Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Seems like fall came and went and now summer is back . . .
WEATHER'S CHANGING DURING THE WEEK - Hot today (Sunday - topping out around 87º), mild Santa Ana on Monday, but then chance of RAIN on Wednesday, and then 20º cooler after that. I'm very confused.
CONDITIONS - Surf was up a bit Sunday at Redondo. We had an Aquarium dive team out there on Thursday and they reported about 10-foot viz, although a little bit better down in the canyon. No squid eggs sighted yet, though. But saw a post on FB from Capt. Kim Lancaster of the Cee Ray on her way to Catalina via "Lake Pacific." Nice and calm going over and the conditions at the island have been relatively decent for the last week. Again, can't emphasize too much how nice it can be during the fall months and the water stays relatively warm as well.Really doesn't start dropping significantly until January.
DEMA SHOW JUST ENDED - DEMA stands for "Dive Equipment Marketing Association" and is the umbrella trade group for the entire dive industry. The annual show - think of the LB Scuba Show x 10 - just ended in Orlando. I haven't seen anything yet touting any magnificent new items or trends but will keep my ears open and pass them on to you. However, this show usually is somewhat travel-heavy and they offer incentives to us to pass on to you to get you to sign up for trips. Which leads me to . . .
WANNA SAVE $400??? - Of course you do. And yes, there's a catch. We want to go back to Guadalupe and experience the Great Whites again in 2020. There's a DEMA special through Nautilus that I'm happy to pass on to you but the catch is: YOU HAVE TO COMMIT TO THE TRIP PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 30. The good news is I only need five people to make this work (we can certainly take more than that) and secure this deal and I've already got one and maybe even a second and third. The trip dates I have in mind are September 9-14. The advantage of those dates is that they are a Wednesday and a Monday. Since the trip leaves from San Diego, this means we can avoid the horror of trying to make that drive on a Friday or Sunday. I've done this trip four times already and can guarantee you we'll have Great Whites up close and personal and it will definitely be memorable. And we can even take non-certified divers along because there are surface cages they can use to see these predators as well. The normal cost of this trip is $3,795 (includes motor coach to Ensenada from SD, diving, meals, Mexican taxes, generous crew tip) but if you commit before November 30, it's only $3,395. A $500 deposit holds your spot and we can work out payment options that fit your budget. Take a look at the photos and trip report from 2017 and once your juices start flowing, give us a call at 310/652-4990 and get in on the action. (2017 GUADALUPE PHOTOS & REPORT)
SOCORRO TOO - I'm also planning a 2020 return to Socorro (also with Nautilus), as well as sojourns back to Yap, Bonaire, Isla Mujeres, and Indonesia. You can get all the details as well as see photos from previous trips with this link: REEF SEEKERS 2020 VACATIONS TRIPS.
NAVIGATION CLASS THIS COMING SATURDAY - Conditions permitting of course (although we can do this without an actual dive since we start with some land nav), but if you'd like to feel a bit more confident in knowing where you are underwater relative to where you started - and getting back to that starting point when you're done - join us for this one. We'll go over some easy-to-learn navigation tricks, show how natural navigation can help you as well, do some dry practice runs, and then do a single-tank dive. All at Vets Park in Redondo starting around 9AM this Saturday. Call 310/652-4990 to get signed up.
NOTHING NEW ON CONCEPTION OR RED SEA AGGRESSOR FIRES - As I think I've mentioned before, one hope is that investigators can see if there are any similarities between the two which would provide some answers. One thing to remember, at least the way I look at things, is there are really three areas to examine here: #1 - What caused the fires? #2 - Why did the fires spread (on both boats) so quickly? #3 - What needs to be done to fight/extinguish/retard the fires while at the same time insuring passengers have options to get out of harm's way, which may include accessing the main deck so they can jump into the water. Unfortunately, from what I've seen and read so far, only #3 is really being addressed and there's minimal attention to #1, outside of no overnight charging of batteries. But if the batteries are inherently that dangerous, do they need to be stored and charged differently or even banned from boats altogether? And given that boats are supposed to be constructed from materials that burn slowly enough to allow passengers time to escape, why didn't that happen in two cases? And we also have to look at why, in both instances, no one was hearing smoke alarms going off. It's important to remember that when we "test" a smoke alarm, all we're really doing is testing that the buzzer works. But if it doesn't actually detect the smoke, that the buzzer works doesn't matter if it never triggers. So lots of areas to look at. There was a Congressional hearing last week with NTSB and USCG brass where USCG was pretty much taken to task for ignoring previous NTSB safety suggestions. My personal fear is that now they'll OVER-react and draconian regulations will be imposed to make it look like they're doing "something" but which will have little real practical effect. We shall see.
CAN'T END ON THAT NOTE - Since I don't want to end this on such a down note, let me invite you to spend a few minutes back in the Maldives with us, and just enjoy the splendor of a vibrant reef:
MALDIVES DIVING.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
WEATHER'S CHANGING DURING THE WEEK - Hot today (Sunday - topping out around 87º), mild Santa Ana on Monday, but then chance of RAIN on Wednesday, and then 20º cooler after that. I'm very confused.
CONDITIONS - Surf was up a bit Sunday at Redondo. We had an Aquarium dive team out there on Thursday and they reported about 10-foot viz, although a little bit better down in the canyon. No squid eggs sighted yet, though. But saw a post on FB from Capt. Kim Lancaster of the Cee Ray on her way to Catalina via "Lake Pacific." Nice and calm going over and the conditions at the island have been relatively decent for the last week. Again, can't emphasize too much how nice it can be during the fall months and the water stays relatively warm as well.Really doesn't start dropping significantly until January.
DEMA SHOW JUST ENDED - DEMA stands for "Dive Equipment Marketing Association" and is the umbrella trade group for the entire dive industry. The annual show - think of the LB Scuba Show x 10 - just ended in Orlando. I haven't seen anything yet touting any magnificent new items or trends but will keep my ears open and pass them on to you. However, this show usually is somewhat travel-heavy and they offer incentives to us to pass on to you to get you to sign up for trips. Which leads me to . . .
WANNA SAVE $400??? - Of course you do. And yes, there's a catch. We want to go back to Guadalupe and experience the Great Whites again in 2020. There's a DEMA special through Nautilus that I'm happy to pass on to you but the catch is: YOU HAVE TO COMMIT TO THE TRIP PRIOR TO NOVEMBER 30. The good news is I only need five people to make this work (we can certainly take more than that) and secure this deal and I've already got one and maybe even a second and third. The trip dates I have in mind are September 9-14. The advantage of those dates is that they are a Wednesday and a Monday. Since the trip leaves from San Diego, this means we can avoid the horror of trying to make that drive on a Friday or Sunday. I've done this trip four times already and can guarantee you we'll have Great Whites up close and personal and it will definitely be memorable. And we can even take non-certified divers along because there are surface cages they can use to see these predators as well. The normal cost of this trip is $3,795 (includes motor coach to Ensenada from SD, diving, meals, Mexican taxes, generous crew tip) but if you commit before November 30, it's only $3,395. A $500 deposit holds your spot and we can work out payment options that fit your budget. Take a look at the photos and trip report from 2017 and once your juices start flowing, give us a call at 310/652-4990 and get in on the action. (2017 GUADALUPE PHOTOS & REPORT)
SOCORRO TOO - I'm also planning a 2020 return to Socorro (also with Nautilus), as well as sojourns back to Yap, Bonaire, Isla Mujeres, and Indonesia. You can get all the details as well as see photos from previous trips with this link: REEF SEEKERS 2020 VACATIONS TRIPS.
NAVIGATION CLASS THIS COMING SATURDAY - Conditions permitting of course (although we can do this without an actual dive since we start with some land nav), but if you'd like to feel a bit more confident in knowing where you are underwater relative to where you started - and getting back to that starting point when you're done - join us for this one. We'll go over some easy-to-learn navigation tricks, show how natural navigation can help you as well, do some dry practice runs, and then do a single-tank dive. All at Vets Park in Redondo starting around 9AM this Saturday. Call 310/652-4990 to get signed up.
NOTHING NEW ON CONCEPTION OR RED SEA AGGRESSOR FIRES - As I think I've mentioned before, one hope is that investigators can see if there are any similarities between the two which would provide some answers. One thing to remember, at least the way I look at things, is there are really three areas to examine here: #1 - What caused the fires? #2 - Why did the fires spread (on both boats) so quickly? #3 - What needs to be done to fight/extinguish/retard the fires while at the same time insuring passengers have options to get out of harm's way, which may include accessing the main deck so they can jump into the water. Unfortunately, from what I've seen and read so far, only #3 is really being addressed and there's minimal attention to #1, outside of no overnight charging of batteries. But if the batteries are inherently that dangerous, do they need to be stored and charged differently or even banned from boats altogether? And given that boats are supposed to be constructed from materials that burn slowly enough to allow passengers time to escape, why didn't that happen in two cases? And we also have to look at why, in both instances, no one was hearing smoke alarms going off. It's important to remember that when we "test" a smoke alarm, all we're really doing is testing that the buzzer works. But if it doesn't actually detect the smoke, that the buzzer works doesn't matter if it never triggers. So lots of areas to look at. There was a Congressional hearing last week with NTSB and USCG brass where USCG was pretty much taken to task for ignoring previous NTSB safety suggestions. My personal fear is that now they'll OVER-react and draconian regulations will be imposed to make it look like they're doing "something" but which will have little real practical effect. We shall see.
CAN'T END ON THAT NOTE - Since I don't want to end this on such a down note, let me invite you to spend a few minutes back in the Maldives with us, and just enjoy the splendor of a vibrant reef:
MALDIVES DIVING.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
