The Buoy Tender Marker Buoy Dive Club | Seattle, Washington

November 2015

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President’s

Message

The Club has been busy since my last message.

We said goodbye to one of our members. The turn-out for Ken Gatherum’s memorial was great.

Many thanks to Steve Kalilimoku for hosting the dive and Myra Wisotzky for opening her house.

Dan Clements did a fantastic job of putting together a slide show of Ken and his work. There

was plenty of food and good conversation and more than a few tears. Ken’s sister and her

husband were very appreciative of the opportunity to experience our undersea environment

through the MAST Center’s monthly live dive broadcast. Thanks to Randy and Randi for helping

with that.

The Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest was held on Halloween. We had 8 or 9 entries this

year which is an increase over the past couple of years. This year’s event was sponsored by

4 dive clubs (Marker Buoy, Boeing Seahorses, Moss Bay and the UW Underdawgs). Given the

positive response I think a new tradition was born.

The dive calendar is looking good with a wide variety of dives scheduled. Summer’s over and the

change in the weather seems to be drawing everyone back to the water.

We had a great November meeting. We took a field trip to tour the hyperbaric chamber at Virgin-

ia Mason Hospital. Thanks to Justin M for putting that together. There were about 23 people in

attendance and I think we all learned a lot. Did you know divers are notorious liars when asked

about the side effects they are feeling in the chamber and about the symptoms that brought

them there? I was amazed to hear that.

The holidays are coming and our December meeting will include food, drink, presents and

thievery. Stay tuned for more details. Have a great month and get wet my friends

In This Issue: President’s Message ...................... 2 Cover Photo Credit ........................ 3 New Members ............................... 3 Monthly meeting ........................... 3 Annual Dues are due…………………….4 Hyperbaric chamber tour ……………. 5 Are you neutral?………………………….. 7 Bali and Raja Ampat...…………………..9 The Summer of Cephalopod…..….. 16 Upcoming Dive Trips .................... 26 About Marker Buoys…………………..28

Courtesy of Rapture of the Deep Photography

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Cover Photo

Taken by: Fritz Merkel, Photoshop by Joyce Merkel

Location: Skyline Wall, Anacortes

Camera data: Olympus EPL-1, stock 14-42 lens, 1/160, f 5.6, double Sea&Sea YS-01 strobes.

New Members

Welcome to the Club! You’ve joined one of the most active and social dive clubs in the region.

As you can tell from Meetup we have a steady stream of activities going on for divers of all

experience and skill levels. You are also invited to attend the monthly club meeting. This is a

great opportunity to meet club members in person, hear from interesting speakers, and get into

the swing of things. Details are on the Meetup site.

First time dive hosts will receive a 5 fill air card from Lighthouse Dive Center. If you get 6 Club

members to attend you will also earn a 10 fill card from the dive shop of your choice.

That’s almost $100 for very little work, but lots of fun. Everybody wins!

December Monthly Meeting

Potluck Holiday Party on December 2nd Sunset Hill Community Center

If it’s one thing we Marker Buoys are good at, it’s having fun. Diving, eating, socializing,

drinking….we enjoy it all! The Club will provide the location, ham, rolls, condiments, plates and

place settings and you provide the rest!

More information on the potluck and planned activities will follow by email

and on our Meetup site.

Marcus Fellows Brian Fishkin Pamela Moriarty

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Annual Membership Dues

It is time to pay your 2016 dues to renew your membership the the Marker Buoy Dive Club!

We have a very simple process for renewing your membership.

You just need to pay your $35 annual dues. No new forms or waivers are required.

Membership fees cover club expenses such as:

renting our meeting space,

paying for club benefits such as free air cards for dive hosts, and

helping fund dive community projects such as Alki Cove 2 maintenance!

To pay your 2016 dues, please do one of the following:

1. Send your payment to treasurer@markerbuoydiveclub.org via PayPal (preferred), or

2. 2. Send a check to: Marker Buoy Dive Club, PO Box 31163, Seattle, WA 98103, or

3. 3. Bring a check or cash to any of our regular monthly club meetings and hand it to a

board member.

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Hyperbaric Chamber Tour

By Fritz Merkel, Justin McClellan, Randy Williams

Justin McClellan arranged a great outing at Virginia Ma-

son Hyperbaric Chamber for the November meeting.

Escorted by Hyperbaric Technician, Todd Courtney

(Engineer/EMT) we had a review of the history, design,

function, and primary uses.

Divers tend to think hyperbaric chambers are used for

decompression sickness (DCS) and arterial gas embo-

lism (AGE), but the local chamber only treats 50-60

cases of that each year. The chamber primarily treats

medical conditions, the majority of those being radiation

damage from cancer treatment. Wound treatment can be

daily for dozens of sessions so the chamber is busy all

day most days on a scheduled basis.

Most divers are treated with a single ride, called a

Table 6. The chamber is compressed to the pressure

equivalent of being beneath 60 feet of seawater and the

patient receives 60 to 100 minutes of oxygen via hood or

mask (the chamber itself is room air). Then the chamber

is slowly depressurized to the equivalent of being be-

neath 30 feet of seawater and the patient receives two to

four additional hours of oxygen. That takes care of most uncomplicated DCS cases. If symptoms

don't resolve there may be further sessions.

Original chamber delivery 1970 Original chamber removal 2006 New (current) chamber in place

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An unexpected treat was to be able to go beneath the chamber

and see the complex maze of pipes and gauges that it takes to

operate the device. Member Randy Williams was the supervisor

that worked on the project in 2006 pulling the old chamber out

nine years ago and helping install the current one. I think he even

wrote an article for the Buoy Tender back then.

A very reasonable plug for Divers Alert Network (DAN) Insurance

(or other hyperbaric insurance) was made during the meeting.

Denial and embarrassment are two very common responses to

getting bent. The bill is another one. Having insurance helps miti-

gate some of the reluctance to seek appropriate treatment. Even

if you never need a 'ride' the peace of mind is cheap and other

divers out there benefit from keeping the DAN program alive.

I was surprised to find most divers have not contacted DAN

before coming in.

Another encouragement was for oxygen to be readily available at

the dive site. The Club owns two O2 kits that can be checked out

by a host leading a dive as long as someone on the dive has had

O2 training. Just ask in Meetup who currently has them if you

don't know. A number of individuals have their own kits. It's a

good idea to make that part of the dive site orientation.

The chamber is an incredible device. NW divers are fortunate to

have it right here should it ever be needed. At least distance to

treatment isn't an obstacle.

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Are you Neutral?

Sue Bream

Why Does My Posture Matter For Diving?

What do you think of when you think of good posture? Someone standing up straight as a board

with their shoulders pinched back and stomach pulled in? Maybe 30 years ago, but not today.

Unfortunately, nowadays, common posture is highly influenced by a lifestyle of sitting in front of

computers, or even spending a lot of time with our smaller electronic devices, such as reading Fa-

cebook and emails on our phones.

What is good posture?

Good posture creates proper alignment and allows for

efficient movement. It takes effort to develop and

maintain good posture, wouldn’t you agree? It is so

easy to slump into the cushions of the couch. Much

easier than to sit up tall, use your core, keep your

head in line with your shoulders, and lift that rib cage.

Another key element of good posture is to have a

neutral spine. Our spine has 3 major curves: cervical,

thoracic, and lumbar, as you can see from the diagram

to the right.

These curves are considered normal and healthy. An

important position to maintain for the low back when

lifting tanks, for example, is a “neutral” position, which is the natural curve in the lumbar spine.

Why is it important for divers?

Divers have the added stress on their spine from the weight and position of the tanks on their

backs. Of course, a 100 cubic foot steel tank feels different on a 5’2” tall person like myself versus

a 6’2” person, but it is still a lot of weight and stress on the spine.

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As I mentioned above, one area that good posture is im-portant for scuba divers is lifting the gear. Proper lifting requires a neutral back and strong core. You don’t want to be lifting heavy gear with a rounded back and weak core.

Another aspect of good posture for divers is walking with the tanks on. You need strong postural muscles (back, abs, and neck) to counter the effects of gravity pulling you backward due to the weight of the tank. In order to counter that pull, divers lean forward while walking with their gear on.

Underwater, depending on your kicking style, you also need strong postural muscles to counter any stress on the low back.

Strive for better posture

One great way to evaluate your posture is to check your reflection in a window as you walk by. What do you see?

Ideal posture looks like the woman on the right. Many of us have some aspects of the woman on the left, particularly the “forward head” posture. Does this look like a good foundation for donning scuba tanks and weights? Also, consider how this position of the rib cage affects her ability to breathe

Good posture starts with awareness, then new habits need to be established, along with proper strengthen-ing and stretching.

In summary, any misalignment of the body can be worsened by adding extra load or stress to the spine from the neck on down. Start with a good foundation before adding too much stress. It is never too late to work on having better posture.

Sue Bream is an ACSM and ACE certified Personal Trainer

and certified Pilates instructor as well as avid scuba diver.

Questions? Email her at sue@suebreamfitness.com.

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Bali and Raja Ampat

By Bobby Berenson

Irene and I have just completed about a 5-week vacation to Indonesia, which included sightsee-ing to go along with our diving activities. Our diving consisted of going to Tulamben on Bali and staying at the Villa Markisa resort for 3 days of muck diving then heading back east towards Raja Ampat where we stayed 7 nights at the Raja Ampat Dive Lodge on the island of Mansaur.

Then we boarded the Raja Ampat Explorer for a 10 night/11 day trip where we dove around the island of Misool and back to Mansuar and then to Sorong where we disembarked. Grand Komodo Tours runs both the dive lodge and boat. We did our trip last year with them and thought they did a decent job so this year we again arranged to dive with them. The boats aren’t fancy but who needs fancy since the dive sites don’t change. What I like about their boats is that they are Indonesian built and have that schooner look.

The first part of our trip took us to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong we spent 3 days in an area called Kowloon, which overlooks the Hong Kong harbor. We purchased an Octo card so that we could ride the MTR. One of our first activities was to take the MTR and go see the Big Buddha. To get there, after getting off the MTR we took a cable car to the Big Buddha. Big Buddha sits high a top a hill overlooking a monastery. However, to reach the top you had to walk up 250+ steps, which in the heat takes it toll. We bought a lunch in the monastery and for someone who is a big time meat eater, it was a challenge, especially eating something you have no idea what it is.

The next activity was again taking the MTR to an old area of Hong Kong with all the stalls and people selling their goods. There is an escalator that we took that goes from Central (Hong Kong Financial District). This escalator goes up in sections and you can explore each area and get back on to go up to the next area. When all said and done, you have reached about 2,500 feet above sea level. The escalator is set to go up at times and down at others. There are stairs to use so, of course, we waited til it was going up and then walked down. We stopped a few times and went into stores to get out of the heat.

The funny thing on this is we stopped in an antique store only to find out that the owner has one in Seattle. After leaving Hong Kong, we flew to Denpasar on Bali where we were met at the airport and driven to Ubud for 3 nights of staying at the Cendana Resort. Ubud is an artsy town with lots of tourists. Ubud has temples like we have Starbucks. On every block is some sort of temple and at some you can purchase tickets to see different types of dancing.

Our driver took us places where we watched silver jewelry being made and sold in their shops, to boutiques where fabric is woven, a co-op where artists would paint and sell their paintings, but also in showing their paintings to customers would also help fellow artists out and sell their paintings for them. He also took us to a woodcarving co-op owned by an uncle. I also broke down and went to this coffee place where I tasted and purchased Luwak coffee (look it up to see how it is processed). We have finally reached the point where the diving begins. The driver from the hotel, who has driven us around and given us suggestions as to where to eat, is now going to drive us to the Villa Markisa Resort. Sounds easy, guess again. The roads in Indonesia are filled with people on scooters who pass on the right or left and it doesn’t matter if a car is coming at you. Even the drivers will pass with another car coming in the opposite direction. When we went a couple of years ago, the people who drove us from Ubub had a GPS for the Villa Markisa. This is a small upscale resort that has no sign on the road. Our driver had

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no GPS and luckily, Irene, remembered the name of another resort next door and I remembered to look for a white wall, that we found the resort.

As I said earlier, this is a muck diver’s heaven. You set up a dive package to do as many dives you want. Based on the time we had there, I did 9 dives and Irene did 8. You woke up and dove, had breakfast and then did a mid morning dive. Then had lunch and then an afternoon dive. An evening dive could be done if permissible. We started one and shortly afterwards it was aborted by the guide.

Getting to the boat was challenging in itself. There is no dock, so the guides bring your dive gear and place it on the boat, then you have to walk in the surf and pull yourself to the boat. Once on board you head over to the site. Not too much of a briefing is given if any. Anyway you get in and descend down to a sandy bottom and start hunting. Staying near the guides is helpful because they will carry wooden skewers and use them to mark the critters. Somebody will pick up skewers for re-use.

After leaving Villa Markisa, another driver took us back to Denpassar where we had to fly to Ma-kassar in South Sulawesi, where we spent the night and then took an early morning flight to Sorong. Sorong is a port town where the liveaboards converge. We were met at the airport and since the boat from the lodge would not arrive for a few hours we were taken to a hotel to relax and eat breakfast.

The boat ride from Sorong to the lodge is across the Dampier Straits, takes about 2 hours and can be pretty rough. Irene and I were the only guests on board. After arriving at the resort and going to our room it was time to do a checkout dive. The daily dive schedule is basically to have a quick breakfast board the boats for a 2 tank dive with a surface interval either on the boat or a beach or even at a homestay/village. Then you go back to the resort have lunch, relax and do an afternoon dive. The night dive is always done along the reef that is in front of the resort. After that it is dinnertime and then get ready to repeat. For some reason there were very few divers here and Irene and I had our own boat.

Diving in Raja Ampat is not like any other place. The Dampier Straits is a channel between the mainland and Mansaur with typically high currents at times. This causes the visibility to drop so it’s not your typical tropical diving. There is an abundant amount of fish to see. I describe this place as being like a kid in a candy store. In fact one of the sites is called Candy Store. The walls and reefs are pristine. They are in such great shape. You go out with your guide and at each site the briefing is given with the guide drawing out the site on a whiteboard. Reef hooks are a standard piece of gear to bring along. Some of the sites have to be done with a negative entry so either you don’t bring a camera or you can backroll with your camera. We brought Go Pros for this type of entry.

To begin our final dive portion of the trip, Irene and I spent the final day at the lodge just lounging around. We had the whole lodge to ourselves. They fed us well. Finally around 9:00 PM we were picked up at the lodge by the liveaboard. Most everybody was asleep so Irene and I quietly set up our dive and camera gear and went to bed. Greetings would have to wait until morning.

Due to weather reports of strong winds in the southern part near Misool, the captain decided to start the diving in the north end and then head south later on. We even got to go an area that we had visited but not dove and had read about. After 5 days of diving in the north, the weather had improved so the boat moved south towards Misool. After about a 15-hour trip we reached south Raja Ampat to finish the last part of the diving and then to start heading back up north to disembark in Sorong.

Throughout our trip there seemed to be a haze in the area so you did not see a lot of blue sky. This really made a difference in diving the south part. The visibility decreased and it even made

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me feel like I was diving in Puget Sound. In fact, the water had a greenish tint at times. The visibility decreased to around 15 feet. I think that the high currents and decreased viz turned some of the people off.

The last part of the trip was overnighting in Manado before heading to Singapore to wind down. We had a reservation at a hotel that was supposedly 20 minutes and it took about an hour to get there. Well worth the drive, since the hotel turned out to be in an upscale part of Manado.

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was that the crew of the liveaboard will set up a barbecue on an island. During the barbecue a rustling noise was heard and out popped two newly hatched turtles. A search of the area discovered a nest with some eggs and we watched a few more eggs hatch. We helped seven baby turtles make their way to the water. I have seen this on television but now I have this in real life.

Even though there were some mis-steps during the trip, we are already working on setting up a return trip next year. If we can get the boat to do a certain trip, then we will work out the other places that we want to dive.

All photos were taken with Olympus OMD E-M1 with a 12-50 lens, Nauticam housing, YS-D1 strobes

Bigfin Reef Squid

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Broadclub cuttlefish

Bullock’s Hypselodoris

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Pygmy Seahorse

Reef Stonefish

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Spotted Wobbegong Shark and Glass Fish

Thorny Oyster

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Williams Chromodoris

Juvenile Emperor Angelfish

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The Summer of Cephalopods

By Jen vanderhoof

I want to write an entire book about my experiences this summer, the summer of cephalopods.

But right now I only have the allowance for an article in the Buoy Tender. So I have chosen the

topic: the-amazing-things-that-you-see-when-you-are-obsessed-with-giant-Pacific-octopus-

paralarvae. I could write volumes, but I’ll just keep it short for now and let the photos tell the tale.

(All photos taken with my Olympus OMD-EM5; all lighting with Sea & Sea strobes except as

noted.)

August 12. I started going to Three Tree North the day prior, doing early morning dives – splash-

ing at 3:30am, to get in night dives for the paralarvae as my schedule would allow. Turned out,

going at that hour, water flat, stars out – was completely magical. Going solo at that hour, on the

first time out, I was more preoccupied with being there than the life around me. But by the second

day, this day, Bob Bailey and I went, and I got a quick glance at juvenile opalescent squid as we

descended. During the dive I saw a larval flatfish, and we also saw some hooded nudibranchs.

ISO 500, f-22, 1/125, 43mm.

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August 13. I returned for my third day in a row for a 3:30am splash at Three Tree North. The young squid greeted me again, but I wasn’t ready with my camera. They were getting curiouser. On the way to the den, all the fish seemed curious – what on earth has lights so bright at this hour? The ratfish came at me like a swarm. And then a vision: a dogfish followed its curiosity and approached me several times. So awesome!

Later that dive, I came upon a pair of spawning opalescent squid. They too seemed curious about my light – or maybe they were just too into their mission of mating that they didn’t care about me. Either way, I watched them deposit their egg sac, and they watched me…intently. I also decided to teach myself about masking in Lightroom…

ISO 320, f-7.1, 1/200, 12mm.

ISO 320, f-16, 1/200, 15mm.

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The water was full of garbage. But who cares? The squid didn’t.

ISO 320, f-14, 1/200, 15mm.

One more of the very curious squid. And me with my new Lightroom skills.

ISO 320, f-16, 1/200, 15mm.

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August 16. Finally, I was ready to photograph my little friends on the descent at Three Tree. These little guys are maybe 2 inches long, and each time I descended at 3:30am, they were there. Each time, the experience was different.

ISO 320, f-10, 1/200, 28mm.

Current was stronger this day, and so much stuff blew by. Of course white-lined dirona are com-

mon, and gunk blowing by is common, but white-lined dirona blowing by – not so common.

ISO 320, f-10, 1/200, 43mm.

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And if the white-spotted greenling wasn’t enough, this spiny lumpsucker was the cherry on top of the dive. Dives just don’t get much better than this. Except for all the other dives this month… and next month. And last month, actually. By the way, I went back to Three Tree North one more time two days later and the juvie squid met me again on the descent and produced an ink-out, and at the end – another lumpsucker.

I think I have seen three total white-spotted greenling in my entire diving career, including this one. Yeah! Score.

ISO 320, f-11, 1/200, 26mm.

ISO 320, f-11, 1/200, 43mm.

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Yes, a wolf eel at Cove 2. Crazy, I know!

September 12. A month later, and now the octopus dens at Cove2 were hatching out. And I again

roused early. The sailfin sculpin are common lately,

ISO 320, f-5.6, 1/125, 60mm.

ISO 400, f-8, 1/80, 43mm.

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September 13. After checking on the well-visited octopus den, I swam to another den a little deeper. I’d visited it the day before to discover the female there had died, but babies were hatch-ing like crazy. I went back on this day to see what might be happening, and while I was there, my flash died at the same time I noticed some eggs had been dragged outside the den and some of them were hatching. I did my best to use my Sola, and when I got home, I was stunned to see the various levels of hatching in the eggs. If you look closely, you will see some paralarvae half-way out the eggs, some still in the eggs, at least one that was dead after nearly hatching out, and of course one that was swimming freely away.

And so so many other octopus that weren’t having babies yet.

ISO 400, f-10, 1/80, 12mm.

ISO 400, f-7.1, 1/60, 43mm.

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September 27. On September 26 I visited the main den at Cove 2 only to discover she had died. A

few eggs were hatching, so I went back the following day to see if any more baby octopus were

hatching. I might have seen one or two, but while I was hanging out photographing the den for the

last time, I could not have been more surprised when a red brotula swam out of the den… then back

in… then out again. No big deal.

ISO 250, f-4.5, 1/125, 9mm.

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Shooting Gallery

James Rakowski

Humpback Whale

Alaska, 2013.

Nikon D2X camera with a Nikon 200-400 mm lens,

Camera set on Program Mode

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Shooting Gallery

James Rakowski

Decorated Warbonnet

Alaska, 2013

Nikon D7000 camera in an Aquatica housing, Nikon 60mm macro lens.

Camera set on Manual Mode.

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Upcoming Dive Trip

By Gene Coronetz

Don’t let this great dive trip with fellow Marker Buoys pass you by!

We have one spot left on the “Pelagian” live-aboard dive boat in a delluxe

cabin, April 4 -11, 2016.

Don’t delay. Please join us for that “trip of a lifetime”. Deposit of $1,060 is due now. Balance is due December 15.

The dive yacht, the “Pelagian” is a world-class luxurious dive liveaboard accommodating 10 pas-

sengers and a crew of 12.

Wakatobi is considered to be at the “epicenter of the world’s most biodiverse marine environment”

with beautiful coral walls, diverse sea life and unusual critters on vibrant protected pristine reefs.

This exclusive resort/dive yacht are truly service oriented and beyond elegance and their prices

reflect that; however, we will get some discounts for staying more than 7 nights, and if we get 9

paying, we will get 1 spot free which will be divided among all.

Check out their website at www.wakatobi.com. To find out more about our trip and the pricing, call

Judi Brooks or Gene Coronetz or e-mail us.

Judi Brooks: 425-641-2570 e-mail: divegal100@comcast.net

Gene Coronetz: 206-351-9864 e-mail: ecoronetz@gmail.com

mailto:divegal100@comcast.net?subject=Wakatobi%20Tripmailto:ecoronetz@gmail.com?subject=Wakatobi%20Trip

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Upcoming Dive Trip

By John Downing

God’s Pocket Resort, Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, BC

May 13-19, 2016 | Trip Estimate is $2,203.28 (Canadian)

God's Pocket Resort is a land-based diving location for cold water divers. Accessible only by boat, it is a secluded wilderness spot surrounded by forested islands and the waterways of the Queen Charlotte Strait.

The resort is about 5 minutes from Browning Pass and the world famous Browning Wall. Other dive sites (weather and currents depending) in-clude: Barry Islet, Dillon Rock, Nakwakto Rapids, Hunt Rock and various sites in Bates Pass, to name a few.

One of the featured dives of the trip will be Tremble Rock (AKA Turret Rock) in the Nakwakto Rapids. The Nakwakto Rapids is located at the mouth of Seymour Inlet and has been recognized as the fastest tidal surge in the world, and can run up to 18.5 miles per hour during peak tidal changes

There are sites at Gods Pocket that are suitable for divers of all skill lev-els. Nakwakto Rapids is NOT one of them. (Please access “Additional Trip Info Link” below for additional information).

Spring is a good time to witness everything being born. Lots of babies around! The small kelp beds are a nursery containing lots of young sea life. The visibility is anywhere from 20-100 feet, depending on sunshine availability.

The cost for this trip is $2203.28 Canadian $ per person all taxes includ-ed. They require a 25% ($550.82) Canadian nonrefundable deposit to hold your spot. Balance is due March 15 2016. Depending on how quickly the charter fills, they may require full payment sooner than March 2016 to be sure you are committed. If we get 12 people to go, the rate drops to $1,762.63. Canadian per person all taxes included. Transportation to God’s Pocket Resort is not included.

Trip Contact John Downing – (425) 941-5852, johndo88@gmail.com . Additional Trip Information Link: (Complete Document)

God’s Pocket Resort: http://www.godspocket.com

Richard Salas

Richard Salas

mailto:johndo88@gmail.comhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/ktlnh8zlbckguos/God's%20Pocket%20Notification%20-%20Complete%20Document.pdf?dl=0http://www.godspocket.com

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About Marker Buoys

The Marker Buoy Dive Club of Seattle meets at 7:00 PM, the first Wednesday of each month (except July, which is our annual picnic) at the Sunset Hills Community Center, 3003 NW 66th St. 98117 in Ballard. The Marker Buoy Dive Club is one of the most active dive clubs in the Pacific Northwest. Membership level is around 150. Our members include some that are new to diving or to the Seattle area. Many have over 1,000 dives in their log.

In addition to hosting many dives each month, monthly meetings are held at the Sunset Community Center in Ballard. Monthly meetings give members an opportunity to give reports on club dives of the previous month, information on upcoming dives, and occasionally slide and video presentations of dives. A guest speaker related to scuba diving, the marine environment, or something of interest to divers is featured every month. Club-sponsored activities include over 100 dives each year, dive planning parties, an annual picnic at Woodland Park, and an annual banquet.

General Club Policies

DIVER’S EDUCATION

The club will reimburse members $15 for suc-cessful completion of advanced certification courses that increases the member’s compe-tency and safety. Limit of 3 reimbursements per club member per calendar year. Courses that qualify are advanced diver, rescue diver, dive master, instructor, nitrox, DAN O2 Provid-er, and initial First Aid & CPR (non-renewal). Reimbursement for other courses subject to board approval. Just show proof of course completion to David Riley, Treasurer, for your reimbursement.

MEET UP/ MARKER BUOYS

Join our members only on-line web group! Find a last-minute dive buddy, ride, or direc-tions to a dive, trip reports, as well as our newsletters: http://www.meetup.com/Marker-Buoy-Dive-Club/

WEIGHT BELT REPLACEMENT POLICY

The club will reimburse any member who ditches weights in what they consider an emergency dur-ing any dive, anywhere. The reimbursement is for replacement cost of all items ditched and not re-covered, up to a maximum of $150.

SPONSOR A DIVE, EARN AN AIR CARD

Dive hosts receive an Air Card good at local dive shops when 6 Marker Buoy members participate on the dive. The Club Oxygen Kit counts as a buddy as long as one member of the party is O2 trained. Limit of 1 Air Card per club member per calendar month. The club has two O2 kits - cur-rently with Kimber Chard and Gene Coronets. To request an air card, complete the “Dive Host Air Card Request Form” and submit it to the Treasurer, Dave Riley.

Membership

Members must be a certified diver and 18 years or older. Any certified diver under 18 is welcome on club dives if a parent is a club member and comes as their buddy.

MARKER BUOY 2015 BOARD

President: Mark Wilson Treasurer: David Riley Webmaster: Dave Ballard

Vice President: Kimber Chard Programs: Hiller West Event Director: Andrea Naert

Secretary: Josh Schripsema Newsletter: Myra Wisotzky Refreshments: Catherine Knowlson

http://www.meetup.com/Marker-Buoy-Dive-Club/http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=3003+NW+66th+St,+Seattle,+WA+98117-6214&sll=47.811312,-122.377154&sspn=0.009669,0.021307&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=3003+NW+66th+St,+Seattle,+King,+Washington+98117&z=16http://www.meetup.com/Marker-Buoy-Dive-Club/http://www.meetup.com/Marker-Buoy-Dive-Club/http://files.meetup.com/6196802/Air%20Card%20Request%20Form%20MBDC.pdf