Dear Dolphin Divers of Sacramento, May 2023

Spring has spung and allergy season is upon us! California superblooms come highly-anticipated
every year, but 2023 is shaping up to bring an especially bountiful spring season following the heavy
rainfall we’ve experienced throughout the state. National Geographic wrote that 2023 could be the
“year of the superbloom,” and some of the state’s biggest superblooms are even visible from space.
At the end of April the temperatures here in the valley were in the 80’s…and the bees and pollen are
in full force. They are talking about cooler temperatures in the first week in May, but in California you
never know what will happen!

The Club has a lot of great activities planned, so look at your schedule and check out the Events
Calendar on Dolphindivers.org.
A special “thank you” to Gordon Kuhnle for putting together the fun Poker Run Dive on April 29 th!
This is just one of the clubs events happening this year!
Dolphin Divers will be holding the Scuba Challenge on May 20th – so watch your emails for more information coming
soon. Brad Freelove also announced at the monthly members meeting that we will be doing more river clean ups
later this year, which is not only a fun event, but it helps support a cleaner environment.

We are always looking for leaders that would like to take on an activity. Please reach out to a board
member with your idea and plan for the event and we can work with you on getting it organized. It will
need to be run by the board and the board meets on the first Wednesday of the month. We ask that
you plan the dive then dive the plan. What does this mean for running an activity? You would first
contact our Activity Chair, David Whiteside, and run your idea by him. This can be a non-dive event
or a scuba/free dive event. Then talk to our safety officer Brad Freelove and get the safety side of
your dive or non-dive events worked out. We take safety very seriously and he can work out any
concerns about your planned Scuba dive and we can plan safety measures into your event. After you
have met with these two board members, it will be presented by the Activity Chair for discussion and
approval. We are an all-volunteer club and it takes all of us to plan for fun activites.

Please note, our next Dolphin Club General Meeting will be held in-person on Wednesday,
May 17 th , 2023, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Round Table Pizza (9500 Greenback Lane in Folsom),
and via Zoom for those who would prefer to attend remotely. Marilyn will send information on the day
of the meeting. Our featured speaker this month is Liz Marchiondo, she will be talking about UW
Photogrammetry. What is that, you ask? Well come to the meeting and find out. You will not want to
miss this meeting…everyone is welcome to join!

Hope to see you in the water, and bubbles up!!
Owen Autry,
President

QUOTES FROM THE SEA

We need to respect the oceans and take care of them as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.
– Sylvia Earle.

“Every time you dive, you hope you’ll see something new — some new species. Sometimes the ocean gives you a gift, sometimes it doesn’t.” – James Cameron.

Safety Officer’s Message
By: Brad Freelove

Take care of the equipment you dive with:

The diving equipment that you will be using during your next dive might be stuff that you own,
have rented, or borrowed. I own all my equipment. I know divers that own some and rent or
borrow some.
If you own it, you will become familiar with it. But there is nothing wrong with
renting or borrowing. Your choice. Whichever way you choose, make sure that the equipment
is in good working order before you hit the water.

If you own your equipment, make sure that you clean it at the end of your diving trip. If you do
not know how to maintain your life support, ask! There are a ton of videos out there that can
get you started. Better still is to take a class on how to clean and maintain your equipment.

Learn how to clean your BCD, regulators, and gauges after your dive. If you put it away dirty,
expect to have plenty of problems during your next dive. Before your next dive, hook up your
BCD, regs, and gauges and make sure that all is in good working order. If it has been a while
since your last dive, consider getting everything serviced.

Proper servicing gives you a fresh start. In theory, your equipment should be in proper working
order. When you pick up your equipment from the repair department take it home and check
it out. Maybe you can check it out in the repair department? Just ask. If you don’t have time
to check it out at the store, take it home and try it out there. Hook up everything and drop it in
a pool, tub, or bathtub. Check for leaks and bubbles. If the water is deep enough, the
computer should turn on. Manually turn it on if needed. Same goes for rental or borrowed
stuff. Check for leaks and make sure that all hoses hook up without problems.

When you get to your dive destination and find out that a rental BC hose does not fit or your computer needs
a new battery, blame yourself for not taking the time to check the equipment before you leave
your home. Same goes for borrowed stuff. Make sure it all works before you hit the road.
During the last 3 club dives, I have heard the usual comments. My regulator leaks or does not
work, my wetsuit does not fit, and my rental stuff does not work or fit. Checking out this stuff
before leaving home can eliminate most of the problems. Do yourself a favor and check it all
out!

May 17th Meeting’s Guest Speaker:
Liz Marchiondo – Photogrammetry

Our next Dolphin Club General Meeting will be held in-person on Wednesday,
May 17 th , 2023, from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm at Round Table Pizza (9500 Greenback Lane in Folsom),
and via Zoom for those who would prefer to attend remotely. Marilyn will send information on the day
of the meeting. Our featured speaker this month is Liz Marchiondo, she will be talking about UW
Photogrammetry.

COLUMBUS DAY CAMPING

An FYI for anyone wondering about the annual Underwater Easter Egg Hunt: The Crazy Horse restaurant, where we held our awards dinner, has gone out of business. I did not find another venue that can accommodate our group of 60+ for a rate that makes sense. Most places charge separately for room rental and food, making them cost prohibitive.

Ken Takata is not hosting the Memorial Weekend camp/dive trip this year because of the historically rough water during most previous events. Instead
I have reserved the meadow campsites at Albion River Campground for Columbus Day weekend, October 6 – 9. Albion River Campground is right on the Albion River where it empties into the ocean. Activities can include kayaking on the river (rentals available) and/or ocean, Diving, visiting Mendocino or Fort Bragg (the ice cream at “Cowlicks” in Fort Bragg is one of the stops I NEVER miss)  or just hanging out around the campfire enjoying each others company. We will also make a couple of motorboat and kayak trips up the river into the redwoods.

If you want to join us contact the campground to make your reservation. You can choose any of our reserved sites from D1 to D25, or one off the rental trailers, B22 – B24,. There are also a few full hookup sites, A2 – A15 with sewer connections, close to the group area. (I am in site A2 because I will be there for 7 nights) When you call for a camping reservation be sure to ask for one of the sites in “D” section, that I reserved for our group. This will be a joint event with the Seahorses dive club. If you camp in a tent bring a heater and extension cord: every site has water and electricity.

Please let me know when you make a reservation so I can keep track of how many, and which, spaces we take. Any spaces not reserved by us will revert back to the Albion CG for renting to non-members.

Jack Millard 916.955.8017
https://albionrivercampground.com/
(707) 937-0606

Member News

May Birthdays:
Zoe Anderson
Taylor Deschene
Joye Bothun
Summer Carlson
Kenny Carraher
Alisha Ching
Randy Diez
Corinne Fuerst
Erik Hannon
Darin Hunter
Kyle Green
Liz Marchiondo
Melissa McKinney
Hannah Furtak
Kristen Patchett
Lindsay Derobertis
Marlyn Sepulveda
Sally Walters

New Members:
Joe Blankenship
Heather Esemann
Ritchie Farmer
Lindley Ellisor
Erik Hannon
James Houston
Elissa Monteiro-Endow
Mike Panelli
Michael Soldwisch

Are you interested in becoming a Dolphin Divers of Sacramento member?
CLICK HERE TO JOIN



CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

FOR THE FULL SCHEDULE PLEASE CLICK HERE

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Custom Dolphin Divers Swag
By – Tracy Clarke

Hey all you divers out there,
Do you want a special T-Shirt or Jacket for yourself or as a very special gift?  Bring it to me, so I can put our amazing logo on it. 

Bring it to me at our General Meeting. April -May – June You have until June to bring me your stuff to be printed. 

I’ll have it ready by the picnic in the park. 
Tracy

Monterey Club Dive

April 1st and 2nd saw 20 plus DDS members diving the flat, calm waters of Monterey. Well, at
least it was flat and calm on Saturday. Saturday was a great day to dive outside of the bay! The
bottom temp. was 54-56 degrees, and the vis. was up to 30 ft. All depending upon the location.
As the water was so calm, all boats headed out of the bay and south towards Carmel. Some went
farther than others, but mild conditions were found everywhere.

An excellent day for most of us. Some divers did a little sight seeing while others went down with
spearguns to harvest dinner. Other than a few minor equipment issues, everyone had a great time.

Captain Jack Millard tried to make a dive in the bay itself. While very calm, the visibility had
dropped to 6 ft. or less. Not a fun way to spend an hour underwater.

Sunday morning was a completely different day. It was raining hard, and the wind was blowing
and howling. Captain Gordon took his boat load of divers out around Pt. Joe but gave up due to
choppy waters and high winds. The rest of us packed up and headed home.

If you did not make the trip, you missed out on a great Saturday of diving. Probably the best
conditions I have seen in the Monterey area over the last 5 years. We could have water skied
to the dive sites!

Special thanks to boat captains, Jack, Gordon, Holger, Kenny, and Ken for all their work on
taking us out for a great day on the water. It takes a special person to take out members that
they may not know all that well. The boat owners put in a lot of time and money to get their
boats ready, get them to the dive location, and get them home to clean them up. Next time you
see one of the boat owners, you might say “THANKS!”

Ship Rock
By: Edward Hurff

I Just off the shore of southern California, sits a baron set of land masses known as the channel islands.  Though the islands themselves look like little desert micro climates of their bigger southern California neighbor, below the water sits an amazing wonderland of fish, reef, kelp, sharks and even octopus.  The best of all of these locals sits just outside the main harbor of Catalina island known as Ship Rock.  On the surface there is a light house beacon that steers ships clear of its damaging shallows and rocky terrain. but underneath is a world of beauty.

      As the boat is anchored and we begin our dive at Ship Rock, we are told to be mindful of our air consumption, depending on the course of our dive.  Ship Rock is one of those places where you can circle the entire thing on a dive, however depending on your depth, this could be a long swim and consume a lot of air. Though my father and I did not opt for that route, the amazing world down below the surface was more than I ever had seen.  Through my life, I have mostly dove the cold north coast of California and some Lakes, including Tahoe.  These places were beautiful, but none of them contained the amount of life that vibrantly adorned this Rock out in the channel.  

      As we descended down the Anchor line after taking a plunge off the bow of the boat. We were greeted with a wall of life that I could have never imagined. Parrot Fish and Scallions, Kelp beds, Bass, coral formations all alive and thriving on this Rock.  We swam from as deep as 90 ft and as shallow as 20 feet and yet the life abundance of this rock never wavered.  It seemed no matter what depth you dove at, there was something to see. Whether you were at 90ft or 20 ft, the visability of the water was over 100 feet.  Sitting down at 90 feet you could look up and clearly see the boat overhead. 

      We meandered around and up and down this Rock for as long as we could safely do. We saw an octopus hidden away in a little Rock cropping obviously trying not to be discovered, This was my first time ever seeing an octopus, little did I know It would be my first shark sighing as well.  As we worked our way back around the Rock and toward the ship, we happened upon Jack who waived us over as he dug a small shark out of its hiding spot in the rocks.  The shark just swam away after being rousted and we got to enjoy seeing it swim sleekly through the water to its next hiding spot. 

      At this point we were ready to surface as our air had gotten to our set limit and we began to ascend.  Upon coming to the surface, we had learned that the boat hand lost its anchor point and was waiting for us on the other side of the rock. Though a dingy ride back was offered, my father and I decided to swim the 200 or so yards to the boat.  Though this was quite the surface swim, i spent every moment of it relishing the beauty I had just seen, knowing full well the swim was more than worth the best dive experience I had ever had in my life.  

      I do have other things planned in my life that may later replace Ship Rock,  I would love to dive in Mexico, particularly Cozumel, along with other places throughout the world moving forward.  As of now in my life, Ship Rock in Catalina is the top, and will be hard to replace as my best dive experience yet.  I don’t know when I will return to the channel Islands, but dives like Farnsworth Banks and Ship Rock leave me yearning for Catalina and the beauty that lies beneath the waves.

Ed Hurff

Photos from last Saturday’s Event

EDITOR’S NOTE
By: Joe Morgan

I AM LOOKING FOR MEMBERS TO SEND IN PICTURES OF DIVING, DIVING VACATIONS ETC.

Each month I will be looking for submissions in the following categories:

• Trip Reviews: Let us know where you have been diving, what operator you used, the hotel you stayed at and how was the diving there. Let us know if the operator was safe and fun. Let us know if the hotel was a good deal, give us as much detail as possible and hopefully more Dolphin Divers will venture there in the future.
  
• Recipes: I was told that in the past Dolphin Divers gave each other SEAFOOD recipes that they loved so that everyone could enjoy the bounty of the sea, I hope to continue that each month with at least one good recipe.
  
• Dive and Camping yard-sale items you wish to include in the newsletter.
  
• Dive Activities: Please let me know if there are any dive-related activities you would like included in the newsletter.
  
• Pictures from your last dive. Please make sure to let me know how you would like the picture credited in the newsletter. -example – Picture by John Member, of a Silky Shark, at Roca Partida Mexico.

PLEASE MAIL ALL SUBMISSIONS TO

Editor@dolphindivers.org

DOLPHIN DIVERS OF SACRAMENTO
BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President: Owen Autry
Vice President: Ken Takata
Treasurer: Marlyn Sepulveda
Secretary: Elizabeth Marchiondo
Safety Officer: Brad Freelove
Activity Chair: David Whiteside
Webmaster: Renee Viehmann
Promotions Chair: Tracy Clarke
Newsletter Editor: Joe Morgan
Historian: Jack Millard
Member at Large: Tom Mischley
Member at Large: Lalanyia Little
Member at Large: Ed Hurff
Member at Large: David Rosas
Member at Large: Sally Walters
Member at Large: Douglas Hillblom
Alternate Member at Large: Corinne Fuerst