When I was in the Air Force, stationed in McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington, a fellow diver suggested I meet Lt. Harry Truitt. We had something in common: love of diving. We were instructors and dove the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest just about every day we were off duty. We became such good friends that we decided to open a dive shop together after we retired. And so the Lighthouse was founded, opened in Renton, Washington in 1972. Boy, were we young!

Thirty-seven years later, five years after I last retired, I am opening my seventh dive shop, this time with my good friend Carl Felien. Like Harry, Carl is the younger of the team. He’s only 72. He was an engineer with Pacific Bell for 35 years, retired at 58 and took up diving. To say he liked it is an understatement. He became a PADI instructor at the age of 62. He dives all the time. As of last Sunday, he’s logged 1665 dives! I think together we make a great team!

Our new shop is nearing completion. We’ll let you know when. Until then, you’re welcome to come by anytime to say hello.

2272 Michelson Drive
In the Michelson Marketplace
Irvine
Phone • 949 . ISO . 8500

I’m proud of Evan. He took to underwater imaging like a fish to water. Even before graduating from Cal State Long Beach Film School, he was producing professional quality videos. Now he has his own production company, Seasick Productions, a mixed media production company that specializes in underwater videography and photography, editing, and marketing.

Seasick Productions is not Evan Sherman, he is quick to point out; it is a team of professionals who are fresh, bold, and edgy. See what they do on this new site. www.seasickproductions.com

DiversOne is the facebook for divers. It’s the most talked about and fastest growing social networking site on the web. Connect with old friends. Meet new ones. Share your photos and your diving experiences. Learn what’s happening and where, underwater and on land. It's the brain child of Trevor Lattin. He and his partner Dave Lanza have built a fun, informative and easy-to-navigate site. Join now!

To see Evan's recent video on La Paz, Click here.

For information, go to: www.JoeLiburdi.com/Tours For reservations, click here.

My picks for beginners and cost-­conscious digital photographers: two simple, straightforward systems by the most respected names in the underwater imaging business.

Sea & Sea’s DX-1200HD camera and housing package has a high-definition CCD with 12.10 effective megapixels and a 3x optical zoom (from 35mm to 102mm) lens, an HD video function, built in 16MB of memory, a big 3-inch monitor, both close-up and wide angle accessories, and a whole lot more!

The Ikelite digital still package includes the ULTRAcompact housing and the Nikon Coolpix L20 which has10.0 effective megapixels, a 3.6x optical zoom-NIKKOR glass lens, 3-inch LCD screen, 640x480 TV movies with sound, electronic image stabilization, and more!

Both will be offered at Joe Liburdi’s Dive & Photo, and keeping with tradition, I will be giving a photo lesson with purchase.

While the new DX1200 has an enlarged LCD screen, with the older models, such as the DX5000, DX8000 and DX1G, the date on the screen was too small and the screen image whited out by glare.  As many of you already know, Poet and I designed and engineered the See Life LCD Optical Magnifier. It is intended to solve problems like this one:

Hi Joe,
I use a DX1G. I wear prescription bifocal lenses in my goggles. How will your unit work with my bifocal goggles??? I bought a Japanese UNZ-2444 2,5” LCD MAGNIFIER FINDER from another company. It fits the camera nicely but I’ve found that when diving, it is too difficult to put my facemask reading section hard up against the small view hole to be of much practical use. Would I have a similar difficulty with your unit???

Cheers.
Robin

Joe explained that the Magnifier would solve her problem and sold her one to take on her PNG trip. After her trip she wrote:

Hi Joe,
Your Magnifier worked a treat! It allowed us to easily view the screen, so we had a lot of fun using manual settings instead of auto. Thanks for your service.

Cheers,
Robin

Read all about it at www.joeliburdi.com

Was it a good trip? You better honk! Here is what Joan Adair had to say about it.

Hi Cara and Joe -

Just want to tell you both how much I enjoyed our trip to the Solomons.  It was truly one of the most memorable dive adventures I've experienced...the glorious ocean life, the warmth of the water, the Solomon people, the crew of the ship, the five pounds I gained from all the great food, and most of all being with you guys for all the fun and the super-duper adventure we had!  It was remarkable!!

For pictures taken by Joe, Cara and our friends, click here and see Photo Album Pages 19 and 20.

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