Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser

Welcome to my newsletter. After retiring from Liburdi’s Scuba Center, Cara and I started this e-newsletter, thinking it would be a good way to keep in touch with the many friends we’d made over the years in the dive shop. Of course, I always hope that most of the people who receive it actually read it and enjoy it. We try to include information helpful to dive travelers and underwater photographers. That said, I now want to thank all of you who have called or e-mailed asking, Where is the newsletter? Aren’t you publishing it anymore? We’ve been busy traveling. And we didn’t know you cared.

News Flash! A Farewell to LSC

After many years of serving the diving public, Liburdi’s Scuba Center in Costa Mesa has closed. As you probably already know, I retired from “active duty” four years ago. Matt assumed ownership of the shop with only occasional help from me on the underwater photo front. The Camp has not been a booming retail center, to put it mildly. With our economy on the skids and expenses on the rise, it was not good business to continue.

The closing of another Pro Dive Store will have an impact on the local diving community. It is hard for me to be objective here, but I was a retailer since 1972, and I believe our longevity was due to the dedication and personal service me, my partner in Seattle Harry Truitt, and my sons Matt and Marlon provided. On-line retailers cannot provide the expert equipment knowledge and the personal attention we did. They do not provide the expert repair service of the life support equipment that needs constant evaluation and maintenance. They can never inspire the confidence a one-on-one-consultation can. They can offer what seems like better prices because they don’t have the overhead a retail shop has. I for one don’t think sacrificing service and expertise to save a few dollars is a good deal.

As another Pro Dive Store closes, so does another teaching facility. The day may come when we have no one left to teach the new generation on how to dive. That will be a sad day on Earth.

Need I say more? Support your local Pro Dive Store. LSC is gone but there are still a handful of dedicated retailers in our area to serve you. It may cost you a few dollars more for the services, but in the long run we will all benefit and the diving industry may survive. Tell them Joe sent you.

September in Borneo, October in Baja

Jim and Dana got married at the Sipadan Water Village on the island of Mabul. It was a grand Malay affair with a Tok Kadi to bless the couple and dancers, musicians and the entire staff in traditional Malay attire.

Sipadan, a turtle breeding ground. treated us to turtles up close and personal, as well as huge schools of barracuda, jacks and batfish, sharks, bumpheads, a veritable jungle of sea fans, sea whips and soft corals.

The tri-island sites included Mabul and Kapalei, some muck, some sand, all shallow, and every one teeming with fabulous photo subjects, like clownfish, frogfish, mantis shrimp and pygmy seahorses.

The diving in the Sea of Cortez never disappoints us, even if this year’s weather did. The sea lions at the rookery did their thing, diving, nipping, playing and posing, showing us a great time as they always do, rain or shine.

The offshore hurricane chilled the water and drove the whale sharks far out to sea. First time in six years we didn’t see them. The conditions seemed to be ideal for puffers and stonefish. We’d never seen so many in so many sizes, colors and varieties. And then there was this big red sea horse.

Photos by Joe Liburdi and Cara Sherman

LCD Optical Magnifier
Now You Can See It!
New and improved shade beats the glare!

In our last newsletter, we introduced the LCD Optical Magnifier. It has been designed specifically for use with Sea & Sea point-and-shoot underwater digital camera systems, models DX-5000, DX-8000, and DX1G. It is also compatible with other compact underwater camera systems made by other manufacturers, though modifications may be required. In that case, customization is available.

The new shade shown here is longer than the original model. It has been elongated from two inches to four inches to further reduce glare and reflection.

COST: for the 2 inch: $125; for the 2.5-inch: $150. Custom sizes: call.

For more information, including an order form, click here.

Specifications

Joe Buy
Pre-owned Underwater Photo Gear

Joe’s own YS-110 Strobes. I have two available. They’re in perfect condition. $425 each

Till Sea & Sea introduced the YS-110 strobe, all strobes compatible with their digital systems were strictly manual. Now, when connected via a fiber-optic cable to a compact digital camera with TTL metering, the YS-110 strobe offers DS-TTL (Digital Slave Through-The-Lens) light adjustment. You can use two YS-110 strobes, setting one strobe to DS-TTL mode and the second strobe to manual mode. You can also use the YS-110 with a 5-pin sync cord with housed systems for SLR cameras.

If you want to know all the details about the strobe, see the Sea & Sea website. Or call me.

Also Available:

• Fiber Optical Cable L-type: $50
• 5-pin Sync Cord: $60

Watch for  Part II of the November Newsletter

New Photo Gear for 2009

I just returned from the DEMA (Diving Equipment Manufacturers Association) show in Vegas and I had the opportunity to view and handle the latest underwater equipment for 2009.  Most of it was very impressive and I was licking my lips for want of some of it.

Our Travel Plans for 2009

• JULY: the Philippine Islands, Stella Maris Explorer Liveaboard, touring the Visayas
• OCTOBER: Back to La Paz, Mexico for Joe’s 80th Birthday Blast, and you are invited!