women runners go by and then went back out shortly before 11AM to look for Reef Seekers DM Mitch Jacoves, who I think now runs more often than he dives. Mitch is a part of the L.A. Road Runners (I believe he's a coach or team captain) and when I caught up with him at the 20.5-mile mark (Ohio/Sepulveda), he was encouraging a fellow RR along. I'm happy to report that Mitch finished (yet again) in a net time of 4:54:20. I took a bunch of marathon photos and put them up on SmugMug. If you're interested, you can view them through this link: https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/…/LA-MARATHON-2018-at-OhioSe…/ .
WE DIDN'T GO TO AVALON ON SATURDAY - I was hoping to have a wonderful report for you along with some pix to share but we had one of those triple-witching-hour things where one diver canceled on Friday (ear infection) and the other two bailed Saturday morning at 6:29AM (a last-minute personal issue) so I simply pulled the drapes shut, crawled back into bed, and went back to sleep. I heard some mixed reviews about diving in general at Catalina on Saturday, most likely due to runoff from the rain, and saw a couple of things from people who said it was OK (but not spectacular) on Sunday. C'est la vie. We'll try again at the end of April.
A SPOT OPENED UP ON THE ROATAN TRIP - I just had a cancellation for Roatan so we've got a female-share spot available now. This is shaping up a s a lovely trip and it looks like we'll have enough people (around 15) so that we'll have a boat all to ourselves. Cost of the trip is just $2,195 (plus airfare) but that covers you for all diving AND all meals at Anthony's Key in one of their top-level rooms on the Key with a deck over the water, as well as a the crew tip. It's a pretty good deal. A $500 deposit will hold your spot. If you're interested, give us a call at 310/652-4990.
CHAMBER DAY EARLY-BIRD PRICING ENDS IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS - Just a reminder that you can save $15 on the Chamber Day dive by signing up and paying for your spot before March 31 at 11:59PM. Up until that time, we're offering an "early-bird" rate of just $95/diver. After that date, we go to our regular price of $110. (For both, there's also the mandatory $30 food-and-air added on to the price.) Please remember that Chamber Day is a fundraising event and not a normal dive day charter. Due to the logistical issues involved, if weather conditions preclude the dive boats from safely going out on Chamber Day there will not be a make-up day. If weather forces us to cancel you will be transferred to the Flying Dutchman, and you will be given an additional 10 daytime raffle tickets. The bottom line in all of this is that your continued support of our Chamber, in whatever form that takes, is essential for our Chamber to remain available and on-watch 24/7/365. And that means we need you to sign up for Chamber Day 2018 by calling a sponsoring shop or club, by calling our main number at 310-652-4990, or by going to our secure server at www.chamberday.org. Come alone or bring a buddy, but don’t miss this special event!
THERE'S ALSO CHAMBER EVE AND THE V.G.D. VIP PACKAGE - Reef Seekers has a table at Chamber Eve (as do other stores and clubs) but no matter where you sit, give some thought to treating yourself to the V.G.D (Very Generous Diver) VIP Package. You'll get in early (6PM), have access to a private lounge and bar all evening, will get free preferred parking, extra raffle tickets, a t-shirt, and you'll be supporting our Chamber. You can get this package as a $75 add-on to your Chamber Eve ticket when you sign up at www.chamberday.org . If you've already purchased your ticket, you can add the V.G.D. VIP Package on by calling Chamber Day HQ (which is also Reef Seekers) at 310/652-4990.
THURSDAY SQUID DIVE LOOKS DOUBTFUL - I'll keep it on the sked, but given what the weather is shaping up to be this week (heavy rain Tuesday night into Thursday night), I'm thinking not only is the Thursday Squid Dive not going to happen, but that you'll likely be willing to pay NOT to go. WetSand is predicting 4-5' surf Wednesday and Thursday (and even into the weekend) so to say this doesn't look promising is likely an understatement.
FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE WEEK - This one comes from Jeff Reimer, who was a member of our Avalon Underwater Cleanup crew. In Jeff's own words: "On the clean-up I found an iPhone. Brought it home as one of my mementos. Cleaned it up and put it on my desk and didn't even think about. Last week, I figured maybe I could get access to the SIM card to see what was on there. I don't have an iPhone so I took it to work and my friend who has an iPhone plugged it in to charge it. A few minutes went by and he yelled for me to come over and - lo and behold - the phone came on. It was a beautiful family on the screen! But it was locked so we couldn't do anything. But then we took the SIM card out and tried it in his iPhone. It identified the phone with its number! I called it and got an answer. They live in Newport and I said I could bring it to them. And that's what I will be doing next Saturday after a couple dives. And it will be another great story of one of my endeavors of the underwater world. She said she lost it on the Super Bowl day, which was February 4th. February 24th was the Cleanup so it spent 20 days at a depth of 20 feet. Maybe I should contact Apple about doing a commercial for them." Good for you, Jeff. Karma can be wonderful and I believe you will be duly rewarded.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
