Catalina Photo Contest a Success

Despite a lower than anticipated turn-out, the 1st Annual Catalina Photo Safari photo contest was declared a success by all involved and raised $11,500 for the Catalina Mooring Project.

Participants were given one day to expose a roll of film on, around and under the waters of Catalina Island. Several categories and multiple divisions gave photographers many opportunities to direct their skills at winning part of the $10,000 in prizes. Culmination of the weekend contest was the Saturday evening social with 200 guests, a silent auction and raffle. Judging and awards took place on Sunday morning. To view winning photos and names of their owners visit the photo contest website at www.safaridive.com.

Contributing to the event's success were sponsors like Sea & Sea, Outrigger Hotels, Peter Hughes, Atomic, California Diving News, Catalina Scuba Luv, Oceanic, Santa Catalina Island Co., Coors, Vons, PADI, and Ikelite, to mention just a few.

The Catalina Mooring Project is endeavoring to lessen anchor damage on delicate Catalina reefs by installing permanent mooring buoys over such sites. Similar programs are used extensively around the world to protect coral reefs. Use of the buoys at Catalina Island would be voluntary. Two have already been successfully installed with more to come in 2000.

Plans are underway for the Catalina Photo Safari 2000 which will take place November 3-5.

Sport Chalet marked 40 years in the business of retail sales of sporting goods on December 7, 1999 at its original store at 951 Foothill Blvd. in La Canada.

"We've learned to be successful by paying close attention to industry indicators and by using common sense to predict and provide for our customers as their sports interests change," stated founder and chairman Norbert Olberz. Sport Chalet has now grow to a chain of 22 stores throughout Southern California.

Sport Chalet is a leading operator of full service specialty sporting goods departments. The company offers over 35 services for the serious sports enthusiast, including ski rental and repair, full dive training and certification programs, scuba charters, team sales, racquet stringing, and bicycle tune up and repair.

Within each Sport Chalet are full service dive stores offering full dive training, equipment sales, rentals and repairs. In the coming year Sport Chalet's already extensive list of local dive charters will be expanding. In the near future, customers will be able to book dive trips online. New dive gear lines have also been added, including Dacor.

For more information or a Sport Chalet near you, visit their web site at www.sportchalet.com.

In cooperation with the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Sea & Sea Underwater Photography (U.S.A.), Inc. (Sea & Sea) of Carlsbad, CA is providing replacement battery caps for models YS-50, YS-60, and YS-120 underwater strobes manufactured prior to February 1998 and which were distributed for several months thereafter.

Serial numbers of the affected strobes are as follows:

YS-50 All serial numbers except the YS-50A and the YS-50M,
YS-60TTL/S (yellow) 961280001 to 961283815,
YS-60TTL/S (black) 961270001 to 961271325,
YS-60TTLN (orange) 961260001 to 961261137,
YS-60TTLN (black) 961250001 to 961251075,
YS-120 DUO (orange) 94130001 to 94131794,
YS-120 DUO (yellow) 94100001 to 94101516,
YS-120 DUO (black) 94110001 to 94113903.

Sea & Sea recently received information of two incidents which resulted from a gas build up that led to over pressurization within the strobe housing. The first incident involved a violent separation of the front portion from the rear portion of the strobe when new batteries were installed and the unit activated. The second incident involved the battery cap popping off as it was being unscrewed. Both situations occurred after the unit had been flooded. Consumers should promptly return their strobe to an authorized repair technician for servicing following flooding of the battery compartment as serious injury can occur due to the potential for gas build up and over pressurization of the strobe unit.

To resolve this matter, Sea & Sea is distributing, free of charge to owners of the above strobes, replacement battery caps that will vent any internal gas, and which can simply be retrofitted to existing units.

If you own a YS-50, or a YS-60 or YS-120 Sea & Sea Underwater Strobe bearing any of the serial numbers listed above, please contact the Sea & Sea Service Department immediately to obtain a replacement battery cap. If your strobe has been flooded, immediately discontinue use and contact Sea & Sea for instruction regarding repair of the unit. Do not attempt to repair the unit yourself. Sea & Sea Underwater Photography (U.S.A.), Inc. can be reached by mail at 1938 Kellogg Avenue, Carlsbad, CA 92008; by telephone (800) 732-7977 or (760) 929-1909 and by e-mail at service@seaandsea.com. Again, a failure to service the above products after flooding could lead to an over pressurization of the battery compartment resulting in serious injury.

Laguna Sea Sports has announced the addition of a full service underwater photo center. Available at the new photo center will be a full line of Sea & Sea products supported by complete specialized underwater photography classes. An experienced and established photo pro is on staff - Dennis Ratcliffe. In the most recent years Dennis has worked as a photo pro in destination resorts such as aboard the Nekton Pilot and at Cayman Fish Eye. His class format is designed with hands on attention for the students. Equipment used includes full sets of Nikonos 5 systems (wide angle and macro), as well as Sea & Sea Motor Marine.

Laguna Sea Sports is a full service dive store located at 925 Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach (just a block from many of Laguna's most popular beach dive sites). In addition to the new photo department, the store features a pool, on-site rinse area, and a active dive club. For more information, or an up-to-date dive condition report for Laguna Beach, call (949) 494-6965. Laguna Sea Sports also has a web site at www.scuba-superstore.com.

The Fang Ming and the Lapas #3 are not names that easily come to mind, unless you were paying close attention to the news several years ago. These are the names of two vessels used in an attempt to smuggle Chinese citizens into Mexico. Both were former fishing vessels and both were impounded by the Mexican Government. Those aboard were sent home. The vessels were moved to Magdalena Bay where they sat rusting. But, that is where the story begins.

Mike McGettigan (Sea Watch), Tim Means (Baja Expeditions) and Dave Simmons and Stan Dotts (Sea of Cortez International Preservation Foundation) felt these vessels would be perfect artificial reefs and dive sites. So they approached PRONATURA, a private organization dedicated to the conservation of the biodiversity of Mexico with their ideas. PRONATURA agreed.

In April 1999, meetings were held in La Paz involving all sections of PRONATURA in Mexico, the above named individuals, representatives of several branches of the Mexican Government and all charter operators and dive shops operating out of La Paz. Al Bruton was asked to act as the program advisor to PRONATURA . Presentations covered site selection, environmental and economic impacts of such a program and safety issues.

At the end everyone agreed that such a program would benefit the marine life of the region and the overall economy. It was felt that the program should be national in scope, starting with La Paz, including eight to ten vessels placed in the area. The full program would cover all of Mexico.

One week later a master plan was completed and work on the vessels began, under the control of the Mexican Navy. They cleaned the vessels, removed unwanted materials, towed the vessels to La Paz and helped cut openings for diver entry/exit. Fund raising was conducted with donations from the original parties, private donations and a large assist from Ralph Rubio (Rubio's Baja Grills).

In November, just seven months after the April meetings the artificial reef program (Arrecifes Artificiales) took its first steps with the sinking of The Fang Ming on November 18th and the Lapas #3 the next day. Both vessels were placed along the protected western shores of Isla Espirito Santo, within easy reach the La Paz Harbor. The Lapas #3 is next to Isla Ballena, with the Fang Ming one mile south.

The Fang Ming is 174 feet long, 30 feet wide and 58 feet tall. She sits in 72 feet of water with her top mast only 17 feet below the surface. The Lapas #3 is 112 feet long, 21.7 feet wide and 37 feet tall. She sits in 62 feet of water with her top mast 27 feet below the surface. Small schools of fish were moving aboard the vessels within 30 minutes of sinking.

These vessels will make ideal habitat for marine life and wonderful exploration and photographic opportunities for visiting divers.

Text and photo submitted by Al Bruton

 Freediving Champion Tanya Streeter reported that using Doc's Proplug® ear protectors helped her to equalize as she dove to a record-breaking 220 foot depth recently at a meet in Italy.

"I first started using the Proplugs to protect my ears during the long pool sessions. The vented models kept excess water out of my ears and I made a surprising discovery - they also helped me equalize easier at any depth!" said Streeter.

  Doc's Proplugs are considered critical equipment for World Record Freedivers Tanya Streeter and other members of the United States Freedive Team.

In men's Freediving, US Freedive team member Brett LeMaster beat the men's Saltwater Constant Ballast world record on November 21, 1999 by diving 267 feet in 2 minutes, 55 seconds in Grand Cayman. LeMaster and the other members of the US Freedive team wear Doc's Proplugs to prevent ear infections and exostosis, a bony growth in the ear canal common in divers, caused by exposure to water and wind.

Doc's Proplugs are preformed earplugs that have a small vent hole design that allows for safe and in some cases even easier equalization. Water trying to pass through the vent hole creates surface tension, which makes pressure change less abrupt upon decent. No water passes through the vent until about 20-25 feet when the baropressure is enough to break the surface tension and allow water to pass through. This small amount of water stays in the ear canal keeping warm with body temperature, preventing exostosis.

Exostosis is the way the body naturally reacts to protect the eardrum. After repetitive exposure to water cooler than body temperature, the body begins to grow bone in the ear canal to narrow the opening, and thus "protect" the sensitive eardrum. Complications evolve when there is severe closing of this ear canal causing hearing loss and pain. Operations to reverse the exostosis involve the drilling of the bone away and at least 6 weeks out of the water.

Doc's Proplugs also cut down on frequent ear infections. The water that has passed through the vent hole stays trapped inside of the ear canal. This means there is no water flushing in and out of the ear canal which can strip away protective ear wax and allow resident bacteria in the ears to grow in between skin cells, the cause of most ear infections.

Each Doc's Proplug is made of soft, hypo-allergenic Kraton® with memory that provides a watertight seal. Doc's Proplug is located in Santa Cruz, CA and are distributed by International Aquatic Trades, Inc. (IAT) For more information phone 800 521-2982 or visit their web site at www.proplugs.com.

Two popular and successful dive-charter boats, One-Eyed-Jack's and Ocean Express, have merged into one operation - Dive Connections, Inc.

With a combined experience of over two decades, the two boats will offer San Diego unprecedented service to both local and visiting divers. Both boats are now located at the same dock in Mission Bay. Complete gear rentals are available on the dock, directly adjacent to the boats.

Full, 1/2 and 3/4 day trips are available several times a week. Dive sites served include the local coastal kelp beds and wrecks, as well as excursions to the Mexican Coronados Islands, only about an hour's boat ride away. Tanks and weights are included on all trips.

For more information call 888-420-3047 or visit their web site at www.gottadive.com.