Diver to speak at Maritime Museum

Diver Tom Kendrick will give a special presentation on the California sea urchin fishing indus-

ry at 7 p.m. Thurs., Oct. 5 in the Munger Theater of the Santa Bar- bara Maritime Museum, 113 Har- bor Way, Ste. 190.

Kendrick will discuss the highs and lows of the sea urchin

ishing industry with a focus on

he sea urchin boom during the mid-eighties. He will touch on

he people, places and obstacles he encountered during his 22 years as an urchin diver.

A book signing of Kendrick's book, "Bluewater Gold Rush: The Odyssey of a California Sea Urchin Diver," published by Azalea Creek, will ollow the lecture. Tickets are $6 for museum members and $8 for general ad- mission.

Kendrick's book follows a group of underwater pioneers from 1978 through 1996, chronicling the adventure, humor and tragedy of the people involved in this fasci- nating way of life.

Kendrick, 54, broke into the urchin diving industry as an ur- chin boat deckhand in 1978 and began diving a year later. He spent 22 years on the urchin boats, as everything from a ten- der to captain of his own ves- sel. His professional career as an urchin diver during the mid- '80s took him from the Chan- nel Islands to the coasts of Mendocino and Sonoma, the Farallon Islands, Oregon, Wash- ington, Mexico and Alaska.

For more information, call (805) 962-8404, or e-mail museum@sbmm.org, or visit www.sbmm.org.