Chamber Day/Evening 2003

Picture yourself finishing a “routine” dive on a charter boat. Shortly after you’re back on the boat, you notice a mild tingling in the fingers of your right hand. Then you become aware of a mild pain in your right shoulder. As you’re trying to figure all this out, you realize your arm is going numb. When you mention this to the DM, he tells you, “Sounds like you’re bent. I’m going to put you on oxygen and we’re getting you to the Chamber.”

In most areas of the United States, “getting you to the Chamber” can be complicated. In Southern California, that’s not the case, since we’re fortunate to have access to the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber at the Isthmus on Catalina, on stand-by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, to treat possible diving accidents.

But in order for the Chamber to be there for you, you need to be there for the Chamber. And that’s where Chamber Day and Chamber Evening come into play.

Billed as the largest single-day scuba charity event in the U.S., Chamber Day/Eve will be held on Wednesday, May 7 this year. Through the daytime events (Chamber Day and the Chamber Day Raffle), the Chamber Challenge (monetary donations), and Chamber Evening (a sit-down dinner at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach), the event accounts for almost 50 percent of the annual budget for the Catalina Chamber.

The three main ways to participate are to either sign up for Chamber Day on one of the participating dive boats ($75 - plus you get a T-shirt, 5 daytime raffle tickets, 2 dives at Catalina, and a walking tour of the Chamber) or to book a seat at Chamber Evening (also $75 - plus you get 5 evening raffle tickets and a sumptuous dinner served underneath a life-sized model of a blue whale in the Great Hall at the Aquarium of the Pacific) or to simply make a donation ($100 is the suggested amount) through the Chamber Challenge.

One of the unique features of Chamber Day is the ability to “dive” the event even if you can’t take the day off from work. You can do that by signing up for the Flying Dutchman, a mythical boat for your mythical dive but a great way to support this good cause ($75 - you get 5 daytime raffle tickets plus a commemorative limited-edition “I dove the Dutchman” T-shirt).

You can also keep track of things by logging on to the Chamber Day website (www.chamberday.org) and clicking on the webcast link. Via the internet, cameras located in and around the Chamber will beam pictures throughout the day, as participating divers stroll around the Chamber facilities.

Chamber Day/Eve represents one day of the year when the entire diving community comes together in the spirit of serving the greater good. A recompression chamber is something we all hope we won’t need, but we’ll be thankful it’s there should problems arise. Chamber Day/Eve is a way to let you dive for another year with peace of mind.

To sign up for any portion of the event you can call Reef Seekers Dive Co. (the coordinating store) at (310) 652-4990 or you can visit the Chamber Day/Eve website at www.chamberday.org and use the secure server. (Note that you cannot sign up for boats on the web, only by phone.)

Chamber Day/Eve 2003 will be a success only through the active participation of the entire local diving community. Hope to see you there.

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Ken Kurtis is a freelance writer, instructor, and co-owner of Reef Seekers Dive Company in Beverly Hills, CA. In 2002 he and his partner were awarded the California Scuba Service Award for his work with the Chamber. Ken will be a seminar speaker at the SCUBA Show, June 21-22 at the Long Beach Convention Center.