Next Board Meeting: August 27, 2003, 7:30 P.M. at Maurer’s Dive shop

Next Regular Meeting: September 4, 2003, 7:30 Penn Gables, Ebensburg, PA

BUSINESS:

Approved new members, all names are listed later in newsletter.

Raystown Lake Picnic has officially been moved to September 14.

Dutch Spring trip has also been moved, all details for both events are listed under upcoming trips and events.

August 7, 2003, Penn Gables, Ebensburg, PA

**Important note**

There are 108 current members and 35 who have not paid their dues. Dues were due by July 1, however, if you have not paid your dues, your name will remain on the roster until September, if you have not paid by then, you will be dropped from our list.

Donna called the meeting to order, impressing everyone with her conch blowing abilities.

Ron Peterson read the Treasurer’s Report:  Total Income: $1531.00; Total Expenses: $ 3200.14 (this includes all trip money that we have accumulated thus far); Total Checkbook balance: $3165.28.

TRIP REPORTS:

The club would like to extend a thank you to the Q..... clean-up crew! Jeff and Wendy Kirsh get an extra thank you for volunteering for the ominous task of dead animal removal!! Ron Peterson, Donna Bender, John Augustine and Dan & Diane Turcovsky lent their talents to making our q..... beautiful for the Treasure Dive. Thank you to everyone!

Joe Gordon reported on our annual Treasure Dive. “It was a dark and stormy night…” Friday night, a brave few thwarted the storm to put up the tent to shelter us all from the elements. Saturday, a few members participated in a kayak party on the river. Sunday marked the Treasure Dive. Kudos goes out to our weight placers this year, as Joe reported the weights were very hard to find on the south end, and came back empty handed. (Rest assured that he was awarded a prize) A complete list of the treasures is included.

Joe also reported on his trip to Yellow Creek. He retrieved the buoy markers for the swimming area, which were broken. Joe also got to practice compass runs as the visibility was approximately 3’. Joe did do some sight seeing in the lake, but eventually called the dive for safety reasons, he did recall that it was very nice to be able to get the chance to turn bolts under water!

Bert reported on the trip to 1,000 Islands. They left on a Friday. Saturday they dove Kings Horn and Keystorm, with approximately 40-50’ visibility with water temps about 70. Sunday they did a drift dive. The boats they were on were nice and roomy, and had short runs to the sights. The Captains were very nice and accommodating.

Ron Peterson reported on his trip to Indian River Inlet. He dove the wreck of the Northern Pacific in 135’ of water. The wreck was a passenger liner that was used to carry troops.

Ron also reported on a trip to Lock Haven in the Susquehanna River. His maximum depth was 13’, and it was a very clear dive. He reported that it was excellent for training. He then went to Dutch Springs and had more great diving there.

BUSINESS:

Welcome to our new members: Calin Soltis, James Pahel, Amy Mullen, Jean Mullen, and Todd Koenig! Welcome back to Tom Howard and Alice Kline!

Our October meeting we will be holding a swap meet. Anyone who has gear they would like to sell is invited to bring it to this meeting. This is a great opportunity for all of our new divers, or anyone who is in the market for some new stuff!!

The Raystown Improvement Organization is underway. Ron Peterson Volunteered to be the club representative. If anyone has any ideas on ways to improve the diving at the lake you can present them at the next meeting.

Lois Keegan, Ron Peterson, and Donna Bender have lost and found items from the treasure dive and the 1,000 Islands trip. If you lost anything at either one of these events please contact them.

Tom Davis has donated the $150 gift certificate to Mike’s Scuba that he won at the Treasure Dive. Tom and Mike have graciously agreed to donate the certificate to the club to chance off. We will be selling chances at $1 per ticket at the next meeting. Thank you to both of you for the donation!!

Donna Bender is holding an informational meeting for the Honduras trip, in April, at her house on the 20th of August at 7 p.m. If you are interested in going on this trip a $100 deposit is due within the next 30 days. If you can’t make the meeting contact Donna (814 695-0540).  To register for this trip, make your deposit or questions, contact Tom Davis at 814-768-3483.

We had three people volunteer to audit our books before the next meeting, Barb Wyland, Lance Marks, and Greg Lilly will be auditing our books 1 hour before next months meeting.

The club would like to extend our gratitude to our past President Brad McVicker and acting President Joe Gordon. Thank you guys for all your hard work and dedication!

During this meeting we were fortunate to be able to hear about to events that have happened that we, as divers, can learn from.

Guest speaker, Bill Kimmick, shared the experience he had on his very last dive when he got the bends. He said he was doing a 200’ dive on trimix. He did his first safety stop at 130’, which he wasn’t required to do but always felt safer making an extra stop. He did his next safety stop at 60’ where he experienced an equipment failure; the result was a free ascent to the surface in about 45 seconds. He signaled for help and was immediately put on oxygen, took aspirin and began drinking water. At this point he felt no symptoms. Then Next morning he had pain in his arm and immediately called DAN who immediately arranged for a chamber. Bill said that he didn’t get bent badly and attributes that to doing deep stops and drinking plenty of water before he did any deep diving. He recommended to everyone, that although it might not be necessary, when you do a deep dive do a safety stop ½ of the way to the top, along with the recommended stop. The doctors said the extra stop and the fluids was probably what saved him. He also strongly recommends DAN insurance as they covered 100% of the costs.

Jim Smith also shared a story about a dive he was on in Moorehead. The divers were briefed of a strong current and advised to stay on the line. One of the divers decided that he go off the line and ended up getting carried away by the current. The Coast Guard was called to help search and eventually a fishing boat found him 3.54 miles away from where her went in the water. The lesson learned here, the dive master and captain know what they’re talking about, do what they tell you, they are only concerned about your safety.

Thank you to both of you for sharing these stories!

UPCOMING TRIPS/EVENTS:

August 15 & 29, 2003, EOFND, if you’re interested in diving, festivities start at 7pm. It is recommended that you bring a buddy.

August 16, 2003, Indian River Inlet, this will be an ocean dive at around 90’ with temperatures around 50. Contact Ron Peterson for more information:  Ron@LaurelDivers.com.

August 23, 2003, Wabank Aquaculture, this q..... has been open since 1998, and was set up to raise fish for restaurant consumption. It is approximately the size of Blue Hole with a maximum depth of 130’. There are several boats and submarines, and platforms connected with ropes. There are walls, trees, telephone poles with about 50’ visibility. There are attractions for any level of diving. Contact Denny Beecher for more information.

August 30, 2003, Labor Day Weekend Dive, at the south end of the q...... The picnic will start at 1:00. See you there!

*Please note the change of date*

September 14, 2003, Raystown Picnic, (tentatively) at the Oak Pavilion at the Seven Point Marina. We will have advanced sign up for the dive so that we can make a decision on whether or not to rent the pontoon boat this year. The diving is usually good, and the divers usually are rewarded with sunken treasure! The picnic is also great for families with swimming and a playground nearby. The club will be supplying hot dogs and hamburgers. If you plan on attending, please bring a covered dish.

*Please note the change of date*

September 26-28, 2003, Dutch Springs, will be driving in Friday night, camping in the parking lot, diving Saturday and Sunday, and driving home Sunday night. Great diving for all levels, you can camp there, there are restrooms and showers on the grounds, or stay at hotels nearby. Contact Donna Bender for more information.

October 3-4, 2003, Virginia Beach. We will be driving down the 3rd and staying at the Ocean Front Inn which is $58 per night. Will be diving a tower in 42’ of water which sports an octopus, mussel, lots of coral and tropical fish and an artificial reef in 50-80’ water with a wide variety of fish there. $58 plus tax is needed by the end of July. Contact Joe Gordon for more details.

October 11-26, 2003 Fiji, Micronesia, and Tahiti. Wayne Pappart, Flood City Divers. Contact Wayne for information 814 255-5360

November 15-22, 2003 Cozumel, Mexico. Scuba Club Cozumel. This is an all inclusive resort. Cost: $838 + air-fair. Priceline.com air fares have been available for $313 + tax. Contact Dee Montgomery at Advantage Scuba for more information. 814-944-8521.

April 21-May 1, 2004, Honduras, Co Co View Resort, Roatan, Honduras Bay Islands. All inclusive 7 night package 24/7 beach diving, 2 boat dive trips daily. $850 + tax. $100 deposit due within the next 30 days

**Attention all divers**

November 2, 2003, World Record Breaking Scuba Event, Rutgers University, Secaucus, NJ, An attempt to break the record for the number of scuba divers in a pool is taking place from 12-5pm. There is a $5 registration fee which includes a barbeque at 12. You will need to have on your mask, fins, B.C., regulator and tank. There needs to be more than 596 people in the pool on scuba at one time to break the record. You will be in the water from 4-4:30. The club will have a sign-up sheet at next month’s meeting if you sign up, you must go! Laurel Divers will be sending in our registration and must have the final count in October. If the record is broken everyone present will receive a certificate stating that you participated in a World Record Breaking Event!!!

The daybook was $135. The winner was Larry McCully, who was not present; all monies will be carried over to next month.

The door prize was a choice of tank blinker or wrist slate. Sandy Smith won and chose the tank blinker.

For Sale Items – can be found at LaurelDivers.com, and then select “Classified Ads” Prize List

If anyone is interested in adding any trips to our list please send all information to Laura@LaurelDivers.com. Thank you!

2003 Laurel Divers Treasure Dive

Sherwood Blizzard Regulator   Laura Butler
80 cf aluminum Tank    Jean Mullen
$150 Gift Certificate Mikes Scuba  Tom Davis
Manta Reel from Scuba Escapes  Dan Turcovsky
Akona Backpack Dive Bag   Tom Howard
Lift Bag      Nelda CArter
Club Jacket      Gerald Lamb
Pelican Box 1300     Mike Miller
Fins from Titanic Dive Center   Amy Mullen
Soft Weight Belt     Jim Link
Princeton Tec 600 Light    Mary Green
$50 Bob Bucks     Clyde Mighells
Sherwood folding snorkel   Deb Hommer
BC Attachable Knife    Sandy Beecher
BC Attachable Knife    Pat Donley
Stainless Steel Fin Straps    Bud Colyer
Stainless Steel Fin Straps    Diane Turcovsky
Pelican Super Sabre Light   Paul Brawley
Pelican Super Sabre Light   Lois Keegan
Mesh bag      Greg Lilly
Mesh Bag      Bert Sharbaugh
Swivel Regulator     Linda Allen
Custom Mouth Piece    Mark Koenig
Custom Mouth Piece    Andy Ropp
UK Hangers – set of 3    Todd Koenig
UK Hangers – set of 3    Ron Peterson
Pelican 1200     Diane Malley
Divers Tool Kit     Unclaimed
See me safety sausage    Suzie Link
See Me safety Sausage    Donna Bender
Super Flasher Nite Light    Joe Gordon
Floating Dive Flag     Bob Allen
1 year club membership    Barry Creany
Wrist Slate      Denny Beecher
Wrist Slate & Laurel Diver Towel  John AUgustine
Retractable Lanyard    Sylvia Mackinnon
Retractable Lanyard    Barb Wyland