California Diving News

The Sport Chalet Dive Club of the Inland Empire (SCDCIE) once again held their SCUBA Santa (4th Annual), in support of the California Department of Forestry and Rancho Cucamonga Fire Department in conjunction with ABC 7’s “Spark of Love Toy Drive for Underprivileged Children.” Certified and Non-Certified divers were given the opportunity to have an “Underwater Santa Experience” after donating a new, unwrapped toy or piece of sporting good equipment.

This year’s event had close to 70 certified and non-certified divers have their pictures taken with SCUBA Santa underwater. PADI Certified scuba Instructors and Assistant Instructors of the Sport Chalet Dive Centers of Rancho Cucamonga gave non-Certified divers “Discover SCUBA” instructions throughout the day.

Those who weren’t prepared to be underwater with Santa (or who were too young to participate in PADI’s Discover SCUBA), but still wished to donate a toy, were able to see and speak with SCUBA Santa. The SCDCIE has an underwater video set up, hot-wired to transmit upstairs. With the club’s video system, Sport Chalet’s underwater communications system and a big screen TV donated for the day by Circuit City of Rancho Cucamonga, nobody missed a thing.

In past years, this unique event has drawn participants from the California High Desert communities to the north, Palm Springs and surrounding areas to the east, Corona and Temecula to the south, Pasadena and Glendora areas of the San Gabriel Valley to the west.

The Firefighter’s “Spark of Love Toy Drive” has been a volunteer effort of the professional fire fighters of Southern California, dedicated to providing toys and play equipment for the underprivileged youth of the area. The SCDCIE was proud to once again be apart of this valiant effort.

SCDCIE are scheduled for the 5th annual SCUBA Santa on Saturday, December 8th, 2001. For more information on the this dive club, call (909) 247-5586.

Mia Tegner Dies in Diving Accident

Renown marine scientist Mia Tegner died in an unfortunate diving accident January 7, 2001. Tegner was making a dive on the El Rey wreck, her second in “Wreck Alley” that day. Tegner was considered an expert diver with over 3,000 logged dives worldwide.

A prominent scientist at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Tegner was an expert in kelp forest ecosystems. She participated in ground breaking work to save abalone in California and had won several conservation and academic awards for her work. She is survived by her husband Eric Hanauer, a well known diving author and underwater photographer. Mia Tegner was 53.

Mares America Opens H.U.B. Centers for Divers to Try Before They Buy

Mares America, the world’s largest manufacturer of scuba and snorkel equipment, has announced the creation of H.U.B. Dive Centers at world-class dive destinations in Southern California, Belize, Costa Rica and the Bahamas.

Each facility, staffed by a local dive specialty store, will allow leisure divers to personally evaluate the company’s new Human Underwater Breathing (H.U.B.) integrated life support system.

The first of four new H.U.B. Centers was created in September by City Scuba of West Los Angeles, CA. Divers leave from San Pedro, Long Beach, Ventura, Oxnard or Santa Barbara to demo the H.U.B. off nearby Catalina Island or the Northern and Southern Channel islands.
All H.U.B. Centers will operate in a similar manner to the dive package offered by City Scuba. Divers pay a low-cost rental fee for the high performance diving system unavailable for rental anywhere but at an authorized H.U.B. Center. The fee also includes, at no extra charge, the personal attention of an in-water dive guide to accompany them.

Divers are supplied with the H.U.B., masks, fins, instrumentation, and an Isotherm semi-drysuit. Their in-water guide takes them down with a maximum of four others. Guides show how to use and test the equipment, provide drysuit orientations, and offer a refresher course for any ability level. Afterwards, the rental fee can be applied to the purchase of the H.U.B.

“It’s like a ‘paint-by-numbers’ version of diving,” says City Scuba’s David Leach, manager. “The H.U.B. Center package puts the ease back into diving. Divers only have to worry about having fun.”

The H.U.B. is an excellent choice for recreational divers because one piece of equipment—the vest—has everything a diver needs except the maze of complicated hoses found with traditional scuba sets. Divers simply attach the H.U.B. to a tank, pop in the regulator, and enjoy their dive without excess drag or the possibility of snagging a hose.

The H.U.B. features ergonomic controls for comfortable use and a streamlined design for easy and efficient movement in water. The gear and instruments are all contained in the vest itself. The regulator, for instance, is conveniently located in a pocket; there’s a compartment for the diver’s octopus; an instrument compartment; carrying handle; oral inflator; pneumatic in/out control; strategically-placed pneumatic dump valves; a curved backpack counterplate; and a telescoping valve that fits the H.U.B. onto a standard scuba tank.

Mares, founded in 1950 by Italian free-diving champion Ludovico Mares, is headquartered in Rapallo, Italy. The telephone number for Mares America Corp. in Norwalk, Conn. is (203) 855-0631; fax (203) 866-9573; web www.htmsport.com.