Catalina Island was the site for the unoffical pre-launch event of the new Roddenberry Dive Team. You maybe have heard the name Roddenberry associated with things like Star Trek, Andromeda, Earth: Final Conflict and many others. We are taking the philosophies created by Gene Roddenberry and translating them into the real world of ocean exploration and preservation. There are so many similarities between space exploration and the world under the sea.
Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry and Greg Martin, the President and Executive Director of the RDT welcomed 15 divers including special guest Tim Russ from the TV show Star Trek Voyager and Samantha Who? to a weekend of diving and fun.
Saturday started with an early morning dive at Casino Point. The water was in the mid 50’s with visability about 20-30’. Many divers joined in for another dive before lunch and then some fun around Catalina. About 5:30 a number of adventurous souls jumped back in for a night dive that was truely awesome with several small octopi, a green moray and loads of lobster. (Anyone got the butter?)
All the divers then gathered at El Galleon for a wonderful dinner and drinks. Tim Russ and local celebrity Dr. Bill joined us.
Sunday it was an early call on board the King Neptune for a trip to the other end of the island and a dive at Indian Rock. The current was running pretty good and the kelp was going sideways but the group still got some bottom time. The Captain Bob turned the boat around and headed for Hen Rock. No current and some pretty good visibility. Loads of Garibaldi as always and sitings of a Mola Nola, and many playful seals.
We’d like to thank the Scuba Luv dive team: Tina, Capt. Bob, Devan, Paul and Tito for making it a great trip.
We plan an official launch in April with a full schedule of dives and non-dive events. You see it’s not just about diving but about learning more and helping to preserve our favorite playground. Our website is www.roddenberrydiveteam.com but the official site will not be up for a bit. If you’d like more information about the RDT, please contact me at diveteam@roddenberry.com.
-Greg Martin