Peter has graced us in the past with his intimate knowledge of the biology of our beloved abalone. Last time he also brought a microscope so that we could view some of the many critters that call the abalone shell home. We will have two of them for him to dissect. Should be fun!
We had a MASSIVE turnout for the August meeting. All of the officers (Jock, Mike, Jed, Bob, Rich), plus Kim, Gary (the Conscience of the Club), Cathie Irwin, and two guests (!?). The conversation was hot, but the service was not as we waited up to an hour and a half for our food :-( Oh Well. Which is why the next meeting has a new location!
So come on out for another evening a month of talking about diving!
The September Campout is at Schooner's Landing RV Park and Marina in Albion. Going North on Highway One, cross over the Albion bridge, take the first right onto Albion River North Side Road.
We have reserved campsites: 37, 38, 39, and 40. Let's all try to be conscious of how we utilize the spaces and park boats in the overflow parking and park vehicles in a way to maximize occupancy. Reminder: We all agreed to a $ 10/night/family, one time charge to offset the costs of the private campgrounds we have used this year. Next year your trusty officers will do a better job of aggressively chasing the group sites as in the past! This is a new area for us and offers a lot of great diving nearby. Bring some firewood and something for the potluck on Saturday. --Jock Doss
The Mendoza clan was already in attendance and the ocean was flat as a pancake. Soon the rest of the members started trickling in. Phil & Lolli, Ron & family, Charles and his brother's family, Dave and Irene, and Clay completed the group.
Saturday morning everyone geared up for the fabulous salmon fishing we had heard so much about. Dave's boat was able to limit out by early afternoon with Ron nailing a 30+ pounder and a 25+ pounder.
The exciting part was when Mike hooked a nice fish on his fly rod with eight pound test and played it for 20 minutes trying to get it close enough to the boat. The three of us played follow the leader as we made laps around the boat to get out of each others way. Unfortunately, the fish broke off.
Mike was determined to lose his skunk, so after Charles got his two fish and I got one, we dropped Charles off, picked up more bait and headed back out. Mike finally got a nice fish, plus an 18 lb Ling Cod and I ended up with a 15 and a 21.5 lb catch. Mike and I sat on the boat for an hour in the harbor waiting for the tractor to pull us out, since self launch is difficult due to the long shallow ramp. We did get to watch the Osprey diving and catching bait fish right next to the boat.
While fishing a few miles offshore, we also saw whales, sea lions and lots of jellyfish. The sea lions were particularly adept at catching salmon off peoples lines, but luckily our boats seemed to be exempt. It was funny to watch the sea lion playing with the fish while the seagulls swooped in for little bites.
Dave's boat went Ab diving after the fishing was done but due to extremely poor visibility (six inches to 3 feet) no one caught any Abs. Even without snails the potluck was a smorgasbord of salmon, chicken, steak, veggies, and pie which was all extremely tasty as usual.
The next day saw another salmon fishing expedition on Dave and Mike's boats, with Clay taking his boat out for Abs. After reaching the limit quickly again, Dave headed back in.
The story on mike's boat seemed to be for me to keep losing the big ones. The first day a huge fish broke off right by the boat, and the next day was a comedy of errors when Mike's line got tangled in mine, he started hand-lining the fish in, yelled at me to cut my line so he could use his pole, then I choked on the net handling and the fish broke off. After the cursing was over it turns out the fish was on my line (which I had already cut) so we probably would have lost it anyway. In the end I returned home with 65 pounds of fish which made me very happy.
Clay's group experienced the same lousy vis as the previous day so no abs were acquired. Even without the abs I think the club managed to remove 25 salmon from the rapidly dwindling salmon population.
Another fantastic camp out, even with the golfers hitting us with golf balls and the drunk at the bar next door playing extremely bad trumpet. See you'all at Albion!
The excitement of the morning was when Mike's boat, and its' passengers, were in the vicinity of McClure's beach. They were close to another boat, where someone had a fish on. Suddenly a Great White came up and took a large bite out of the fish. The fisherman reeled in a bodyless Ling.
This lead to a certain level of nerves. Everyone mellowed a bit when Jed pointed out that the shark had just eaten, until Mike offered his advice that perhaps a Ling is just an appetizer.
Dave Batt had his boat, and I heard conflicting reports that he got a 'butt while freediving. This is either true, or at least it is believable. In either case, Dave is a diving animal (riding in three double-century bike rides in one summer also seems animal like).
Jock's boat had Jock, Bob, and Rich. There was some action. Jock came home with a Starry Flounder, which DK said sounded like some sort of magical creature, and someone else shot a little baby halibut while Rich was driving the boat.
Two weeks later Jock, Rich, and Molly went Ab'ing and halibut diving in Tomales Bay. Viz was poor, but Jock had the right reflexes because he got a good sized halibut. When he handed it up to the boat Rich learned that halibut are not large mouth bass, and that the right way to hold a halibut is not by putting your thumb in its' mouth.
The following Saturday (8/18) Jock, Bob, and Rich made their way up to the North side of Fisk Mill Cove. We gathered on the cliff trying to guess at conditions. The Viz looked wretched, but since it was protected we decided to go for it.
Cave and Technical divers say that if you are tying to decide whether or not to dive you have already decided. I agree about safety issues, but I think that this diving season has provided some new lessons.
If you are trying to decide whether or not to go to the coast, based on condition reports, then you should GO. If you are at the coast, trying to decide whether or not to go in based on visibility concerns, then GO.
My best dives of the year have been on days that the swell report and internet reports said would be undiveable.
Bob left his weight belt at home. I think that this was part of a devious plan that allowed him to save carrying as much weight on the four mile hike in and out (this might be an exaggeration).
With Jock and Bob sharing a weight belt Rich was able to get one, and possibly two Abs before they were done. Jock says that getting Abs is about as hard as picking your butt. I am not yet at that point!
Since they had time to kill they decided to sit on a large rock. The upcoming lobster trip made them want to practice their giant stride entries, from the top of the rock, and then Bob's misplaced mask allowed Jock to practice emergency mask search and recovery (he got it on the first dive).
A little snooze on the beach, and a nice lunch at the Salt Point Lodge rounded out yet another day of magic on the coast.
It's Relay For Life time...and I want to give you the opportunity to be part of something really big! I will be putting my energy into raising money for the fight against cancer. I will be running (walking) in a relay September 15th through the 16th.
Emotions run high at Relay For Life...as I give up a day of my life to fight cancer. It is an incredible event! I will be walking in honor of three very special friends that have been touched by cancer.
Nancy, my college roommate, was diagnosed with breast cancer in June of this year so her fight has just begun. I will also be walking for my friend Lee, who has been surviving cancer for what seems like a very long time. The third women, Lisa, who has inspired a whole club of divers to get involved in supporting the effort, has also been fighting her own battle for a very long time.
I have great admiration for these women. For their strength, courage and positive will to survive. This is my effort to help and honor myself, friends and family members who have had cancer.
I will light a luminaria in memory of those who have passed on from cancer, and in honor of those who are cancer survivors! I invite you to help in the fight by making a donation to the American Cancer Society through Relay For Life.
Please write down names of those whom you'd like me to honor or remember and we will light a luminaria on their behalf during the evening tribute and celebration. Redwood Empire Divers can each designate Lisa as an honorary as well as anyone else you would like to personally dedicate to.
I'll put my feet to work on the track. Together we will beat cancer.
All donations must be to me by September 5th. Checks should be made out to the American Cancer Society, and sent (or brought to the next meeting):
Cathie Irwin
4536 Bennett Valley Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
Thank You,
The web site also has links to pictures from club events. If you have pictures that you want included, please get them to me! I can scan pictures, and directly post image files.
I am also sending out club announcements to people via email. If you want to be on the list, send your email address to Rich@chilidog.com.
A report from MV Bilikiki, July 2001
by Managers Monty Sheppard and Michelle Gaut
The last time we heard Kavachi Volcano was around April this year when the Cathy Church Photo group was onboard. At that time it was rumbling quietly, every few minutes. Cathy commented that it was the first time she had ever heard it in all the times that she has been to Solomon Islands.
The other day while diving Mborokua (Mary) Island, Kavachi was the most active that we have heard it. Lots of loud noise, bangs and what sounded like nonstop thunderclaps, right above our heads. It's an amazing experience to feel the vibrations resonate throughout your body. A few 'explosions' were loud enough that our ears vibrated - like being right next to a stereo turned up too loud.
We hadn't been giving Kavachi much thought as we prepared for the dive off Bilikiki that day, and didn't think to inform the guests before they got in the water. A few minutes into the dive we looked around to see a lot of 'dinner plate' sized eyes staring back at us!! We signaled 'okay' and carried on with the dive. Back aboard ship we had a little bit of explaining to do. Even though it was at least 60 miles (95 km) away from our dive location it didn't really seem that far. This was the loudest and most frequent we had ever heard it. Even Captain Frank said that he heard the rumbling aboard the ship!!
According to the Lonely Planet, Kavachi was above the sea's surface from late April to early June 1991. It rose about 45 feet (15m) high, spitting volcanic magma out constantly. The volcanic island grew to about one acre (1/3 ha), before subsiding again below the waves. Sunsets all around the area were a spectacular blood red, the brilliant colours caused by volcanic dust.
Kavachi has erupted four times in the past 40 years, each time in a slightly different position. On more recent occasions, it threw plumes of sea water and rock into the air, though no island was formed. Earlier activity, in 1985, caused the surrounding surface water to boil.
Last year, Kavachi was fairly active and started to form an island as it has done before. MV Bilikiki cruised quite close to the place of most activity, where smoke and boulders were being thrown into the sky. It was a phenomenal event for guests to witness and photograph. Nevertheless, an island did not form that time and Kavachi has remained reasonably quiet, until last week.
So when you're diving with Bilikiki Cruises near Mborokua (Mary) Island, or Marovo lagoon, keep an ear open for Kavachi Submarine Volcano.
For the latest information on our cruises, departue schedules, and on Solomon Islands, please visit our website: http://www.infobilikiki.com
September 6th-General Meeting at Round Table
September 20th-Business Meeting at, Moylan's in Novato
October 4th-General Meeting at Round Table. Abalone expert Peter Otis will grace us with his expert knowledge.
October 14-16: Lobster dive on the Peace!
October 18th-Business Meeting somewhere.
Stony Point Roundtable Pizza
2065 Occidental Road, Santa Rosa
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
Marine Radio - Michael Mendoza
O2 Kit - Michael Mendoza
Fish & Ab Log - Dave Batt
Picnic Supplies - Dave Batt
Contact these members for use of the equipment.
Michael Mendoza - Vice President
Jed Douglas - Secretary
Bob Simpton - Treasurer
Rich Gibson - Newsletter Editor