NEWSLETTER March 10,
2003, Issue 26
Members are encouraged to
submit articles, dive plans and dive reports.
Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/
DA Dive Log
DA Dive Plan
Members Selling Gear
Volunteer at the NY Aquarium
Traveling Tips for Divers
February DA Meeting Minutes,
Unapproved
_____________________________________________________________________
Next Meeting
Notice
Next club meeting is 730PM, Monday,
March 31, 2003.
Plans are to have Gary
Prystauk present “Artifact Restoration”
Mar 28 Beneath The Seas will be held Mar
28~30 in
______________________________________________________________________
Peggy’s News
----------------------
Peggy
Bowen, Director, NJ Council of Diving Clubs
E-mail: mailto:pegdiver@monmouth.com
______________________________________________________________________
DA
Dive Log
Shore Dive Log
March 8: Tom, Rich, Angela, and Frank dove the
We all had good fun and are hoping to get in another
dive next weekend.
Boat Dive Log
Ben, Mike, Gary, and Paul are actively diving off
the barefoot adventures boat in
(Any
sales of gear are subject to terms agreed upon by sellers and buyers.)
E-mail:
Al Nesterok 2 aluminum 80 cylinders
E-mail: Rick Farmer stainless steel
backplate and OMS back inflation BCD
_____________________________________________________________
VOLUNTEER AT THE NEW YORK
AQUARIUM
Brooklyn, NY – Interested in volunteering at the New York Aquarium? If
you are 15 to 100 years old, enjoy contact with people, eager to learn, love
marine animals and have two or more free days a month to spare - the New York
Aquarium’s Docent Program is the place for you!
Docents teach visitors about marine habitats and animals, answering questions,
giving directions, and assisting the Education Department as needed. Volunteers
are also accepted in other Departments throughout the Aquarium. Either pick up
an application in the Lobby of the Aquarium or call 718-265-3450.
A Wildlife Conservation Society park, the Aquarium opens every day of the year
at 10am, and closing times vary seasonally. Admission is $11.00 for adults, and
$7.00 for children ages 2-12 years old and senior citizens (65 and older);
children under 2 years of age are admitted free. The Aquarium is located at
West 8th Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island. For directions, information on
public events and programs, and other Aquarium information, call 718-265-FISH
or visit our web site at http://www.nyaquarium.com. For information on special
group rates, call 718-265-3454.
___________________________________________________________
Topics selected from a workshop given by Ken Knezick,
president and owner of Island Dreams Travel in Houston, given at Beneath the Sea,
March 2000. Ken travels for a living and has collected a wealth of experience
that is of eventual benefit to every diver going on vacation. Some of his ideas
and experiences are presented here.
Lada
Simek
#1 Luggage tags Yes, common sense requires them, but
did you know that there are individuals at airports who sneak up behind people
in line and copy the addresses from their tags?
Now they have the location of an empty residence, which can be sold as a
prime target for burglary. It is suggested that you list your business address,
a neighbor or some place where you are known. At least you could put the
information on the BACK of the card where it cannot be read.
#2
Theft of bag Absolutely no NIKON
stickers or any luggage that looks expensive. There were 3000 bags stolen
during the last two years in the three local airports. The number one target is
golf equipment, but dive gear is number two. The less appealing you make it,
the better. If you must use quality luggage, put it inside an old dirty army
surplus duffel bag.
#3
Pick up your bag if you change airlines
If you fly one airline, even if there are two different legs or flights,
it is OK to check the bag through to the final destination. If you use a
different airline and a bag is lost, the first airline will say “We gave it to
them” and the second will say, “We never got it”. You have no leg to stand on.
#4
Photograph the contents of your dive bag. Currently airlines pay $300 maximum for one lost bag with an absolute
limit of $1250. If you have pictures you have a much better chance of
collecting. A regulator, gauges, computer and BC are impossible to replace at
that price. Frequent flyers can usually get more out of an airline for their
loss.
#5
Photograph your luggage I
understand that the lost bag room at Newark Airport is the size of a football
field. If you want a chance of having it found, you can’t say, “It was black
and about so big!” Because there will be
hundreds that fit the description. Take a picture of it, preferably after spray
painting a fat pink stripe down the side or some other distinguishing
characteristic. You must remember your bag is not unique. The factory made
thousands. A passenger-thief might take yours to the car if it resembles his,
and later come back for his own. Even if caught you could not prosecute him
because he would claim a mistake- “Look! There is mine! It looks the same!”
Luggage
gets stolen one of two ways. Either the handler changes the destination tag and
sends the bag to an entirely different location where an accomplice picks it
up, or it gets pulled off the conveyor belt in long corridors out of sight of
the public, as in Newark. They will feel soft luggage for hard items such as
cameras. These should never be checked, but if you must, wrap it in clothes to
make it hard to identify.
#6
Be at the airport three hours before departure The reason is simple. Airlines make
about 15,000 changes each day. Cayman Air routinely overbooks its flights by
60%, I am told. If there is a line, you want to be at the front of it.
PERSONAL
EXPERIENCE: Last year I was scheduled for a 9:00AM flight to Honduras. I was an
hour and fifty-five minutes early. Cool? Nope! The flight was cancelled. If I
had been there ten minutes earlier, I could have gotten on the 8:00AM flight,
but it got filled just as my turn came up. I missed my connection and spent two
days sitting at airports!
#7
Passport This should not even be
in a bag, but ON YOUR PERSON IN A POCKET THAT IS BUTTONED OR HAS A VELCRO FLAP.
The reason is that a US passport is worth $8000 in the Far East and dozens get
stolen each day. It took Ken four days to get out of Borneo when his was stolen.
The marines would not even let him in the embassy, since he could not prove who
he was. Carry two copies of the front page of your passport in two different
bags. Carry $60 passport fee in cash and three pictures of yourself so that you
don’t have to wait to get the pictures developed if you must replace it. Carry
a notarized copy of your birth certificate, marriage license, social security
number and a picture ID. Carry a copy of the CONTENTS OF YOUR WALLET. Maintain
an additional set of documents in your home or office stateside, ready for
immediate express mailing. Know the location of the US embassy where ever you
go.
#8
Credit cards Beware!!! Ken used a credit card in a
restaurant in the Philippines. Later he found that his name and card went on a
shopping spree in Singapore. Any waiter can get the number and name. Rest is
easy. Traveler’s checks are losing popularity since they are easier to copy
than cash. Ken’s recommendation is cash in three separate locations. The best
hiding place is your bag of dirty laundry. That is one-place thieves do not
look if they get in your hotel room.
#9 In public places avoid showing large amounts of cash,
keep singles on the outside of the bankroll. Don’t keep all your cash in one
place. Make at least three piles, hidden in different places. When you make a
purchase, try not to show the public which pocket your wallet is in. Better
yet, do not carry your wallet with papers you won’t need, like your driver’s
license, medical insurance cards etc. It is just more trouble to replace if
your pocket gets picked. If it does happen, check the nearest trashcan. Thieves
will often take the cash and dispose of the wallet immediately. Personally, I
got hit by a team of four in a Prague subway. They created a momentary crowding
and pushing and removed my wallet. We checked the trash but could not find it.
I got it back two weeks later from a lady in Virginia who found it in a trash
can while looking for her own which got stolen at about the same time. You must
maintain absolute vigilance at all time.
__________________________________________________________
Divers Anonymous
Scuba Dive Club
Mario’s Restaurant
/ 710 Van Houten Avenue, Clifton, NJ / (973) 777-1559
February 24, 2003
- Monthly Meeting Minutes
Members
Present:
Rick
and Baby Luke Farmer
Ian
Fryer
Norva
& Tom Gormley
Fredrick
Marcus
Herbert
Marvin
Connie
& Leo Mazur
Richard
Mullen
Al
Nesterok
Lara
& Charlie Padula
Chris
Rollins
Don Van Dyk
The meeting began at 7:40 p.m. – 14 of 36 active
members were present.
Executive Committee Reports
Treasurer Report / Lara
Padula
Check was issued tonight to reimburse Rich $16.85
for club banner materials and $10 for last month’s shortage on club meeting
food bill.
Secretary Report / Rich
Mullen
Past month’s newsletter and meeting minutes were
made available to club members by email.
Members present accepted last months meeting minutes unread. It was noted collecting money for food at
club meeting was still coming up short.
In the future, all persons who drink soda or order food should pay $3
for soda and pay cost of ordered food plus 26%.
This is to cover the restaurant’s automatic added 20% tip and 6% sales
tax. Connie, Leo and Norva will handle
future collecting of money for club meeting’s food bill.
Vice President’s Report / Al
Nesterok
President’s Report / Tom
Gormley
·
Tom, Norva, Ben, Mike, Paul and Rich attended bottle Show held on Feb 2
in
·
·
Tom gave background presentation and updated details regarding NY
subway cars being donated for use with the Artificial Reef Marine Habitat
Program. After objectively evaluating
all the pros and cons of using the subway cars as reef material here in NJ, the
only logical conclusion is this is a win-win opportunity. It was proposed our club should send a letter
to Governor James McGreevey to ask for his support to accept the usage of the
offered donated subway cars. This
proposal was 1st by Ian and 2nd by Herbert and the
general membership present all approved.
Vote passed and letter will be sent out to Governor James McGreevey.
Mar 2
Mar 5 Lakeland
Dive Group Meeting
Mar 8 Shore
Dive
Mar 14 Northeast Scuba Video Presentation
on Texas Tower
Mar 16 Shore Dive
Mar 19 In Too Deep Club Meeting
Mar 23 Shore Dive
Mar 26 NJ Council of Dive Club Meeting
Mar 28 Beneath The Seas will be held Mar
28~30 in
Mar 31 “DA Meeting “Artifact
Restoration” by Gary Prystauk
Special Committees Reports
Local Dive Committee / Ben and Tom
Requirements for boat
diving with Ben or Tom include: Current DAN insurance, redundant gas supply
(pony tank or doubles), NE boat dive logged or arrangement for wreck intro by
Ben or Tom, signed NAUI waiver listing Tom, Ben, and DA, pre-paid fee of $60.
Membership Committee / Tom Gormley
Welcome to new member Angela O’Reilly. Angela comes from the
T-Shirt Committee / Ian Fryer & Jamie Cacciatore
No new information to report.
Travel Committee / Norva
Gormley
·
Ben, Mike and Paul are going back to
·
Plans are underway to dive
Web Site Committee / Tom Gormley
Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/
This web site offers Calendar of Events,
Newsletters, Photographs, Scuba Links and other cool stuff. If members want to post timely club or scuba
related activities they are encouraged to use email group mailing. If you have
any club related photographs you wish to have posted on the web, send Tom
electronic copy or hard copy for Tom to scan.
Old Business
·
Paul Ward is available to perform professional and inexpensive annual
and/or other required servicing on your critical scuba equipment.
·
Dutch Springs 2003 Season Passes would be on sale at BTS for Individual and Family rates
of $110 and $275. After this date, cost
will go up to $170 and $425. Daily
admission price for 2003 will be $22 for diver and $10 for non-diver. (www.dutchsprings.com)
New Business
No new business to report.
Guest Speakers
Our planned guest speaker Gary Prystauk was going to
give a presentation on artifact preservation, but had to cancel due to
illness. Instead, Tom and Rich give tips
and tricks regarding ocean shore diving planning and how to enter/exit the surf
without getting wiped-out. It was a fun
lively presentation with club members joining in to share their personnel
experiences.
Next club meeting is Monday, March 31, 2003. Presentation will be “Artifact Restoration”
by Gary Prystauk
Minutes submitted by Secretary, Richard Mullen
_____________________________________________________________
2003 Calendar
2003 Divers Anonymous
Calendar 2003
Updated 02-07-03
|
Jan
2003 ·
01/03: DA Planning
meeting 6 p.m. at
6 Bros Diner Rt. 46 ·
01/11: DA
Holiday Party
7:30 p.m. ·
01/27: DA Club Meeting 7:30
p.m. “ Marine History Presentation” by Lada |
Feb
2003 ·
02/02: Bottle Show, ·
02/15: 4th Annual
DA Ski Day ·
02/23: ·
02/24: DA Club Meeting 7:30
p.m. Presentation: “How We Shore Dive” by Tom Gormley and Rich Mullen |
Mar
2003
|
|
Apr
2003 ·
04/06: Manasquan RR Bridge
Dive, 12 noon ·
04/07: Pool Dive for gear
check and warm-up 9:15 p.m. Clifton YMYWHA ·
04/28: DA Club Meeting 7:30
p.m. Annual Dues and Officer
Elections |
May
2003
|
June
2003
|
|
Jul
2003 ·
·
07/13 Ben Boat Dive on Spring
Tide ·
7/19 & 20 DA Weekend at Dutch Springs ·
07/28: DA Club Meeting 7:30
p.m. |
Aug
2003
|
Sep
2003 ·
·
09/14 Ben Boat Dive on Spring
Tide ·
09/28 Ben Boat Dive on Spring
Tide ·
09/29: DA Club Meeting 7:30
p.m. |
|
Oct
2003
|
Nov
2003 ·
·
Annual gear
maintenance workshop TBA ·
11/24: DA Club Meeting 7:30
p.m. |
Dec
2003 ·
12/15: DA Club
Meeting 7:30 p.m. 4th Annual
Artifact & Photo Contest ·
12/28: |
Pink highlighted events are subsidized by DA dues