Minutes
Aqua Tutus Dive Club Meeting
June 5, 2025
Meeting called to order by President Jim Driggers at 7:02pm PST. This is a hybrid meeting with 15 members
present at Roundtable Pizza in Castro Valley and 4 attending via Zoom.
Entertainment. Tonight is Members Night, where club members may share some still and video images tak-
en recently. Though not required, underwater images are preferred. Tonight we saw images by Arnie taken
during an April trip to Palau; by Dan taken during the most recent annual winter Cozumel trip; by Dave C
(for Erik) of images from San Carlos beach during a practice reef check dive; by Sofia of striking images tak-
en in the ocean and lakes of Iceland; and wrapped up by Jim with video of the Metridium Field and an ex-
ample of a still image (of an eaten kelp holdfast) cut from a video.
Officer reports:
Secretary: Arnie reported that minutes from the May meeting and the April and May Board meetings have
been posted to the club website.
Treasurer: Helga presented the treasurer report. Class funds $ 3,797.21; general funds, $ 3,5763.79; for a
total of $7,260.60.
Training: Dennis reports that there are no formal plans for training at this time, but he urged members to
take advantage of incremental non-structured training by coming out to the club dives. One such example,
which had been discussed at the May BOD meeting, was to refresh SMB (submersible marker buoy) de-
ployment skills. Dennis will conduct a short discussion on the hows of SMB deployment at his home on July
19 followed by a July 26 practice at the normally scheduled club dive.
Membership: Debbie reported the club currently has 53 regular members, 6 life members, and 8 associate
members for a total of 67 members.
Program: David discussed upcoming program speakers. (See Upcoming Activities, later in these minutes)
Communication: No report.
Newsletter: No report.
Old Business:
At-Large Board Member elections were held. Jim explained the duties and responsibilities (attend BOD
meetings and coordinate at least one club dive per year). President Driggers called for nominations from
the floor. Alan Stanek was nominated, but he declined the nomination. Then Jim announced that the three
incumbents (Derek, Giuseppe, and Lindsay) agreed to stand for another term. The incumbents were elect-
ed for a subsequent term by acclamation.
New Business:
• Neil discussed a new dive boat operation he learned about at Scuba Show. The vessel is 118-ft and plans
to carry 16 divers on one-week trips. There will be a shakedown cruise on July 20; if anyone is interested
in going on that cruise you should contact Neil.
• Jim asked if there was an interest among club members for the club to acquire a few regulators. Presum-
ably, they could be used as backups at club dives or by club instructors. Discussion centered on the liabili-
ty that the club would acquire. In sum, scant interest.
Upcoming Activities.
June 14 Club dive originally planned for Hidden Beach (Aeneas Beach in Monterey) will be re-located
due to the return of the Sea Lions to San Carlos Beach; Shawn Passeri is POC
June 19 Board of Directors meeting via Zoom
July 3 General membership meeting; speaker TBA
July 17 Board of Directors meeting via Zoom
July 19 SMB deployment discussion at Chez Hocker
July 26 Club dive at Carmel River State Beach; Oliver is POC. Dennis will coordinate SMB deploy-
ment refresher. North Monastery is a backup dive location.
August 7 General membership meeting; speaker TBA
August 21 Board of Directors meeting via Zoom
August 22-24 Annual Salt Point State Park campout (Lower Woodside campground); Debbie is POC. She
reminded people that campground reservations are necessary.
Dive Reports:
Alan S. discussed a recent club dive at Monastery, Six divers participated.
Bone Award: Two nominations.
• Alan S., for diving with a problem with his inflator hose (despite everything fine during a predive check).
• Dave H., for diving without his BCD’s dump valve cover installed.
• Upon a vote of the attending membership, Dave was awarded the Bone Award.
Good Buddy Awards: no nominations
Jim D. reminded everyone to take the goodies at the back of the room. There being no further business,
President Driggers adjourned the meeting at 8:53 pm.