2010 May - CIMarE VIB up island

[The Dieselduck]

The annual UP-ISLAND dinner meeting will take place Thursday May 13 at the Lantzville Legion.
The starting time will be 5PM for a meet & greet at the no host bar. The buffet dinner will be served at 6PM.
The cost for the evening will be $25 to cover costs of the meal, hall and presentation.
The presentation sponsored by the branch will be on the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia [for more details see below] .
We are hoping for a good turn out for this event. Spouses and guests are very welcome.
RSVP to this email if you are planning to attend.
CAR POOL & Fuel Sharing - I can take at least two more in my car - leaving the parking lot of the Saanich Municipal Hall at about 3PM. Please advise me if you are willing to drive or looking for a ride. $10 each is probably a fair transportation share to and from Victoria.
Regards Phil Dauphinee - Chairman - Vancouver Island Branch - Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering

Howie Robins – Speaker Back Ground
ARTIFICIAL REEFS, PARADISE OR POLUTION
Howie Robins is the President and one of the original members the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia. He has been an active community diver for over 30 years and has remained close to the scuba dive industry in BC. Howie has extensive wreck diving experience throughout the world and assisted on the underwater video capture of the sinking of the USS Oriskany a distinguished US WWII aircraft carrier sunk in Pensacola Florida in 2006.

This year the ARSBC celebrates its 20th year when it began in 1989 as a non profit volunteer society dedicated to the enhancement of British Columbia's marine environment. The group been successful in sinking a 178 ft coastal freighter, 6 decommissioned 366 ft Canadian built destroyers, a 455 foot WWII Victory ship and most recently the worlds first Boeing 737 resting on a cradle in 90 feet. The ARSBC through its volunteer programs has advanced the growing movement of sinking ships to create marine habitat creation and to advance the sport of wreck diving through public education. The ARSBC has pioneered its ship recycling and environmental clean up technology as a home grown entity whose activates have been admired and adopted in other reefing programs outside of Canada. Our successes have become known as the "the Canadian model" for ships to reef programs.

The Evolution of an Artificial Reef

Howie’s presentation will feature their latest project HMCS Annapolis the last of the great steam driven destroyers and also explain the complexities of creating ships to reef projects. You will see a myriad of detailed planning needed for large complex projects and what they have produced in return to our coastal waters. The ARSBC has become a tourism success story in Canada and around the world. In British Columbia you will understand the impact of these "man made reefs" and how they have helped to enhance BC's scuba dive tourism industry, the marine ecology and the economic benefits to BC's coastal communities.

The Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia
c/o Vancouver Maritime Museum
1905 Ogden Avenue
Vancouver B.C. V6J 1A3
Web site : http://www.artificialreef.bc.ca

Phil Dauphinee
Chairman
Vancouver Island Branch
Canadian Institute of Marine Engineering
Victoria BC