February’s weather was mostly crappy, but it looked like it was getting better this morning.

However, for various reasons I was not able to dive.

I’m hoping to get back in the water this Friday or Saturday.

On another note, I have been going through my vast collection of VHS tapes and digitizing the best.

I found an old SoCal Connected episode that features the Ocean Defenders Alliance.

SoCal Connected – Ocean Defenders (Circa 2010)

As important as the Ocean Defender’s work is, it is interesting to note that the producers of this episode are obviously not SCUBA divers.

In one part the narrator says something like, “The dive is so deep that the tanks are filled with a special mixture of Oxygen and Nitrogen.”

And of course, for dramatic effect, Don has never been this deep before and is a bit nervous.

This was an interesting retro-find.

On September 2nd, it will be the one year anniversary of the Conception dive boat tragedy.

I found an interesting article from the Los Angeles Times that states the NTSB will be announcing their findings soon…

By Richard Winton Staff Writer  Aug. 31, 20204:30 PM

As the anniversary of California’s deadliest maritime disaster in modern history nears, the National Transportation Safety Board announced it will hold a hearing in October to reveal the results of its investigation into the Conception dive boat fire that killed 34 people off Santa Cruz Island.

A preliminary NTSB investigation concluded that five members of the crew were asleep in the wheelhouse and that there was no roving watch on the vessel operated by Santa Barbara-based Truth Aquatics as required by the U.S. Coast Guard during the hours when passengers were asleep below deck.

But the more extensive examination of the origins, cause and events leading up to the Conception being burned to the waterline has taken months of investigation led by NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy. The board will vote on findings, probable cause and recommendations for changes to small passenger vessels to avoid a repeat of what its chairman called a “horrible, horrible tragedy.”

“We have substantially completed our investigation,” said Eric Weiss, an NTSB spokesman. Weiss said that in the coming weeks NTSB staff will make public interviews, research and other investigative materials before the public hearing.

The entire article can be found here: Conception dive boat disaster: Feds to reveal cause of blaze that killed 34