Wednesday, May 4, is the date for Chamber Day 2011 — be sure to mark your calendar.
SoCal’s finest dive boats donate their services for the day. Participating boats this year are (in alphabetical order): Cee Ray, Giant Stride, Magician, Mr. C, Pacific Star, Riviera, Sand Dollar, Sea Bass, Second Stage, Sundiver, Sundiver Express, Sundiver II, and Westbound. (And for those who can’t take the day off, there’s always the Flying Dutchman.)
Here’s the way it works. You pay $90 (all of which goes to the Chamber) and choose the boat you want to go on. Try to book early, because once a boat fills, it’s unavailable. We’ll hold a reservation for you for 72 hours, but after that spots are guaranteed only when they are paid in full. This year, all the boats are doing food and air included, so we’ll also collect $30 from you for that—making the total tab $120.
In general, the boats will leave their respective docks at 7 a.m. and head for Catalina. (Some boats may allow you to board the night before and sleep on board.) You’ll make two dives at Catalina, get a commemorative Chamber Day 2011 T-shirt, and 5 daytime raffle tickets. To increase your chance of winning, you can purchase extra raffle tickets on the boat or at the Chamber.
At some point during the day, your boat will dock at our Catalina Chamber in Big Fisherman’s Cove, and everyone will disembark for a 75-minute tour of Chamber operations. L.A. County Lifeguards will give you an overview of what they do, rescue helicopters and crews from the Coast Guard and Sheriff’s Department will be on hand, and the Chamber crew will walk you around the Chamber itself; they’ll even take you inside and pressurize the Chamber to a depth of 1 foot. (Hard to believe, but you’ll have to clear your ears.)
Most of the boats will arrive back at their docks between 5 and 5:30 p.m. We try to radio all the boats on the way back to tell them who their raffle winners are. All the raffle prizes will be available in front of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach at our drive-up raffle prize pick-up table.
But for all this to happen, we need your support and participation. Sign up for Chamber Day by calling 310-652-4990 or by going to our secure server. Come alone or bring a buddy. But just don’t miss this special event.
For more information, visit the official Chamber Day website by clicking here.