Chamber Day 2006 - Open for Business!!!

[Ken Kurtis]

Registration is now underway for the 18th annual Chamber Day events (to be held on Wednesday, May 3 this year). In case you’re not aware of it, Chamber Day is a fund-raiser for our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, and is the largest single-day scuba charity event in the United States.

As you may or may not know, the Catalina Chamber is dedicated strictly to the treatment of diving accidents on a 24/7/365 basis. Although we hope you’ll never need it, having the Chamber available gives divers a vital safety net in the event something should go wrong with your dive. Although there is a grant from LA County, and the Chamber gets income from some outside activities, Chamber Day provides a significant portion (close to 50%) of the Chamber’s annual budget.

The great thing about this event is that ALL the monies raised goes to the Chamber. No administrative fees are deducted from the proceeds, the local SoCal boats (12 of them) donate their time and services, the manufacturers donate gear for raffle prizes (roughly $30,000 worth), the Aquarium of the Pacific donates their facility for the evening event, hundreds of volunteers donate their time, and you (hopefully) donate your money. Last year we raised over $90,000 and this year we’re hoping to do even better. The event has many facets and there are multiple ways for you to get involved.

The main event is Chamber Day, a full day of diving (two dives) at Catalina plus a walking tour of the Chamber at the Isthmus. Cost for this is $85 (plus $30 for food & airfills) which gets you the diving, the tour, a t-shirt, and five raffle tickets.

For those who can’t take a day off but would still like to participate we have the Flying Dutchman, a mythical boat but a big part of Chamber Day as it’s the perfect place for those who can’t do the event. Those who choose to “dive” the Dutchman get a special limited-edition t-shirt (available ONLY to those who sign up for the Dutchman) as well as raffle tickets.

There’s also the Chamber Challenge, where the diving community is “challenged” to raise extra funds for our Chamber, through specific donations (usually $100, but also $500 and $1000), which then hopefully challenge your friends to match your generosity.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for the daytime raffle (you need not be present to win) whether you’re going on a boat or just want a chance at winning some fabulous prizes.

Chamber Evening is the cap to everything and is co-sponsored by the Aquarium of the Pacific. It features full access to the Aquarium, a sit-down dinner in the Great Hall (underneath the life-sized model of a Blue Whale), some awards, a separate raffle, and the presentation of the final check to Karl Huggins, Director of the Chamber.

Full information on this great event can be found of the web at “www.chamberday.org.” You can even sign up via the web and our secure server, or by calling our co-ordinating store at 310/652-4990.

But no matter how you do it, we really hope you’ll get involved with Chamber Day & Chamber Evening this year.

Ken Kurtis
Chairman, Chamber Day/Eve 2006

http://www.reefseekers.com/images/Ch-Day_06_poster_1000_pixels_high.jpg

 

[Ken Kurtis]

Gonna take a few days to straighten out. Should be up and running by Monday at the latest. Sorry for the inconvenience.

 

[Rickster]

Full information on this great event can be found of the web at “www.chamberday.org.” You can even sign up via the web and our secure server, or by calling our co-ordinating store at 310/652-4990.

Hi Ken,

Your link has the " behind the .org, so it doesn't work. With out that it does.

Rick

 

[headhunter]

Chamber Day is Wednesday, May 3, 2006.

I know that many of you have your favorite boats that you'll be going on for Chamber Day. So, instead of trying to figure out which boat to use as a group, it seems to be a better idea to concentrate on the evening's festivities instead.

A group of us were talking about how it would be really cool for all of us to get back from our day to Catalina on various boats and get together at a group of ScubaBoard tables to continue the fun at Chamber Evening.

For those of you who can't get the day off work, you can still join us at the Aquarium or the Pacific for dinner to support the Hyperbaric Chamber on Catalina Island, which is so important to all of us.

For those of you who have not read Ken Kurtis' post about this year's event, you'll find it here:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=131727

You can find the official website here:

http://www.chamberday.org/


Here is the info posted by Ken about Chamber Evening:

Chamber Evening is the cap to everything and is co-sponsored by the Aquarium of the Pacific. It features full access to the Aquarium, a sit-down dinner in the Great Hall (underneath the life-sized model of a Blue Whale), some awards, a separate raffle, and the presentation of the final check to Karl Huggins, Director of the Chamber.

$85 includes the following:

• Dinner
• 5 raffle tickets
• Access to the Aquarium of the Pacific exhibits that evening

7:00 pm doors open
8:00 pm dinner is served
9:00 pm program begins
10:00 program ends


Call Reefseekers at (310) 652-4990 and let them know that you want to buy a ticket for the ScubaBoard table for Chamber Evening.

It will help the people on the phone if you reference "table #32". This helps them find our tables on the sheet and has nothing to do with where the tables are physically.

Once you have confirmation that you have been added to a table, post in this thread that you have a seat and how many are in your party, so that we can compare this list with the main list.

I'll update this post and maintain a complete list here as you post to this thread.

I look forward to seeing you all there!

Christian

 

[MHK]

As many of you know, I started the Chamber Challenge a few years ago as a mechanism to "challenge" the dive community to get more fully engaged in the donation process. I suspect that most people agree that by all reasonable accounts the Challenge was a much greater success then anyone of us could have imagined. Consistent with my comments about infusing fresh ideas, and outside the box thinking, I feel it's time to get the "professionals" more involved and to offer a way for them to get more involved. As we all know, teaching scuba diving is by no means a lucrative proposition, for most it's a labor of love. To that end, it might be unfair to ask dive instructors to donate money, but since most do it for the love of the sport, perhaps we can figure out a way to allow "professionals" to donate time, in lieu of money.

My plan, and I'll be the first to donate my time, is that if we can get every instructor in our local area to "donate" one class per year as a designated "Chamber donation class", this allows every instructor to donate their services rather then lay out cash. I propose that each instructor in the area offer to teach one class per year and, rather then accept the fees for such class, to have the students donate their money directly to the Chamber. In that regard, I plan on offering a DIR-F class the weekend of May 5, 6 & 7. I charge $300 for the class plus a $30 fee to GUE. The standards allow for a 6:1 ratio, but I normally use 2 instructors and limit the class to 10. That is a $3,000 fee for which I will have the students make the check directly payable to the Chamber.

If you consider how many instructors we have in the area, and if we can get each instructor to donate one class per year to the Chamber the numbers are extraordinary. This can be any class you teach; OW, AOW, Rescue, Peak Performance Bouyancy, etc, etc, etc. The possibilities are endless, and the money all goes to a good cause.

So what say you instructors, do you accept the Challenege? I also strongly encourage shops, agencies and clubs to get behind this effort and support this new and innovative way to raise funds that have been heretofore unattainable.

I hope you will all accept this Challenge.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

We're happy (and relieved) to announce that the secure server for Chamber Day is now up and running which means you can sign up &/or make donations on-line.

PLEASE NOTE: Even though your donation will show up on your credit card statement as either from the University of Southern California or the USC Alumni Association it will be going into the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber account.

We'll be posting updates shortly. Thanks for your support!!!

The Chamber Day 2006 Committee
Ken Kurtis - Chairman
www.chamberday.org

 

[MHK]

One of the earliest pioneers in the technical diving community is Dr. Bill Hamilton. I will excerpt below a brief description of his accomplishements for those that aren't aware of his contributions.

But for those that are aware, and for those that may be in desire of a set of custom tables devloped specifically for you by Dr. Hamilton he has graciously agreed to jump into the "Challenge" arena.

Dr. Hamilton contacted me this morning and agreed to compute a set of custom tables and charge $600 for his efforts. He will donate the entire proceeds to the Chamber. So perhaps if you have a group of divers, a club, or just have your very favorite dive that you do often and want a set of custom tables computed by one of the true pioneers of the industry, here is your chance..

PM me for details.

For those unaware of Dr. Hamilton here is a brief background:

Dr. R.W. Bill Hamilton is a physiologist with more than three decades of specialization in diving, aerospace, and environmental physiology, with particular interest in decompression, breathing gases, and the effects of pressure.
Ten of these years (1964-1974) were as a scientist and director of the Union Carbide research laboratory supporting commercial diving, serving as the research arm of Ocean Systems, Inc.


Since 1976 Dr. Hamilton has been principal of Hamilton Research, Ltd. His work has included the development and assessment of decompression and operating procedures for commercial, scientific, recreational, and military diving. He also develops safety and operational planning, technical training programs, market surveys, and serves as an expert witness.

Dr. Hamilton, has developed many types of decompression procedures for a variety of diving and exposures to pressure, ranging from submarine free ascent to deep commercial diving, and including procedures for treatment of decompression sickness. This work has evolved into a comprehensive computer program, DCAP, which makes it possible for diving researchers to calculate comprehensive decompression tables. DCAP is in use by the British, Swedish, Japanese, and Finnish Navies, the German GKSS facility, the Japanese Marine Science and Technology Center, hyperbaric treatment facilities and commercial companies. DCAP has provided decompression tables used by NOAA, NASA, NUTEC, U.S. Navy labs, Karolinska Institute, archaeological research projects, commercial companies, accident analysis, and other special operations and commercial procedures.

Dr. Hamilton is the leader in the development and commercial application of nitrogen-oxygen (Nitrox) saturation-excursion procedures, including those in the NOAA diving manual plus NOAA's Repex procedures for repetitive excursion diving. For NASA, he developed decompression procedures for use with a hyperbaric lock on a space station.

His custom decompression tables and information have strongly influenced the origination and development of technical diving. Dr. Hamilton's decompression procedures are routinely used to explore caves and shipwrecks.

He has served on the safety board of NOAA's Undersea Research Program, NASA's Space Station Hyperbaric Chamber committee, DAN's Decompression Advisory Board, the Safety Board of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, the Medical Advisory Panel of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, the UHMS Safety Committee, NFPA's Hypo/Hyperbaric subcommittee, and as an inspector of diving training schools for the NY State Education Department.

Dr. Hamilton has received both the Stover-Link and Oceaneering awards of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, and the Award for Professional Excellence from the Aerospace Industrial Life Sciences Association.

Dr. Hamilton's innovations, consultations, and work in the industrial and recreational field position him as both universally respected, and authoritative. His participation in many projects and research in the use of mixed gases have established him as a pioneer, and his conservative approach to safety forms the foundation for a "non-fringe" philosophy of gas usage.

 

[Ken Kurtis]

CHAMBER DAY/EVE UPDATE (#1 - posted 3/26/06)

We’ve gotten off to a good start so far this year but we’ve got a long way to go until the finish line. And we can only do it with your help by getting you to sign up for Chamber Day, Chamber Evening, contribute to the Chamber Challenge, or buy one of our commemorative Chamber Day 2006 tiles. Full information on everything can be found at www.chamberday.org . And, after some delay, we’ve got our secure server up and running so you can either sign up on-line or call us at 310/652-4990 to get involved.

Here’s where we are on the various event aspects right now.

BOATS (sponsor):
Aquatica (Douglas Dive Club & Dive ‘N Surf) - Available
Bottom Scratcher (Open) - Plenty of spots available
Cee Ray (Reef Seekers) - About ¼ full
Flying Dutchman (Open) - Plenty of space
Great Escape (Open) - SOLD OUT
Island Time (Sport Chalet) - Available but filling
Magician (Sport Chalet) - Well over ½ full
Mr. C (Ca Wreck Divers & Rod Francis) - Available
Pacific Star (Scuba Schools of America) - Filling fast
Psalty V (Scuba Schools of America) - SOLD OUT
Sea Bass (Grant Graves) - Available
Second Stage (Scuba Schools of America) - SOLD OUT
Sundiver (Ocean Adventures) - Almost full

The best bet for a sponsored boat is to call the sponsor directly. For an open boat (or any questions) call 310/652-4990.

CHAMBER EVENING (table sponsor & total seats):
Open table (10) - 6 seats available
Catalina Conservancy Divers - SOLD OUT
Aqua Adventures (10) - Available
Haven’s Reef (10) - Available
Reef Seekers (10) - 5 seats available
Sole Searchers (10) - 8 seats available
Scuba Schools of America (40) - SOLD OUT
Hollywoodivers (10) - Available
OBDC Women’s Dive Club (10) - SOLD OUT
Tom Wetzel/LACUIA (10) - 2 seats available
Burbank Dive Club (20) - 16 available
ScubaDiverNet.com (10) - 9 available
Ocean Institute (20) - SOLD OUT
Blue Water Dive Club (10) - Available
Laguna Sea Sports (30) - Available
Grant Graves (10) - Available
Eco Dive Center (40) - SOLD OUT
Xpress Graphics (10) - SOLD OUT
South Coast Divers (10) - 5 seats available
DDD Club (20) - 12 seats available
Scubaboard.com (10) - Available
Ocean Adventures (10) - Available
Barnacle Busters (10) - 5 seats available
Sport Chalet (20) - 10 seats available
Boat Captains & crew (30) - NOT FOR SALE
Chamber Guests (10) - NOT FOR SALE

Tables can be booked either through the sponsoring organization, the website (indicate what table you want to sit at), or through our co-ordinating store at 310/652-4990.

CHAMBER CHALLENGE
We’ll do a separate post in a day or so but right now (Sunday evening) we’re at $1520. We’ve got a long ways to go to beat the $23K we did last year but - with your help - we can do it.

MURALS & INDIVIDUAL TILES
We’ve already sold three full murals ($500 each) and some assorted individual tiles. These are great keepsakes and truly collectibles,. They also make nice gifts.

So that’s where we are overall. One thing we’ve noticed this year is that the Chamber Evening tickets are selling at a much faster pace than they have in years past. We don’t ever recall having this many tickets sold and accounted for (228 out of 400 available seats) this early on.

So what that most likely means is that if you’d like to make sure that you have a place at the table this year for Chamber Evening, don’t wait too long or you may find tat the event is sold out. We can only accommodate 400 divers (and even that’s pretty tight quarters) so don’t get left out in the cold. Take note of who the table sponsors are and be sure you’re sitting with your buddies.

This whole thing represents the largest single source of outside income for our Chamber as well as one time in the year when the entire scuba community gets together to work for the greater good. We appreciate your support in the past and hope to have many of you with us again this year.

Ken Kurtis
Chairman, Chamber Day/Eve 2006

 

[Ann Marie]

JDog, SnakeDr, Jetfixer, and I will be there but we purchased our tickets through Sport Chalet so don't look for us on that list.

 

[OCdiving Deb]

Derek and I will be there but at a different table as well. Who else is attending??