July 2008

Thanks to Tim Gardner for hosting the June potluck. Everyone had a great time and enjoyed the “south of the border” food.

Diving was rather mediocre in June. It started out with great visibility. As the month wore on it became really bad visibility. Still, being underwater in bad visibility is better than being on the surface in good visibility.

Congratulations to Tony Sanders and Matt Ellis on completing the Dry Suit Specialty. Both did an excellent job. Matt is here for the summer from Egypt. He is doing a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies.

Even with the bad visibility we have seen some interesting sea life in Smitty’s Cove. It has to be right in front of your face to see it though! On Saturday Colin Rust took a day off from his busy summer schedule and met us in Whittier. We went to the sea whip bed and cruised along the reef havens. As always the sea whips were beautiful. We found a huge tritonia nudibranch and a beautiful Janolus Fuscus nudibranch. Lisa also found a china rockfish. We seldom see them in the cove. In fact, I got a picture of the only other one I have ever seen around the cove. That was in about 1996. We also saw the usual quillback and copper rockfish. There were 2 fairly large pacific true cod in the sea whip bed. Visibility was 4 to 10 feet on the dive. Water temperatures ranged from 48 degrees above 35 feet to 41 degrees below that. Temperatures are still a couple of degrees cooler than normal for this time of year. That is probably why the salmon are so slow about coming back in around Alaska.

There is a derelict boat anchored in Smitty’s Cove right now. Its anchor is right on the middle reef havens, over the rope I put in to connect the reef. The anchor rope is wrapped around the pipes and rail. When they pull anchor it is going to destroy some of the reef. The anchor was too heavy for me to move. This is why it is so important that we get Smitty’s turned into a marine park and restrict anchoring. The public hearing is July 8th at 7pm in Whittier. That is a Tuesday. I encourage everyone to show up to support me on this measure. You don’t have to testify; just show up. You will have plenty of time to attend the meeting and still make it through the tunnel before it closes. Tell all your kayaker friends and environmentalists as well.

On a lighter note, Sunshine Sports is moving. In fact, by the time this newsletter goes out it may already be moved. They are moving into the old Nerlands mattress warehouse (Wolfe Home Furnishings) building on Fireweed and “A” Street. The address is 123 E. Fireweed Lane. The phone number is the same: 272-6444. They have a new, bright motif that more reflects the “Sunshine” in Sunshine Sports. Orange, green, yellow and gold accents give the place a lighthearted look. Drop by and see it. The new name will be Sunshine Fitness & Sports.

It’s Lisa’s turn. So, Dive Safe, Dive Often and whatever you do Dive in beautiful Alaska!!!!!

Lisa’s

        Corner

Greetings Fellow divers! Well, summer is here and over half over and still we await some warm weather. Oh ya, we are going to get some for sure when we take off for sunny Cozumel July 24th. We are sure looking forward to it and can’t wait to see, visit and dive with our friends. Sara, Bill, Kris and Mariano are like family and we so look forward to our annual visit. This year Mario & Mary Lanza, as well as Angie Ekle are coming down and we are planning some real fun not only diving, but also taking a day trip to the mainland to do some snorkeling with the Whale Sharks. I am most excited about this adventure and can’t wait to experience the awe and beauty of these magnificent beautiful animals.

We are looking at breaking up the vacation schedule this next year with a trip to Kona for a week or ten days. We were over there about 10 years ago now and really enjoyed it. So now that Alaska Airlines flies over and they have the companion fares and mileage tickets it is worth a look. Another trip we are tossing around is a live aboard that spends 10 days in South East. Jim Lima went this past year and said it was outstanding diving and great accommodations. They dove all along the Inland Passage and into Canada. Between dives they hiked and kayaked exploring glaciers, shorelines and alpine ridges, observing shore birds, Sealife and land critters. Sounds like a great time and something that would be even more fun with a group. So if you might be interested in more details as I investigate let me know and I will keep you in the loop.

Another trip we are going to look at is one to Thailand. This would be for 2010, but bears lots of preplanning, so I am going to start after we get home in August. I don’t think we would be doing a live aboard on that one and I know that we will want to do some land travels as well. Again if you would be interested in going along just let me know.

The public hearing for turning Smitty’s Cove into an underwater park is very important and I hope that you all will take the time to show your support and attend the meeting. It starts at 7:00 pm and will be in the public works building. That is the blue building on the right side of the street about a block before the Anchor Inn. It is across the street from the fish processing plant. I am driving down and can take 4 with me if anyone wants to car pool. I thought it would be fun to head down on the 5:30 opening if we can pull that off and have dinner at Swiftwaters. Their fresh halibut or shrimp and chips are always outstanding. Let me know if you would like to come along.

We have been doing a bunch of Dry suit specialties lately. Plus I am working with a really nice young lady, Crystal Frost, doing her private open water class. She is a very good diver and has such enthusiasm. She is home from college and is taking off on the 7th to help family in the flood ravaged mid-west so she has had to do her class in less than two weeks. We are hitting the open water this weekend and I know we are going to have a grand time. Michael Middleton will be doing his Dry Suit dives on the 4th and Ann Marie Zack is lined up for the next weekend. I really had fun with Matt Ellis this past weekend. He had great skills and such joy at being underwater in Smitty’s Cove. He was into and looking at everything. I love seeing people so enthralled.

Our next potluck is at Angie Ekle’s house on Wednesday July 16. Angie is a regular for summer host homes and her house seems to draw a crowd. Of course as sweet and nice as she is that is totally understandable. Also she is a fantastic cook so we can plan on some wonderful tasty munchies. She has not shared what the main dish will be, but I will let you know when we send out the reminder. As usual come by anytime after 5:30 on the 16th, bring a dish of your choice, what ever you are drinking and of course family, friends and non-divers are certainly welcome.

We need a host house for August and September so if you would like to open your home to a bunch of happy divers please let me know.

Lastly welcome home to our dear friends John & Joyce Strachan back from wintering outside.

We missed you.

Take care - Lisa