Bruce called the meeting to order.

 

Linda gave the invocation.

 

Guests: Meryl Lewis Kraft with the City of Pittsburg

 

Happy Dollars

 

 Richard went to San Francisco over the weekend with his wife.  He also participated in a sports tournament in Antioch on the 26th and is happy to report he is still in one piece. 

 

  Mike went to visit family in Yuma and decided to come back one day early and is very glad he did.

 

 Bruce had to be at a deposition last Tuesday and it lasted for 3-1/2 hours....that is why he missed last week's meeting.

 

Announcements

 

  Diana said anyone who would like to sit at a Rotary table for the "Zin Din" should e-mail her at: dianamason@comcast.net  to make their reservations. 

 

  Diana also told about the grant for the dictionaries.

 

Sandi said the cookbook will be submitted this week and they should be published and delivered within 7-8 weeks.  Today will be the last day to get recipes in.

 

Speaker

Steve Holmstrom talked about the Mothball Fleet in Suisuin Bay.

 

California Ships to Reefs was originally a committee of the San Diego Oceans Foundation (SDOF). In 2000, SDOF sank HMCS Yukon, a former Canadian Navy frigate. Subsequent studies of Yukon have demonstrated that it is not only a premier dive site, but an economic gold mine for the San Diego area.

In 2001, the Rand Corporation, under contract to the Navy and the Maritime Administration (MARAD), published an in depth study of the various alternatives for removing retired ships from inventory.

Long Term Storage: Requires periodic maintenance, is expensive, leaves hazardous materials aboard ships where they are exposed to spillage, and at the end of 100 years, you still have just as many ships to get rid of as you started with.

Domestic Scrapping: Domestic scrap prices are too low and too volatile to make scrapping economically attractive. Labor and safety costs do not allow for sufficient profit. There are too few shipyards which will engage in scrapping.

Overseas Scrapping: Towing to such places as India or Pakistan for scrapping is expensive. What makes overseas scrapping cheap is the fact that labor costs are low, safety costs are non-existent and there are no pollution controls. Toxic wastes are allowed to run off into the sea from the beaches where the ships are broken. Federal law now prohibits the export of such toxics as PCBs or asbestos, so the ships would have to be cleaned here in any case, negating most if not all of the savings.

Reefing: Sinking surplus ships as dive sites is cost effective. The government cleans them of toxics, as they have to do in any event. Private groups such as CS2R or local or state governments, such as along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, then “diverize” them by cutting diver access openings into them and removing such things as overhead cables, for safety. They are then sunk in selected locations to provide dive tourism attractions. An incidental benefit is that they provide structure and hiding places where marine plants and animals can attach, or hide, to feed and breed. RAND determined that the cost of reefing a ship can be recovered within 12 years of its sinking through taxes on dive tourism alone.

Since 2000, Yukon has proved to be even better for the local economy of San Diego than the RAND report projected. RAND 2001 projected that the costs of approximately $1.5 million would be recovered in approximately 12 years. In fact, Yukon has injected approximately $4.5 million per year into the local economy.

In 2005, Dick Long and John Daley of SDOF decided to make California a statewide premier dive destination and took the Ships to Reefs message on the road.

Regional sink groups have been formed in Los Angeles County (Sunken Treasures Society of Los Angeles, Inc.), and Northern California (Northern California Oceans Foundation, Inc.). Additional sink groups are forming now in Ventura County, Catalina and San Diego.

California Ships to Reefs, Inc. (CS2R) was incorporated late last year as the state wide umbrella and coordinating entity with a representative of each sink group on its board of directors. CS2R has met with the California Department of Fish and Game and the Department of Parks and Recreation to clarify the roles of each in the process.

The sink groups have been conducting outreach and fundraising, and have interfaced with local government and elected officials, and regulatory personnel. They have identified several potential sink sites in their areas of responsibility.

The Ghost Fleet of Suisun bay can be seen on Quest - KQED next week:

For more information go to:  www.cs2r.org

 The greeter next week will be Van.

The speaker next week will be David Larwood.  His talk is titled, "Climb Every Mountain."  He suffered from polio and still realized his dream.  Should be very inspiring.
 

Lunch

Chicken with Pesto or Chicken Salad and Banana Cake

 

See you all next week!

SLee