ODC August 2014 Newsletter

[Owatonna Divers Club]

ODC News Letter Owatonna Diving Club PO Box 232, Owatonna MN 55060 August 31, 2014 Upcoming Events September 9th                            Monthly Meeting October 4th, 5th   (on hold)            Advanced (Crosby) October 10th – 12th                      Fall North Shore October 25th, 26th                        Gilbert (Ore-B-Gone) Every Thursday, 7:30                 Pump Nights

2014 Owatonna Dive Club Officers President – Troy Matejcek Vice President – Denny Javens (deceased) Secretary – Bob Kierski Treasure – Jim Zabel Board One Year – Jeff Kirchner Two Year – Pete DeGrood Three Year – Delbert Kepka Club Meetings We encourage all members, family and new students to attend the monthly club meetings to share experiences, laughs, and ideas for future dives, as well as the state of the club. We meet at 7:00, (usually) the 2nd Tuesday of almost every month.  Our next meeting will be Tuesday, September 9th.  All are welcome to attend.   At the September 9th meeting, we will be discussing filling the Vice President office.  If anyone is interested, please contact Troy M. or attend the September meeting. Email Address If you are getting this Newsletter via email, it is coming to you from the Owatonna Divers email address.  Last August, the Owatonna Divers Club started using a Google Email (gmail.com) account – owatonn...@gmail.com. Up until now, if you sent email to the old Owatonna Divers email address, it was forwarded to our Gmail account.  As of now, if you send email to the old email address, it will bounce with a failure indicating that it is no longer a valid email address.  Please update your email address book so that you use our Gmail address. If you have correspondence with me or one of the other ODC board members that you feel is personal in nature, feel free to use that persons personal email address if you know it.  If the message pertains to ODC business, and specifically, if it has to do with the ODC News Letter, meeting agenda, or meeting minutes, please send the email to our Gmail account.  If you want your message to go to someone specifically, you can add a salutation that indicates who the message should be directed to.  All board members have access to the club's Google account – Gmail and Calendar. Milwaukee Trip The Milwaukee trip was canceled. September Event Needed It would be great if we could put together a September trip or day outing.  If you have a September day or weekend open and want to go diving, or if you have ideas about where we should go, please send me a note.   Advanced Open Water The PADI Advanced Open Water course is currently on hold.  Please attend the September meeting and watch the News Letter for further information and confirmation.   Fall North Shore The dates for the Fall North Shore dive have been set – October 10th – 12th.  The North Shore in the fall is a beautiful place.  The campgrounds in the area are still open.  We're planning at camping at the Two Harbors Campgrounds.  They've been working on expending their facilities.  When we drove by going to Isle Royale, we could see the new sites are being used.  There is a signup sheet at the Club House. Gilbert (Fall Dive) Lake Ore B'Gone (cousin to Lake Woebegone) is an abandoned Iron Ore Mine in Gilbert Minnesota – part of the Mesabi Iron Range.  As the result, the water is usually very clear and there are interesting rocks to look at.  In addition, the local divers have token a lot of time and care into placing many artificial reefs including 2 helicopters, 3 (or more) planes, boats and cars as well as a variety of mining equipment.  In addition to SCUBA, the area is also home of an extensive ATV park.  ODC is organizing its' annual Gilbert trip for October 25 – 26.  There is a signup sheet at the club house.  Please contact Corey for more information.     Bayfield By:  Marissa Morris   Bayfield had another great turnout this year; the weather was fantastic and there were around 15 divers. Wednesday afternoon club members began to arrive and set up their tents and campers. As usual the dive club occupied our usual section of the campground. Thursday morning we dove the Savona. There was a slight current, however the visibility was great. That night some of the club explored the different islands, while the others went to the Sand Island caves. 6 brave souls decided to partake in the annual tradition of kayaking back from the caves despite the strong crosswind- luckily all made it back safe and mostly dry. Friday was a little windier, and we put in the boats at the Red Cliff Marina to dive the Lucerne. On the way to the Lucerne, Jim Zabel (also known as Jay-Z) had a little run in with the Coast Guard. Fortunately Jim's stash of “oregano” stayed safe and he just needed new flares. The weather was great on the Lucerne, it was a clear, calm day with good visibility. Afterwards some club members headed over to the Finn McCool to do a quick dive/snorkel, while others went to Bayfield for ice cream, and Jim went to buy new flares. That night we held the annual Friday Fish Fry, for which about 39 people showed up. The fish turned out excellent as always, and a big thank you to Deering's for the fish, and to everyone who brought something to pass! Saturday the club headed to the caves on Devil's Island for the last day of diving. A few brought kayaks with and paddled in and out of the caves. After diving some club members headed over to the Noqbay and beach on Stockton Island, while others stayed at Devil's. Overall it was a fun trip. Many genius pizza ideas were discussed and rejected, plus the diving was great! #ApostleIslands #BeenThereDoneThat #Just4George #MyPizzaIdeasAreBetterThanYours                       Commercial Diving By:  Blair Bonnerup   Well I've been in a commercial diving class now for 7 days at the Minnesota Commercial Divers Training Center up in Brainerd MN. I know it's not a long time but it sure seems like the time is going to fly by. In just these couple days we’ve done a lot. We’ve gone over the Physics and the Physiology of diving and how they are applied to everyday diving. All the laws and keeping them straight is going to be a little difficult but hay that's why I’m going to school for this.   The amount of time that I am going to be in the class and in the water is about 70% water and 30% classroom. Which makes this a very hands on course which I find to be the best way to learn. The stuff that they are putting us through is for right now a lot like scuba classes. It's nothing anybody can't do but doing it is needed to be prepared. Our preparation steps right now is flooding the Kirby Morgan helmets and clearing them. This is nothing like a flooded mask. These things can be a pain in the ass. When the neck dam seal and the helmet don't seat right because the head padding creates a fold, it's like breathing with the regulator on free flow and it sticking away from your mouth six inches. Water and air both want to go in your mouth so to breathe right you have to start all over again with now only having a half breathe. But I’m still here so I passed that part.   Going from using just a regulator and a mask to now using the Cadillac of them all a Kirby Morgan is a HUGE difference. Having the hard wired comms and having a dry head when you're done diving, it's just cherry on top. Yes, OTS has full face masks have comms on them, but if you ever get the chance to try on a Kirby Morgan you should really try it. There is nothing like having the protection and the luxury that they supply.   Our future projects include pulling up a car, a boat, a snowmobile, welding structural members on underwater platforms and then cutting them off, underwater piping, and a lot more. This school is located in a very good spot. Some of the mines have 20-30 feet visibility. But of course some of the stuff we are going to do will be with Zero Visibility. I guess throwing every little possible case is a good way to get practice.   Never did I think that I would be getting my feet wet this often. I know some people are lucky to go on a trip once or twice a year and I’m diving everyday and loving every minute of it. Six days a week and ten hours days. Nothing like having a very EXPENSIVE vacation everyday for eleven weeks. Well I hope everyone in the club is staying wet and I hope to write again and the next time I will have pictures. Sorry I didn’t include any in this one. Building Maintenance There has be quite a lot of progress on the inside maintenance projects.  The entire wall has been demolished.  The block wall has been sealed on the inside.  New studs and insulation has been installed.  Most of the electrical has been installed as well.  We still need to put up the dry wall, tape, mud and paint.  We also need to replace the tile on the affected part of the floor.   Thanks to all those who've come down to help.   We could still really use your help.  If you have experience doing this sort of project, your help would be appreciated.  Please bring your tools, and stop by the club house for Thursday pump nights – that's when the work will be done.   Fall Classes Fall classes are right around the corner.  If you know someone who is interested in becoming certified, Please have them check out the Fall SCUBA class, and Discover SCUBA offered by ODC through Owatonna Community Education.  Our fees are at least 50% less than anyone else, and our program is much more complete and personal.

Newsletter If you have a story you would like to write for the Newsletter, or would like to see something in a newsletter, please send me an email at owatonn...@gmail.com. The next Newsletter is scheduled to go out September 28th. Please have any material to me by noon September 27th if you want it in the Newsletter.