But in the meantime . . .

 
The final push is on for the 20th annual Chamber Day and the 10th annual Chamber Evening. I'm not going to give you the whole spiel here because if we haven't gotten through to you by now, we're not going to get through to you. But I will tell you that we've still got about 20 boat spots available (Island Time, Mr. C, and Sand Dollar) and there are about 6 seats still available at Chamber Evening (Burbank Dive Club, pacific Wilderness, and Beach Cities Scuba). Of course we've still got plenty of spots available on the Flying Dutchman, and it’s still not too late for you to make a direct contribution to the Chamber Challenge.

 
And that one took an interesting turn last week. I had a very nice conversation late Thursday night with Michael Kane, who’s already given $5000 (Platinum donor) and really feels that we should be able to hit $50,000 this year. (We're just a bit over $40,000.)

 
To that end, Michael has pledge that if you'll step up, he'll step up even further. Simply put, you make a donation of any amount to the Chamber Challenge between now and 9PM Wednesday evening and he'll match it dollar-for-dollar to get us to $50,000. Michael’s hope is that if you donation counts for double, it'll spur some more of you to get involved with supporting the Chamber, and that’s what this whole thing is all about.

 
So however you want to get involved, do it now. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 or - even better - do it directly through the website at www.chamberday.org, and click on the box in the top menu bar that says “On-Line Tickets & Donations.” help us to make this year the most successful one ever. And thanks for your support.

 
Great article in Friday’s Los Angeles Times in the Sports section by Pete Thomas on Great White Sharks and commenting on the two recent attacks. A very good, balanced article and points out many thing that sometimes people unfamiliar with these animals tend to overlook.

 
A bumpy ocean prevented us from making it out to Farnsworth on Sunday, so we did a Diving Rock Concert instead - Black Rock, Ship Rock, Bird Rock. Seems like a good time was had by all. Vis at Black Rock wasn't so good but they had 30-feet or so at Ship and Bird and that’s better than some reports we got from those areas from earlier in the week. So hopefully the vis keeps picking up. But it sounds like - much as everyone would have liked to make it to Farnsworth - that a good time was had by all.

 
Our next two trips are on the Sea Bass going to the Oil Rigs on Saturday, May 17 (note that this is a change from our previously-published schedule for both date and boat) and then doing a special trip on May 31, where we're go out and do two dives at the Star of Scotland in Santa Monica Bay, and then come back to dive Palos Verdes. The Star can be a nice dive as it sits about 70-feet deep on a sandy bottom and there’s really nothing else around. It’s a wreck that doesn't get dived very often from commercial dive boats so this is rare chance (and your only chance with us) to dive this wreck. Last year when we dove it, we spotted juvy Black Sea Bass on the wreck. So you never know. Give us a call at 310/652-4990 to get signed up.

 
We're also trying to nail down final preparations for three of our upcoming foreign trips. In just a shade under two weeks, we leave for Bonaire and we actually have room to still add two people (an individual male and an individual female) at the last minute. All we need to do is get you on the plane. But it’s going to be a great trip and we've added a stop at Atlanta’s Georgia Aquarium on the way back.

 
Next up after that is Yap and Manta Ray Bay July 11-20. We had an outstanding visit there last year with multiple and extended Manta encounters (nothing like having a 16-foot Manta Ray hover over you for 30 minutes to give you a different perspective on things). Yap just has an amazingly tranquil and peaceful feel to it and we love going there. There’s lots of great stuff to see in the water and even out of the water with a visit to the Stone Money bank in Ruhl. With airfare, total price of the trip looks to be coming in just over $4000.

 
After that, it’s off to Indonesia in August. Due to the Beijing Olympics, we've had to shift the dates. We are now departing Los Angeles on August 30 and will return September 12. In between, we'll get 8 days of diving in Sulawesi (Bunaken Marine Park & Lembeh Straits) and we’ll also have two days on the back end to explore Singapore. This one will probably come in a shade under $4000.

 
For any of these trips, give me a call at 310/652-4990 and I can answer all your questions and take payments. Remember that all prices quoted for foreign trips are cash/check. We're happy to take credit cards but it’s at a slightly higher rate to reflect what we lose to the credit card processing company.

 
And finally, many thanks for your support of me this past weekend in the New York version of the Revlon Run-Walk. (I'm actually writing this in the Delta Terminal at JFK waiting to board my L.A. flight. And since writing that sentence, we were taken off the plane, put on another plane and then have been sitting at the gate for another hour-and-a-half waiting for catering to find our old plane, get the food that nobody buys, and bring it to the new plane. With all the “new“ security features in place, it gives one pause when they tell us the reason we‘re delayed is because catering can't find our old plane . . .)

 
There were just under 40,000 others joining us for an overcast and somewhat chilly (45º at the start) walk from Times Square into Central Park. But it’s all for a good cause and I'll be hosting and MCing parts of the L.A. version this Saturday at the L.A. Coliseum. So if you're going to be there, come find me on the Green Carpet between 7 & 8AM and say hello. In the meantime, here’s a picture of me and my cousins (all 38 of us) after we finished the walk in New York (and those of us in the upper left really don't have misshapen heads - it's a bit of lens distortion): This Week (in pictures) at Reef Seekers .

 
Have a great week and let’s go diving soon!!!

 
- Ken