PHOTO OF THE MONTH

Join us on Tuesday, August 11th for our General Membership meeting at the Natural His-tory Museum. Enjoy another entertaining and informative program. Catch up with old

friends and meet new members. Enjoy our delicious meeting refreshments, door prizes,

and friendly member fellowship. Keep up to date on all of our summer dive events and activities, including Coastal Cleanup Day activities on September 19th, Dive-Camp Week-

end October 2-4th, and our upcoming Warm Water Dive/Royal Caribbean Cruise October 17-24th, by joining our LABUE Meetup Group dive community at www.Meetup.com/

LABUEDIVERS/.

AUGUST 2015

VOLUME 20, ISSUE 8

SUMMER

Inside this issue:

Photographer: Richard Rice

Camera: Sony RX 100 in a Nauticam Housing with a Sea & Sea YS-D1 Strobe Location: Palau

Subject: DonCosta Seawell with Turtle

Feature Article: Diving for Historical Gold

2

President’s Message 2

Club Announcements 3

LABUE Lending Library 4

Member’s Corner 5

Scholarship Information 6

Marine Protected Areas 7

Map & Directions to NEW Meeting Location

9

Membership Application 10

Dedicated to Expanding the Knowledge and Enjoyment of Scuba Diving among African Americans

DIVING FOR HISTORICAL GOLD BY: STEPHEN SCRUGGS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE BY: RICHARD RICE

Page 2 LABUE NEWS

VOLUME 20 , ISSUE 8

Our upcoming Warm Water Dive & Royal Caribbean Cruise Vacation to St.

Croix, St. Martin, St. Lucia, Antigua,

and Barbados is just two months away. By now, divers planning to go

on this dive trip should have inspected all of their dive gear, making sure that

annual equipment inspections have been completed and necessary repairs

made. In addition, divers should be

physically fit and prepared for an ac-tive week of diving. They should be

participating in an ongoing exercise program so that they are fit and are

not a “liability” to themselves or their

dive buddy. Diving as a group while on vacation

with an experienced Dive Master “babysitting” us can sometimes lull us

into a false sense of security. This can lead to our failure to recognize that we

can still place ourselves and others at

great risk of serious injury or death, in such seemingly ideal warm water dive

conditions such as we experience in the Caribbean, if safe dive practices

Continued on page 3

an integral part of our LABUE Bylaws (You will find the LABUE Bylaws post-ed on our website www.labue.org).

These practices provide basic guide-lines for us to follow whenever we

participate in LABUE sponsored div-ing events and keep all of us focused

on: Avoiding diving while under the

influence of alcohol or drugs Never diving in conditions ex-

ceeding our training and physical

ability Always diving with a dive buddy

and review of their equipment

and emergency procedures

Planning a dive and diving a plan

Diving with appropriate and well-

maintained dive gear Maintaining control of our buoy-

ancy Monitoring our tank pressure and

surfacing with a reserve of air

Avoiding decompression dives

Exercising care when entering

and exiting the water

Let’s get serious about dive safety! Over the last 23 years, LA-BUE has participated in a multitude of

local beach dives, boat dives, and dive trips to exotic warm water destinations

involving thousands of dives by our

members. We have been fortunate that our divers have suffered no seri-

ous injuries or fatalities at club spon-sored events. As a continuing remind-

er to all of our members, LABUE has incorporated Safe Diving Practices as

ed Diving With a Purpose (DWP), http://www.divingwithapurpose.org/,

to provide training to divers in under-

water archeological techniques, offer-ing PADI Archeological Survey Diver

certifications with hundreds of archeo-logical training dives over the past

twelve years. One of the efforts under DWP included a search for the Guerre-

ro.

Recently, DWP has refocused its efforts and formed a partnership with

The Slave Wrecks Project (SWP), http://www.slavewrecksproject.org/,

founded in 2008 in Cape Town South

Africa. SWP recently announced to the world that archaeologists and divers

from across continents believe they have struck history gold, confirming

the discovery of a sunken slave ship. The Sao Jose-Paquete de Africa, a

Portuguese slave ship, sank off Cape Continued on page 4

“historical gold”. Over five years ago, LABUE be-

came aware of the slave ship Guerre-

ro which sank in Biscayne Bay, Flori-da on December 19, 1827 with 561

slaves shackled in the hold of which 41 perished.

This event was featured in a

PBS documen-

tary series called Changing Seas

in addition to a movie entitled

The Guerrero Project in 2005. A Florida histori-

an named Gail Swanson mortgaged her home to help finance her over 13

years researching this history. She has yet to receive the recognition

that her personal sacrifices deserve.

NABS member, Ken Stewart found-

In our unique world of SCUBA div-

ing, a subject has been evolving over decades that has not received the at-

tention it deserves as it relates to the origins of African-American history.

Slave ships were the conveyance re-

sponsible for our existence in this

new world yet sunken slave

ships with cap-tured slaves

aboard fails to

arouse the same passion as a

crashed UFO with fictional aliens.

The search for sunken ships by treas-

ure hunters receives much more at-tention than the search for sunken

slave ships which offer no promise of gold and wealth. What sunken slave

ships do offer us is a wealth of

Page 3 LABUE NEWS

VOLUME 20 , ISSUE 8

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Continued from page 2

are not followed. LABUE Divers should also be mind-

ful that the measure of our dive com-

petence should be how precisely we are able to safely follow an estab-

lished dive plan and profile; and how efficiently we manage our air con-

sumption. This is the true measure of our mastery of basic diving skills

and competence. When participating

in normal recreational diving, our objective should be to maximize our

bottom time; deeper dives result in reduced bottom time. After all, on a

dive vacation you want to see as

much as possible. Until you have been properly trained and equipped,

don’t even think about attempting to dive beyond your skill and knowledge

levels, or beyond the 130ft recrea-tional diving limit. Remember to keep

your skills current and to keep dive

safety in mind for all of your dive activities!

What part can you do to help LABUE’s succeed in 2015 and beyond? In addition to sharing the

sport of SCUBA diving with others, we need help on all of our standing

committees and your participation is the best way for you to have a direct

impact on the current and future di-

rection and success of the club. A list of the LABUE Committees and

Chairperson contact information is included in each LABUE News issue.

In addition, LABUE News Editor Debora Ewing is always looking for

interesting stories and informative

articles for publication in the LABUE News. You are invited to share your

stories, knowledge, and experiences with us at labue@sbcglobal.net.

We encourage you to support your

dedicated LABUE Officers and Board of Directors with your active partici-

pation in LABUE. If you are interest-ed in lending your labor, experience,

or organizational skills to LABUE on any of our committees, your partici-

pation would be more than wel-

comed. If you would like to recom-mend an activity or event that would

benefit the community, our mem-

BOAT DIVING? If you decide to sign up for a boat dive and you want a LABUE dive

buddy, please contact DonCosta

Seawell at 909-593-1877 or don-costa1@msn.com with your trip

details and he will convey that in-formation to the club so that any-

one who desires to join you will be aware.

RENEW YOUR 2015 LABUE MEMBERSHIP

Renew your 2015 membership and

join us for another exciting year with

LABUE. Take advantage of member benefits including scheduled beach

dives, discounted boat dives, dive vacations, prize raffles, and dis-

counts on events. Just complete the

attached Membership Application and forward it to LABUE, PO Box

90069, LA 90009, along with your annual dues of $30 ($45 for Family

Memberships). You may also renew o n P a y P a l a t p a y -

pal_membership@labue.org. Keep

up with all of our 2015 events and dive activities by joining our Meetup Group at www.meetup.com/LABUEDIVERS/.

bers, or help fulfill our 2015 mission,

please share your ideas with me or one of the Board members. We val-

ue your recommendations. Give me a call or send me an email

(labue@sbcglobal.net) to share your

ideas and thoughts on how to make LABUE a better dive club and to let

me know how you can help us in these efforts.

HAVE YOU CHECKED OUT LABUE ON

FACEBOOK LATELY?

Check us out at

www.facebook.ccom/LABUEDIVERS

and you might be surprised. LABUE Facebook Administrator Stacy Wade

and LABUE members have been busy posting making LABUE’s Facebook

page an exciting source of amazing

dive related videos, beautiful photos, dive destination reviews, informative

articles, dive equipment evaluations, and helpful SCUBA diving tips. Check

it out, you won’t be disappointed.

DIVER NEWS

NEW AND RENEWING MEMBERS:

Sabrina Sparks

Johannes Kepler Pat Shivers

Etta Pulce

Stacy Wade ~~~

Know of any member

Certification announcements? Please notify Debora Ewing at

dewing@proskauer.com

LABUE SCUBA Scholarships Available for 2015

In support of our club mission to Expand the Knowledge and Enjoy-ment of SCUBA Diving in our com-munity, LABUE will again be offering

Open Water I SCUBA Certification

scholarships during 2015. LABUE’s SCUBA Scholarship Program was

introduced in 2014 and awards the Charles Heath Memorial Schol-

arship and Artie Williams Memo-rial Scholarship which pay the costs for Open Water I SCUBA certi-

fication for those who are selected. Contact labue@sbcglobal.net if you

know someone who may be interest-ed in applying.

Page 4 LABUE NEWS

VOLUME 20 , ISSUE 8

LABUE LENDING LIBRARY BY: STEPHEN SCRUGGS

DIVING FOR GOLD Continued from page 2

Town on its way from Mozambique

to Brazil in 1794 while carrying more than 500 slaves.

As interest in researching and

searching for sunken slave ships in-creases, with new searches being

started globally, we need to continue to support efforts to find the Guerre-

ro. You can do this by learning

about the Guerrero and by support-ing Gail Swanson, NABS, DWP or any

organization fully committed to the “historical gold” that exists right here

off the coast of Florida. The clock is

ticking and each time a storm cross-es the Florida Keys that history slips

further away from our grasp until eventually it will be lost forever. As

divers we share a unique responsibil-ity to locate and honor that sacred

resting place of our ancestors before

it is too late. To learn more about the story of

the Guerrero, LABUE members invit-ed to contact us at la-

bue@sbcglobal.net to borrow a copy

of the DVD “The Guerrero Project” from the LABUE Lending Library.

CALIFORNIA MARINE PROTECTED AREAS California has a system designed to increase the effectiveness of protecting

the states marine life, habitats, and ecosystems that we all enjoy as SCUBA

divers. There are different marine managed area classifications used in Cali-fornia’s Marine Protected Area (MPA) network. This includes three MPA desig-

nations including State Marine Reserves, State Marine Parks, and State Marine Conservation Areas. In State Marine Reserves it is unlawful to injure, damage,

take, or possess any living geological or cultural marine resource without spe-

cific authorization. In a State Marine Park it is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living or nonliving marine resource for commercial ex-

ploitation. In a State Marine Conservation Area, it is unlawful to injure, dam-age, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource for

commercial or recreational purposes. You can order a free copy or download an informative 26 x 36-inch full color poster highlighting the California Net-

work of Marine Protected Areas at dfg.ca.gov/marine/mpa/poster.asp.

LABUE PHOTO CONTEST RULES REMINDER BY: STEPHEN SCRUGGS

The 2015 LABUE Photo Contest will be open for entries as soon as club

members return home from the LA-BUE Caribbean Cruise on October

26th. Entries in the categories of Sea

Life, Diver, and Surface are eligible; along with our new “Cell Phone” cat-

egory that includes any photo taken with a cell phone camera. All those

great pictures taken throughout the

year above and below the water by members and nonmembers will be

eligible for entry with the under-standing that contest rules must be

followed. Contest rules are available for review on our websi te

(www.labue.org).

M a n y o f u s a r e d i v e r /photographers who enjoy displays of

photographic genius and we may have pictures saved in personal li-

braries that we did not personally

take ourselves. Please ensure when selecting entries for submittal in the

contest that you only enter pictures that you personally took. Accidental

submittal of published or copyrighted photos can result in serious conse-

quences for club members and LA-

BUE.

LABUE members have been diving

and traveling for decades and over that time have collected a wealth of

information and of knowledge in per-sonal libraries. Diverse information

related to diving, traveling & resorts,

dive equipment, sea life, photography and countless other topics can be

shared with other LABUE members in search of the same information. Shar-

ing such information is consistent with LABUE’s mission statement “to expand

the knowledge and enjoyment of SCU-

BA diving”. Last month’s issue of the LABUE News announced the LABUE Lending Library, providing member access to

a variety of LABUE DVDs on many dive

related topics. LABUE has also devel-oped a system to allow interested

members to share their information with fellow club members while allow-

ing each member to maintain control of each lending transaction. The LA-

BUE Lending Library consist of a list

of diving related books, pamphlets, and DVDs maintained on the LABUE

member’s only website. The list in-cludes materials owned by LABUE, as

well as materials owned and made

available by LABUE members. Mem-bers researching information can re-

view this list before purchasing dupli-cate information and can contact the

listed owner through their club roster

for items they wish to borrow. LABUE maintains the list for member use and

would have no involvement with the exchange taking place between the

members. In all likelihood you will be dealing with people you know and the

listing will only serve to inform friends

of items available for loan. The LABUE Board is pleased to pro-

vide the LABUE Lending Library as another tool adding value to your LA-

BUE Membership. Members are en-

couraged to provide a list of materials they wish to make available for lend-

ing so that we can include them on the list. If you have any questions or

wish to list items for lending, contact us at labue@sbcglobal.net.

Page 5 LABUE NEWS

VOLUME 20 , ISSUE 8

MEMBER’S CORNER: FATHER’S DAY DIVE AND PICNIC BY JOSHUA WINDOLPH

June 21st, LABUE members and

friends enjoyed a Father’s Day dive at Diver’s Cove in Laguna. Seven divers

participated including Erlie M, Max Bracey, Al Grey, Bryant Turner, Etta

Pulce, my Dad, and me. We enjoyed

favorable conditions with 10 foot visi-bility and warm water with average

surf conditions. Unfortunately, Erlie had to abort his dive due to losing his

mask on entry. Bryant had to abort also due to a pressure hose malfunc-

tion early in the dive. The rest of the

group had a great time touring the large reef filled with kelp and large

sheep head. Our max depth was about 40 feet.

In addition to the divers, shore sup-

port was provide by James Wiley, Cheryl Brock, Joaquin and his entou-

rage, along with Don Costa who showed up fashionably late. Cheryl

and James were able to grab a won-derful picnic bench at Heisler Park for

our picnic overlooking the ocean. After

the diving we all enjoyed a picnic which included a great spread of sand-

wiches, chips, macaroni salad, potato salad, cookies, fruit, and lemonade

generously provided by LABUE. Over-

all a good time was had by all. Join us for our next beach dive.

LOS ANGELES BLACK UNDERWATER EXPLORERS SCUBA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

PURPOSE: In agreement with and support of LABUE’s Mission to Expand the Knowledge and En-joyment of SCUBA Diving in our community, LABUE awards Discover Scuba Program and Open Water I SCUBA Certification Scholarships. The SCUBA certification scholarships (Charles Heath Memorial Scholarship and Artie Williams Memorial Scholarship) are named for two long time club members who exemplified consistent dedication and support of LABUE, and love of the sport of SCUBA Diving. SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS:

Discover Scuba - Up to ten (10) LABUE Discover Scuba Program Scholarships may be awarded each year in the form of refund of the paid Discover Scuba fee upon participation and completion of a scheduled LABUE Dis-

cover Scuba class. Open Water I SCUBA Certification – Up to two (2) Open Water I SCUBA Certification Scholarships may be

awarded each year in the form of reimbursement of costs, up to $400, for successful completion of a recog-nized Open Water I SCUBA certification course offered by any qualified dive shop or SCUBA instructor. The

scholarships also include a one year LABUE membership.

AWARD ELIGIBILITY: Those eligible for the Discover Scuba Program scholarships include se-lected members of the general public as determined by the LABUE Board of Directors. This may in-clude individuals as well as members of organizations including schools, scouting programs, sports clubs, fraternal organization, professional organizations, social organizations, etc. Those eligible to apply for the Open Water I Certification scholarships include paid LABUE Members who are not SCUBA certified; and family members of paid LABUE Members (including spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts and uncles). Members of the general public who have completed any recent or past LABUE Discover Scuba Program are also eligible. AWARD REQUIREMENTS: Requirements for award of the Discover Scuba Program Scholar-ships will be determined by the LABUE Board of Directors. Applicants for the Open Water I Certi-fication Scholarships must have completed their Open Water I certification during the same calen-dar year in which the Scholarship is awarded and they must demonstrate their efforts to support LABUE’s mission and club, programs, events, and activities as evidenced by any of the following:

Active attendance and participation in LABUE meetings, programs, events, and activities Active participation as a member of a LABUE committee

Contribution of photos, articles, graphics, and other information to the LABUE News newsletter, LABUE website, LABUE Facebook page, LABUE Blog, or other media.

Preparation of research paper or school project on topics related to SCUBA diving or other related marine topics including biology, marine ecology, marine technology; or historical topics related to diving such

as WWII wreck dive sites or the search for sunken slave ships.

Applications for the Open Water I SCUBA Certification Scholarships shall be submitted by November 1st of each year.

SELECTION: Award of Discover Scuba Program scholarships will be determined by the LABUE Board of Directors in advance of each scheduled Discover Scuba Program date. Review of Award Eligibility, compliance with Award Requirements for each Open Water I SCUBA Certification scholarship applicant, and award selection will be made by the LABUE Board of Directors before the date of the December LABUE General Membership Meeting each year.

The Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers (LABUE) is pleased to announce our 2015 Warm Water Dive Vacation aboard the Royal Caribbean International cruise line’s Adventure of the Seas from October 17 through October 24, 2015. Departing on October 17th from San Juan, Puerto Rico, the dive destinations and ports of call include St. Croix (USVI), St. Maarten, Antigua, St. Lucia, and Barbados; returning to San Juan Puerto Rico on October 24th. The trip is open to divers and non-divers with cruise ship accommodations for single, double, triple or quad occupancy staterooms.

Royal Caribbean has made available special discounted per person rates, as low as $750 per person, for various state-room categories including Interior Cabins, Ocean View Cabins, Balcony Cabins, and Junior Suites. Rates for cabins accom-modating more than two people are also available upon request. The rates include all meals and entertainment, applica-ble port charges, taxes, and fees. Contact LABUE Trip Coordinator, Randy Tillery at Rtillry@gmail.com for current pric-ing and special discounts. The trip deposit amount is $500 per person and is due along with the trip registration forms to confirm your spot. Final payments are due no later than June 30, 2015. Airfare is not included in these prices and each participant will have to arrange his/her round trip airfare individually. A dive package is available featuring world class diving including some of the best dive sites in the Caribbean such as Carlisle Bay Marine Reserve (Barbados), The Pitons (St. Lucia), and Buck Island Marine Reserve (St. Croix), just to name a few. The diving package price is $600 per person and includes two tank dives in each of the five ports of call. Additional dives are optional and may be arranged at additional cost. For more information, contact Randy Tillery at Rtillry@gmail.com . Deposits, payments and/or correspondence, includ-ing Registration forms, may be mailed to LABUE, PO Box 90069, Los Angeles, CA 90009.

LABUE’s “Best of the Caribbean”

Warm Water Dive Vacation

Royal Caribbean International Cruise October 17, 2015 through October 24, 2015

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Richard Rice (323) 299-3798

Vice President Tina Houston (213) 359-2131

Treasurer DonCosta Seawell (909) 593-1877

Secretary Patricia Williams (619) 459-0944

Members at Large Lamont Johnson (310) 387-8193

Steve Scruggs (310) 795-0851

Joe Windolph (818) 209-2504

Meetings

The LABUE meetings are held the second Tuesday of every Month at 7:00 PM in the

Times Mirror Room at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles.

Contact Us:

PO Box 90069, Los Angeles, CA 90009

Phone/Fax: (323) 299-3798

Email: info@labue.org

Web Site: www.labue.org

NEWSLETTER ADS

LABUE is offering newsletter ads for nominal prices. The price structure is as follows:

$15 for a quarter page ad (per month);

$20 for a half page ad (per month);

$30 for a full page ad (per month).

If you’re interested in purchasing an ad, please contact Debora Ewing at

(310) 284-4556.

Reminder: Please e-mail your photos for the “Photo of the Month” contest. You just may see your photo on the cover of an upcoming edition of the LABUE News! Please e-mail photos for consideration to dewing@proskauer.com.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

In consideration to the many LABUE members who are unable to

download large files on their computer, we will be limiting the num-ber of photographs included in our newsletter. To accommodate

our many excellent photographers, we will begin posting additional photographs on the LABUE website for your viewing pleasure.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND COMMITTEES

UPCOMING EVENTS 2015 August 11, 2015 -- LABUE General Membership Meeting - 7:00 PM August 25, 2015 -- LABUE Board Meeting

September 8, 2015 -- LABUE General Membership Meeting - 7:00 PM September 22, 2015 -- LABUE Board Meeting

October 2-4, 2015 -- LABUE Dive - Camp Weekend

October 17-24, 2015 -- LABUE Caribbean Cruise October 26, 2015 -- Photo Contest Opens for Entry Submission

November 1, 2015 -- LABUE Dive Scholarship Deadline November 7-14, 2015 -- NABS 25th Anniversary Dive Summit, Maui

Page 9 LABUE NEWS

VOLUME 20 , ISSUE 8

COMMITTEES

Membership Tina Houston (Interim) (213) 359-2131

Ways & Means Debora Ewing (310) 284-4556

Beach Dive Joe Windolph (818) 209-2504

Boat Dive DonCosta Seawell (909) 593-1877

Dive Events & Trip Planning Tina Houston (Interim) (213) 359-2131

Dive Training & Safety George Linares (Interim)

Internet Administrator Francois Desamours (703) 463-6857

Website Editor Steve Scruggs (310) 795-0851

Program Committee Keenon Adamson

Technical Dive Committee Open

Youth Committee Joe Windolph (818) 209-2504 Newsletter Staff: Richard Rice - Publisher Debora Ewing - Editor (310) 284-4556 Sharlene Johnson -Production Manager Staff Writers - Steve Scruggs Dangil Jones

NEW MEETING LOCATION! Due to construction in the museum, we will be meeting in the Education Class-

room on the 2nd floor. See the attached map for directions from the parking lot.

- Members should park at the bottom of the ramp leading to our below ground lev-

el of the car park. - There is a green wall at the bottom of

the ramp. On the right side of the wall is

a door. Go through the door. The outside area of our cafeteria will be on the right.

- Continue straight ahead. Walk by the glass entrance pavilion on the ground lev-

el, and turn right at the far edge of the pavilion. There is a ground level door go-

ing into the museum. Go in.

- The hallway has 2 elevators on the left. Take either one to the 2nd floor.

- Turn right after you get out of the eleva-tor.

- Turn right at the T-intersection. The

Dino lab is on the left. - Go through the double doors into the

Education department and walk straight ahead.

- The door to the Education Classroom will

be on your left.

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION For the Year 2015

General Information: Name: Birthdate: Address: City: State: Zip: Day Phone: Evening Phone: Fax: Referred By: E-Mail: Emergency Contact Name and Phone Number: Certification Information: Year First Certified: ______ No. of Dives: _______________

Date of Last Dive: _______ Warm Water ☐ Beach ☐ Boat ☐

Certification Agency: Diving Preferences: ☐ Beach Dives ☐ Boat Dives ☐ Warm Water Dives

Membership Category:

Amount: $30.00 ☐ for Individual Membership ☐ New ☐ Renewal

$45.00 ☐ for Family Membership ☐ New ☐ Renewal

$300.00 ☐ for Lifetime Individual $450.00 ☐ for Lifetime Family

Please make checks payable to: “Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers” or “LABUE” WAIVER I , hereby apply for membership in the Los Angeles Black Underwater Explorers (LABUE) and agree to abide by all club rules. I acknowledge that I will be voluntarily participating in LABUE events with full knowledge of the potential risks of scu-ba diving and diving related activities. In consideration of your acceptance of this application and my membership in LABUE, I agree to assume all risks of bodily injury, death or property damage, arising out of or in connection with my participation in LABUE activities. I also agree to release, indemnify and hold harmless LABUE and its members and officers from any and all liability arising out of or in connection with my participation in LABUE activities. I further agree that this release and indemnification is intended to be as broad and inclusive as is permitted by the laws of the State of California. I have carefully read this release and fully understand its contents. I sign this release of my own free will and with full knowledge of its significance. Signature: Date: