M 2 The Presidents Corner

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1 FAIRFIELD COUNTY DIVING ASSOCIATION August 2008 Volume 15 Issue 8 Inside this Issue M 2 The Presidents Corner Presidents Corner Events of Interest page 1 page 2 Raffle Winners page 2 Local Wreck Salvaged page 2 FCDA Donors I page 3 FCDA Donors II page 4 North Atlantic Wreck Diving, A Dying Sport?? page 5 FCDA Member Ads page 5 Next FCDA Meeting page 6 Greetings all. Hope all is well and that you all enjoyed your summer thus far. The July meeting was quite interesting and well attended. Prior to our guest speaker s talk, we spent several minutes discussing recent dives. Capt Noel described his dives in San Salvador and the abundance of lion fish that have infiltrated the area. It appears there may be a new king in Central American waters. Don Brown described his recent trip to Papua New Guinea and showed footage of an encounter with some minke whales. Other members had recently dived in various other places of late including North Carolina and Cape Ann. Everyone had fun and more importantly came back safely. In addition to our esteemed speaker Dr William Hamilton, we were also honored to have Bernie Chowdhury, author of The Last Dive, in attendance. Dr Hamilton spoke about decompression diving and afterward we gathered at Luigi s for some good food and some general B.S. The end of summer means that our annual trip to Cape Ann is almost upon us. All are welcome, even if you don t want to brave the Gloucester waters. We are always looking for speakers to present at the monthly meeting. If you ve done anything of interest that you would like to share with the club please let Matt and I know. This month Andy Cummings will discuss diving in the Sea of Cortez. The Sea of Cortez is located in Mexico just east of the Baja peninsula and named after spanish explorer and conquistador, Hernando Cortes. Although Francisco Pizarro is my personal favorite conquistador, Cortes definitely got the better body of water named after him. Well, that s all for now. Your most humble servant..mike

2 Page 2 Events of Interest to FCDA Members August 23, Wreck Dive aboard Capt Bill Palmer's Thunderfish - For more information Mel Rich Jr or call (203) divermel@optonline.net September DUI Demo Days at Brownstone Exploration and Discovery Park Not an event, but take a look at this video. FCDA July Meeting Raffle Winners After a exciting presentation by RW Bill Hamilton on Current Topics in Decompression for Divers the club held its monthly raffle to support our DAN Diamond sponsorship. The winners were: D Ring donated by Orbit Marine Dive Center - Mike Cassetta; Triptone donated by New England Dive Center 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 - Mark Shannon, Safety Sausage donated by New England Dive Center - Tom Thomes; Car Decal donated by New England Dive Center - Charles Blanchette; MiraZyme Odor Eliminator donated by New England Dive Center - Mark Shannon; BC Knife donated by New England Dive Center - Scott DellaPeruta; Tank Banger donated by Orbit Marine Dive Center - Scott DellaPeruta; Reef Anchor donated by Orbit Marine Dive Center - Paul Gacek and a Line Cutter donated by Orbit Marine Dive Center - Jim McAuliffe. Thanks to New England Dive Center and Orbit Marine Dive Center 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! Tugboat for 1984 wreck salvaged Norwalk Hour August 15, 2008 page 1 By Robert Koch Salvage work on a barge that sunk off Sheffield Island a quarter of a century ago killing the six man crew of its tugboat, wrapped up Thursday morning following a visit from an inspector of the state Department of Environmental Protection the evening before. At issue for the state agency was whether the salvage operation being performed by Weeks Marine, Inc. of Cranford, N.J., was disturbing the seabed and aquatic life and also if a permit was required for the salvage work... The tugboat Celtic, owned by Ekloff Corp. of Staten Island and the barge Cape Race left Bridgeport harbor at 8:00pm on Nov.17, 1984 and were due in Newark, N.J. at 8:00am the following morning. The barge was loaded with scrap iron according to the U.S. Coast Guard at the time Weeks Marine moved this crane barge in and they were unloading the actual scrap metal from the barge.

3 Page 3 How many arms does an octopus have? The answer is six: the other two are legs By: Simon de Bruxelles news/environment/ article ece A giant Pacific octopus called Mavis has helped researchers to prove that the one thing everyone knows about the creatures is wrong. The name octopus is derived from the Ancient Greek for eight feet. Mavis, who lives in a tank at Weymouth Sea Life Centre, actually has six arms and two legs. Researchers who were studying octopuses behavior were taken aback to discover that some of the most basic assumptions about them were wrong. Until now it had been believed that the tentacles were deployed in two equal sets, one set of four for propulsion and the other for manipulation. Toys including a Rubik s Cube were placed in the octopus tanks and a careful watch was made of which limbs the animal used to play with them. Claire Little, who led the research at Weymouth, where the project was devised, said: We ve found that octopuses effectively have six arms and two legs. It had been thought they used four tentacles for movement and the other four for feeding and manipulating objects, but observations showed that they use the rearmost two to get around over rocks and the seabed. 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 New FCDA Members Welcome aboard to the following individuals who have recently become new members of the Fairfield County Diving Association: Charles M Blanchette 568 Old Stratfield Rd Fairfield, CT H: W: uncas297@att.net Kevin W McGinley 668 Glenbrook Rd Apt 38 Stamford, CT H: W: Flyboy_fly@sbcglobal.net Douglas J Muller 495 Ridge Rd Hamden, CT H: djm507@sbcglobal.net 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 Capt. Noel s Diventures!! The Spirit of the Good Life! Turks & Caicos Aug 28-Sept 2. 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 Dubai & Maldives..March 11-22, 2009! Info Soon! 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 From the Secretary s Desk Many of you know about my passion for North East wreck diving. At times it seems like a dying sport. There are fewer and fewer charter boats available. Fuel prices haven t helped. The following editorial is posted on the web site of the Eagle s Nest. Captain Howard has taken up the challenge I for one am going to support his efforts however I can. Watch the Events of Interest to FCDA Members column in the newsletter for charter opportunities in Nothing lasts forever. As I write this editorial I am in the process of planning next year s dive schedule which will be markedly different from any schedule the Eagle s Nest has done in the past. As I move down the road of life I find my interests changing. The desire to build new and innovative things has started taking up a lot of my time. Thus, the Eagle s Nest will take on a new role by attempting to revitalize the sport of wreck diving before it is retired and moves on. For the last few years I have been attempting to get newly certified divers interested in wreck diving. It is not a job I can do alone. I ve written editorials, spoken with dive shop owners, and tried to promote wreck diving for the newly certified by devoting my Sunday dives to shallow inshore wrecks. I m beginning to feel like the Lone Ranger on this subject. Next season the Eagle s Nest is cutting out all liveaboard trips and technical diving trips. It will cater exclusively to the new and mid-range diver. There will be no mid-week trips with the exception of one (1) Gourmet Wednesday. A structured program for new divers to gain experience will be introduced as will an incentive program for instructors teaching wreck diving. FCDA Member Ads Page 5 In the event a group wants to arrange a special charter for an overnight trip, or a technical wreck, I could probably be talked into it if there was enough interest and given six months notice. In all probability I would refer you to another boat unless you insisted on this one (I know you like the meals). Some of you may have noticed that we have been experiencing a change in weather pattern over the last few years. Summers are starting later and ending early. Spring and fall seasons are running longer. This weather phenomenon will change next year s dive schedule significantly. You will probably see more Capt. s Choice days then you have in the past. You can look for the 2009 schedule reflecting those changes to appear around New Year s Day. I will keep you posted as things progress. Safe diving, Captain Howard 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 "Sea of Cortez" a presentation by Andy Cummings Friday - August 22, :00 PM Coast Guard Cottage - South Benson Marina - Fairfield, CT Fairfield County Diving Association P.O. Box 3005 Fairfield, CT Address Service Requested