Evening star., 1962-05-20
$50 IN AREA
$50 IN AREA
Skin Diving Winning Converts
BY CHARLES COVELL
nr1fdoor Esditor

his friends or merely the fun
of exploring new horizons under
the sea. the fact is that 1t is
gaining converts.
The Atlantic Skin Diving
Council. parent organization of
clubs in the Washington area.
has been reorganized under new
leaders and its membership has
burgeoned TO more than $50.
That's a far cry from its
most prosperous period when
it had no more than 500.
The council was organized in
1858 by c. K. Rusty Sheriff.
Of Arlington. an ardent skin
diver who since has moved to
Miami.
Then because Of inactivity,
member clubs began to drift
away and the council was al
most non-existent when John
R Stewart. jr., of Washington
took over last November.
Under his leadership the
council has been revitaliZed
and a busy program of diving
mapped from Morehead City,
N. c., where the lowest average
water temperature t70.7 degrees
in March makes it the last
outpost for coral formations
north Of Florida. to Ocean
City. Md. and Indian River
Inlet.
Other officers are Van Bus
kirk of Seat Pleasant, presi-
dent; Craig A. Ballinger of
Washington. vice president;
Ralph A. Myers Of Washing
ton. secretary. and Garland
Bean Of Arlington. treasurer.
Dive niBay
Diving also is conducted in
Chesapeake Bay despite the
murky waters and in quarries
at Martinsburg, Halltown and
Kearneysville. w. Va. One of
the highlights Of the summer
will be a Scuba Derby in
August at Point Lookout. Mem
bers will compete in mask and
flipper at spearing the largest
fish. The winner will receive
q trophy.
The council is a member of
the Underwater Society of
America, which controls skin
diving throughout the country.
One of the new activities this
season will be organization of
a Washington unit of the
American Littoral Society.
The society with the high
sounding name is the brain
child of John R. Clark. as
sistant director Of Fish and
Wildlife's Sandy Hook Marine
Laboratory. 1t is made up of
skin divers along the Atlantic
Coast who report to the lab
oratory on the fish and other
sea life they encounter.
For their cooperation, men,
bers are offered a training
course which turns them from
casual undersea explorers to at
least embryo marine biologists.
Not only will they be able to
identify fish but the chapter
plans special surveys to in
clude the taking and analyZing
of bottom samples, sea weeds
and plankton.
Training of new divers
naturally is an important part
Of the council program and the
council is rewriting all its
manuals. These will be used to
teach two members from each
club instruction methods. They
will be the councils only quail
fled instructors and will pass
on their knowledge to novices. =,
Instructors from the old
council will teach the course.
They are Buskirk, Stewart, Carl !
Jones, Ballinger. H. Mac Min
ton, Robert LangSton and Jim
Slater.
Requirements Rigid
Requirements are rigid.
There are three classes of
divers, first, second and third.
To be rated first class. a diver t
must have fulfilled the require /
ments for the other two classes. I
plus diving to a depth of 10 /
feet, diving to so to 70 feet
with a blacked-out face mask, I
making at least 10 open water !
dives and keeping a log. being {
IN the age group 20 to so, {
planning and executing sircu- {
! lar sweep search from a shot
line below the 20-foot level and
completing a written examina-
ton.
Member clubs Of the council,
addresses and persons with
whom to get in touch are:
Flipper Dippers, 3710 Nor
wood drive. Alexandria. Jim
Slater; Dolphin Divers, 975l
SD avenue, College Park.
George H. Snellings; Maryland
Underwater Rescue Team, 8
Columbia avenue. Takoma Park,
Md, Craig Ballinger; Pioneer
Skin Diving Club, 408 9th street
NV, Van Buskirk: Underseas
Laboratory, Inc. 408 9Th street
NV, John R. Stewart, jr.
, Underwater Adventure Seek
ers, 1545 North Carolina ave-
nue., NE, Albert Jose Jones;
Chesapeake Bay Skin Diving
Club, 1113 18th street. NV,
Mike Freeman; Bunker Hill
Divers, 1922 South Pollard
street, Arlington, Garland
Beans; Maryland Underwater
Explorers, Box 243, Kensing-
ton, Ronald Maloney; Sand.
Sharks, Box 1901, Hampton
roads-Newport News. Va.
Chesapeake Mariners, Box
4191, Hampton, Va; Atlantis
Rangers. Box SO, Riverdale.
Md; NSA Academy of Skin
Diving, Fort Me ade. Nc;
Aquanauts, 2727 South Colum-
bia street, Arlington. and Bel
Air DivarS, Bel Air, Md.