Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2018 vacation trips:
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (3 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., May 10 - Redondo - Night Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., May 19 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., May 24 - CLASS - NAUI Nitrox ($25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
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Now that it's all behind us . . .
CHAMBER DAY 2018 ANOTHER ROUSING SUCCESS - First of all, thank you to all who made this happen both from a participant and a volunteer standpoint. We literally could not do it without you. I'm delighted to report that our grand total of $116,057 was better than we thought we'd do and is also the seventh-highest total ever for the event. We tried a few new things this year - different raffle format and VGD VIP area at Chamber Eve, plus Early Bird pricing for Chamber Day - and we'll make some tweaks for next year. But hopefully everyone had a good time and - more importantly - we raised much-needed funds for our Chamber. Here's how the numbers break down by segment of the event:
• Chamber Day (boat, raffles, merchandise) - $13,369
• Flying Dutchman - $7,600
• Chamber Eve (diners, VGD, raffle tix, merchandise) - $26,872
• Challenge - $66,186
• Web merchandise - $2,030
And here's the requisite check presentation shot (courtesy of Chris Glaeser - Karl Huggins on the left and me on the right):
SPEAKING OF PHOTOS - Chris and Maurice Roper were our official photogs for the event and they snapped many pix of the attendees. Those pix are available for viewing at https://cd2018.smugmug.com plus if you'd like to purchase any, just right-click on the photo for all the options. ALL the proceeds from pix sales go directly to our Chamber. So many thanks to Chris & Maurice!!!
REGULAR LIFE RESUMES - As life (at least for me and for Reef Seekers) gets back to normal, it's a good time to remind you of the upcoming night dive this Thursday at Redondo. I'm doubting that we'll see any squid or squid eggs given how the year has gone but you never know unless you go take a look. Also note that we've got an Avalon trip planned for May 19. Call us at 310/652-4990 if you'd like to join us for any of those.
KELP FARMING - At our Aquarium presentations, we're always talking about the benefits of kelp, not only to the animals who reside within it, but also to people. And now, "60 Minutes" has picked up on that theme with a story on kelp farming. Thanks to Roz Wolpert for the heads-up. You can watch the 13-minute segment (plus an few extras) here: https://www.cbsnews.com/…/seaweed-farming-and-its-surprisi…/ .
BONAIRE TRIP REPORT IS FINALLY DONE - It was weeks in the making so it's obviously worth waiting for and checking out. (At least, that's my pitch.) But the bottom line is that both the trip report and the pictures from our Bonaire trip that we got back from two weeks are now both available on-line. Here are the links:
TRIP REPORT - http://www.reefseekers.com/…/Bonaire%202018%20trip%20report…
SMUGMUG SLIDESHOW PIX - https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/…/2018-DI…/BONAIRE-APRIL-2018/
WHO DOESN'T LOVE SYLVIA EARLE? - Her Deepness was recently interview on CNN about the state of the ocean and said something I think will ring true with everyone: "The threat to the oceans is ignorance." And that where we, as divers, and especially if you are an instructor, come into play. Part of our job should be to educate people about the importance of the oceans to our well-being (given that they cover about 75% of the planet, have a major effect on weather, and generate 50-70% of the oxygen we breathe) which hopefully then instills in them an understanding of why we need to care for and protect our waters. In this interview, Dr. Earle talks with Christiane Amanpour about how plastics are choking our oceans and maybe us. Interesting viewing: https://edition.cnn.com/…/04/19/intv-amanpour-sylvia-earle.… .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
• June 8-20 - Yap Immersion (7 going - room for a few more)
• August 18-25 - Isla Mujeres (Whale Sharks, Cancun Underwater Museum, Cenotes)
• October 27 - November 3 - Roatan at Anthony's Key (3 SPOTS LEFT)
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: Foreign Trips
—————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Thu., May 10 - Redondo - Night Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., May 19 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., May 24 - CLASS - NAUI Nitrox ($25)
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
—————————————————————————
Now that it's all behind us . . .
CHAMBER DAY 2018 ANOTHER ROUSING SUCCESS - First of all, thank you to all who made this happen both from a participant and a volunteer standpoint. We literally could not do it without you. I'm delighted to report that our grand total of $116,057 was better than we thought we'd do and is also the seventh-highest total ever for the event. We tried a few new things this year - different raffle format and VGD VIP area at Chamber Eve, plus Early Bird pricing for Chamber Day - and we'll make some tweaks for next year. But hopefully everyone had a good time and - more importantly - we raised much-needed funds for our Chamber. Here's how the numbers break down by segment of the event:
• Chamber Day (boat, raffles, merchandise) - $13,369
• Flying Dutchman - $7,600
• Chamber Eve (diners, VGD, raffle tix, merchandise) - $26,872
• Challenge - $66,186
• Web merchandise - $2,030
And here's the requisite check presentation shot (courtesy of Chris Glaeser - Karl Huggins on the left and me on the right):
SPEAKING OF PHOTOS - Chris and Maurice Roper were our official photogs for the event and they snapped many pix of the attendees. Those pix are available for viewing at https://cd2018.smugmug.com plus if you'd like to purchase any, just right-click on the photo for all the options. ALL the proceeds from pix sales go directly to our Chamber. So many thanks to Chris & Maurice!!!
REGULAR LIFE RESUMES - As life (at least for me and for Reef Seekers) gets back to normal, it's a good time to remind you of the upcoming night dive this Thursday at Redondo. I'm doubting that we'll see any squid or squid eggs given how the year has gone but you never know unless you go take a look. Also note that we've got an Avalon trip planned for May 19. Call us at 310/652-4990 if you'd like to join us for any of those.
KELP FARMING - At our Aquarium presentations, we're always talking about the benefits of kelp, not only to the animals who reside within it, but also to people. And now, "60 Minutes" has picked up on that theme with a story on kelp farming. Thanks to Roz Wolpert for the heads-up. You can watch the 13-minute segment (plus an few extras) here: https://www.cbsnews.com/…/seaweed-farming-and-its-surprisi…/ .
BONAIRE TRIP REPORT IS FINALLY DONE - It was weeks in the making so it's obviously worth waiting for and checking out. (At least, that's my pitch.) But the bottom line is that both the trip report and the pictures from our Bonaire trip that we got back from two weeks are now both available on-line. Here are the links:
TRIP REPORT - http://www.reefseekers.com/…/Bonaire%202018%20trip%20report…
SMUGMUG SLIDESHOW PIX - https://kenkurtis.smugmug.com/…/2018-DI…/BONAIRE-APRIL-2018/
WHO DOESN'T LOVE SYLVIA EARLE? - Her Deepness was recently interview on CNN about the state of the ocean and said something I think will ring true with everyone: "The threat to the oceans is ignorance." And that where we, as divers, and especially if you are an instructor, come into play. Part of our job should be to educate people about the importance of the oceans to our well-being (given that they cover about 75% of the planet, have a major effect on weather, and generate 50-70% of the oxygen we breathe) which hopefully then instills in them an understanding of why we need to care for and protect our waters. In this interview, Dr. Earle talks with Christiane Amanpour about how plastics are choking our oceans and maybe us. Interesting viewing: https://edition.cnn.com/…/04/19/intv-amanpour-sylvia-earle.… .
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving soon!!!
- Ken
