Registration is now underway for the 19th annual Chamber Day events (to be held on Wednesday, May 2 this year). In case you're not aware of it, Chamber Day is a fund-raiser for our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber, and is the largest single-day scuba charity event in the United States.

As you may or may not know, the Catalina Chamber is dedicated strictly to the treatment of diving accidents on a 24/7/365 basis. Although we hope you'll never need it, having the Chamber available gives divers a vital safety net in the event something should go wrong with your dive. Although there is a grant from LA County, and the Chamber gets income from some outside activities, Chamber Day provides a significant portion (close to 50%) of the Chamber's annual budget.

The great thing about this event is that ALL the monies raised goes to the Chamber. No administrative fees are deducted from the proceeds, the local SoCal boats donate their time and services, the manufacturers donate gear for raffle prizes (roughly $30,000 worth), the Aquarium of the Pacific donates their facility for the evening event, hundreds of volunteers donate their time, and you (hopefully) donate your money. Last year we raised over $105,000 and this year we're hoping to do even better. The event has many facets and there are multiple ways for you to get involved.

For a Donation of $90* You Receive:

• Two (2) Dives at Santa Catalina Island
• Tour of the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber
• Chamber Day 2007 Commemorative T-shirt
• Five (5) Chamber Day 2007 Raffle Tickets
• Chance to talk to Local Search and Rescue Personnel * Plus a $30 Food-and-Air Charge

The daytime event is known as "Chamber Day" and runs as it has in the past. (And don't forget the date - Wednesday, May 2.)

SoCal's finest dive boats donate their services for the day. They are (in alphabetical order): Aquatica, Bottom Scratcher, Cee Ray, Great Escape, Island Time, Magician, Mr. C, Psalty V, Pacific Star, Sea Bass, Second Stage, Sundiver, and Sundiver II. Here's the way it works. (And for those who can't actually take the day off, there's always the Flying Dutchman. More on that later.)

You pay $90 for the day (all the proceeds go to the Chamber) and choose the boat you want to go on. (Book early because once a boat fills, it's unavailable. Although we'll hold a reservation for you for 72 hours, after that time, spots are only guaranteed when they are paid in full.) This year, all the boats are doing food-and-air-included so we'll also collect $30 from you for that (making the total tab $120).

In general, the boats will leave their respective dock at 7AM and head for Catalina. (Some boats may allow you to board the night before and sleep on board.) You'll get a commemorative Chamber Day 2007 t-shirt, five raffle tickets (you can buy more on your boat or at the Chamber), and make two dives at Catalina.

Sometime during the day, your boat will stop at our Catalina Chamber in Big Fisherman Cove. You'll all disembark for a 75-minute overview of Chamber operations. L.A. County Lifeguards will explain their job, rescue helicopters and crews from the Coast Guard and Sheriffs will be on hand, and the Chamber crew will show you the Chamber itself, including taking you inside and pressurizing the Chamber to a depth of 1-foot. (Yes, you'll have to clear your ears. It's really weird and we can't explain it logically. However, if you think you're getting narked, then we've got to talk.)

Most of the boats will arrive back at their docks between 5 and 5:30PM. We try to radio all the boats on the way back to tell them their raffle winners. But all raffle prizes will be available in front of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach at our drive-up raffle prize pick-up table. But we can't do any of this unless you sign up for the event by calling 310-652-4990 or by visiting our web site at http://www.chamberday.org.