Safety Officer’s Message
By: Brad Freelove

Prescription Lenses for Your Mask

We did a dive in Folsom Lake last weekend. The visibility was around 8 feet. Not Cozumel
stuff! The easy way to navigate was to use a compass. A diver mentioned that they were
having some problems reading their compass while underwater. A compass or diving computer
can be hard to read if you do not have perfect vision. There are several solutions to underwater
vision issues.
Before you charge out and buy anything to help you see underwater better, have someone with
good vision look at your compass, gauges, etc. and see if they have any issues. If the young,
good eyes have no difficulty reading your equipment, then it is probably time for you to get a
vision test. Once you have that done, you can proceed on to the next step. Finding the best
solution for you.
Once you have your eye exam results, head on down to Dolphin Scuba or your local dive store
and look at your options. You can get a mask that has prescription lenses ready to install. You
can have your mask sent to a company and have prescription lenses installed. Bifocal lenses
are available in both ready-made versions and custom-for-you varieties. Get on the internet and
look at what is out there but remember that the dive store has years of experience dealing with
this stuff. Take advantage of their expertise. Get something that will help you out, not make
things worse.
For myself, I use a dive computer with a large face and custom bifocal lenses installed in a
mask that fits perfectly to my face. I store the mask in a protective box unless I am wearing it. I
always carry a second mask in my dive kit. Standard lenses are in the backup mask. If I bust
up my prescription mask, I have an option to keep diving.

A variety of mask brands are available that allow you to get a perfect fit for your prescription mask.

QUOTES FROM THE SEA

“We do not DIVE to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”
Unknown

“You’re 30 feet underwater, the ocean is brisk, the slight current is stirring the sand, the colorful fish are swarming, the bright red lobsters are playfully harassing the neon eels — everything seems surreal, especially the fact that you’re breathing underwater.”
Natalie Lavery

“Diving, while it is an “adventure sport,” takes people into a calm and quiet environment — there are no phones, no emails, no way for the terrestrial world to contact you. A diver can drift through the water, undisturbed, and enjoy a period of quiet. The only noises are the hiss of exhalations and the munching of parrotfish. Yes, diving is generally a buddy sport, but your buddy has a regulator in his mouth and can’t talk.”
Anonymous

Please send in your favorite “Quotes from the Sea” if you have not already seen them here. I am always looking for more.

JUNE 19th MEETING
Speaker: Michele Johnson
Subject: SportDiver Phone Housing

Michele Johnson, CFO of Dolphin Scuba, retired scuba instructor, 3,000+ dives and grandmother of 3 will be at our next general meeting to educate us on the SportDiver Cell Phone Underwater housing. If you do not have the housing and want to learn more, this meeting will answer your questions. If you currently have the housing, you can get your technical questions answered and perhaps pick up some pointers on operating the housing to its fullest potential.

Just Laugh

Coconuts Bar and Grill
Cozumel
By Brad:

Next time you visit Cozumel, take a day off from diving, rent a car and have lunch at Coconuts!  About a 45-minute drive from the Cozumel Hotel, you can enjoy a nice lunch while you look out over the ocean.  Coconuts is located on the tip of the island.  The weather can be a little windy, but the weather is almost always warm.

The restaurant is an open-air style venue.  The food is good and served quickly.  A burger, fries and a coke were about $12.00 USD.  While you are waiting for someone to take or deliver your order, you can watch the local wildlife or take in all the t-shirts and signs on the ceiling and walls.

Once you are done with lunch, you can continue to drive around the island or head straight back to your hotel.  You can rent a small car or jeep directly from the hotel vendors.  I believe a jeep was about $100 for the day. 

Coconuts is a fun place to visit and take some photos.  Take the time to head on over.

Poker Run Pictures

Albion River Camp/Dive/Fish Event
(TIME IS RUNNING OUT)

Dear Dolphin Divers,

The Albion River Campground will not “hold” campsites for our group after April 3rd at 5pm. After that deadline, the campsites will be open to the general public and you may not be able to camp with the DDS group. Initially asked the campground to “Hold” the following 10 campsites for our group: D9 thru D18. So far, the following campsites have been reserved by Dolphin Divers: D9 Chris Matthews; D12 Jack Millard; D13 Sam Shi; D16 Hannah Dunham. Brad Freelove and I have rented a trailer at Site A2. You can see the campground layout by going to the campground’s website at albionrivercampground.com clicking on the CAMPING link. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. The flyer for the campout is attached to this post.

Ken Takata
(916) 599-5270
kennethktakata@gmail.com

Member News

CLUB BIRTHDAYS MAY AND JUNE
Alisha Ching 5-May
Corinne Fuerst 5-May
Sara Squiers 5-May
Lee Friedmann 6-May
Kristen Patchett 10-May
Kenny Carraher 14-May
Zoe Anderson 16-May
Erik Hannon 17-May
Melissa McKinney 19-May
Joye Bothun 21-May
Randy Diez 21-May
Darin Hunter 24-May
Kyle Green 27-May
Elena Susbilla 27-May
Liz Marchiondo 30-May

Nancy Deer 4-Jun
Phoebe Scholar 5-Jun
Emily Oja 5-Jun
Jordan Oja 8-Jun
Nick House 9-Jun
Marlyn Campbell 9-Jun
Paula Delgado 14-Jun
Chelsae Moltrum 14-Jun
Jamie Sepulveda 14-Jun
Eileen Gaffney 21-Jun
Kim Taylor 22-Jun
Tom Oja 23-Jun
Tyler Hopper 28-Jun
Amy Rojas 28-Jun
Keiko Lewis 29-Jun
Jeff Johnson 30-Jun
Dave Oberst 30-Jun

NEW MEMBERS
Kimberly Hall
Clary Tepper

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

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS

For the full view click here…

June 5, 2024	DDS Board Meeting	David Whiteside’s	Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com
5/19/2024	Monterey Dive CANCELLED	Monterey Breakwater CANCELLED	Brad Freelove	(916) 879-3853 bradlinda@frontiernet.com
June 19, 2024	DDS General Meeting	Round Table Pizza	Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com	Use of UW Cell Phone Camera Housings	Presented by Michelle Johnson
June 21 to 23, 2024	Albion River Campout, Dive, Fishing	Albion River Campground	Ken Takata	(916) 599-5270 kennethktakata@gmail.com	Reservations for Group campsites must be made ASAP
July 3, 2024	DDS Board Meeting	Doug Hillblom’s	Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com
July 17, 2024	Picnic in the Park/Gear Swap and Giveaway	Fair Oaks Park (Note: Not at Round Table Pizza)	Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com	Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Soft Drinks Provided. Please bring a side dish.
July 20, 2024	Inland Lobster Feed	Lake Natoma at Black Miners Bar	Jack Millard	(916) 955-8017 jbmillard@aol.com	Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Soft Drinks Provided. Please bring a side dish.
August 7, 2024	DDS Board Meeting		Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com
August 21, 2024	DDS General Meeting	Round Table Pizza	Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com
August 31st, 2024	Labor Day Ocean Cove Dive weekend	Ocean Cove, CA	Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com	August 31st to September 2 Please come early
Sept. 3, 2024	DDS Board		Owen Autry	(916) 955-9105 ocautry@gmail.com

Dive like a kid!
By: Joe Morgan

In my time diving I have gone through phases, initially I wanted to be the best diver I could. I spent time learning everything I could. I spent time in my pool alone perfecting buoyancy, mask replacement, gear removal and replacement. I spent a lot of time getting “good” at diving. Working on my dive position, etc. etc. until it was all second nature. Those things are important, but I accidentally made them the MOST important. Then I took my son and got him certified, I put him in the pool and made him work on every skill until I was confident, he would be a perfect little diver. We took a trip and on his first dive as I was gliding along in my “perfect diving position” he began to do flips, he blew bubbles and played with them, he danced underwater. His very first time on the reef he taught me a lesson that I had forgotten. He reminded me of the most important part of diving, diving is fun.

I have moved to a new phase where I do not judge my dives by my consumption, or my diving position, or for that matter how silly I look. I now judge all my dives by my smile. If it was fun, what else could matter?

Have you ever dressed up as a pirate for a dive? A superhero? Worn a tutu?

Have you ever danced with a dolphin?

Have you ever flown threw the water with a manta?

Acted like you were falling through space? Or done yoga?

Have you ever surfed your fins?

Have you ever spent a whole dive finding funny ways to photograph a chicken?

Have you ever replicated a “Finding Nemo” scene?

I cannot emphasize enough how much I now advocate “forgetting” your camera on a few of your dives and just playing. Dress up, dance, play, surf on your fins, fly, whatever brings you joy. Be your inner child for a while and remember why diving is a part of your life. IT IS FUN!

A Unique Dive for the Adventurous!
Let’s go diving for shark’s teeth!
By: Brad Freelove

Most sharks have between 5 and 15 rows of teeth. If you are a whale shark, you can have up to 3,000 teeth at one time. Sharks shed their teeth continuously throughout their lives. On average, about 1 tooth per week. Scientists estimate that there are about 1 billion sharks in the ocean. Do the math and the sharks have shed about 52 billion teeth in a year. While most of these teeth probably end up in water too deep for us recreational divers to find, some teeth can be found on the beach or in the water at dive able depths.
Sharks have been around on planet earth for nearly 450 million years. That is a lot of teeth that have been shed. If you visit the right places, you can find the teeth just lying around on the ground or falling from the sides of the ocean cliffs. I found my first sharks tooth in the desert! Over time, the tooth had become part of the ground. Not a big tooth, but a great find for a 12 year old skinny kid!

My first sharks tooth
Where you dive will often dictate what species, age and size of teeth that you will find. Our very own eastern seaboard has a ton of great diving. From New Jersey to Florida, shark’s teeth can be found on the beach or in very shallow water. You can dive some of the rivers and find them. In southern California, there are a few locations that have teeth being found on the beach or falling from the cliffs.

Both old and new teeth
My next shark tooth dive is going to be on the east coast. Probably in the Carolinas. I want to find a megalodon tooth…..A BIG ONE! There is a place off the coast of North Carolina called “The Ledge.” The depth is around 110 ft. Nitrox diving for sure. You can book a one, two or three tank dive. Not all dives are to the max depth but the teeth are all over the place.

Next time you are looking for something different, consider a short flight to the east coast. Perhaps you will come back with the find of a lifetime.

A few pictures from Cozumel
From Dave Whiteside

EDITOR’S NOTE
By: Joe Morgan

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

• 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: Sally Walters
Member at Large: Douglas Hillblom
Alternate Member at Large: Corinne Fuerst