5th Annual Dive Demonstration
L.A. Maritime Museum
For those of you that missed the September 6th dive demonstration at the L.A. Maritime Museum in San Pedro, everyone had a terrific time. Butch Medeiros and family were there again this year from Hawaii and A.J. Bassett also from Hawaii. Torrance Parker and Ed White were also there.
"Big Al" Pilkington was the first in the water and hoped to find the prescription sun glasses he lost last year, but alas, no luck. A total of nine divers took a turn diving the Desco Jack Brown, Pat Harwell=s new Desco Mark V, and a Chinese hat.
Senior member, Harold Nething dove the Desco JP and won the Aprize@for going the furthest out into the harbor. He used the whole 150 ft. of hose and spent 45 minutes walking around on the bottom! This was Harold=s first dive since his heart surgery a year ago and surgery for a shoulder joint replacement about 6 months ago. Add that to the fact he is almost 79 years old and you realize how tough this retired Navy UDT diver really is! Way to go, Harold!!!!!
A Many Thanks@ to Scotty Young, a COO instructor, and the two COO students who came early to help unload gear. They spent the day tending and then stayed to clean up at the end of the day. Also, thanks to the L.A. Maritime staff and volunteers for all their help and support.
Travis Robinson
On June 28, seventeen year old Travis Robinson, the youngest member of the CCED and son of Jocko Robinson, sustained a serious spinal cord injury while swimming with friends near his home in Salem, Oregon. Travis spent several weeks in the hospital before being transferred to a rehabilitation hospital in Portland, Oregon and was later transferred to the Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento, California for more intensive physical therapy.
Travis continues to gain strength and make improvements on a daily basis. He has enrolled as a high school senior with hopes of graduating with his class in June 2004. Cards, letters, and words of encouragement are truly welcomed and may be sent to Travis at 412 Fountain Valley Way, NE #101, Salem, OR 97301
A trust fund has been established for Travis and anyone who wishes may send donations to The Travis Robinson Trust Fund at the above address or % of Jocko Robinson, at 7844 Naylor Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90045.
Portside Neighbors
October 12, 2003
The Portside Neighbors event was postponed in August and rescheduled to take place on October 12th from 9:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m. at the Ft. MacArthur Military Museum in San Pedro. We plan on having a display of old helmets and will be participating in a fashion show dressed in heavy gear. Help is needed to setup and man the display. If you can help contact Charlie at (310) 834-7051 ASAP.
This is a free event and everyone is invited. Most of the historical groups in the harbor area will be represented and dressed in authentic period customs with the civil war re-enactment groups doing battle. There will also be a food booth to buy lunch or you can bring along a picnic for the family to enjoy.
Pacific Gateway Treasures - The Portside Neighbors event is sponsored by a new coalition of museums, historical places, and historic organizations in the L.A. Harbor area known as the APacific Gateway Treasures.@ We are proud to be an official member of the new coalition!
Raffle tickets are being sold to develop a map and calender of events for the different historic sites. This will be used as a handout to guide visitors to the various points of interest and special events that are taking place around the harbor. A number of prizes are being raffled including a 3day/2night stay at Avalon on Catalina! Tickets are $2.00 each and may be purchased from Charlie. Drawing will be held on October 12 at the Portside Neighbors event. You need not be present to win.
Mike Valentine Dives
Millennium Mark V
Mike Valentine, who won the Desco Millennium Mark V Helmet raffled by the HDS-USA in 2000, dove it for the first time on August 2. Mike dove at the Crescent City harbor in 18 feet of water and stated,
Ait was a fantastic voyage.@Robert Lucariello was the ADC air diving supervisor #3710 and Phil Buttolph from the Humboldt State University was the Diving Safety Officer. Juan Santillan was Mike=s tender.
Mike also wanted to say Athank you@ to Ken at Morse Diving for all his help with the necessary parts to make the dive possible.
Quest Speaker - Norma Hanson
October 22, 2003
7:30 p.m. social hour, 8:00 p.m. meeting begins
El Torrito Restaurant
3301 Atlantic Ave., Long Beach, CA
Norma Hanson has more dives under her weight belt than 99.9% of all divers male and female! Thousands of tourists remember her from her performances under the Catalina glass bottom boats. Although proficient in SCUBA, most of her diving was accomplished with heavy gear. When she applied to join local 2375 Pile Drivers, Bridge, and Dockworkers Union in 1957 the previous two male applicants had just been rejected. When the interviewers saw her, a pretty young woman wearing a skirt and high heels, they were snickering to themselves.
The first question was a patronizing,
Aso I guess you=ve done a little SCUBA diving?@Her answer was
AYes, I=ve done some SCUBA diving, but most of my diving has been in heavy gear.@ After exchanging a few puzzled looks their next question was, AHow deep have you been?@A
Only 220 feet when I set a new world=s depth record for women in 1950,@ she replied. After another long silence someone asked, AHow many dives have you made in heavy gear?When she answered,
Aabout 2,600.@ This was too much for the interviewers to believe and they told her as much. Without flinching she pulled out a hundred dollar bill and dared them to take a Asucker bet.@ No one took the challenge and she was then admitted as only the second woman to be accepted into the union.She co-authored with her late husband, Al Hanson,
AMore Than Nine Lives.@ This riveting book covers not just their abalone, construction, salvage, and movie diving, but a fascinating pair of lives that spans over nine decades of adventure together. Characters are woven throughout the text, both saints and sinners, which bring the rough and dangerous life of commercial diving to life.Come join us at the October 22nd meeting. El Torrito restaurant, 3301 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, just off the San Diego 405 freeway. Come early for dinner and drinks. The meeting will start at 8:00 PM.
~ Ben Briggs
Paul was born in Tacoma, Washington, but as an
AArmy brat@ moved around quite a bit. He attended high school in Marinette, Wisconsin and received a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin. After serving four years in the Marine Corp he received a medical discharge and is now Commander of the Culver City Disabled American Veterans.While living in Wisconsin, Paul was certified in 1979 in Lake Michigan. After moving to Los Angeles, he became Rescue Dive PATI certified and NAUI dive master. He has been an instructor for the L.A. Lifeguards, and swims on the L.A. Southern California Aquatic Team (SCAT).
Paul works as a L.A. County lifeguard at Castaic Lake and along the California beaches in what is considered the Central Section (Malibu to Marina Del Rey). He also works part time for the L.A. City Parks and Rec, as well as the L.A. County Fire Department.
Paul became interested in diving the heavy gear in 2002 when he attended Divers
= Day at the Aquarium of the Pacific. A few weeks later he was taking a tour of the College of Oceaneering facilities where the CCED was having a dive rally. Paul was given the opportunity to dive with the group and promptly ask to become a member.Paul lives in Culver City with his wife, Hiromi. Hiromi also dives and often accompanies Paul to the CCED events.
Always on the prowl for spare parts, I noticed an ad for lead scuba weights in the classifieds of our local paper. After calling the number listed, I drove to Beverly Hills to pick up the weights and in doing so met a man that quickly became my friend. After talking to Fred a few minutes, the lead was forgotten as he reminisced about his days as a gold miner, diver, merchant marine and fisherman.Fred Lewis, now 78 years old and in failing health, lives with his wife Nikki in their modest Beverly Hills apartment just off Wilshire Boulevard. The first thing you notice when approaching their home is a front porch covered with beautiful plants and colorful flowers. Fred spent the last 25 years of his working career as a landscape contractor working for the rich and famous of Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Fred enlisted in the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to an amphibious craft in the Pacific, taking part in the invasion of Okinawa. After his discharge, Fred spent another year in the Merchant Marines shuttling supplies from Japan to Korea at the beginning of the Korean conflict. Returning home he attended St. Louis University. After graduating he rambled around the country, living in Mexico for a period of time. Fred tried his hand as a commercial diver and fisherman during the waning years of the abalone industry, and finally settled in the Los Angeles area where he established his landscape business.
It was during the mid to late 60s that Fred took up scuba and began dredging for gold on the Yuba River in California. He met an "old timer" in a local bar near Downieville who helped him get started. Working alone that first summer very little was accomplished. The second year a friend joined him and together they proceeded to gather the equipment and supplies they would need to spend several months in the wilderness. An old logging road took them in fairly close to the river. However, the road ended on a ridge about 2000 feet above their camp site and from that point everything had to be carried in. Since much of the equipment was too large and heavy for pack packs, arrangements were made with a local helicopter pilot to drop the heavy equipment and supplies into the canyon.
Not an easy task! The river canyon was very narrow with steep vertical cliffs. A large overhang made the canyon a mere slit at the top, widening at the bottom were the camp site was to be set up on the rivers edge. The gear consisted of two floating platforms, a large sluice box, two smaller sluice boxes, compressor, dredge, gasoline, scuba gear, camping equipment and the basic food supplies to last the summer. The gear was loaded into cargo nets and lowered by the helicopter to the canyon floor to be retrieved by the partners.
Armed with wet suits, scuba, a Desco mask, and compressor, one man would run the dredge with it's four inch hose vacuuming up the gravel down to bedrock, while the other handled the sluice boxes and watched the compressor on the floating platform.
Fred described the area as "exquisite" in natural beauty with cascading waterfalls and deep quiet pools filled with large trout. Wild, peaceful and serene. The partners spent several summers working the gold claim but they never recovered enough gold to even pay their expenses. The only true "bonanza" was in the joy of spending the long summer days in the beautiful remote spot in Northern California.
Special Note: While getting this article together to print, Nikki called and told me that Fred had passed away. I'll miss our long phone calls and Fred's sense of humor. Fred may not have played a huge role in diving history, but he played a very important part, especially in my life, which was enriched by knowing him. There is a saying, "chance makes brothers, but hearts make friends." Fred was truly my friend. A fine man, whose word was his bond.~ Charlie Orr
Swap & Sell
- Wanted - Early US Diver J-valve, pre 1953 with the side yoke mount. 1956 US Divers catalog. Pair of WWII black Churchill swim fins. Any parts for pre 1953 US Divers regulators (metric) double hose regulator. Mark Howell (949) 770-4920; e-mail: LAFireboat@aol.com
- Antiques of the Sea, Sunset Beach - Erik Bakker Nautical items, both old and new. If you are looking for a specific item give him a call at (562) 592-1752.
- Compressed Air Specialties Inc. - 1340 S Simpson Circle, Anaheim, CA 92806 Phone: (714) 991-8800
CCED T-Shirts
A limited number of CCED T-Shirts are still available. Colors include navy blue, black and grey shirts. The shirts are Hanes Beefy T
=s, with a Mark V Helmet on the back encircled with the name ACalifornia Classic Equipment Divers.@ The printing is a combination of black, grey, white and gold. On the front, left side, is a double-hose with twin bottles, also encircled with the group name. Sizes Medium to XX-large. Cost is $15.00 plus $4.00 for mailing - total $19.00 if mailed. State size & color desired and send with check to Charlie Orr, 1036 Gulf Ave., Wilmington, CA 90744 or by phone (310) 834-7051 (E:mail: Neverbent@aol.com)Note: College of Oceaneering in San Diego
We are still trying to work out a date to dive at the new COO facility in San Diego. The problem has been their class scheduling. Unlike Wilmington, a class is held on Saturday. According to them, it shouldn
=t be much longer before a firm date can be set for the rally.Issue #21 - October 2, 2003
Issue #22
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