Bottom Times

Monthly Newsletter of the Redwood Empire Divers of Northern California July 2002

RED Home Page

General Meeting:

Because of the Fourth of July, the meeting was moved a week. Meet at 6:00 with a potluck item at Findley park!

Business Meeting:

Because of the Fourth of July, the meeting was moved a week. Meet at 6:00 with a potluck item at Walnut Park in Petaluma

This Month's Club Dive: Monterey

The Grand Flat ones are in Monterey, and we are soon to follow! Charles Dollwett is reserving three rooms (I believe.) and RED will make an appearance! Come and join us July 19-21st! Talk to Charles, or make your own reservations.

Lobster Trip!

If you are signed up, it is time to give Gary the balance of your money! I don.t know how many lobsters will decide to join us, but we are going to have a spectacular trip.

The balance due is $280.00 per person and it should be mailed to Gary Baumoel at 1009 McNear Ave., Petaluma, CA 94952-5214.

June Fishing Report

As I did not get to do any tank diving in June I thought I would report on the fishing I did. I went abalone diving once during the month and conditions were pretty fair, no trouble getting a limit.

On the last day of June Kim & I went salmon fishing on Charles. new boat. The boat is very nice and it was the first time for it in the ocean. Unfortunately, the seas were pretty bad that day, 8 foot swells at nine seconds and wind to 15 knots. But we braved the ocean and followed Dave Batt.s boat out of Bodega Bay. Dave and Mike quickly got their limits of salmon, but our boat was getting nothing.

After a few hours Charles said he wanted to fish, so I rigged a new rotary salmon killer on my pole and Charles fished for a while. No bites, and Kim was curled up in ball from not feeling well. I didn.t blame her at all as I had already chummed. Took my pole back and was holding hers too when I finally got a big strike. After several runs by the fish it finally got close enough to take a look at and it was big. We finally managed to get it in the net and broke the net in the process. I was so nervous until the fish was actually in the boat, it was the biggest looking salmon I had ever caught.

We chucked it in the box and continued fishing for a while but nothing. Once we hit the dock Fish & Game was there and wanted to see our catch, I was proud to show off my great catch until the warden tried to remove the hook from the mouth. It wouldn.t come out and I commented that it should slide right out. He pushed it the other way and we could both see that the barb had not been crimped. I was stunned to realize that I had forget to check the tackle since it was not mine and it was brand new.

The warden said he was thinking of confiscating my fish and I was crestfallen to say the least. He wrote me a ticket and I will have to go to court for it, but he did let me keep the fish. I was actually more disturbed by the fact that I did not give the fish a sporting chance than by the fact that I got a ticket.

Oh well, live & learn and remember to always be responsible for your own gear and not to borrow stuff from other people. Oh yea, I guess if you have read this far you deserve to know . 34 pounds!

Dues are Due

If your dues are not paid for this year you need to pay! If your dues are not paid by the time the August newsletter is published you won.t get it! Your $40 covers the campouts, as well as turkey, ham and other good stuff at the Christmas and St. Patrick's Day parties. Cheap at the price!

Members Go Diving

I don.t know about the rest of you, but Clay, Molly, and I went out on Friday the 5th of July. We launched Clay.s boat at Ocean Cove and headed south a mile to a new spot. Lot.s of interesting rocks and holes and Molly and I saw two Lings.

Visibility started out good, but became worse with the deteriorating topside conditions. The water was especially cold. 46 degrees according to Molly.s computer. Eeek! It.s enough to make me appreciate our normally balmy low 50.s!

The trip back was a bit of an adventure. The wind had picked up and the wind spray was up and the boat filled with water and we were all relieved when we returned to shore!

Clay told me that his only worry was that the engine might die, but he didn.t want to tell me that because I looked worried enough. I told him that I had also had that thought, but with the wind and spray hitting my face, it was not all that high on my worry list!

A great big thank you to Clay for his generosity in taking us out!

Dave Batt's Advice

Our Friend Dave Batt thinks that Fishing is Better Than Sex. I.ll let him have his say, while holding my own counsel on the subject.

Why Fishing Is Better Than Sex

1. You don't have to hide your Fishing magazines.

2. It's perfectly acceptable to pay a professional to Fish with you once in a while.

3. The Ten Commandments don't say anything about Fishing.

4. If your partner takes pictures or videotapes of you Fishing in your whaler, you don't have to worry about them showing up on the internet if you later become famous.

5. Your Fishing partner doesn't get upset about people you fished with long ago.

6. It's perfectly respectable to Fish with a total stranger.

7. When you see a really good Fisher person, you don't have to feel guilty about imagining the two of you Fishing in a whaler together.

8. If your regular Fishing partner isn't available, he/she won't object if you Fish with someone else.

9. Nobody will ever tell you that you will go blind if you Fish by yourself.

10. When dealing with a Fishing pro, you never have to wonder if they are really an undercover cop.

11. You can have a Fishing calendar on your wall at the office, tell Fishing jokes, and invite coworkers to Fish with you without getting sued for harassment.

12. There are no Fishing-transmitted diseases.

13. If you want to watch Fishing on television, you don't have to subscribe to the Playboy channel.

14. Nobody expects you to Fish with the same partner for the rest of your life.

15. Nobody expects you to give up Fishing if your partner loses interest in it.

16. Your Fishing partner will never say, "Not again! We just Fished last week! Is Fishing all you ever think about?"

17. With Fishing it doesn't matter if your worm is limp and dead, and it feels just as good to Fish with a plastic worm.

Member Roster

Member List - password protected. The username is an acronym for the club, and the password is a vernaculer expression for a particularly fine example of something that we hunt. If these hints are inadeqate, email me Rich@chilidog.com and I'll send you the password.

GENERAL MEETINGS

Start at 7:00 pm at:

Stony Point Roundtable Pizza

2065 Occidental Road, Santa Rosa

DIVES!

Single day dives meet at 8:00 am (except when they don't). Alternate dives take place at the same time and location as the first dive, but only if the scheduled dive is canceled.

WEB SITES

RED Site: http://www.redwoodempiredivers.com

Jed Douglas RED WEB: http://www.webperception.com/jdouglas

Rocky's Home Page: http://www.sonic.net/~rocky

(with great tips on Abalone!)

CA Dept of Fish & Game: http://www.dfg.ca.gov

California Coastal Buoy Map: http://www.oceanweather.com/~oceanwx/data/cal.html

Club Equipment

Videos - Tom Stolzheise

Marine Radio - Michael Mendoza

O2 Kit - Jed Douglas

Fish & Ab Log - Jed Douglas

Picnic Supplies - Dave Batt

Contact these members for use of the equipment.

Club Officers

Jock Doss - President

Michael Mendoza - Vice President

Jed Douglas - Secretary

Bob Simpton - Treasurer

Rich Gibson - Newsletter Editor

RED Events Calendar 2002

July
7/11 General Meeting 6:00 pm Pot Luck at 
Findley Park!
7/19-7/21 - Monterey!
7/18 - Business Meeting potluck at Walnut Park Petaluma
7/20 or 7/27 - Member Dive Jock Split Rock/Tomales
August
8/1 General Meeting 7:00 pm Round Table
8/2-4 Doran Beach 
8/15 - Business Meeting Location  TBD
Mike Mendoza in Catalina for a week. Looking for Sea Bass and Yellow Tail! Bob Simpton on a houseboat water skiing
September
9/5 General Meeting 7:00 pm Round Table
9/6-8 - Van Damme or Russian Gulch
9/19 - Business Meeting Location  TBD
Date TBD Member Dive: Jock, Halibut! 
October
10/3 General Meeting 7:00 pm Round Table
10/5 Tomales, Halibut!
10/13-15 (or so) Member Dive: Gary: Peace lobster dive 
10/17 - Subject to change Business Meeting Location  TBD
November 
11/7 General Meeting 7:00 pm Round Table
11/9 - Anchor Bay
11/21 - Business Meeting Location  TBD
December
12/5 General Meeting 7:00 pm Round Table
12/7 - Stillwater
12/14 Christmas Party!