Sole Searchers Newsletters

Wooo hoooo! Yup, we’re doing it again!!!

The 27 th Annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup which will be held on:

Saturday, February 23, 2008

OK Sole Searchers, we’ve been doing this for several years, so when signing up, sign up for the cleanup at Casino Landing as your preferred dive location. This puts us right at Casino Point, which makes it really easy to do a second dive at the underwater park. There’s nothing like a pleasure dive after you’ve done your job collecting trash from the marina. Of course, if you prefer, you also have the option of going to the awards ceremony/raffle and forego the second dive. Personally, I just want more dives
After the dives, we can all go grab a bite to eat and leisurely catch the Catalina Express back.

To get there:
We’re going to take the 6:15 a.m. Catalina Express from San Pedro
Return: take the 6:00 p.m. Catalina Express from Avalon to San Pedro.
Catalina Express: http://www.catalinaexpress.com/index.php
There is a $12 all day parking fee at San Pedro, so carpool if you can.
All dive gear will be transfered by Catalina Baggage. Once we get to Avalon, there will be trucks hauling our gear to the dive site. Just let them know which dive location you will be checking in.

As usual, let me know if you’re going. I’ve already got six of us going, and I haven’t even announced it yet… wait, now I have :-p Below you’ll find more info. Contact person for our club: Kaz Aizawa kaizawa@earthlink.net

The 27th Annual Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup is a milestone event that you will not want to miss. This event has grown into one of the major dive events in Southern California . We expect approximately 550 divers from across California and neighboring states join in this annual endeavor to clean Avalon’s spectacular harbor of accumulated junk and lost overboard “treasures”. Divers submit items/artifacts for the prestigious Trash Award competition.The proceeds from the event are for the benefit of Catalina Island Conservancy’s Bob Given Ocean Conservation Fund and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, a life support recompression chamber on Catalina that serves the thousands of divers who frequent the nearby waters.

The good folks at CCD have put together a website so you can register online by going to http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/ecology/underwater_cleanup.cfm and clicking on REGISTER NOW. You can also get more info by contacting the Cleanup Hotline at 310-510-2595 x 123, or e-mail at: avalonharborcleanup@gmail.com. Below is what I’ve copied and pasted from their site.

We hope you will be able to join us for the dive!!

The Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup is an annual dive event held in Avalon Harbor at Catalina Island once a year on the Saturday following President’s Day. The event was started in the 1970’s by the local dive community in an effort to cleanup Avalon Harbor, and this event is the only time diving is permitted there. The event has grown over the years to become one of the most publicized and popular dive events in Southern California.
Besides offering divers the opportunity to dive in Avalon Harbor, the event brings together a large number of people who share common interests – diving and Catalina. Last year we had over 520 divers who had a great time retrieving things from the harbor as well as celebrating the event. There are numerous parties around town on both Friday and Saturday nights as divers revel in the warm friendly atmosphere of Catalina Island. Several dive clubs also have made this event one of their premier social events of the year.
The proceeds of the Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup benefit the Catalina Conservancy’s Ocean Conservation projects and the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Catalina Conservancy Divers is a support group of the Catalina Conservancy. The Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber is a life support recompressions chamber on Catalina that is available to serve the thousands of divers who frequent the Catalina waters.

The details of the 2008 Avalon Harbor Underwater Cleanup are as follows:

Date: February 23, 2008

Location: Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island, California

There are three locations from which divers can enter Avalon Harbor for the dive. Divers must enter and exit the water from their assigned location (We’re choosing Casino Landing). Upon exiting the water, all divers must check in with their dive master for their entry location, and get their wristband punched, in order to pick up their T-Shirt and goodie bag at Wrigley Stage (NO EXCEPTIONS)!

Cost: $35.00 per person when you register on-line.
$45.00 per person February 1, 2008 or thereafter.

REGISTRATION: Registration is now open. ON-LINE - On-line registration must be completed on or before February 10, 2008.
Opportunity Tickets may be purchased for prize raffles the day of the event only. The pre-registration cost for participation in the Cleanup is $35. The pre-registration deadline is January 31, 2008. Thereafter, registration is $45.00 and you may register on-line until February 10, 2008 or participate in the Cleanup by presenting your registration form in person prior to 8:30 AM on February 23, 2007, at the Wrigley Stage in Avalon.

IN PERSON — In person submission of an entry form on the morning of the event in Avalon is available, but pre-registration is highly encouraged. (Arrive very early and report to the Wrigley Stage by 7:30 a.m.) Participation cannot be guaranteed for unregistered late arrivals. For questions regarding registration or the cleanup- itself, please send an e-mail to: avalonharborcleanup@gmail.com.

Registration fee includes one T-Shirt, one door prize ticket, certificates for special offers and discounts from Catalina merchants, and a coupon for discount travel to the event on Catalina Express.

Opportunity Tickets may be purchased for prize raffles.

Schedule of Events:
7:30 – 9:00 Check in at Dive Locations

9:00 Mandatory Safety Briefing at Dive Locations

9:30 – 11:00 Cleanup Dive

1:00 Award Ceremony at Wrigley Stage

Diver Registration
To be eligible to dive in the Avalon Underwater Cleanup you must be a trained SCUBA diver certified by one of the following nationally recognized agencies:
· LA County
· NAUI
· PADI
· SSI
· YMCA
Approximately 10 days prior to the event, all registered divers will receive a package of information regarding the event, including dive location assignment, waiver forms, opportunity tickets, luggage tags (for delivering equipment to a designated dive location), and other dive event materials.
On the day of the event, all divers must check-in at their assigned dive locations and present the following:
· SCUBA Certification Card
· Properly completed and executive Waiver/Release Form
· Properly completed and executed Safe Diving Practices Form

Awards for unique items found during the Cleanup will be given at the Awards Ceremony to be held at Wrigley Stage, beginning at 1 PM. During the Awards Ceremony, raffle tickets will be drawn to give away prizes donated by the event sponsors. Without the kind and generous support of the various sponsors, this event would not be possible. We urge you to support these sponsors, and to visit the Sponsors page of this web site.
Participate in this celebration and become a Sponsor and donate items we can use as prizes associated with the event. We would especially appreciate major items that can headline our awards ceremony.

Tickets for the raffle prize drawings may still be purchased at Wrigley Stage on the day of the event. Tickets will be sold as follows:
1 ticket for $1
12 tickets $10.
30 tickets $25
70 tickets $50
150 tickets $100

YOU MUST BE PRESENT TO WIN A RAFFLE PRIZE

Let me know if you’ll be joining with our group of divers

Kaz kaizawa@earthlink.net

On Sunday morning January 20, six Sole Searchers divers plus three onshore support team met at Diver’s Cove in Laguna Beach. It was one of those beautiful sunny Southern California winters day. The surf looked about 1-2 ft with a nice long lull. The water looked blue and inviting, so we geared up and made the entry via sandy beach at the bottom of the stairs. We swam about 50 yeards South West towards the exposed rocks breaking the surface. When we came about half way there, we dropped down to a depth of about 15-20 feet and headed South looking for the deeper edge of the rocky reef system. Read below for dive write-ups from Andrea C., and LaWana. Also, thanks for all who joined in. Lars, Max, and Sven Dennert, LaWana, Andrea C., Nicolas H., John C., Bromley B., and me, Kaz Aizawa.

Diver’s Cove: by Andrea Casanova

Sundays’ dive at Divers’ Cove was two things: cold and FREEZING! But, enjoyable all the same. I’m not as experienced as most divers in the club, so I’m still at the point where anything that does not kill me makes me stronger. And, it was my very first chance to test out the new Sealife underwater camera that my husband surprised me with at Christmas. Yay!

The site is only a max of about 30’, so no flash was needed. (This is good because I don’t have an external strobe yet.) But, vis was poor so the pics are not very clear. In the course of the dive we saw a few species of fish (sorry that I don’t know them all to list them), some sea cucumber, scallops and starfish. I tried taking pictures of most of them, but they ended up little murky.

During the dive I practiced underwater navigation with a fair degree of success. Well, at least I know how to read the compass. Now I need to learn how to gauge distance! (Something about kick-cycles, right?)

I learned one new fact: trying to keep still, maintain neutral buoyancy, and take pictures makes you very susceptible to the temperature of the water. Brrr! I’m looking forward to springtime.

-Andrea

Diver’s Cove: by LaWana B.

I enjoyed a casual beach dive at Diver’s Cove in Laguna Beach with dive buddy, Andrea Casanova. It was a pretty easy surf entry and dive with water temperature at 53 degrees, 10-15 foot visibility and (my) max depth of 28 feet. There were some garibaldi and other usual fish near the rock outcroppings. What did surprise me was that I saw several scallops. Also, there was enough parking but don’t forget to feed the meters or you will get a ticket!

One of my favorite night dives is Redondo Canyon. One of my least favorite day dives is Redondo Canyon. Amazing that I could have such a love hate relationship with a dive site but it’s true. Redondo is basically a big underwater sand box with and even bigger hole. Five minutes and you’ve really seen all the sand you need to.

What holds the interest are the Winter evenings spent at the bottom of the sea. It’s all about timing to be a spectator at what amounts to the Cephalopod Running of the Bulls. Their aim of course to procreate before they crocreate. Back in December I’d heard rumors that there were some squid running and Kaz and I were hot to go diving so last minute we resolved to go. Redondo is one of the few beach dive spots I will take my drysuit. There is little chance of a puncture as there are no rocks and it is a deep dive. Since I didn’t think the extra lead from the suit would be enough to tire me out, I dragged my video camera along for a fully exhausting experience.

I began to regret it when we got in and were paddling out as the water felt a bit warm. Luckily Kaz made sure to let me know that the water truly was chilly that night. I made a concerted effort to try out a new wide angle lens (thanks Anastasia) and in an effort to avoid grainy footage at night I set the exposure manually. Well turns out that my light was brighter than I remember from previous night dives and I ended up over exposing most of the footage with a hot spot now that the wide angle captures a wider field. So practice, practice is my moto lately when shooting underwater.

We did see a fair number of squid about but not the flocks we’d seen other times. White sand, white squid and white light made for a rather, well, white squid video but I did get a bit to amuse myself with afterwards. I posted a few more pictures in the club’s gallery if you are curious click on one of the pics. It was generally a fun dive with pretty good conditions but I must say that the hike back to the parking lot was pretty tiring. I think I had a few gallons of water in my BC as well.

Almost New Year’s Eve Anacapa dive

Sole Searchers Wendy, Andrea and Bromley plus recent speaker Pete Duffin and another friend, Doug Bernard, went to Anacapa on the Spectre on December 29. The weather was spectacular, and because it was a “3/4 day” boat, it departed at the relatively sane hour of 8 AM. The crossing was smooth and our first dive was on the north side of the island in the reserve. We hadn’t been on that side recently and it was striking to see how many huge sheephead there were…..not just one or two at a time, but up to a dozen. The biggest was about 3 feet! Water was coolish (about 54 degrees), but it was sunny and calm. For the second dive, Capt Ted first motored around to the South side, but the sea lions weren’t playing so we went back to the North side again, just up the island from the first dive. Not surprisingly a similar combination of critters. After lunch, we went back around to the South side. The current was running rather strongly, but Andrea, Doug, Pete and Bromley had a nice dive playing with the sealions while Wendy packed her gear and went for a nap. We only got a few pictures, having found battery life on our camera to be less than spectacular!

Wendy