president's waves

Here comes Spring,

March has a large number of our members traveling to Indonesia between the two trips and a few lucky enough to participate in both trips. It is almost time to get back in the water for the rest of the membership. Our local dives will be become more regular occurrences as the water warms. We hope to see you out there.

Just a reminder that we have a new location for our monthly meetings. We will now be holding our meetings at the Aloft Hotel in Delray Beach. Please come join us and check out our new location.

Please consider joining the board and filling the following open positions. Joining the BoD helps to get to better know our membership even better. Several of our board members have filled these positions in the past and would be glad to help with the positions.

• VP of Social Events – Open
• Audio Visual – Open
• Promotions Coordinator – Open

Reminder: The BoD has voted to rescind the requirement to have a valid COVID-19 vaccination in order to attend a USA function. We hope this allows some members to come and join us at our meetings. The only exception is overseas travel, trips will comply with the local requirements.

Happy diving,
Chris Hardham
President

Happy New Year,

I hope everybody enjoyed their holiday season. The Board is very proud to announce that we have secured a new location for our general membership meetings after the Marriott increased our rent again. We will now be holding our meetings at the Aloft Hotel in Delray Beach. Please come join us and check out our new location.

The following is our complete Board of Directors.

• President – Chris Hardham
• VP of Programs – Rick Dayan
• VP Overseas – Nils Jacobsen
• VP of Social Events – Open
• VP of Local Diving – Ryan Goheen
• Secretary – Amy Welman
• Treasurer – Ronnie Farr
• Hospitality – Claire Anthon
• Membership – Julie Manhold
• Photo Gallery Coordinator – Julie Manhold
• Photographer – Laura Moran
• Newsletter – Roger Cooper
• Education Coordinator – Howard Wratch
• Social Media – Open
• Historian – Robert Shearer
• Audio Visual – Open
• Promotions Coordinator – Open

Please consider joining the board and get to better know our membership. Several of our board members have filled these positions in the past and would be glad to help with the positions.

The BoD has voted to rescind our previous requirement to attend a USA function, members must have a valid COVID-19 vaccination as defined by the CDC. We hope this allows some members to come and join us at our meetings. The only exception is overseas travel, trips will comply with the local requirements.

Happy diving,
Chris Hardham
President

Happy New Year,

I hope everybody is enjoying their holiday season, even if it is a bit chilly for local diving. The Board is very proud to announce that we have secured a new location for our general membership meetings after the Marriott increased our rent again. We will now be holding our meetings at the Aloft Hotel in Delray Beach. Please come join us for another great speaker that Rick Dayan has lined up for us and check out our new location.

The following are the officers elected to serve on the Board of Directors by our membership. The appointed members will be appointed at the first Board meeting on January 12.

• President - Chris Hardham
• VP of Programs - Rick Dayan
• VP Overseas - Nils Jacobsen
• VP of Social Events – Open        
• VP of Local Diving - Ryan Goheen
• Secretary - Amy Welman
• Treasurer - Ronnie Farr

Please consider joining the board as the VP of Social Events. Several of the existing board members have filled this position in the past, the BoD has many great ideas to share and would be glad to help with the position.

We also need someone to volunteer for the Promotions position to run the Lobster pot at our meetings. Please consider joining the Board. Also, if you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

To attend a USA function, members must have a valid COVID-19 vaccination as defined by the CDC.

Happy diving,
Chris Hardham

Happy Holidays,

I hope everybody enjoyed their Thanksgiving with family and friends. For a second month in a row, our general membership meeting had a substantial attendance in person. Please come out to the meetings and socialize with our friends. Plus, Rick has been doing a great job of finding very interesting speakers. Please come out to our next meeting.

It is that time of year for our annual election. The Board of Directors is proposing the following list of officers for 2023.

• President - Chris Hardham
• VP of Programs - Rick Dayan
• VP Overseas - Nils Jacobsen
• VP of Social Events – Open        
• VP of Local Diving - Ryan Goheen
• Secretary - Amy Welman
• Treasurer - Ronnie Farr

The election will be held in December in accordance with our bylaws. If you don’t want to vote online, you are always welcome to attend the Christmas Party and we will help you vote. The one week of voting will commence with the meeting and close a week later in compliance with the bylaws.

Please consider joining the board for the VP of Social Events. Several of the existing board members have filled this position in the past, the BoD has many great ideas to share and would be glad to help with the position.

We also need someone to volunteer for the Promotions position to run the Lobster pot at our meetings. Please consider joining the Board. Also, if you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

To attend a USA function, members must have a valid COVID-19 vaccination as defined by the CDC.

Happy diving,
Chris Hardham

President

Welcome to November,

Our membership meeting last month set a record for the most attendees live since Covid. With a combination of our speaker Dr Gary Rose and members in town for the Saba trip, we had a total of 25 people in the room. We hope that this is a sign that members are willing to come out and enjoy our friends and some great speakers that Rick has been lining up. Please come out to our next meeting.

It is that time of year for our annual election. The Board of Directors is proposing the following list of officers for 2023.

• President - Chris Hardham
• VP of Programs - Rick Dayan
• VP Overseas - Nils Jacobsen
• VP of Social Events - Open
• VP of Local Diving - Ryan Goheen
• Secretary - Amy Welman
• Treasurer - Ronnie Farr

The election will be held in December in accordance with our bylaws. If you don’t want to vote online, you are always welcome to attend the Christmas Party and we will help you vote. The one week of voting will commence with the meeting and close a week later in compliance with the bylaws.

To attend a USA function, members must have a valid COVID-19 vaccination as defined by the CDC.

We still need volunteers to help run the club. We need a VP of Social to fulfill duties like monthly outings. We also need someone to volunteer for the Promotions position to run the Lobster pot at our meetings. Please consider joining the Board. Also, if you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

Happy diving,
Chris Hardham

President

Happy October,

I hope everybody enjoyed their Labor Day and September.

It is that time of year for our annual election. The Board of Directors is proposing the following list of officers for 2023.

• President - Chris Hardham
• VP of Programs - Rick Dayan
• VP Overseas - Nils Jacobsen
• VP of Social Events - Open
• VP of Local Diving - Ryan Goheen
• Secretary - Amy Welman
• Treasurer - Ronnie Farr

The election will be held in December in accordance with our bylaws. If you don’t want to vote online, you are always welcome to attend the Christmas Party and we will help you vote. The one week of voting will commence with the meeting and close a week later in compliance with the bylaws.

The Board just finished our meeting and resolutions have been passed regarding masks and vaccinations. While encouraged, masks are no longer required for USA sponsored events, unless required by local law(think travel).

To attend a USA function, members must have a valid COVID-19 vaccination as defined by the CDC.

We still need volunteers to help run the club. We need a VP of Social to fulfill duties like monthly outings. We also need someone to volunteer for the Promotions position to run the Lobster pot at our meetings. Please consider joining the Board. Also, if you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

Happy diving,
Chris Hardham

President

Happy Labor Day to everybody. I hope everybody enjoys the long weekend. Please remember that the Club does not have a meeting in September due to the holiday weekend. 

It is election time of year again, the Board has a meeting on September 7th to review the proposed slate of officers to present to the membership for your consideration in the upcoming election. 

We still need volunteers to help run the club. With Alan traveling more, we need someone to help with social duties like monthly outings and the Lobster pot at our meetings, please consider joining the Board and helping with our Social Program. Also, if you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

I hope this newsletter finds everybody doing well and enjoying the summer. If you are here in South Florida, I hope you are enjoying as much diving as you want.

It sounds like our members that went to Cayman had a great trip, I look forward to reading the trip report. The photos I have seen so far looks like everybody saw and captures some great sights.

We didn’t have a membership meeting in July, so we look forward to seeing everybody in the upcoming August meeting. We still need volunteers to help run the club. With Alan traveling more, we need someone to help with the social duties like monthly outings and the lobster Pot at our meetings. Please consider joining the Board and helping with our Social Program. Also, if you have items you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

Happy diving,

Chris Hardham

President

Summer is officially here; hope you enjoyed the Summer Solstice on June 21. The water feels great and the club has many options for local diving. The club has local dives scheduled for July 9^th and July 23^rd.

Our meetings at the Marriott have continued to be successful. If you are in the area, we would enjoy your company at the next meeting. We don’t have a July meeting so please consider the August meeting to join your friends and have a good evening.

We planned to restart the Lobster Pot, but with Alan’s wife Dawn has retired, so they are planning to travel more. Please consider joining the Board and helping with our Social Program. Also, if you have items you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, any donations would be appreciated.

Happy diving,

Chris Hardham

President

Welcome to June,

Summer is almost officially here and the water temps are reaching over 80, so it is time to get some local dives booked.

Our second meeting back at the Marriott was a success, we had a good turnout at the meeting. Special thank you to all the members that came to the meeting. Based on the attendance, we would like to start up the Lobster Pot again. Please come out and socialize with other members. If you plan to eat at the Bistro, please place your orders early, they were overwhelmed with our members last month.

Because we are now returning to the Courtyard and in-person meetings, I need to ask for help for the Board with our open positions. If you are interested in serving on the board, please contact me.

• AV Coordinator
• Promotions Coordinator
• Mini Trip Coordinator

Also, if you have items you would like to donate for the Lobster Pot, they would be appreciated and as soon as we have a Promotions Coordinator we will coordinate to get these items from you.

Happy diving,

President