M 2 The Presidents Corner

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1 FAIRFIELD COUNTY DIVING ASSOCIATION January 2011 Volume 18 Issue 1 Inside this Issue M 2 The Presidents Corner Presidents Corner page 1 Oxygen Use Survey Card page 2 FCDA Donors I page 2 Reality TV for Divers page 3 FCDA Donors II page 3 FCDA Donors III page 4 If You Dive Nitrox You Should Know About OXTOX page 5 Events of Interest page 5 FCDA Member Ads page 5 Local Dive Trip page 6 FCDA 2010 Financial Statement page 7 Next FCDA Meeting page 8 Happy New Year!!!! It s that time of year again, the holiday s have past and we are amidst the dead of winter. So far we have had two good sized winter storms and as I am writing this they are forecasting another large storm which is expected to drop another 8-10 inches, or more. Yippeee another snow day!!!!!! Well at least the kids think so. That s what we get for living in the Northeast, huh. Don t worry summer will be hear before we know it, come on Punxsatawny Phil we re counting on you. If you don t come through for us we may just have to come out there and set you straight. It is also that time of the year to cough up some cash and pay your dues; literally. Or you could have Paul paying you a visit when you least expect it. So don t delay, send in the dues or bring it with you to the next meeting in January. The form to fill out is in the Surface Interval, you can get it on the FCDA Website (for those of you with the electronic newsletter you can click the link and get the application) or we ll have copies at the meeting for you. Why don t you try and save some trees this year, go Green and sign up for the electronic newsletter if you haven t done so. You hold-outs know who you are it is cheaper and you can read the Surface Interval on your smartphone anywhere you want. Doesn t that sound great. At January s meeting we are expecting to have Capt. Bill Palmer put on the presentation Ehoes of War that he did at the last Beneath The Sea, so come on down. Oh, and even better you could nominate yourself or someone else for one of the offices. Yes it is election time!!!! There s plenty of opportunity to show your stuff. Do you have what it takes? Don t be shy, you know you want to do it. Now for the bad news, so please don t shoot the messenger the cost of Beer and Wine has gone up.are you still there with me or did you throw this in the garbage and try to plead ignorance? Beer and Wine is now $2.00 a pop and you can get 2 for $4.00 yes 2 for $4.00. Vat a bargain. Sounds like Black Friday all over again. So I hope you all have had a good New Year so far and everyone is happy, healthy, wealthy and wise. See you soon. Be safe and Dive, Dive, Dive. Ciao.

2 Page 2 Oxygen Use Survey Card DAN Research is studying the effectiveness of the oxygen as first aid for diving emergencies. Unfortunately, DAN often doesn t know when oxygen first aid is used in the field. If you haven t received a copy of the Oxygen Use Survey Card, but would like to have a copy on hand to submit to DAN, you may download it training/oxygen/o2surveycard.pdf Are you a certified emergency O2 provider? If NO why not?. Read more about DAN Oxygen Resources and especially the agreement between DAN and PRAXAIR at: training/oxygen/index.asp New England's Tech Diving Center! New England Dive Center 476 North Colony Street Wallingford, CT FCDA Donors The b usiness l isted o n t his page h as donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association Fax Dealer for OMS, UWATEC, O ceanic, Mares, Da cor, Cressi-Sub, P o s e i d o n, Scubapro, B are, O'Neill and Henderson. P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT Internet mail: fcda@aol.com Presidents Vice-President Secretary Treasurer 2010 Board Matt Rownin & Mike Cassetta Mark Shannon George Sharrard Paul J. Gacek The region's foremost source fo r sc uba a nd technical d iving g ear, training and everything f or the recreational o r serious tech diver. Draeger Atlantis I Rebreather training, certification and rental. New E ngland D ive C enter o ffers complete t raining for all le vels o f diving, f rom O pen Water t hrough t he m ost a dvanced t echnical courses. O ur in struction p rovides c ertification t hrough SSI, P DIC, TDI and IANTD. Visit us on the Web:

3 Page 3 Reality TV for Divers Finally, after 4 successful years, the Ultimate Diver Challenge premiers on Versus Television network as the first ever Scuba Reality Show where divers see if they have what it takes to be the "best of the best" in scuba diving. Divers compete team against team in challenges that are designed to test knowledge, buoyancy, navigation, safety, search, stress, and rescue skills through precision and accuracy. FCDA Donors The b usiness l isted o n t his page h as donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. The show airs on the VERSUS Network on Friday s at 7:30am (so set your DVRs). It began on December 31 and will run for 26 weeks after that they will repeat the show for another 26 weeks. For more information visit

4 Page 4 Continued from page 6 mounted midship. Very stable and it has a very good angle making walking up quite easy. Of course you do have to step over the gunnels once you hit the top of the ladder. This requires you make a big step or something is going to get squashed and you will not feel so good! FCDA Donors The b usiness l isted o n t his page h as donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. All in all, I had a great time! So much that I went back on December 31st for a dive on the wreck of the Delaware. A lot of the same divers were onboard and the sea conditions were similar to the Brunette dive. The air temperature hovered around 30 F the water temperature was in the low 40 s. Captain Al plans to run charters in January and February. Rex Dive Center Offers Technical Diving Classes Interested in taking your training to the next level? TDI Instructor George Sharrard (# 10270) will be offering: Intro to Tech Advanced Nitrox Decompression Procedures Starting in May 2011 Join us in March 2011 for an open house at Rex Dive Center s Norwalk store to talk about schedules, class requirements and gear.

5 Events of Interest to FCDA Members February 26, The Boston Scuba Show - 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM - Holiday Inn and Resort, Junction of Rtes 495 and 20, Marlboro, Ma. Tickets at $25 each will be available at the door on the day of the show, or in advance by writing to: Cecile Christensen, 2 Ocean Ave (1-H), Gloucester, MA Checks payable to Cecile Christensen. For more information: BostonScubaShow2011.htm March 4-6, Boston Sea Rovers 2011 Clinic - Crowne Plaza Boston North Shore Hotel in Danvers MA. Over 40 Saturday and Sunday Daytime Seminars, featuring slide and video shows from around the underwater world! For more information: March 25-27, Beneath the Sea Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, NJ. Workshops and Seminars. For more information: May DUI DOG Rally & Demo Tour Dutch Springs, Bethlehem, PA nota bene: this is the only DUI Demo Days event in out area this year. There is no event scheduled at Brownstone Water Park. If you want to try dive a DUI dry suit this is your event. Diving Medicine Articles OXTOX: If You Dive Nitrox You Should Know About OXTOX DAN discusses the dangers of oxygen toxicity when using nitrox as a breathing gas Dr. E.D. Thalmann, DAN Assistant Medical Director; Captain, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (retired) It's a fact: we need oxygen to live. It's because of the way our cells use oxygen that we are able FCDA Member Ads Page 5 to breathe, exercise, and even think. In each of our cells, structures called mitochondria take the oxygen which diffuses in from our blood, disassemble it into its two component atoms (remember, oxygen - O2 - is composed of two oxygen atoms), and then hook some available hydrogen nuclei to them to form water. The process releases energy, which is used for all functions of life. The problem is that in disassembling the oxygen molecule, it involves a step in which an extra electron is hooked on. This forms an intermediate called a superoxide anion, and this is a bad actor. It is highly reactive, and it will make mincemeat out of most other molecules it comes in contact with. (read the full article at medical/articles/article.asp? articleid=35 ) 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 I nterval 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 December 2010 Dive Charter on the Sea Lion Brielle, NJ Desperate to go diving, I made the 2 hour drive to Brielle, NJ. I looked for the Guidos and Guidettes but failed to find any. Maybe Brielle isn t really on the Jersey shore. Even thought there was a decided lack of Snooki, I did find the berth of the Sea Lion without any trouble. The boat is located so that you can back your truck within 10 feet of the stern. Then you unload your gear and go park your truck on the street. If you prefer the mates will give you a parking pass for a restaurant parking lot near by. On street parking seemed OK in December. We waited to load our gear as the crew readied the boat. The engine was started and the cabin heater began to blow air. Gear gets loaded by handing it over the gunnels to a mate who places things is a semi ordered manner. Tanks against the side buckets and milk crates in the middle. Getting into the water requires you to flop over the gunnels (see pictures) Looks like it would be a problem but I did it wearing my twin 80 s. Divers on the Sea Lion has been doing it this way for a lot of years so its one of those things If it ain t broke don t fix it. Getting back in is a snap. The ladder is on the starboard side, Continued on page The cabin is not all that roomy. With 7 divers, 3 crew and a captain we mostly stayed warm by the friction of our bodies rubbing together. Once at the dive site (25 minutes) we take turns getting into our dry suits. Then its out to the deck to get geared up. The crew is terrific at helping!

7 Page FCDA Financial Report Balance as of 12/31/2009 $3, DESCRIPTION INCOME EXPENSE GAIN/(LOSS) Ads $ $ Dues $ $ Speakers $ ($290.88) DAN Raffles $ $ DAN Sponsor $ ($900.00) Refreshments $ $ ($155.78) Easter Egg Hunt $30.00 $69.72 ($39.72) Pumpkin Carving $45.00 $79.14 ($34.14) Clambake $ $1, ($77.90) Holiday Party $ $ $3.60 Web Page $ ($118.80) Xeroxing $90.94 ($90.94) Television $ ($614.79) TOTALS $3, $ ($672.35) Balance as of 12/31/2010 $3, Treasurer

8 Page 8 Next FCDA Meeting Friday - January 28, :00 PM Coast Guard Cottage - South Benson Marina - Fairfield, CT "Echoes of War The John Morgan" a video presentation by Captain Bill Palmer The Liberty Ship was the product of World War II. Built in hastily constructed shipyards across the United States, they were the saviors of Europe. Over 2700 were built in a very short time span. The Robert E. Perry was built in 4 days, 15.5 hours, setting a world record. If not for the Liberty Ship the war surely would have been lost. Our story is about the John Morgan. She carried war goods consisting of tanks, jeeps and motorcycles. While waiting to join a convoy off the coast of Virginia, she rammed the tanker Montana and sunk in 100 feet of water. Fairfield County Diving Association P.O. Box 3005 Fairfield, CT Address Service Requested Don't Forget To Pay Your Dues 2011