Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Zoom Seekers, travel info, and more
(please scroll down for details)
Hope you had a lovely Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Festivus) . . .
COOL GIFT - Laurie got me this nifty "Marine Selfie" mat. It's about 45" x 30" so I've got it down in my kitchen as something to stand on when doing dishes or cooking. (Yes, I'm a pretty good cook. Also an experienced dishwasher.) Fun gift.
LAKE PACIFIC, CHRISTMAS VERSION - Suffice it to say it doesn't get any calmer than this at Vets or anywhere else. This is what it was like Christmas Eve day at 9AM and it was the same the day before and Christmas Day as well. Mike Couffer reports that in addition to finding some Young-of-the-Year baby Giant Sea Bass (which always gets him excited and fired up), the visibility was around 30 feet or so and so clear that you could see bottom features from the parking lot! Except for the 54º water, almost Caribbean-like.
ZOOM SEEKERS STARTS IN EARNEST TUESDAY, JANUARY 5 - Our first speaker will be Dan Orr, past president of the Divers Alert Network. Dan also had a career as a U.S. Navy diver, is on the boards of the Historical Diving Society, Our World Underwater Society, and DEMA, and is just an all-around knowledgeable and nice guy. Dan's got a passion for dive safety - certainly resulting from his 23 years at D.A.N. - and will be talking about "Five Mistakes In Diver Safety," focusing especially on what we call "triggering" events, which is something going wrong that then starts a tumbling cascade of events which sometimes have tragic outcomes. I can almost guarantee you that Dan will mention something and you will say to yourself, "Oh my, that's something I've done on occasion." Point being, you WILL learn something. Dan will start at 7:30PM, go for 45-60 minutes, with a Q&A afterwards. I'll send out the Zoom link next week. Hope you can join us.
SOCORRO IN A LITTLE OVER TWO WEEKS - We fly to Cabo on January 13 and get on the Nautilus Under Sea the next evening. (We'll do two local Cabo dives on 1/14.) We had some late cancellations, so there are spaces available if anyone would like to join at the last minute. COVID protocols are in place both in Cabo and on the boat. But one interesting thing about Socorro, and hopefully this holds until we get there, is that the animals really seemed to have missed the divers. Nautilus posted a 3-minute video of one of their inaugural dives in November and the interactions are spectacular. Take a peek: NAUTILUS RETURNS TO SOCORRO.
TRAVEL IN 2021 WILL BE DIFFERENT - Aside from many COVID protocols hanging around for quite some time, some destinations may - note the qualifier "may" - start requiring you to provide proof of medical insurance before you're admitted to the country. They might also require evacuation insurance, which might be covered under your DAN or dive accident policy. And it's important to remember that if you're over 65 and on Medicare, especially if Medicare is your ONLY medical insurance, Medicare coverage stops as soon as you leave the United States. There are plenty of companies - including DAN - who will sell you supplemental insurance that will cover you outside the United States. But, before you start your trip, make sure you know what's covered and what isn't.
YOU MIGHT EVEN NEED PROOF OF VACCINE - As the COVID vaccines become more widely available, there's talk of carrying with you a proof of vaccine which could be a stamp in your passport. Countries will want to know that not only are you currently COVID-free, but also that you don't stand a chance of getting infected while you're their guest. You can read more about this here: VACCINE PROOF NEEDED TO TRAVEL IN THE FUTURE.
And on that cheery note, we'll call it a wrap for the year, since this is the last TWARS of 2020. This crazy year only has four more days to go as of this writing (Sunday night) and I don't think anyone's going to miss it when it's gone.
Keep your eyes (and ears) open for a bonus New Years Eve missive that should come your way on Thursday afternoon. Have a great week, wear your mask, wash your hands, and let's go diving soon.
- Ken
(please scroll down for details)
Hope you had a lovely Christmas (or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa or Festivus) . . .
COOL GIFT - Laurie got me this nifty "Marine Selfie" mat. It's about 45" x 30" so I've got it down in my kitchen as something to stand on when doing dishes or cooking. (Yes, I'm a pretty good cook. Also an experienced dishwasher.) Fun gift.
LAKE PACIFIC, CHRISTMAS VERSION - Suffice it to say it doesn't get any calmer than this at Vets or anywhere else. This is what it was like Christmas Eve day at 9AM and it was the same the day before and Christmas Day as well. Mike Couffer reports that in addition to finding some Young-of-the-Year baby Giant Sea Bass (which always gets him excited and fired up), the visibility was around 30 feet or so and so clear that you could see bottom features from the parking lot! Except for the 54º water, almost Caribbean-like.
ZOOM SEEKERS STARTS IN EARNEST TUESDAY, JANUARY 5 - Our first speaker will be Dan Orr, past president of the Divers Alert Network. Dan also had a career as a U.S. Navy diver, is on the boards of the Historical Diving Society, Our World Underwater Society, and DEMA, and is just an all-around knowledgeable and nice guy. Dan's got a passion for dive safety - certainly resulting from his 23 years at D.A.N. - and will be talking about "Five Mistakes In Diver Safety," focusing especially on what we call "triggering" events, which is something going wrong that then starts a tumbling cascade of events which sometimes have tragic outcomes. I can almost guarantee you that Dan will mention something and you will say to yourself, "Oh my, that's something I've done on occasion." Point being, you WILL learn something. Dan will start at 7:30PM, go for 45-60 minutes, with a Q&A afterwards. I'll send out the Zoom link next week. Hope you can join us.
SOCORRO IN A LITTLE OVER TWO WEEKS - We fly to Cabo on January 13 and get on the Nautilus Under Sea the next evening. (We'll do two local Cabo dives on 1/14.) We had some late cancellations, so there are spaces available if anyone would like to join at the last minute. COVID protocols are in place both in Cabo and on the boat. But one interesting thing about Socorro, and hopefully this holds until we get there, is that the animals really seemed to have missed the divers. Nautilus posted a 3-minute video of one of their inaugural dives in November and the interactions are spectacular. Take a peek: NAUTILUS RETURNS TO SOCORRO.
TRAVEL IN 2021 WILL BE DIFFERENT - Aside from many COVID protocols hanging around for quite some time, some destinations may - note the qualifier "may" - start requiring you to provide proof of medical insurance before you're admitted to the country. They might also require evacuation insurance, which might be covered under your DAN or dive accident policy. And it's important to remember that if you're over 65 and on Medicare, especially if Medicare is your ONLY medical insurance, Medicare coverage stops as soon as you leave the United States. There are plenty of companies - including DAN - who will sell you supplemental insurance that will cover you outside the United States. But, before you start your trip, make sure you know what's covered and what isn't.
YOU MIGHT EVEN NEED PROOF OF VACCINE - As the COVID vaccines become more widely available, there's talk of carrying with you a proof of vaccine which could be a stamp in your passport. Countries will want to know that not only are you currently COVID-free, but also that you don't stand a chance of getting infected while you're their guest. You can read more about this here: VACCINE PROOF NEEDED TO TRAVEL IN THE FUTURE.
And on that cheery note, we'll call it a wrap for the year, since this is the last TWARS of 2020. This crazy year only has four more days to go as of this writing (Sunday night) and I don't think anyone's going to miss it when it's gone.
Keep your eyes (and ears) open for a bonus New Years Eve missive that should come your way on Thursday afternoon. Have a great week, wear your mask, wash your hands, and let's go diving soon.
- Ken
