DA ANCHORLINE
NEWSLETTER October 10,
2002, Issue 19
Members are encouraged to
submit articles, dive plans and dive reports.
Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/
Editor: Tom Gormley
Contents
Peggy’s News
DA Dive Log
DA Dive Plan
Ear Care Part 2
September DA Meeting
Minutes, Unapproved
DA Calendar
Next club meeting
is Monday, October 28, 2002.
Plan on attending and bring a guest to hear our guest speaker
Dan Lieb.
Dan will be discussing the NJHDA, New Jersey Historical
Divers Association. This is the organization dedicated to the preservation of
New Jersey shipwreck history.
________________________________________________________________________
Peggy’s News
“Good
to hear about a good use of an artifact.... and it looks great there too!” Peggy
---------------
From
the New Jersey Historical Divers Assoc Journal #6 -
The
NEW ERA anchor was placed on the lawn at Saint Andrews Church in Allenhurst, NJ
this summer. Recovered by Dr. Richard
Fernicola, his brother Gregory and Joseph Hornick in 1999, it now stands as a
memorial to the shipwreck.
The
Inscription reads:
New
Era Anchor
IN
MEMORY of the nearly 300 German immigrants who lost their lives when the
sailing ship New Era wrecked off Deal Lake, November 13, 1854.
IN
HONOR of Abner Allen, Allenhurst's earliest settler, keeper of the local
lifeboat house, and first rescuer to the scene of the shipwreck.
IN
SOLEMN REVERENCE of this disaster's role in establishing the U.S. Life-Saving
Service, known today as the U.S. Coast Guard.
It
is hoped that this memorial shall inspire a permanent and prominent
appreciation of our local heritage.
Dedicated
this 21st Day of July, In the Year of Our Lord, Two Thousand Two
More
information on NJHDA can be found at:
http://members.aol.com/aqualieb
E-mail: mailto:NJHDA@aol.com
----------------------
Peggy
Bowen, Director, NJ Council of Diving Clubs
E-mail: mailto:pegdiver@monmouth.com
______________________________________________________________________
DA
Dive Log
Shore Dive Log
Shore Dives: Tom, Rich M, Al, Bill G, and Diego did
some rescue training and fun dives at Dutch Springs from Saturday, September 28
through Sunday, September 29. The rescue training for Bill and Diego was lots
of fun and worthy experience. Dives were remarkable due to underwater
visibility approaching 50 to 60 feet. Highlight dives included a night dive to
the north wall and a phenomenally clear helicopter dive.
Saturday, October 5 saw Al and Tom do a night dive
at the Shark River Inlet in Avon, NJ. The divers got into the water at 730PM
just before slack. They saw the typical butterfly fish, open feeding anenomies,
walking sea urchins, scurrying crabs, sleeping blackfish, and the various other
residents of the inlet walls and sandy bottom doing their thing. The water
temperature was a balmy 70 degrees on a night that reminded the divers and
knitter, Norva, of a typical evening in August.
Sunday, October 6 saw Ben, Tom, Rich M, Al, and
Jamie do a slack tide dive in the Shrewsbury River. The conditions were
excellent with Vis of 4 to 5 feet and water temperature around 70. Everyone
brought up something of interest. Their dives lasted 55 minutes at a depth of
20 feet or so.
Boat Dive Log
Members of Divers Anonymous, Chris, Jamie,
Christine, and Laura were on the “Sea Inn” on Saturday, September 21. This was
the last trip to be captained by John Mahoney, who passed away the very next
day. Our condolences go out to his wife Carol and to his family, friends, and
crew.
Sunday, September 8: Ben, Mike, Richie, Jamie, Connie and Leo all boarded the Scuba Too for a beautiful sunny day of diving. The air was 85F, the ocean was 65F, the Vis was almost 40 foot and the ocean surface had less than 1 foot slow rolling waves with no current. The ocean conditions in NJ do not get much better than this. The first dive was on the Emerald and the second dive was on the Ida K. Although no artifacts were found today, Jamie came back with a bag full of mussels and Connie was winning her fight against getting seasick. It was a great day to be out on the ocean and fun was had by all. RM
Diving Medicine Articles
More On Swimmers Ear
DAN revisits and expands on the preventive measures for otitis externa
By Edward D. Thalmann, M.D., DAN Assistant Medical Director Captain, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (retired)
Background
The Alert Diver article on preventing otitis externa, or swimmers ear
(see Can You Prevent Otitis
Externa, or Swimmers Ear?), has generated a considerable number of
commentaries from DAN members. This correspondence - both written and via
telephone - has ranged from inquiries about "home brew" formulations
to questioning whether recommending Otic Domeboro® Solution had some economic
motivation.
First, DAN has absolutely no economic interest in any of the medications mentioned in the article. We named Otic Domeboro simply because it is the only solution tested by the Navy. However, there are others solutions which may work as well and turn out to be less expensive. Ask your pharmacist for recommendations.
When the Navy set out to tackle otitis externa in saturation divers, it did not want to use a "home brew": it needed a remedy that was pre-packaged, off-the-shelf, readily available, easy to use and one that worked. Otic Domeboro fit the bill; and the $1-per-day cost of preventing mission-compromising ear infections was insignificant considering the tens of thousands of dollars a day that many saturation dives cost.
The paper that inspired the choice of Otic Domeboro for the Navy otitis externa study was written by Dr. Edley H. Jones (Prevention of "Swimming Pool Ear." Laryngoscope 1971; 81:731-3). Dr. Jones began his observations back in 1924 at a local YMCA summer camp. He found that a saturated solution of boric acid in 90 percent ethyl alcohol prevented swimmers ear because the solution rapidly dried moist ear canals.
During the next 10 years he tried other solutions and found that 75 percent isopropyl alcohol worked as well. In 1938 someone contacted him with the information that the solution no longer worked. Upon investigation, however, Dr. Jones discovered that the user had not allowed the solution to remain in the canal long enough for the full dehydrating effect to work.
In 1961, Dr. Jones reported that five minutes of exposure to 5 percent acetic acid killed all bacteria normally found in the ear canal. He then judged that this would be an effective way to prevent swimmers ear, so he mixed some isopropyl alcohol with 5 percent acetic acid solution in several varieties to try at the camp. He found that 5 percent acetic acid in 85 percent isopropyl alcohol worked best. Adding a moisturizer (2 percent Alpha Keri oil) added nothing; and adding 10 percent propylene glycol (another moisturizer) caused the cells lining the ear canal to slough off, which was undesirable.
Other medical papers have stressed that it is the acidic pH that is the most important feature of solutions used for otitis externa. A 2 percent acetic acid solution has a pH of 3.0 and was found to drop the ear canal pH to 4-5: bactericidal to the normally found bacteria in the ear canal. (Otic Domeboro was chosen for the Navy study because the 2 percent acetic acid gave it the right pH and it also had drying agents.)
Making Your Own
So what's all this leading up to? "Home brew" to prevent ear
infection, as many of our member wrote in to share with us. White wine vinegar
is 4-6 percent acetic acid, and if it's mixed with an equal amount of isopropyl
alcohol, it would probably work fine. Using undiluted vinegar may make the
solution too acidic and cause irritation. Using less alcohol may be wise if you
find that the 50:50 mix provides too much drying - this can make your ear canal
sore after several days of use.
In principle, just diluting the acetic acid 50:50 with water might work since it appears that the acidic pH is more important than the drying effect of the alcohol. Adding propylene glycol or other moisturizers would seem either to be a waste of time in a home-brew, or it might produce undesirable effects according to Dr. Jones' observations.
Could lemon juice, which contains citric acid instead of acetic acid, be used instead if vinegar, as some members advised? In principle, if a solution was mixed to a pH of 3.0 it might, but whether other substances in lemon juice might promote bacterial growth I cannot say. For home brew I'd stick to what works - vinegar and isopropyl alcohol.
No matter what solution you use, remember its effectiveness is drastically reduced unless it remains in the ear canal a full five minutes. Another caution: the above solutions are for use in the otherwise normal ear with an intact eardrum. If there is any hint that the eardrum may be torn, do not use these solutions as they may cause damage to middle ear structures. And if any solution causes irritation, stop using it.
(c) July/August 1999 Alert Diver
September Meeting Minutes, (unapproved)
Divers Anonymous Scuba Dive
Club
Mario’s Restaurant / 710 Van
Houten Avenue, Clifton, NJ / (973) 777-1559
September 30, 2002 - Monthly
Meeting Minutes
Members
Present:
Rich
Bertoldi
Jamie
Cacciatore
Edith
& Rick Farmer
Ian
Fryer
Norva
& Tom Gormley
Ben
Gualano
Bob
Jeffas
Mike
Lacatena
Fred
Marcus
Herbert
Marvin
Connie
& Leo Mazur
Lara
Menville
Gary
Mullen
Richard
Mullen
Al
Nesterok
Lara
& Charlie Padula
Imre
Papdi
Chris
Rollins
Don
Van Dyk
Guests:
Gary
Prystauk
The
meeting began at 7:30 p.m. - 23 of 34 active members were present.
Executive Committee Reports
Treasurer Report / Lara Padula
Lara changed club’s checking account to another
bank, which would not charge us a service fee.
Secretary Report / Rich Mullen
Past month’s newsletter and meeting minutes were
made available to club members by web site.
Members present accepted posted meeting minutes unread.
Vice President’s Report / Al Nesterok
Al is looking for volunteers to help out for
planning the club’s Christmas Party to be held on Sat night in early part of January. Location to remain at San Carlo and cost
expected to be about $30 per person.
Members are asked to consider donating anything suitable for possible
give-away prizes at the party. The club
will pick up any overall cost overrun.
President’s Report / Tom Gormley
Tom was taking orders this evening for supplier
offered one-time discounts on various 2 and 3 mil wet suits.
Reported on September’s various shore and boat dive activities. The conditions are still great - come out and
enjoy the fun.
Sep 8 Scuba Too boat dive was a great success with
club members diving the Emerald and Ida K.
Sep 28~29 Dutch Spring’s rescue training and fun
dives were enjoyed by students and some club members.
Oct 28 club meeting will have guest speaker Dan Lieb
of the NJ Historical Society.
Oct 5
Oct 6
Oct 16 In Too
Deep scuba club will have guest speaker Otto Schmitz, who is WWII vet with
great survivor story.
Oct 27 Annual
Understand Pumpkin Carving Contest to be held at
Special Committees Reports
Local Dive Committee
/ Ben and Tom
Contact Tom if you are interested in possible
Thursday or Sunday shore dives throughout the year. Contact Ben if you are interested in possibly
putting together a dive boat trip in October.
Membership Committee / Tom Gormley
No news to report this month.
T-Shirt Committee / Ian Fryer & Jamie Cacciatore
Ian had to leave meeting early due to volunteer
firehouse activity. Ian had a few
embroidered T-shirts still available for $24 in limited colors and embroidered
hats for $20.
Jamie brought in silk-screened cotton colored
T-shirts for $14 and sweatshirts for $20.
Travel Committee / Norva Gormley
Ben, Gary, Mike, Paul and Rich are planning trip to
Ian is thinking about putting together a live-aboard
scuba trip in 2003. Contact Ian for
details.
Al is thinking about putting together a dive outing
in 2003 to visit
Web Site Committee / Rick Farmer and Tom
Gormley
Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/
This web site offers Calendar of Events,
Newsletters, 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.
Old Business
No news to report this month.
New Business
Gary Mullen brought it to club member’s attention
that NJ has adopted new lobster rules.
Under existing rules, scuba divers are not allowed to take lobster by
spearing, can only take a maximum of 6 per diver per day, lobster must be taken
whole (no taken of only the claws), is for private consumption and may not be
offered for commercial sale. Under new
rules effective August 19th, the minimum size is 3 5/16" and will go up
next year by 1/32" on July 1st of 2003 and the years after until it gets
to 3 1/2" on July 1, 2008. Sport scuba
divers do not have a maximum size. For
further details, go to following web site: http://www.scubanj.org/Lobster_reg_02.html
Discussion of DA sending a letter of support for the
NJCDC position was conducted. It was agreed by an overwhelming majority vote of
members present and Rich will send the appropriate letter.
Chris Rollins brought it to club member’s attention
that Elite Divers located in Rockaway are now offering SDI’s Solo Diver Course
for $175. This specialty certification
course is intended for experienced divers who wish to develop a high level of
underwater self-sufficiency. Topics
include the pros and cons of buddy diving and solo diving, personal and
environmental considerations, solo diving equipment, dive planning and
execution, navigation, and management of solo diving emergencies. While the primary focus of this course is
solo diving, these skills are equally applicable while diving with a buddy or
in a group.
It should be noted that our club does not endorse
solo diving, but the above is FYI only.
If you want further details, you can visit Elite Divers web site at: http://www.elitedivers.com/
Guest Speakers
Doug Campbell gave a lively presentation about his
recent written book entitled "The Sea's Bitter Harvest". This exciting book gave details about 13 days
in January 1999 when 4 commercial clam boats sank in the
Next club meeting is Monday, October 28, 2002.
Plan on attending and bring a guest to hear our
guest speaker Dan Lieb, who is the President of the NJ Historical Divers
Association. Ben, Rich and Tom dove with
Dan in August researching a wreck site off of the NJ shoreline.
Minutes submitted by Secretary, Richard Mullen
2002 Calendar
2002
Divers Anonymous Calendar 2002
January 2002
·
1/12 - DA Holiday Party, 8:00 pm, San Carlo
Rest., 620 Stuyvesant Ave, Lyndhurst ·
1/14 – DA Planning Meeting, 7PM, 6 Bros Diner, Rt 46 ·
1/28 - Dive Club Meeting, Featured Speaker: Capt Ted Massotti, How to
become rebreather certified |
February 2002
§
2/16 Third Annual DA Ski Day §
2/17 Tom’s River Flea Market §
2/25 - Dive Club Meeting |
March 2002
·
3/3 NYC Aquarium Trip ·
3/20 Pool Check Out Dive, Clifton Y, 9PM ·
Beneath the Sea 3/22, 23, 24 ·
Dive Club Meeting 3/25 |
April 2002
·
April 14 Manasquan River Dive 10AM ·
4/29 - Dive Club Meeting Annual
Dues & Officer Elections
|
May 2002
·
5/18 - Memorial Day Picnic and Dive ·
5/20 - Dive Club Meeting ·
Boat Diving |
June 2002
·
6/8 Shark River Inlet Dive ·
6/16 Boat Diving Scuba Too ·
6/24 - Dive Club Meeting ·
6/30 Boat diving Scuba Too Mohawk Trip |
July 2002
·
7/7 Dual Wrecks, Long Branch
Shore Dive, 7:30AM ·
7/14 Boat Dive Scuba Too ·
7/27 & 28 Dutch Springs Camping and Dive Weekend ·
7/29 - Dive Club Meeting ·
Boat Diving |
August 2002
·
8/4 , 8/18 Scuba Too Boat Dives ·
8/24 Night Dive at Shark River Inlet & Sat Night Out ·
DA Day at Great Adventure ·
8/26 - Dive Club Meeting ·
Boat Diving |
September 2002
·
Labor Day Picnic & Dive, Sun, 9/1, 8AM ·
9/8 Boat Diving Scuba Too Mohawk Trip ·
9/28-29 Dutch Springs Diving ·
9/30 - Dive Club Meeting: Author, Doug Campbell presents his book
“The Sea’s Bitter Harvest” ·
Boat Diving |
|
October 2002 ·
Boat Diving ·
10/06 Shark River Inlet 8AM ·
10/27 Halloween Dive ·
10/28 Dive Club Meeting: Dan Lieb, NJHDA |
November 2002
·
11/17 Fifth Annual Equipment Maintenance Workshop ·
11/25 Dive Club Meeting Club
members present: “Discussion of valves, nitrox, & lights” ·
|
December 2002
·
12/16 – Dive Club Meeting 2nd
Annual Artifact & Photo Exhibit and Dive Story Contest ·
Happy Holidays |
Pink Highlighted
Events are supported by DA dues: food, prizes, subsidized admission etc.