Ken Kurtis
Contributor
Want to travel??? Upcoming 2017 vacation trips:
• September 1-6 - Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle Amie [ WE'RE THERE NOW!!! ]
• November 2-12 - Fiji (SE Viti Levu area near Suva) on the Fiji Aggressor [ SOLD OUT!!! ]
• STARTING TO THINK ABOUT 2018 - WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO???
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
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Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Tues., Sept. 12 - Veterans park - Night Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Sept. 16 - Veterans park - Beach Dive (1-tank) (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Sept. 23 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., Sept. 28 - Westwood - CLASS - Fish ID ($25)
• Sat., Sept. 30 - EVERYWHERE - Lobster season open at 6AM [ NOTE NEW STARTING TIME ]
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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Greetings from 210 miles SSW of Ensenada . . .
SHARK-LAND - We've just completed our first day at Isla Guadalupe, diving with Great White Sharks. It was a bit of an adventure to get here, given that we started on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend AND there was a tropical depression (Lidia) moving up the Pacific side of Baja California. It took us almost five hours to drive the 137 miles from the west side down to Shelter Island in San Diego, which was our rendezvous point. Then because the in-bound trip was late, our bus left SD two hours late which meant we didn't get into Ensenada until after midnight and finally were able to depart around 2AM. But we got out enough in front of the storm that that wasn't much of an issue and it was actually a fairly pleasant crossing. We also had a pretty successful first day, even though conditions weren't optimal. Water temp was around 70-72 degrees, but visibility was only around 30-50 feet, with it being much better in the morning but then falling out significantly in the mid-afternoon. We had at least four sharks at any given time and they were both curious and active. Lots of close passes, lot of lunges at the surface bait (which is then pulled back), and a good time was had by all.
WE GOT PICTURES FOR YOU - I'm going to try to do my usual Daily Top 10 but it's hard from here due to the slowness of the Internet signal and whether we get a signal at all (satellite). But I've got shots from today (Sunday) posted for your dining and dancing pleasure. The first shot in the sequence is the very first frame I shot when in the surface cage near the bait. Sometimes you get lucky. Enjoy: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 - TOP TEN (Day 1) - kenkurtis.
LOCAL DIVING - In case you didn't notice it in the newsletter, as promised, I've got a September and October local diving and classes sked posted. It is also replicated (the September portion) at the top of this TWARS. It's all a combination of beach diving at Vets Park, diving there Avalon Underwater Park, and some classes. As always, the reminder is that if you want to join us for any of these (a few are freebies), be sure to call or e-mail to get yourself signed up.
LOBSTER SEASON OPENS END OF THE MONTH - The first day is Saturday, September 30. One VERY IMPORTANT CHANGE for this year is that you will no longer start at 12:01AM. For safety reasons (tired divers are not safe divers), DF&W has delayed the traditional start to 6:00AM. You can still go out the night before but get a good night's sleep on the boat so you're ready to go bright and early. Sunrise is 6:47AM that day, so you'll still have some "darkness" by which to hunt.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving . . . once I get back from Guadalupe!!!
- Ken
• September 1-6 - Great White Sharks of Guadalupe on the Nautilus Belle Amie [ WE'RE THERE NOW!!! ]
• November 2-12 - Fiji (SE Viti Levu area near Suva) on the Fiji Aggressor [ SOLD OUT!!! ]
• STARTING TO THINK ABOUT 2018 - WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO???
GET MORE INFO ON ALL OF OUR VACATION TRIPS HERE: www.reefseekers.com/foreign_trips.html
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Upcoming local dives & classes:
• Tues., Sept. 12 - Veterans park - Night Dive (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Sept. 16 - Veterans park - Beach Dive (1-tank) (FREE!!!)
• Sat., Sept. 23 - Catalina Express - Avalon Underwater Park ($150)
• Thu., Sept. 28 - Westwood - CLASS - Fish ID ($25)
• Sat., Sept. 30 - EVERYWHERE - Lobster season open at 6AM [ NOTE NEW STARTING TIME ]
To sign up for any of these dives, either call us at 310/652-4990 or e-mail us at kenkurtis@aol.com
——————————————————————————————————————————————
Greetings from 210 miles SSW of Ensenada . . .
SHARK-LAND - We've just completed our first day at Isla Guadalupe, diving with Great White Sharks. It was a bit of an adventure to get here, given that we started on the Friday of Labor Day Weekend AND there was a tropical depression (Lidia) moving up the Pacific side of Baja California. It took us almost five hours to drive the 137 miles from the west side down to Shelter Island in San Diego, which was our rendezvous point. Then because the in-bound trip was late, our bus left SD two hours late which meant we didn't get into Ensenada until after midnight and finally were able to depart around 2AM. But we got out enough in front of the storm that that wasn't much of an issue and it was actually a fairly pleasant crossing. We also had a pretty successful first day, even though conditions weren't optimal. Water temp was around 70-72 degrees, but visibility was only around 30-50 feet, with it being much better in the morning but then falling out significantly in the mid-afternoon. We had at least four sharks at any given time and they were both curious and active. Lots of close passes, lot of lunges at the surface bait (which is then pulled back), and a good time was had by all.
WE GOT PICTURES FOR YOU - I'm going to try to do my usual Daily Top 10 but it's hard from here due to the slowness of the Internet signal and whether we get a signal at all (satellite). But I've got shots from today (Sunday) posted for your dining and dancing pleasure. The first shot in the sequence is the very first frame I shot when in the surface cage near the bait. Sometimes you get lucky. Enjoy: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 - TOP TEN (Day 1) - kenkurtis.
LOCAL DIVING - In case you didn't notice it in the newsletter, as promised, I've got a September and October local diving and classes sked posted. It is also replicated (the September portion) at the top of this TWARS. It's all a combination of beach diving at Vets Park, diving there Avalon Underwater Park, and some classes. As always, the reminder is that if you want to join us for any of these (a few are freebies), be sure to call or e-mail to get yourself signed up.
LOBSTER SEASON OPENS END OF THE MONTH - The first day is Saturday, September 30. One VERY IMPORTANT CHANGE for this year is that you will no longer start at 12:01AM. For safety reasons (tired divers are not safe divers), DF&W has delayed the traditional start to 6:00AM. You can still go out the night before but get a good night's sleep on the boat so you're ready to go bright and early. Sunrise is 6:47AM that day, so you'll still have some "darkness" by which to hunt.
And that'll do it for now. Have a great week and let's go diving . . . once I get back from Guadalupe!!!
- Ken
