Meetings

MEETINGS

When We Meet

Marin Scuba Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month from January through November from 7:00 – 8:45pm.

We meet at the Sausalito Parks & Rec Center at 420 Litho Street AND via Zoom.
(WE WILL CONTINUE MEETING IN THE EXERCISE ROOM INDEFINITELY.) There is FREE PARKING in the lot, Bee, Bonita and Litho Streets. NOTE: The Rec Center has an entrance on Bee St., so do not enter upstairs through the parking lot.

 

Upcoming Events

Check out our Club Calendar. It includes:

          • Guest speakers discussing all aspects of diving
          • Slide shows, multi-media presentations, and videos
          • Valuable travel tips and dive resort reviews
          • Diving weekends (campouts with abalone diving when available)
          • Club dive trips (Northern/Southern California cold water & tropical warm water)
          • Holiday parties and club picnics

        Wednesday, April 9, 2025 Meeting: Tiffany Duong and Louis Edwards, Co-Developers of The Video Game, “Found in The Fjords” An Arctic Ocean VR Experience”.
        (Information to come)

        Join our Zoom Meeting:
        https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7983463827?pwd=UGEreEJ4VFoycmZRZ2lPWnM5NGp6dz09&omn=81288709080
        Meeting ID: 798 346 3827                                 Passcode: 755205

        He says, “Photography is my medium; light is my paintbrush.”

        Wednesday, March 12, 2025 Meeting: Nirupam Nigam, PhotosFromTheSeas.com, “Finding and Photographing the Jewels of the Sea of Cortez”. A live, in-person, and Zoom event from 7:00 to 8:45 pm PT in the Exercise Room.

        The Sea of Cortez is often overlooked as a dive destination. Yet hiding in the underwater desert of sand are some of the world’s most charismatic critters, from blue-spotted jawfish to orange throat pike blennies. Join us for this meeting as Bluewater Photo’s Nirupam Nigam presents the best method for approaching, finding and photographing these charismatic critters.

        While growing up in L.A., he fell in love with the ocean and pursued Channel Islands underwater photography.

        Scuba diver and rockfish in the Hood Canal, WA.

        At 15, Nirupam was first introduced to underwater photography. At 22, he became the Editor-in-Chief of the www.uwphotographyguide.com –– the world’s leading underwater photo and video retailer. It’s also the world’s most popular online resource for underwater photographers, with a mission to disseminate practical knowledge regarding underwater photography.

        After receiving degrees in Aquatic & Fisheries Science and General Biology, plus an Arctic Studies minor, Nirupam worked as a fisheries observer, spending months on vessels in the Bering Sea to North Pacific.

        This West Coast native calls Southern California and Western Washington home, where he calls himself “a full-time u/w photographer and photo gearhead.”

        Join Nirupam on Wednesday, March 12th.
        He’ll be on Zoom at 7:00 Pacific Time, but we hope to see you live in Sausalito.
        Contact him through his website www.photosfromthesea.com or send an email to nirupam@uwphotographyguide.com.

        Watch his presentation on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/1066398009

        Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Meeting: Ken Stewart, Diving With a Purpose, “The Guerrero Project and More”. A Zoom hybrid event live, in-person, and via Zoom from 7:00 to 8:45 pm PT in the Exercise Room.

        From InDepth Magazine: “Ken Stewart has arguably done more for Black scuba divers over the last 45 years than most of us can even imagine.”

        Born in New York City, he moved to Nashville, TN, in 1979, then retired. Along the way, he earned his Open Water certification in 1989 at age 44.

        Ken founded his NPO Diving With a Purpose in 2005. Today, at 79, his multiple benevolent programs focus on training more than 500 young Black and brown divers and more. He’s been featured in NatGeo, ABC, CNN, NBC, the Washington Post, and Smithsonian.

        Watch the trailer: https://www.theguerreroproject.org/

        Combining Maritime Archaeology & Veteran Divers.
        Ken’s flagship program is related to the Atlantic slave trade with 18 documented shipwrecks in six countries with 18,000 volunteer hours.

        The Wreck of The Guerrero Slave Ship.
        In 2003, Ken was the Southern Region Representative for the National Black Scuba Divers (NABS) when he received a phone call about a documentary called “The Guerrero Project”. It focused on the search for a pirate Spanish slave ship which sank off the Florida coast in 1827. It was carrying 561 Africans to Cuba; 41 who were entrapped in the ship’s hold tragically drowned.

        After that call from the director/producer, Karuna Eberl, looking for black divers she could interview for her documentary, Ken emailed many of his NABS brothers and sisters, beginning the correspondence with “Tired of the same old dives? Let’s dive with a purpose!” That became his “A-Ha” moment.

        The Guerrero Was One of About 35,00 Slave Ships.
        These vessels brought nearly 12.5 million captive Africans to the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries. Of the estimated 500 to 1,000 ships that purportedly wrecked, only five have been found and of those, only two have been documented. This was one of them.

        Join us on Wednesday, February 12th.
        Ken and his Lead Instructor, Kamau Sadiki, will join us on Zoom that night starting at 7:00 Pacific Time. We hope to see you live in Sausalito or on Zoom for this event.

        Watch Kenneth and Kamau’s presentation on Vimeo.

        Wednesday, January 8, 2025 Meeting: Ana Blanco and Steve Peletz, IOFF, “Ocean Conservation: Inspiring Action Through Film and Photography”. Live, in-person and via a Zoom hybrid event from 7:00 to 8:45 pm PT in the Exercise Room.

        We’ll kick off the new year with two very special guests: Ana Blanco, Executive Director and Member, Board of Directors, of the International Ocean Film Foundation; and Steve Peletz, a research diver, retired dive instructor, videographer, and ocean advocate.

        Since the official list of selections is still in progress, they’ll share a variety of short films and photography by Steve, all focused of ocean conservation.

        Ana joined the IOFF in 2011 with more than a decade of experience in executive nonprofit management. In 2012, she established the International Student Film Competition. In 2013, she launched the IOFF Traveling Program for students worldwide.

        A certified PADI diver, a sailing aficionado, and a volunteer with the Blue Water Foundation, she’s currently co-producing and co-directing her debut film, “Sequoias of the Sea” about the vanishing bull kelp along Northern California’s coast.
        Read Ana Blanco’s Bio.

        The second presenter, Steve Peletz, also manages Deep Blue Monthly, an online magazine featuring news on marine science and ocean conservation.

        As a Board Member of MigraMar, an organization of 24 marine scientists who study, track, and advocate for migratory species of sharks, whales, turtles, and rays in the Eastern Pacific, he’s been tagging sharks since 2016.

        Among other projects, he’s filming “Shark Finale”, a documentary on the economic, political, and physical challenges that marine scientists face in seeking greater protections for migratory sharks, whales, and turtles in the Eastern Pacific.
        Read Steve Peletz’s Bio.

        PS: The 22nd Annual IOFF, attended by many MSC members, will be held from April 11-13 at the Cowell Theater, Fort Mason, San Francisco.

        Watch Ana’s and Steve’s presentation on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/1046538030