A new Laughing Eel video short for anyone looking for spicy action before New Year's Eve: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2WC3zb2fGA. I was very impressed with the equipment these two slugs were packing. Mike Boom

Selling Olympus omd em1 mark 3 20 megapixel mirrorless camera for $750 and Nauticam housing with backscatter vacuum port (vacuum not included) for $900 or the 2 together for $1300 cash or PayPal or Zelle. Also have for it Nauticam 140mm optical glass port with adapter for $800 and Olympus 8mm pro fisheye lens for $600 or both together for $1200. Everything purchased new at Backscatter. I’m in Alameda, dm me at kelpdiver2001@.... Happy holidays. Regina Roberts

Selling my underwater camera set up, which includes Nauticam OMD EM1 mark 3 housing with Backscatter vacuum system (vacuum not included) and Olympus camera with 10,000 shutter count, Olympus pro 8mm fisheye lens and Nauticam optical glass port, all in excellent condition, always meticulously cared for, housing overhauled by Backscatter about a year ago, never flooded or dropped, whole package for $3000 or can sell housing and camera together, lens and port together. DM me at above address . Regina Roberts

Latest update on sinking and gross negligence by the Egyptian officials. Regina https://www.greenprophet.com/2024/12/sea-story-victims-last-position-captured-by-polarstep-tracking-app/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3lbdDTuncFDAMzN4ecLTulvDORepi87XJCYHKFnk4p0v4KMBu4rZwbIQA_aem_sS2vJUgItMYYLvhmNyaqJA

Did 2 dives on bh2 today, the conditions are spectacular! We went to a new site by Mr Ed, viz 50’, Eric’s Pinnacle easy 80’, some surge but unfricking believable. According to Megan DM viz was even better last week. Regina

Hi women, myself and 2 other friends want to go to Wakatobi in Indonesia October 2026. Our plan is to do the resort liveaboard Pelagin for 7 nights, then 4 nights at the resort. The cost will be $8000 including the Bali to Wakatobi flight ( not including flight to Bali). I am 68, been diving for 22 years cold and warm, safety conscious and we are all photographers. If you are interested DM me Regina Roberts kelpdiver2001@.... Happy diving! Regina

I’m thinking about getting the Garmin in reach and dive case, but how does it attach you carry it? A dive store said in a pocket, I don’t have pockets on my bcd or wetsuit. How have others done it? Thanks, Regina Roberts

So the parent company Dive Pro which has/had 5 dive boats in Egypt, some news from passengers not good. Regina Shared from Sky News: Divers tell of 'corner-cutting' and life jacket shortage on tourist boat owned by same firm as sunken Red Sea vessel https://news.sky.com/story/divers-tell-of-corner-cutting-and-life-jacket-shortage-on-tourist-boat-owned-by-same-firm-as-sunken-red-sea-vessel-13261749

Yet another dive boat in Egypt has sunk, what goes on there? Regina https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/25/middleeast/red-sea-egypt-missing-people-boat-sinking-intl-scli/index.html?cid=ios_app

Article was talking about USCG calls and responses; had this to say: "U.S. Coast Guard crews were kept busy over the weekend, rescuing 16 people in five separate emergencies in the Bay Area and along the Monterey coast. On Friday, three people were airlifted by an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew after their 16-foot boat became grounded in mud in San Pablo Bay. Then on Saturday morning, crews from Coast Guard Station Monterey rescued a diver next to the station's pier after hearing the diver's distress whistle during morning colors." I assume this was at Breakwater. jky

A little deeper than most will go, though... SFGate article from 11/14/24: https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/california-scientists-discovery-deep-sea-species-19913549.php jky

Hi, all, I'm stressing out about a dry suit I sent in to Otter Bay for a leak check back on September 27th. I was in regular communication with Cricket back then, but after that didn't hear from her until 9 October after I sent her a quick email query. She was in a bit of pain and going in to a Stanford hospital, so no dry suit testing yet. Then on 19 October, an email about a dry suit test that didn't turn up a leak but a statement that she was going to do a more extensive test the next day with her husband. After that, nothing. I've sent repeated emails and tried by phone multiple times, but my only success was last Saturday when Cricket answered, said she'd been in pain, and begged off of talking further on the phone by saying she was sending email with photographs of my suit. That's all I could get from her, and I didn't want to press things if she was in pain. But: no email or voicemail responses since then. The Otter Bay web site URL now returns "This site is temporarily unavailable." And Yelp claims they're closed but will reopen on 15 November, which I hope is true. In the meantime, the last email I had from Cricket back in October stated that she was working from a friend's garage but didn't give the address so the friend wouldn't be bothered. I have sent her email requesting that she just return the suit, no work necessary, and we'll call it square, but no response to that either. So I have no dry suit for an upcoming trip and am completely in the dark about what's going on with Cricket and Otter Bay. I fear that somehow my dry suit has vanished into thin air and that I'll have to buy a new custom dry suit for my trip for thousands of dollars in a very tight schedule. Does anyone know what's going on with Cricket? Or know someone who's a friend or part of the Monterey diving community who knows what's going on? If I can just find out where the suit is I'll drive all the way down from Oakland to pick it up as is. Cricket has always been a straight shooter here on this mailing list; this seems very out of character. I suspect a serious medical or business problem, but hope it's not so. In any case, I'm hoping for just a few minutes of her time or a friend's time to help me figure out how to retrieve my dry suit. Thanks for any possible help, Mike Boom

I sent a dry suit in to Cricket at Otter Bay for a leak check and possible repair back around September 30, no rush. The last I heard from her was October 19th, saying she was going to do some further testing. Since then nothing. I've tried contacting her via email and several times by phone since October 29th, but haven't heard back from her at all. I'm a bit worried that something has happened to Cricket, either a health problem or business relocation problem. Has anyone been in contact with her lately? Is she doing okay? If you have any information about how to contact her, I'd appreciate knowing how. Thanks, Mike Boom

I have a horrible cold so I had to cancel my reservations on the Beachhopper for Saturday and Sunday so jump on! Regina

Going to Raja in February and need a reef hook with a coiled lanyard. I see them on Amazon, what’s the difference using one with a single vs double hook? Thanks, Regina Roberts

Does anyone tumble their own tanks? I'm using a Frankford Arsenal brass tumbler for my steels with aluminum oxide media. I saw it on YT and tried it out. I go through my entire procedure of tumbling, which includes boiling water to superheat the interior to help it dry out when I blast it with clean compressed air. I was waiting for the water to boil, 3-5 minutes later, I dumped whatever water was still in the tank and it came out orange. In minutes and I got rust. I had to tumble it AGAIN but with just Evaporust. I read online that flash rust is quick but I didn't believe it. If you want to get a good work out, tumble your own tanks. I have another eight tanks to tumble. - Jason

More Bodega Bay centric, but local, I guess: https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/new-ribbon-worm-species-discovered-bay-area-19663251.php jky

I’m selling my spot on the vision to the southern Channel Islands at a discount, I paid $2300, you can have it for $1500 includes a double bunk. I hurt my knee and can’t go. Leaving Thursday august 29 and return Tuesday September 3. If interested text me at (510) 499-7113. Regina Roberts

I’m curious if anyone is familiar with a naval submarine that was off the coast of Maui, and more specifically off Kaanapali. A diver in a Facebook group mentioned diving a sub there back in the early eighties. But while trying to research what sub it was, there seams to be no public record. The boat lies at 130’ and the charter company was Central Pacific Divers. Anyone remember this? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Mike Elliott