The drum rolls, dive flags flutter gaily and with the fanfare of trumpets, we debut PACIFIC CURRENT! Here you can check out what's hot and what's not up and down the left coast. It's Diver's birthplace and backyard; a wilderness wet and wonderous and here in North America, the place to be seen in a tight rubber outfit. So, read on dahling!

Always a reliable source of diving news, how-to, where-to, scuba lore, scuttlebutt and the occasional unmentionable, Diver will continue to explore the shore, see what's under those rocks and ripples and, ta-daaŠpresent the people, places and events and you name it, that infuse our emerald sea with the energy that is so uniquely her own.

As ever, we can keep our finger on the pulse of things with a little help from all you web-footed bipeds. Yup, that's you gentle reader. Tell us what you know so we can spread the word. We're poised with pen in hand for everything and anything that's newsworthy. Or contact me (Peter Golding) directly: e-mail: water-world@shaw.ca Phone: 604-224-4710.

This is the Captain Speaking . . . Time was weather and 'mechanicals' did a fine job messing with flight schedules. Today political conflicts and medical scares are Murphy's choice. B.C.'s much-anticipated and first-ever artificial reef with wings, has flown into a little turbulence of its own but hold on to your snorkel, this is the inaugural flight and a bump or two are all part of the fun.

Morphing ships into reefs has become almost commonplace thanks to the pioneering work of B.C.'s Artificial Reef Society. But it wasn't always smooth sailing. And now that the ARSBC is casting a covetous eye at flying machines, well, they're ships of a different stripe and, you guessed it, different rules apply.

Turns out the B.C. dive community's use of big blue for a little innovative recycling has gotten ahead of our lawmakers. The, ahem, bottom line is that artificial reefs have no legal status at present.

It all comes down to perception. We divers see artificial reefs as adding value. Federal regulations, being more practical, see the exercise as dumping. Our reef builders want the thin-skinned B737-200 securely positioned above the seabed, however, dumping laws say you can't add any new material (ie. a support platform) to the one approved for 'disposal,' so, what to do?

Not to worry, the aircraft 'technical issues' have been resolved. BCIT engineering students are designing special support tripods to be made of an alloy similar to that of the airframe. Folks at Environment Canada, who issue dumping permits, are on-side with the plan as are Fisheries and Oceans and the Coast Guard. Our thanks to them and ARSBC volunteers for their diligence and, as with the marine vessels that led the way, for now developing a model for future aircraft reefs.

All things being equal, B.C.'s very first 'seabird' will be set for a boarding call by late September/early October. Check out www.artificialreef.bc.ca for updates on this unique new Sechelt Inlet dive site.

And meanwhile, artificial reefs are gaining attention in the nation's capitol. A recent Senate report considers surplus boats, trains, buses, trucks etc., being dumped in deep continental slope waters to hinder foreign factory ships vacuuming up anything with gills. OK, so, let's see, twin 80s, filled with trimixŠwell, I don't know. Hey, wonder what the day rate is for a Nuytsuit?

Everyone a Winner in Scuba Lottery! The tickets are only $10 and trust me, the odds are way better than anything you're going to buy in a convenience store. Besides, the money goes to support marine enhancement programs here on the Wet Coast so think investment when you buy your tickets.

The Scuba Raffle is one of several fund-raising initiatives of the Dive Industry Association of B.C., an organization of dive enterprises keen to promote the safe and sustainable growth of scuba diving while protecting the ocean environment through programs such as artificial reefs, mooring buoys and reef balls. If you're wondering about that last one, check out www.reefball.org

Raffle draw is July 26. The prizes are fab: dive trips on local charter boats, all kinds of gear including photo equipment, dry suits, regs, a dive computer and a Diver Magazine Package. Get tickets at your local dive shop or, if you read this in time, head over to the Golden Spike Pub, 3224 St. John Street, Port Moody, July 5 for Pub Night. This social event is yet another DIABC fund raiser. The $15 tickets include a meal, a 50-50 draw and there'll be a silent auction as well. And don't forget to buy your raffle tickets! Stay tuned for more fundraisers.

Heaton Honoured in Hollywood For underwater camerawoman Pauline Heaton, it was truly a Kodak moment.

On a wet movie set you'd typically find her behind the lens directing the action. But on June 2nd she was the star, the set was Hollywood, U.S.A., and the scene was the Women in Film annual Crystal and Lucy Awards gala. For outstanding achievement in cinematography, Heaton was presented the Kodak Vision Award.

Owner of B.C.-based Watervisions, a multi-faceted film production company, Heaton has been at it since the mid 80s and at last count had some 300 film assignments to her credit, many of them big budget Hollywood movies. The star-studded day was 'overwhelming' recalls Heaton who said the ceremony was the culmination of a month long process involving media interviews, selecting fancy gowns, preparing speeches, rehearsals and more rehearsals. Award recipients and presenters were among Tinseltown's top talent. Actors Diane Lane, Stockard Channing, Lily Tomlin and Debbie Allen were among Crystal and Lucy award recipients this year for their work in the film and television industries. Past recipients form a veritable Who's Who of the big and small screens.

Heaton had lots of people to thank once on stage, especially those who have allowed her to film in the open ocean rather than in controlled movie set environments. Most of her ocean shoots have been in Canadian waters, which she says provide "a spectacular backdrop for underwater productions." And who could argue with that award-winning assessment.

Zen, Charter Boats and Rockfish Shutter Bugs It comes as no surprise to me that B.C. will soon boast it's first Zen Dive resort. I've always felt that diving has a Zen-like quality and let's not be modest about it, divers are enlightened!

Relax Zen Dive Inn will officially open September 1 at Cherry Point, near Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island and promises clients a memorable stay. Owned and operated by Nicole and Steve Paras-Charlton, this relaxation resort offers a unique blending of scuba and zen breathing that, in a word, enhances the underwater experience. Read more in the September issue of Diver.

The resort offers accommodations for up to 12, sharing, wholesome meals, special classes, PADI dive training and, importantly, great diving. At Relax Zen Dive Inn you can explore that less-travelled scuba zone midway between Victoria and Nanaimo, from a spacious 28-foot day-tripper docked in Cowichan Bay that's just 200 metres from the resort. Call 1-866-ZEN-DIVE (936-3483). A website will be online by mid-July.

Your dive holiday was truly memorable and it's just as well because the photos aren't quite what you recall seeing and, well, motion sickness bags would be a good idea when screening the video.

If a little coaching with the cameras seems a good investment, check out www.rockfishdivers.com It's located at Brentwood Bay in Vancouver Island's Saanich Inlet. PADI instructor Jonathan Grant owns this diving school that specializes in underwater photography and videography. Courses include photo equipment rental, classroom sessions, dives and your masterworks whether on film or CD-ROM.

Rockfish Divers also offers diving boat charters to a number of exciting locales like the wreck of the G.B. Church, Portland Island Marine Park and Race Rocks.

You could say Christie Bay is your No.1 good times girl. She's in to divers, too. It's a comfy ride from her Nanaimo home at Ocean Explorers' harbour-side dock to dive sites less than 30 minutes away.

And man, is she built! A 53-foot long fibreglass hull fabricated at Sidney, B.C. to government specifications. Her beam boasts a custom swim grid 14 feet wide and four feet deep; eight-foot ladders with handhold rails angling seven feet down into the water on either side.

The Christie Bay No. 1 is certified to carry 24 and a crew of two. Ocean Explorers owner Ian Hall limits each trip to 16 divers and requisite tonnage. Divers can relax on her canvas-covered open lounge deck and then move down to the dive deck, which is only a foot above the water's surface. Future plans include a shipboard compressor and nitrox blender.

This new addition to B.C.'s dive fleet has a colourful past. She was the RCMP patrol boat on Great Slave Lake, NWT, based in Christie Bay, original home of the Northwest Mounted Police Fort. And she was no stranger to good times, except then the revellers were handcuffed to her engine until they sobered up!

Go to www.oceanexplorersdiving.com or call 1-800-233-4145 for info and bookings.

Sharks Under Glass At the peak of summer, during those hot August days when everyone is cooling off at the beach, Discovery Channel will air 'Shark Week.' Network humour, I can only guess. Still, what better time to feed the insatiable appetite North American viewers have for these superb predators?

This year's program line-up features a one-hour special entitled Sharks Under Glass, about lawyers in the Vancouver Courthouse, no, just kidding! The show presents a unique perspective: sharks in captivity. Video footage was shot in leading aquaria across North America, including, of course, the highly regarded Vancouver Aquarium.

Danny Morrow of Vancouver Island-based Sport Diver Television, was the program's director of photography and for six weeks this spring he travelled the length and breadth of North America filming in and out of these prestigious fish tanks, which include:

Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans, Louisiana; the Tampa, Florida Aquarium; Aquarium of the Pacific, Long Beach, California; the Steinhart Aquarium, San Francisco; the National Aquarium, Baltimore, Maryland; the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago, Illinois; the shark exhibit at the Mandalay Bay Resort (managed by the Vancouver Aquarium), Las Vegas, Nevada; and Dynasty Marine, a company that collects specimens for aquaria, based in Marathon in the Florida Keys, was also included in the shoot.

Presenting a detailed picture of shark physiology in the context of life in an aquarium, the program covers everything from their ability to adapt, their space and diet needs, behaviour with other fish and reproduction. Check local listings for airdates and times.

Hold your Breath! At press time B.C.'s own Mandy-Rae Cruickshank was set to challenge two free diving world records; one is her own, that she will attempt to better and the other, she hopes to reclaim. The breath-hold events were scheduled June 27-29 at the Canadian Association of Freediving and Apnea (CAFA) third annual championships in Vancouver.

Presiding over her record attempts will be four judges certified by the Association for the International Development of Apnea (AIDA), the Switzerland-based world governing body.

"World records are the extreme end of this sport and not usually attempted in competition or in cold water conditions," Cruickshank explains. "Record attempts are more typically made in warm water and independent of official competitions that impose strict rules on participants." But for Cruickshank, the Vancouver event presents an opportunity she doesn't want to miss.

First up will be the women's world record in Static Apnea, breath-holding while floating motionless in a pool. Cruickshank must surpass her existing, and impressive, record of six minutes and 16 seconds by a minimum of two seconds. Next is the Constant Ballast women's world record, which will be staged in Howe Sound. Cruickshank will attempt a depth of at least 75 metres/246 feet in order to break the 70 metres/230 feet record currently held by Tanya Streeter of the USA. In this event, the diver must descend, recover a tag at the declared depth and ascend under her own power.

In all there are eight categories of competition. Cruicshank's will be the only world record attempts during the three day CAFA event. Cruickshank is a member of the Vancouver-based Performance Freediving Team and is coached by Kirk Krack, an international trainer, also based in the Vancouver area. Go to www.freedivecanada.com and www.performancefreediving.com for further information and competition results.

Diver Day Seminar at UHMS Conference Mark it on your calendar: Saturday 20th September, Diver Day Seminar, Richmond Hotel and Convention Centre in the B.C. Lower Mainland. This second day of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Pacific Chapter annual conference is not to be missed by anyone interested in diving and the sub sea environment.

Presentation topics include marine life hazards, dive computers, safe diving practices, flying and diving, dive standards and more. Diver Magazine's own diving doctor, David Sawatsky, MD, will be on deck to discuss re-breather fatalities and B.C.'s very own amphibian, Dr. Phil Nuytten will be your tour guide into the future world of 'Vent Base Alpha.' Get a first hand look at Nuytten's latest project to establish a one-atmosphere habitat, 3,000 feet deep and drawing power, heat and fresh water from a nearby geothermal vent.

The new art and science of creating artificial reefs will be the topic of Friday night keynote speakers Jay Straith and Roy Gabriel. Straith, former president of B.C.'s Artificial Reef Society, and Gabriel, a former military and police explosives expert, look at how their experiences have helped set the new standards that make Canada a leader in this field. A special feature of the evening will be presentation of the Dr. Merril Spencer Life Achievement Award to Dr. Derek J. Kidd for his pioneering contributions developing computer-based diving decompression profiles. Dr. Kidd, MB, BS, MRCS, LRCP, is Surgeon Captain, Canadian Armed Forces Command Surgeon, Maritime Forces Pacific Headquarters.

For the full two-day schedule and registration information go to www.pacificuhms.org

Tickets can be purchased for the full event, or by the day. Registration cut-off is September 1, after which ticket prices increase. Banquet tickets are available separately but must be purchased in advance (not available at the door).

Go Forth and . . . Certify! A closing note: this page marks for me a gratifying return to Diver Magazine, not quite two years of age when it published my first piece in 1976. That year my daughter Jessica was born. A very happy time! Now, both are vivacious twenty-somethings. My son Jeremy is 24 and I have two step-sons, Perrin, 23 and Breedon, 20. Back in the 70s the family diver population was 1.0. Current edition: 5.0. Looking for a dive buddy? Do our sport a favour. Check out your TV room.