Notes from the April Meeting

1. We had a fun meeting, including a visit by our old friend Terry R and some new people: Bill, Terry C, and Domenick. Welcome aboard!
2. NEW MEETING LOCATION! We now meet at TGI Friday's, 300 17^th Avenue NW, just north of the Miracle Mile shopping center (where MDC Sports is located). They have a meeting room on the south side of the building.
3. Frank Evans and Terry Curtis described their work for "Project Cozumel". In April their group built concrete roofs for 2 homes, repairing damage from Hurricane Wilma and directly helping some families on the island. And they got to dive, too! We might have their DVD for the May meeting.

   They plan another project for the last week of March in 2007. Contact Frank Evans if you're interested in helping or if you could donate to their cause.

4. David Merbach described their family dive trip to Grand Cayman.
5. Wayne Holm, NAUI and DAN instructor, described many of the courses offered by Divers Alert Network, including two that he'll be teaching through MDC Sports: Oxygen First Aid and Hazardous Marine Life First Aid. Contact MDC Sports (288-8802) if you're interested.
6. Roger Southwick showed photos from Cozumel.

RochesterScuba.org

Treasury Report for April 2006

Call for Stories

If you'd like to write a trip report for publication in the newsletter, please do so! Send email to Roger Southwick. If you'd like to present a brief trip report at a club meeting, please use this form to help guide your story. We'd like to publish your photos too.

Information on Emergency O2 Use

from Terry R

Here are some links. Additionally, there are tons of other places online.

• www.med-worldwide.com
• www.savelives.com

I’d recommend the following equipment for an emergency kit:

• As big a bottle as one can afford and carry - or multiple bottles
• Variable Regulator that can be dialed between at least 6 – 15 lpm
• Variety set of Oral airways
• Non-rebreather masks (variety of sizes)
• Variety of CV collars
• BVM (bag valve mask)

The Red Cross offers an Emergency Response class, formerly First Responder... but not here in Rochester. However, they will put together a custom class for a minimum of 6. Of particular interest for divers might the CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer, with a request for Oxygen administration and Oral Airway. $80 a head, minimum of 6 participants.

Note on Oxygen prescription requirement. The following links help to explain the use of Emergency Oxygen.

• http://www.aapt.net/article_detail.cfm?id=64 (about half-way down the page.)
• http://www.lessstress.com/1910-o2.htm

Dive Into Spring Club Outing

story by Joe Velie, photos by David Merbach

on the road -- early

Okay, who removed the red and white bobber from station four so no one can find it?

The accusatory statement was aimed at an enthusiastic group of divers who were taking part in the Rochester Scuba Club’s first underwater poker game. The missing bobber wouldn’t have been a big deal if the only thing at stake was a cheap bottle of mask de-fog, but these divers were playing for a pot of cash worth around $60!

The day began at around 5:00 a.m. for David Merbach and I who were on Hwy 90 heading for Lake Wazee long before the sun came up.

Terry Ostby performs "maintenance" on Joe's reel

The dive gear, camp stove, underwater poker game, food and prizes had been packed the night before. Arriving at the lake before 8:00 a.m. we promptly donned our dive gear and began the longer than anticipated process of setting up. Seven under water stations, each of which had twenty poker chips attached and a bright red and white bobber floating about three feet off the bottom were the pre-mapped layout. The lake’s poor visibility made a long process of getting compass headings from one station to the next using our exemplary reel/line skills.

Our original plan was to give compass headings and kick cycles between poker stations, but because eleven o’clock arrived much too soon, David and I passed on getting the kick cycles. Besides, let’s not make it too easy for this bunch of yahoos! By eleven thirty we had a nice group of divers, using both dry and wet suits, ready to splash into the refreshing 45-degree water.

David Walters and Rich Good

Over a cup of hot chocolate, David and I went over the game rules, gave a brief refresher course on compass use and began wondering where our beloved video man John Preston was. (We have noticed that it seems more difficult to get John out diving since he found "another" love.) Just as we are about to send the first poker team under water John shows up, music blaring and sucking on an SRIA (SAC Rate Improvement Article).

Rich Good and Dave Walters were the first poker team in the water. Rich assured me that he knew how to read a compass.

Art Snyder and Keith Krause assemble their poker-playing gear

I gave them the first heading of 35 degrees and they were off to big cash and prizes! We waited about fifteen minutes and unleashed the next team made up of “real men” -- Keith Krause and Art Snyder -- who were diving in wet suits.

Even though Boy Scout Rich had assured me he could read a compass, his bubble trail viewed from shore was proving a different picture. He and Dave seemed to have missed one of the poker stations and were trailing back to their last known position in an attempt to pick it up. Or could it be they had spotted one of the six golf balls thrown in the lake for our scavenger hunt?

Terry readies his fishing lures

We didn’t think it would be safe to let Terry Ostby dive alone with his lime green tanks, so David Merbach went along to make sure some large fish didn’t mistake Terry’s lime green tanks as a large fishing lure.

Tube steaks (hot dogs) were ready by the time the poker teams returned with their poker chips. While we ate, it was determined that Rich and Dave were the big winners splitting the $60 cash pot, with Keith and Art winning the second place prize of dive slates.

Art and Keith show their 2nd-place winnings - dive slates

While our nutritious lunch settled, we decided it was time to take advantage of the beautiful weather and do a second dive. Thanks to the use of John’s Gavin scooter, I made quick work of picking up the poker stations and performing my first scooter loop de loop. No, I didn’t crash and burn into the lake bottom, but I was sure wondering what I would see when I came out of the top of the roll.

David and Rich with 1st-place cash

All at our Dive Into Spring event had a great time. I am anxiously awaiting the next adventure.

Special thanks to Mike Ulbrich for picking up food and the use of his camp gear, Todd Carlson for special delivery of the 02 kit, John Preston for video taping and providing entertainment, and most of all to God for providing a beautiful and safe diving day!

Dave Walters “claims” the bobber off the fourth poker station got caught in his fin strap by accident. If it was all an accident, why is Rich Good smiling with that wad of cash in his hand?

Cozumel

photos by Frank Evans

scorpionfish	parrotfish
southern stingray (with jack shadowing it)	spotted eagle ray
nurse shark	green moray eel

In The News

• Deep-sea discoveries in Bermuda Triangle

Upcoming Events

Now Playing

The Minnesota Zoo IMAX Theater in Apple Valley is currently playing Deep Sea 3D -- sounds like a pretty cool film.

May 9 (Tue) - 6pm at Foster Arend Park

Park cleanup and picnic

See the calendar for other activities.