M 2 The Presidents Corner

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1 FAIRFIELD COUNTY DIVING ASSOCIATION July 2008 Volume 15 Issue 7 Inside this Issue M 2 The Presidents Corner Presidents Corner Events of Interest page 1 page 2 Raffle Winners page 2 FCDA Donors I page 3 Long Island Wreck Diver Recovers Anchor From 1886 Shipwreck page 3 FCDA Donors II page 4 Wreck Divers Take Note: Something for free page 5 FCDA Member Ads page 5 Next FCDA Meeting page 6 Summer s in full swing. Hope everyone had a good 4 th of July and for our friends of French ancestry happy Bastille Day. I guess, if you re a descendent of French Royals, Bastille Day wasn t so happy with the guillotine stuff and all, but anyway I digress. The June meeting was extremely interesting. Rick Simon presented footage of Light Vessel 51, which is located at the mouth of the Connecticut River. He showed bonus videos of Cow Springs in Florida and keeping with our unofficial theme this year showed footage of the Spike Fish, a sub in New England waters. This past weekend a representative group of FCDA members traveled to Cape Ann. Overall it was a most excellent weekend. The weather was perfect, the diving was great, the food was outstanding and a good time was had by all. Mel, Matt, my brother Steve and I got in some good underwater time. We dove at both Folly and Loblolly Coves. Temperatures ranged from the mid 60s in the shallows to the upper 40s below 50 feet. Near Folly point my brother and I encountered a goosefish, which was a real treat. Additionally we saw an array of shellfish, skates, rays and coelenterates. The camping, as always was fun. We were joined in the campgrounds by Tom, Laura and Hayden as well as Kels, Cherry and cousin Mo. The food, as prepared by Chef Mel, was absolutely delicious and the campfire tales with accompanying beverages were quite amusing. Rather than clean our gear Matt and I decided to dive/ rinse our gear at the Brownstone Quarry on the way home. We ran into Mike and Donna Samson as well as Canadian Steve while we were there. Another Cape Ann trip is planned for September. Even if you come for just one night, it s a good time. Well, that s all for now. See you soon Mike

2 Page 2 Events of Interest to FCDA Members July 19, Wreck Dive aboard Capt Bill Palmer's Thunderfish - For more information Mel Rich Jr or call (203) divermel@optonline.net August 23, Wreck Dive aboard Capt Bill Palmer's Thunderfish - For more information Mel Rich Jr or call (203) divermel@optonline.net FCDA June Meeting Raffle Winners P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT Internet mail: fcda@aol.com Presidents Vice-President Secretary Treasurer 2008 Board Matt Rownin & Mike Cassetta Mark Shannon George Sharrard Paul J. Gacek After a exciting video presentation by Rick Simon on Diving Light Vessel 51 the club held its monthly raffle to support our DAN Diamond sponsorship. The winners were: Z Knife donated by Rick Simon - Mike Cassetta ; Regulator Keeper donated by Rick Simon - Tom Thomes, Princeton Tectonics Eco Flare donated by New England Dive Center - Zack Ziobrowski; Mares Dive Mask donated by Tom Provencal - Andy Cummings. Thanks to New England Dive Center, Rick Simon and Tom Provencal for donating raffle prizes for our DAN raffle. Remember, you can't win if you don't buy tickets and you can't buy tickets if you don't get up and come out to FCDA events and meetings

3 Page 3 Copiague man to preserve anchor from 1886 shipwreck BY BILL BLEYER bill.bleyer@newsday.com July 15, 2008 [see the video: ] In three decades of scuba diving off the South Shore, Patrick Rooney of Copiague has visited one of his favorite wrecks, the Cunard liner Oregon, more than a thousand times. He has filled a room with portholes, watches, dishes, rings, gold coins and other artifacts from the vessel that sank in 1886, 15 miles south of Moriches Inlet, after colliding with a schooner. But on Saturday he came home with by far the biggest relic yet -- a 13-foothigh anchor weighing 3 tons. It took two boats, a winch and crane and five divers to bring the anchor to the surface and to a West Sayville marina. Rooney, 45, a tile-setter who spends his weekends working as a mate on the diveboat Lockness out of Freeport, first spotted the anchor about 10 years ago. "It was just lying there next to the wreck," he said. It is a rare Trotman anchor that the Oregon used as an auxiliary or backup anchor stored on deck. The idea of raising it had been bouncing around inside Rooney's head for about five years. On Saturday, he chartered the Lockness and invited 16 diving New England's Tech Diving Center! New England Dive Center 476 North Colony Street Wallingford, CT The region's foremost source for scuba and technical diving gear, training and everything for the recreational or serious tech diver. FCDA Donors The business listed on this page has donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association Fax Dealer for OMS, UWATEC, Oceanic, Mares, Dacor, Cressi-Sub, P o s e i d o n, Scubapro, Bare, O'Neill and Henderson. Draeger Atlantis I Rebreather training, certification and rental. New England Dive Center offers complete training for all levels of diving, from Open Water through the most advanced technical courses. Our instruction provides certification through SSI, PDIC, TDI and IANTD. Visit us on the Web:

4 Page 4 buddies along. He arranged with Charles and Robert Hart, owners of Shellfish Marine in West Sayville to bring their 62-foot surf clam fishing boat, Susan H., out to do the lifting. After the Lockness arrived over the wreck around 9 a.m., Rooney and other divers attached ropes and a chain bridle, which was attached to a winch cable on the Susan H. FCDA Donors The business listed on this page has donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. Orbit Marine Sports Center, Inc 3273 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport, CT (203) 333-DIVE (800) 395-DIVE The winch pulled the anchor up to just below the surface in under 20 minutes, Rooney said. "It felt like an eternity," he added. A crane took over for the final lift up to the side of a fishing boat, Robert Hart said. Rooney said he's making arrangements with a local company to sand off marine growth and rust and coat the anchor with a preservative. Then he plans to exhibit his find at Long Island Scuba, a Lindenhurst dive shop, and his front lawn before donating it, probably to the Long Island Maritime Museum in West Sayville. Capt. Noel s Diventures!! The Spirit of the Good Life! Turks & Caicos Aug 28-Sept 2..info soon! North Carolina Aug South Fla & Fla Keys..Sept info soon! Palau & Yap..Oct 20 - Nov 2!! Palau Aggressor & Manta Ray Bay! Cozumel Dec 4 8 inclusive package! Barbados Jan 8 12, 2009 ARUBA..Feb 14-17, 2009! Winter School break PLEASE BUY LOCAL! Mail order/internet sales hurt all local retailers. We re the ones who fill your tanks, service your gear, train you to dive, take you out diving and REALLY CARE ABOUT YOU! SUPPORT US SO WE CAN SUPPORT YOU! Orbit Marine is 35 Years Old! Orbit Scuba Courses listing Open Water Advanced Open Water Rescue Diver Underwater Photography Wreck Diver Divemaster Assistant Instructor Instructor, Nitrox Advanced Nitrox Cylinder Inspector DAN O2 Provider Deep Diver Night diver Underwater Navigation Visit Orbit Marine on the Web -

5 Page 5 Wreck divers take note: Something for free!! 13 page PDF Shipwreck Sketch booklet Capt. Dan Berg's Wreck Valley Collection available as downloadable.pdf files. freeshipwrecksketch.htm Each set contains thirteen 4x6 pages. Each set provides divers with 6 compact printable sketches of a popular shipwrecks off New Jersey or New York. The sets also contain pertinent dive information and History of the vessel. These compact sheets were originally printed and sold on waterproof underwater slates. The slates have not been available in any format for years. Now Capt. Dan has re- released these popular underwater sketches in a Free downloadable PDF format. Set#1 (Free NY Shipwreck Sketch PDF Booklet) G&D (Yankee), Iberia, Lizzie D, Oregon, R.C. Mohawk, Tarantula. Set#2 (Free NJ Shipwreck Sketch PDF Booklet) USS Algol, Brunette, Delaware, Dual Wrecks (Adonis & Rusland), Emerald, and Pinta. Set#3 (Free NY Shipwreck Sketch PDF Booklet) Three Sisters, Dragger Shipwreck, Relief Ship, Arnoff, Cornelia Soule FCDA Member Ads Hey - have you got a non retail-diving business that you d like to share with fellow members of FCDA? Get your business card size ad in the FCDA monthly newsletter Surface Interval for only $50.00 for one year. Give your business a boost and help support the production of our monthly newsletters. For more information, write to FCDA, P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT or to fcda@aol.com.

6 Page 6 Next FCDA Meeting Current Topics in Decompression for Divers Dr Bill Hamilton Former Chairman of DAN PhD with specialty in Underwater Physiology Friday - July 25, :00 PM Coast Guard Cottage - South Benson Marina - Fairfield, CT Fairfield County Diving Association P.O. Box 3005 Fairfield, CT Address Service Requested