Hey Everybody,
This got announced at last month's meeting, but not everyone was there, including some people who really needed to hear the message, so I'm repeating it via e-mail.
UASC has arranged with Jim Gentile ( Windy City Diving ) for a series of Thursday night charters at a reduced fare of $420 for the boat, for up to 6 divers. UASC has agreed to underwrite $180 of up to 6 of these charters, bringing the cost for the boat down to $240, provided that there are at least 4 divers and that there are specified UASC survey activities taking place. More specifically, UASC will underwrite the charter provided that there is a Project Leader with some specific plans and objectives for the trip, ( beyond "let's go out and see what it looks like". ) This then brings the cost per diver down to $40, $50, or $60 per diver, for 6, 5, or 4 divers on the boat. ( Jim makes an extra $10 for 5 divers. )
There are some other reasonable restrictions, most notably that Jim can bump us if he gets a full-paying fare for a Thursday night, and that the survey site needs to be a reasonable distance from one of the two harbors that Jim goes out of.
So if you are a Project Leader with a project that can make good use of this resource, then make some plans and let everyone know how they can get in on the work.
( If you would like to go out for a Thursday night fun dive, UASC won't underwrite it, but Jim may honor the $420 / boat price. You'll have to talk to Jim directly about that. )
John