|
CHAMBER DAY IS MAY 6 -
As many of you know, Reef Seekers has served as
Chamber Day HQ and I've served as Chamber Day
chairperson since the early 90s. And this very
important annual fund-raiser for our Catalina
Hyperbaric Chamber is now a little more than
three weeks away. What's always attracted us to
this event is the ecumenical nature of it. There
can be a lot of pettiness in the diving industry
and this is one time when we set that all aside
and everyone comes together for the greater
good. Chamber Day got started in 1989 when it
seemed that L.A. County, who at the time
provided a major percentage of the Chamber's
funding, was going to terminate the money. The
dive boat captains, led by Roger Hess of
Charisma Charters, came up with the idea of
doing a one-day dive and donating all of the
revenue to our Chamber. There were more dive
boats back then and over 20 of them
participated, raising about $15,000. From that
humble beginning, the event has grown
tremendously into what we now call the largest
single-day scuba charity event in the United
States (and perhaps the world). We still have
Chamber Day (two dives at Catalina and a walking
tour of our Chamber and facilities), but we've
added the Flying Dutchman (our fake boat for
those who can't dive on May 6), the Chamber
Challenge (direct donations), Chamber Evening
(aka "Scuba Prom" - a sit-down dinner at the
Aquarium of the Pacific, also on May 6), and
even virtual Chamber Evening (a product of a
post-COVID world since during COVD, we could
only live-stream the event.) Plus, we can sell
you Chamber Day and Chamber Eve t-shirts that
feature the logos you see above. (The only way
to get the Dutchman shirt is to sign up to help
crew the Dutchman.) Best of all, in each of the
last two years, we've raised over $190,000 for
our Chamber (whose operating expenses have
obviously grown exponentially since 1989). Is
this the year we crack the $200,000 mark???? We
can with your help. If you haven't already
signed up for an aspect of the event, please
join us by going to our website. If you need
more info about any part of Chamber Day 2026,
you'll find it on our website, along with a link
to our sign-up/donation page that is cleverly
labelled "SIGN
UP NOW."
Here's the link to the website: www.chamberday.org.
Hope to see you on May 6.
STRANDED ANIMALS -
This is the time of year when you may sometimes
see marine mammals, especially seals and sea
lions, "resting" on a beach. Sometimes, they're
just taking a nap. Sometimes, they've hauled
themselves out of the water to rest or recharge.
And sometimes they're in distress. No matter the
reason, understand that they have protection
under federal law and while your intent might be
good, if you intervene, you could create some
huge legal problems for yourself which can
include large fines and even jail time. If you
should see what appears to be a stranded marine
mammal, keep a safe distance, take pictures if
you can, and call the West Coast Stranding
Hotline at (866)767-6114. They'll take it from
there and will let you know if there's anything
else you should do.
GEARING UP TO DIVE? -
Some of you take the winter off and are now
thinking of getting back into diving for the
summer. Or maybe you have a big trip coming up.
Make sure your gear, especially your regulator
and BC, is in tip-top shape. That's where Reef
Seekers repair guru Robert Stark comes into
play. He can easily do a bench check of your
stuff to let you know if anything's amiss. It's
relatively cheap and if you're one of our Repair
Repeat Offenders (which means we serviced your
gear within the last 18 months), a bench check
is free. You can call Robert to find out more on
our dedicated repair number, which is
(310)947-8523. (He can also do tank VIPs and
arrange for hydros as well.)
And thatll do it for now. Have a great week and
let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken |
.jpg)
