My official journal entry for the month of November, also shortly available at OWUSS:
Fresh from the excitement of DEMA, Steve, Eline and I arrived at Jeff Bozanic’s house in Huntington Beach ready to begin our rebreather course. Jeff and his family are a great bunch, and very hospitable, so we were not the only guests staying with them after DEMA. Joining our class was a diver from Norway, Magne. Two of Jeff’s friends, Barry and Celia from South Africa would also be with us for a few days. Last year’s scholars had unanimously voted their rebreather with course as one of their top experiences, and by the first day I could see why. Jeff is a fantastic teacher and his course was fascinating and incredibly challenging. After working non-stop for three days we were ready to get in the water!
Even though the water was just the shallow end of the pool in Jeff’s backyard, we were all extremely excited. Magne and I drove up to Oxnard to pick up our Inspiration and Evolution rebreathers from Richard Graff, owner of Xtreme Scuba. Returning to Huntington Beach we were joined by Ian Martin, Jeff’s assistant instructor, who would be helping Jeff keep an eye on us in the water. We spent most of the next two days underwater in Jeff’s pool, struggling to master our buoyancy, minimum loop volume and a myriad of emergency drills. I think that all four of us were doing well, but when the time came for our first open water dive, I know I was a little nervous.
Early on Friday we loaded up Jeff and Ian’s cars and headed down to San Pedro to board the Psalty V, captained by Gary Jackson and his trusty canine first mate, K.O. We’d be spending the next three days on the Psalty, diving off of Catalina Island. Switching to closed circuit diving was definitely the toughest challenge I’ve faced in diving, but having Jeff and Ian right there to offer assistance, criticism and support as needed was great. Our rebreather course was an incredibly intense and whirlwind experience, but thanks to Jeff and Ian I feel very comfortable as a beginning rebreather diver.
photo: Elaine Jobin
By the time our course ended and we said goodbye to Ian and Magne, Steve and Eline were getting ready to leave the U.S. as well. Before they left we made one last trip together to visit DUI in San Diego. We were only there for the day, but it was more than enough time to meet with owners Dick & Susan Long, and to receive an in-depth tour from Faith Ortins! It was really fascinating to see how all of the different DUI suits are put together, and to see how much effort goes into making each one. We were also treated to lunch at one of the most incredible Mexican restaurants I’d ever been to.
After Steve and Eline left California I decided to stick around for a while. I was having a great time with the Bozanics. Jeff and I spent some time working on a new edition of his book on rebreather diving, and we took his son Evan on his first few open water dives in Shaw’s Cove, one of my favourite dive sites from when I lived in LA. On the way home from one these dives Jeff asked me if I was interested in doing a little more rebreather diving. I said that I’d love to get a little more experience under my belt, so he suggested I tag along on his next business trip to Hawai’i!
Jeff was heading to Hawai’i to meet with his business partner Harry Donenfeld and evaluate a new piece of diving equipment being developed in Hawai’i. Because of an NDA I can’t really explain what that product was, but it was definitely the kind of thing that James Bond packs up when he goes diving. We spent almost a week exploring Maui with Harry and diving the windward side with the crew from North Shore Explorers. It was my first time in Hawai’i and was blown away by the islands’ rugged beauty. The diving was awesome and Jeff, Harry and I had a great time with all the guys and gals from North Shore Explorers. After our week on Maui, Jeff headed home, while I travelled to O’ahu to meet up with Katie Laing, the 1993 North American scholar.
Katie’s originally from North Carolina but now lives on the North Shore of O’ahu. She works for a marine environmental consulting firm that’s currently involved in evaluating plans for a beach nourishment project in Waikiki. Katie was a great host and besides getting to tag along to a few meetings on the beach nourishment issue I got a weeklong immersion in life on the North Shore. It’s not known as the seven-mile-miracle for nothing, and even though the waves weren’t really ‘on’ by local standards, I still managed to get out for some mind-blowing surf sessions. After spending two weeks in Hawai’i with Harry and Katie I was pretty sure I’d found my new favourite place, but it was time to pack up my dive bag and head back to California for Thanksgiving with the Bozanics.
Aloha!!!
