Blue Escape Adds Second Boat
Blue Escape, a dive store and dive-charter boat operation on Mission Bay, San Diego, has added a second boat to its operations. The new boat, named the Blue Explorer, is Blue Escape’s second dive charter boat serving San Diego waters.

The Blue Explorer was built to strict military specifications by City Island Marine to be used as a vessel for the Navy’s Seal teams. In 2000, she underwent a major refit to be a world cruiser. With her 2500 mile range, she was redesigned to explore the world’s oceans. With Blue Escape’s modifications, she has become a first class dive boat.

For a limited time, the boat will only be accepting six passengers at a time.

The 52-foot long Blue Explorer has a unique stabilizing system, while at anchor, to help calm ocean movement. Additional amenities include a full galley, a huge 4 x 15 foot swim step, two side exits, a spacious salon, a large bow area for viewing and lounging, steel 80 tanks and weight belts provided on all trips, three hot freshwater showers and two heads, and color TV and VCR with A/V hookups.
Destinations for the new Blue Explorer, as well as the popular Blue Escape include the local kelp forests, the famous “Wreck Alley” including the wreck of the Canadian Destroyer Yukon, San Clemente Island, and the Los Coronados Islands in nearby Mexican waters. Both the Blue Escape and Blue Explorer are based immediately adjacent to the full service Blue Escape dive shop on Mission Bay in San Diego.

For more information, contact Blue Escape at (888) 500-3483 or visit their web site at www.blueescape.com.

Diving Community Mourns Loss of Diving Pioneer Jon Hardy
Diving pioneer and icon Jon Hardy passed away August 29, 2001 from complications related to cancer. He was 63.

Jon Hardy’s diving activities spanned over 40 years and included recreational, commercial, military, and scientific diving. He logged some 440 dives per year with his Argo Diving Service on Catalina Island. Jon was actively involved with NAUI and SSI, served on the Diving Control Board for the Aquarium of the Pacific, and was probably best known as the driving force behind Rodale's Scuba Magazine’s “ScubaLab,” testing out and evaluating dive gear for the magazine and then writing about it. Jon also wrote a column for Rodales’s analyzing of dive accidents and gave many talks and seminars, many for the Southern California SCUBA Show, about dive safety and what we could learn from accidents. Jon’s years of experience and expertise also enabled him to serve as an expert witness in legal actions. He was always one who was more than eager to share his knowledge and experience.