Dive Club of Silicon Valley

DOCSV Meeting on Feb 19, 2014

• Walt ran the meeting this week

• We asked for ideas for speakers and topics for future events at the club meetings – if you have an idea, please see a board member – we’d love to hear from you!

• Local Dives:

  • Keithen, Mike and Walt did the midweek sunset dive at McAbee on Wednesday; Flat, flat water with 25′+   vis, as far as your flashlight would penetrate; no octopus, but sand dabs, crabs, etc; lots of bioluminescence, very cool

  • Marcello and Jim; great day at Breakwater on Saturday; horrid dives at Pt Lobos on Sunday – very heavy surge and vis of only  ~2 ft.

• Jim recently played with the DUI heated undergarments – keep you toasty warm; DUI will demo them at the demo days at Breakwater in June (go to their web site early and sign up if you want to try them)

• Jim showed us a great video of diving the barge at Breakwater (most of us didn’t even know there WAS a barge at breakwater…)  and gave directions on how to get out to it

• Jim is organizing an altitude dive weekend at Tahoe  (May 30 & 31); he’s reserved a campsite;  sign-up will be on our web site

  Next meeting on March 5^th – see you there!

Met at Round Table Pizza in SVL at 7:30

• New Members: We welcomed several new members: David and Richard
• Recent Diving:
  • Pt lobos on Jan 19th was great with 33 dive club participants and 27 divers in the water; at 25′ there was 2′ vis; at 30′ it cleared to 30+’ vis; the boat was there and took divers around the corner to Blue Fish Cove for some great dives
  • Bart went to Florida and dove in Key Largo for great diving (too warm for a shortie!)
• Kayaking: Mike is currently working to perfect his dive-kayaking skills; he’ll talk about diving from a kayak at the club after he gets a few more dives under his belt
• February  Shore dive:
  • McAbee Beach for a NIGHT Dive
  • It’s on Cannery Row between Hoffman  and Prescott, right by El Torito’s
  • Feb 12 (next Wednesday) at 5:30pm; great site for macro photography!
  • If anyone is interested in getting certified as a night diver, contact Mike Davis – he’ll be glad to help you get night diver certified
  • Bring 2 lights, a tank light, a compass,  and money for Mexican food and/or margaritas after the diving
  • We should see lots of octopus!!!
  • Details will be on web site shortly; RSVP there
• Upcoming Club Events:
  • Bowling night
  • Family snorkel
  • Kayak diving
  • Pt Lobos club dive
  • Movie night
  • Fish Count
  • Day after dive
  • Holiday Party
  • Additional suggestions???  – please feel free to suggest other events you’d like the club to sponsor or participate in
• New Toy Demo:  Mike showed us an IronX camera that partners with a display screen on its paired watch to be able to see what your small camera is shooting.  Great above water with a 50′ range; unfortunately, under water the range seems to be < 15″, not really convenient yet…
• Next Club meeting: Feb 19th

This is video I shot on January 19, 2014 at the club’s Point Lobos dive. This was shot with the new Iron X DXG-D01V HD camera. A little blue but I think the camera was easy to use and had some great features. This is the camera I showed everyone on Wednesday’s meeting. Go to  http://youtu.be/th28Lb6Lxxw

The new 2014 abalone regulations have been announced. Follow this link to the Abalone pdf published by California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Here is a summary:
* Year-round Fort Ross Area Closure (see map)
* NEW start time: 8 a.m.
* NEW annual limits: Total overall annual bag limit is 18, of which only
9 can be from Sonoma and Marin counties.

For more information, go to Abalone Information at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife

• DCOSV met at Round Table Pizza at 7:30
• Memberships  for 2014
  • Dues are $50/year
  • Offering air fill cards this year (while supplies last)
  • Sign up on the web site or at the next meeting on Feb 5th
• Recent Local Diving
  • Locally, the diving has been terrific; there are octopus in large numbers at local dive sites like Breakwater (Mary saw 25+ in one day)
  • Starfish are reappearing, recovering from the wasting disease that devastated their population a few months ago
• Dive Trips by members
  • Walt and Butterfly gave a report on their trip to the Florida Keys; beautiful there but the weather could have been more cooperative for their diving…
• Next Club Diving Event – Sunday, Jan 19th at Pt Lobos
  • Club reserved 30 spots and there is a waitlist, too
• Upcoming Club Events
  • Bowling Night – in Feb
  • Family Snorkel – Spring
  • Monthly Dives organized by Walt – email will be sent out
• Ever wondered what dive conditions were going to be like?
  • Mike gave a presentation on how to find information on local dive conditions (these will be added to the Monterey Conditions tab of the website soon); here is the info on the websites he presented (note that these sites are managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA))
    • National Weather Service Marine predictions http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/data/Forecasts/FZUS56.KMTR.html Scroll down the page to find predictions for “Point Pinos to Point Piedras Blancas.”  This is the prediction for sea state over the course of several days.
    • Most of these predictions come from analyzing data acquired by buoys off the coast. My favorite buoy to watch is Station 46042- about 31 miles (27NM) WNW of Monterey. Go to http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=46042 to look at the data collected by the buoy. You will see a small map on the page that shows the relative position of this buoy and others located in the Monterey Bay. I[Mike]  look at wind speed, direction and wave height trends.
    • NOAA’s Nautical Charts http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/pdfcharts/  The chart for the area from San Francisco to Pont Sur is 18680. This doesn’t help predict waves, but it does satisfy Mike’s IP (Inner Pirate) urges.
• IMAX Show on Papua New Guinea
  • Bob Bynum suggested a club outing to see the IMAX show  about Papua New Guinea; there was a lot of interest from club members; email will be sent out to organize  this event
• Renewing your Fishing Licenses
  • Mike reminded everyone that it is time to get your fishing license if you want one
  • Jan 31st is also the deadline to turn in your tags from last year to avoid a penalty when you sign up for this year
• Next Club Meeting is Feb 5th, 7:30, Round Table Pizza