Rochester Scuba & Snorkel Club

May Meeting Notes

A lot of people were busy and couldn't make it to the meeting, but the 9 of us who attended had loads of fun talking about diving and using crayons to brainstorm on ideas for a new club logo. See all the awesome drawings later in this issue.

Remember: We still need divers to sign-up and "sponsor" a weekend at Wazee during open water part 2 classes. Check the calendar and send email to Roger with the dates you can help. It's a good way to get new members into the club and prove there really is local diving here!

You can still get your annual pass to Lake Wazee -- regular price $75, club special $50. With the diver fee at Wazee now at $10/day, it pays for itself quickly.

June Meeting Agenda

The June meeting will take place at Foster Arend Park at 6pm for a park cleanup (above and below the water) and grill-out. We'll hear stories of recent classes (trimix) and trips (Bonne Terre) and have fun outside. It's gotta stop raining sometime.

Extended Range / Intro to Trimix Class

John M and Alex make our instructor Matt Do It Right.

"Are we DIR yet?"

"Man, Joe! What did you do in this suit?"

Joe thanks John P for attaching his docking rings.

Advanced Trimix Class

Trimix divers L-R: Joe Velie, Todd Carlson, instructor Matt Kriesel, Alex Carlson, instructor Chuck Northrup, Jim Campos, Roger Southwick

Over several weekends in May we practiced skills and built up our confidence to safely conduct deep decompression dives. Our instructors Chuck and Matt were patient and helpful, and our "support crew" was indispensable: John Preston, John Martin, and Claudia Campos. Thanks to all the guys in the class and especially to Alex and Jim for all their equipment expertise and spare gear.

Trimix is amazing stuff! Our final dive to 190' was dark and cold, but we dove without narcosis (!) and used a gas that remained easy to breathe, unlike air which gets so dense it feels like breathing milk at depth.

See more photos in Joe Velie's BlackDive Gallery.

Potential Dive Site near St Cloud

Chuck Wocken from the Stearns County Parks Department has requested information about public agencies that administer dive sites. I've let him know about Wazee and Gilboa Quarry. He's investigating their options for allowing diver access to Quarry Park & Nature Center.

Logo Ideas

Here's what we came up with at the May club meeting. Makes you appreciate the scuba goose that we've already got, doesn't it? :^)

	for divers with split fins?	these are 2 artifacts that would definitely NOT still be there
	peace pipe? plumbing fitting? snorkel?	this one has potential...
seems a bit too exclusive	I understand the mermaids and alcohol, but "slug diving"?

In The News

NOAA problem with ScubaPro Mark 20 1st-stage regulators

More detail from an Undercurrent email:

In our last email we reported that the first stage of a Scubapro Mark 20 regulator used by a diver with the National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration developed a serious open crack. Scubapro told NOAA that the problem was due to overtorqueing the yoke nut and we reported that NOAA accepted that explanation. We were wrong and NOAA disagrees with Scubapro. NOAA contacted us and Dave Dinsmore, director of the NOAA diving program, said, "Both Scubapro and NOAA hired independent experts to evaluate the cracks and assess the likely cause. NOAA's expert determined that no deformation, thread damage or gouging was noticed at the yoke thread (male) and yoke adapter (female) indicating that the yoke had not been overtorqued." NOAA discovered cracks in three out of 298 regulators. NOAA ordered the MK20 out of the water and Scubapro has since replaced all of NOAA's MK20 regulators with MK25 models. If you own a MK 20, carefully examine the second [first] stage for cracks and if you find one, contact your Scubapro dealer.

Upcoming Events

June 10-13 -- Bonne Terre Mine

Jun 17 - 19 (Fri - Sun) -- DUI DOG Days at Lake Wazee

June 18 (Sat) -- Lake Minnetonka Cleanup Dive

June 21 (Tue) -- Club meeting, grill-out, & park cleanup at Foster Arend - 6pm

August 12-15 2005 -- Shipwreck diving at Isle Royale - TRIP FULL

September 20 (Tue) -- Club meeting, grill-out, & park cleanup at Foster Arend - 6pm

See the calendar for more details.