Sole Searchers Newsletters

CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENT:

SCUBA Show 2010 — May 15-16, 2010
Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA

The SCUBA Show, America’s Largest Consumer Dive Expo, will take place May 15-16 at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California. This is the 23rd year of this popular event. The show will consist of 76,000 square feet of diving related exhibits including new and revolutionary dive gear, travel pros (many offering show discounts), and diving experts. Several exhibitors also offer free drawings for valuable prizes. The first 1,000 people in attendance on Saturday and Sunday will receive complementary tote bags, and door prizes will be taking place throughout the day. Over $38,000 in door prizes will be given away.

Highlighting the exhibit hall will be a personal appearance by world famous artist Wyland. On Saturday he will be interacting with attendees while painting a new piece of art and on Sunday will be painting with over 200 children who have pre-registered in advance.

Legendary underwater filmmaker Stan Waterman will be headlining a weekend of seminars that include some of the most popular dive experts around. Some of the presenters include Jack and Sue Drafahl, Bruce Watkins, Dale Sheckler, Ken Knezick, Ken Kurtis, and many more. Subjects covered include underwater photography and video, marine life, dive travel, and more.

A continuous underwater film festival will be running in the exhibit hall on a three-story high screen and will feature films from around the world by over a dozen underwater imaging experts.

Exhibit hall hours are Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Admission is $12 and includes admission to exhibit hall and film festival (seminars are an additional charge). Discount coupons are available at California dive stores, on California dive charter boats and through California dive clubs. Age 13 and under are admitted free. For information on SCUBA Show 2010 call (310) 792-2333 or visit the web site www.scubashow.com. Advanced registration online at ScubaShow.com is strongly encouraged to save time and money.

Captain Greg Grivetto & Elizabeth Cook at our March madness meeting

This month’s presentation is truly one of a kind! We have writer/photographer Elizabeth Cook joining Captain Greg Grivetto for a lively evening of shark diving — in photos, videos, and discussion, that is.

Last year I was faithfully reading one of my Diver’s Alert magazines when I happened upon a great article on Great White shark diving at Isla Guadalupe, by Elizabeth. So, I thought, “What the heck, let’s see if she’ll come do a presentation.” I contacted her through DAN, and she said she didn’t normally do this sort of thing… but she had not said no, just yet! She said if I could get Horizon’s Captain Greg to join her, then she would. That’s how it came to be… we have two guest speakers for March!

Greg Grivetto’s love for the sea was formed in his pre-teen years as he ventured out onto the Pacific with his parents on board their small charter fishing boat. Having experienced the ocean and its inhabitants at such a young age, he grew to love the liquid environment and vowed one day to share his knowledge and love for the ocean with others. In his twenty years as captain, he has taken scuba divers, shark divers, whale watchers, bird watchers and sightseers the entire 750 miles of the Pacific coast of Baja, ventured into the Sea of Cortez, and has spent innumerable days exploring California’s Channel Islands and offshore seamounts.

“My reason for working on and in the ocean for as many years as I have is very simple to understand for those of us that have been fortunate enough to spend any amount of time at sea. I encourage everyone with a sense of adventure to experience the ocean and embrace the wonder of all it has to offer.”

Jennifer, Greg’s wife, is just as much an advocate for the ocean and stands alongside him in all of his endeavours. “I met Jennifer on the ocean and immediately found her as someone that has as much an appreciation for this environment as I.” With the Grivetto family’s two newest additions joining the school over the previous five years, Greg and Jennifer are not at sea as much as before, but are working hard to ensure that Horizon Charters remains at the forefront in customer service and environmental standards.

http://www.horizoncharters.com/

Elizabeth Cook is a free-lance photojournalist and technical writer. When not diving and shooting underwater photos in Southeast Asia and off the coast of California, she makes her home in San Diego. Elizabeth has been a committed DAN Member for a decade. Her latest book series, Underwater Encounters delivers intriguing facts and first-hand accounts. Readers come face-to-face with some of the most interesting animals imaginable - directly from the depths of the world’s mysterious seas. Students love to learn how ocean animals hunt, hide, and communicate.

A special enhanced educational section within each book, titled “Protecting Our Blue Planet” identifies specific activities to help care for the blue planet. This series inspires readers to make a difference to the future of our oceans while educating students on marine life diversity.

http://www.hameraypublishing.net/underwater-encounters1

They’re coming all the way from San Diego just for us!
So, let’s have a great turnout this Monday…