RochesterScuba.org

Notes from the July Meeting

Vuk presented 2 topics: some results of the hyperbaric oxygen therapy / stem cell research project, and plans for a 2-week dive & tour in Croatia in June or September of 2009. If you'd like to go to Croatia, please express your interest to Vuk at the September meeting.

Notes from the August Meeting

Meeting Minutes from Bob Silbaugh

Dave Merbach & Art Snyder are going to look into Zodiac Insurance [ed: boat insurance, not some astrological nonsense].

Now that MDC Sports has closed, we need to think about a source for airfills. Bob Silbaugh & Tim Swanberg will look into how the Owatonna Scuba Club manages their compressor. Issues:

• Liability Insurance
• Location
• Managing air fill times and training (who runs the compressor & when)
• Purchase cost
• Maintenance cost

Steve Wiebke suggested that we offer to overhaul Jim’s compressor because it is a known quantity. Cost of $6000 would come from scuba club members each contributing $500. In return the contributing members would receive discounted or free air fills to recoup their investment. If Jim decided to sell the compressor, the club would get the first option to purchase for a predetermined price that would equal the value of the compressor less the $6000 we invested. All of this is assuming Jim finds a new location for the compressor.

Other options are we purchase a new portable unit for $10,000 that will pump 9cuft / min. Or we drive to Minneapolis, Winona, or Wazee for fills; yuck!

Saturday September 20th the meeting will be held at Foster Arend Park from 11AM to 4PM. The club will furnish hot dogs & beverages. We will put divers in the water and use the Zodiac for a garbage scow. We will request a permit to have alcohol.

September Meeting Agenda

This is a reminder that the September meeting will be held on Saturday, September 20 at Foster Arends Park from 11AM to 4PM.

NOTE!! There is no Tuesday meeting this month.

We will be cleaning up the park and lake in conjunction with Project Aware Splash for Trash: International Cleanup Day. We have permission from the park board to put divers in the water with surface support from our Zodiac boat and the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office Dive Team / Canine Unit's Zodiac. The club will have the use of the public shelter to serve lunch & beverages for the participants, including alcohol. I will need to send the park board a safety plan describing the precautions that are being taken (rescue boats on site, number of certified personnel that will be on site, etc). Please let Bob Silbaugh know if you are planning to participate and if you want to dive.

Pirates Up the Wazee III

photos by Roger Southwick

We had a rather sparse turnout this year (a lot of people were up in Crosby the same weekend) but the weather was perfect and we had a great time! We met some new diver-people from Minnesota and Wisconsin too.

some of the paRrrrticipants	Terry O's new "shark bait" underwater costume
David M	Johns M & P scoot by for a visit
Fun Fact! It's very challenging to wear a pirate costume underwater.
Paul M	Art S
Ben van S	Bou G

More photos in the RSSC PUtW3 Photo Gallery.

"Jimmy Hoffa" Dive at Wazee

photos by Roger Southwick

John Preston and Roger Southwick made a dive to "Jimmy Hoffa" at Lake Wazee in preparation for Isle Royale. Jimmy is a mythical figure in the lore of technical diving at Wazee. It's a bit of a swim to get there, over a vast flat plain of mud at 185' and over rocky ledges down to 215', and it's kinda scary once he looms into view.

John P gets close	silty!
scary!	best part: 74F at 20'

More photos in the RSSC "Jimmy Hoffa" Photo Gallery.

Isle Royale Technical Diving

photos by Roger Southwick and John Preston

John Preston, John Martin, and Roger Southwick had a great 4-day trip aboard the Heyboy with Cap'n Ken Merryman and crewman Bob Nelson. We missed only one dive due to weather and John P sat one out due to a brief illness, but we did 4 dives on the Kamloops and a leisurely 30-minute dive on the engine of the Henry Chisholm.

Total bottom time 1:47 on the wrecks, with additional deco time 5:17. Water temp at 20' varied from 69F the first day to 43F the next. VERY cold for 90min! There were some odd currents the last day, moving in opposite directions, making the mooring line bend into a sharp S.

My camera survived at 240' (rated only to 200') but behaved oddly at 150' on the Chisholm. Might be time for a new one. Anyway, here are some photos!

John M at the Grand Portage marina the night before departure
a beautiful morning at McCargoe Cove	remnants of a cask in the cargo hold of the Kamloops
cargo: barrels, pulleys, tubes of toothpaste	unbroken glass hurricane lampshades
rolls of Life Savers candy -- now empty foil shells	Johns P & M emerge from the engine room skylights
debris field off the stern	John P at the prop
John M returns from a 255' dive to the bow of the Kamloops	grilled salmon night!
Rock of Ages Lighthouse	ready to descend to the Chisholm
prop of the Chisholm	John P inspects large wrenches on a hull section

Lots more photos in the RSSC Isle Royale Photo Gallery.

In the News

• Divers save grey nurse shark with gaff stuck in throat
• Pay to have fish nibble the skin off your feet (thanks to David Merbach for the link)
• Jellyfish Invasion Bothering Beachgoers
• Venomous Lionfish Prowls Fragile Caribbean Waters
• Portal to mythical Mayan underworld found
• Superior passion: Shipwreck search

Upcoming Events

September 20 (Saturday) 11am-4pm

Park Cleanup at Foster Arend
lunch is provided! RSVP to Bob Silbaugh

See the calendar for other activities.