Rochester Scuba & Snorkel Club

June Meeting Notes

The June meeting was the annual cleanup at our adopted park, Foster Arend. Attendance was a bit sparse, with 4 people present and only 3 of them able to pick up trash. There was another last-minute scuba event that day so several club members weren't able to attend. We hope for better attendance at the next cleanup on Tuesday September 20^th. [Editorial comment: The people who attended the cleanup had voted against adopting the park. Where were all the "yes" voters, hmm? :^]

Remember: We still need divers to sign-up and sponsor a weekend at Lake 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!

July Meeting Agenda

The July meeting will be an informal chance to visit and tell stories about this summer's activities. Recent events include the Bonne Terre trip, DUI DOG Days at Wazee, and North Shore diving.

Canister Light Project, Part 1

completed light from 2003 Rich Good, Roger Southwick, and (sort of) Dave Owen started building another set of canister dive lights using old-fashioned but durable 1960s technology: sealed lead-acid 12-volt batteries in a clear acrylic canister with a water-tight cord running to a 50-watt halogen bulb in a focusing reflector head. With two 7-amp-hour batteries the burn time is about 2.5 hours, and 50 watts of light is nice. Things aren't really that expensive in terms of money, if you know someone with a personal metal-working shop that you can use for free. (Thanks John B!) In terms of time, however, it's a different story. After two 3-hour nights in the shop, we've completed most of the light head -- and that's the easy bit. Below are some photos of that part of the project. You can find a tremendous source of information on building lights and other cool dive gear (like oxygen-mixing equipment and high-pressure boosters) at airspeedpress.com.
Using a lathe to cut the o-ring grooves in the light head slug.	Completed slug with o-rings, bulb socket, and test-tube lamp cover.
Using a big-ol' milling machine to cut a hole in the reflector for the slug assembly.	Starting to cut the conical reflector housing from a solid PVC rod.
Cutting the inner cone of the reflector housing.	Tapering the outside of the reflector housing. Note that this is way too much plastic to shave off at once -- shortly after this photo, the cutting bit caught the PVC and flipped the piece right out of the chuck, causing some minor cosmetic damage.

In The News

• Shark Kills Spearfisherman
• Dolphins use Sponges as Tools
• Florida Shark Attack
• Boy stable after 2nd Florida shark attack
• Tourist bitten by shark off Florida coast

What's with all these shark attacks?

Upcoming Events

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

August sometime (postponed from July) -- DIR Fundamentals class. This is an excellent way to improve your diving skills. Check with MDC Sports for details.

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

See the calendar for more details.