Tag Archive
Cocos Island: An Ocean Oasis
Cocos divers are a committed bunch. (Some might opine that they should actually be committed... to a room with padded walls wearing jackets with sleeves that tie behind you.) First of all, it's not a cheap investment and there's the little matter of a two-day sea crossing of nearly 400 miles just to get there. Upon arrival you are afforded the opportunity to be surrounded by hundreds (maybe thousands) of schooling hammerhead sharks. And tuna the size of NFL linemen, mantas, various billfish, dolphin, bait balls, scores of marble rays the size of coffee tables, and a million or so schools of big eye jack and other species I'm still trying to identify. And, of yeah, you've got an odds on chance of swimming with a whale shark or two and seeing a humpback whale. I began leading trips to Cocos back in 1996 when we used the Sea Hunter fleet as a proving ground for the first editions of the Draeger semi-closed circuit rebreather. If there was ever a location that was better match for the silent stealth of rebreathers, I can't imagine where we might look. [caption id="attachment_1115" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Schooling hammerheads"][/caption] Cocos had already made its reputation as the best big animal dive region in the world. The advent of affordable rebreathers just made it better. Sort of like initially visiting the wild animals of the African Serengetti from a mile away through a spotting scope and then donning a cloak of invisibility to walk among them up close. Prior to 1996, if you wanted to have any real chance at close encounters with the legendary schooling hammerheads, you were forced to dig in to a nook on the bottom, wait for a wave of sharks to approach, and then hold your breath as long as you could. Once the exhaust... More »
Tanks and Weights
Well - maybe it shouldn't have taken me by surprise. But it did. A communicating New England area dive shop told me, "It's OK to sell integrated weights BCs because divers don't drop their weight-belts anyway." An honest peddler - at least honest in describing his outlook. Almost as bad as, "I have insurance for that." Under the banner of, "It's our livelihood," we have dangerous junk being sold because "...they don't drop their weight-belts anyway..." (that really floored me), "Sell the aluminums 'cause we can "crack fail" them in a couple of years." "It's a 'low-flow' regulator - they put them on pony bottles." Someone tried that one on me. Imagine? Putting what he classed as a "low flow" regulator on a "pony bottle" justified its existence in some way or other. I couldn't make the connection - but - if the effen thing was for making an escape to the surface, why put all your marbles into a "low flow" regulator? The last people who should be passing their hands over scuba cylinders are people who sell them. In this economy, the lure is too great. The DOT almost prohibits such a close association. TITLE 49 CFR 2010 (107.803):: "...No independent inspection agency...may have a financial involvement with any entity that manufactures cylinders ...except as an independent inspector (such as myself ). Fred Calhoun doesn't sell cylinders, he is "qualified" to inspect, and he inspects. His customers often visit dive shops for air fills, and are subject to a litany of questions implying that maybe there's something wrong with the cylinder, or the person who did the inspection and affixed the EOI sticker. I'm qualified (I don't sell the things). I have a wallet c-card that has my name on it - says I'm qualified. I wrote the book SCUBA CYLINDERS... More »
Dick Bonin: Founder of Scubapro
I'm privileged to profile one of diving's most innovative leaders and pioneers in manufacturing. Dick Bonin, the co-founder of Scubapro, was been responsible for some of the most technically advanced equipment lines the industry has ever seen. For those who started diving in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the Scubapro line was revered as the Rolls-Royce of scuba diving. Virtually all other manufacturers were viewed as "also rans" who played second fiddle to the stuff that was stamped with the memorable "S" logo and marked a person as a serious, committed diver. [caption id="attachment_951" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Dick Bonin, President of Scubapro 1974 "][/caption] The list of diving notables who swore by the Scubapro brand included Stan Waterman, Paul Tzimoulis, Dick Anderson, Jack McKenney, Dr. George Benjamin, Tom Mount, Ann Kristovitch, Sheck Exley, Jim Bowden, Wes Skiles, Hal Watts, Rob Palmer, Howard & Michele Hall, Marty Snyderman, Bob Talbot, Jimmy Stewart, Chuck Nicklin, Dr. Sylia Earle, myself and just about every Caribbean and Pacific divemaster who knew that the gear from Dick Bonin would endure just about every abuse and still bring them back alive. It was a brand built from the outset on the reputations of Bonin and his staff who promised high performance and reliability without compromise. Bonin also took the unprecedented step of offering a lifetime guarantee on his equipment including parts! In addition to earning the respect of hundreds of thousands of divers who bought his gear, Bonin became a mentor and father figure to his loyal retailers who showcased his line and his philosophy of diving excellence. Bonin was the first to offer business counseling and focused marketing programs to help the dive stores of long ago... More »
Diver Allergic to Neoprene?
(Q) Dear DocV, I got OW certified only a few months ago. When I did, the water was warm enough to wear a swimsuit and a rash guard. This past weekend I took a buoyancy class and spent a couple hours of each day in a pool wearing a wetsuit. The wetsuit is new and is mine. It was the first time I used it. After each day of diving I immediately showered at the pool. However, on Sunday evening and more intensely on Monday I noticed an itchy sensation across my arms, legs and chest. Pretty much anywhere the suit was in contact. It is now 5 days post diving and the generalized itching sensation is gone. When the "rash" occurred I had some raised bumps but no other symptoms. Over the years and with many injuries (I like challenging sports), I have found that I have sensitivity to medical tapes and other things like that. I develop a rash localized to the area that was taped. So, the questions are... Is it possible to have an allergic reaction to the neoprene? And if yes, what actions can I take to prevent the reaction? Thanks for your help! I really do not want to give up diving because of something like this... (A) Hi TF, Allergic reactions to neoprene proper are relatively unusual; hypersensitivity to curing/accelerator agents used in neoprene processing and adhesives used in suit assembly is more common. You'll want to make sure that your reaction is not simply to some other agent, like chlorine. I find this unlikely, but provide it just as an example of irritating substances to which you might have come into contact. However, your report of a history hypersensitivity to medical/athletic tapes, and the described distribution of this rash, really does rather suggest that the problem is related to contact with natural... More »
Regulator Rubbish
Years ago a New Zealand dive instructor working as an electronics technician in Port Moresby asked me to teach his wife how to dive. A wise man, I thought, destined for marital bliss. She joined one of the courses I was running at the time, did very well and became a certified Scuba Diver. On her very first dive after completing the course she was diving with her husband. They had just reached the bottom when the husband swam up close, and signalled that he had no air and wished to buddy breathe (yes, really that long ago - before octopus/alternate air). The wife was a bit peeved thinking that he was testing her new skills and gave him the finger. However a more frantic set of signals, and a distinct lack of bubbles from her buddy, made her realise that her husband actually could not breathe and needed to share her regulator. She assumed the position I had taught her, and flawlessly shared her regulator. The husband soon settled down and they made a safe ascent together. At the surface the husband explained that his regulator had suddenly failed, and he could not get any air. He thanked me later for doing a good job teaching his wife, and asked me to look at his regulator to find out the problem. I stripped the regulator, an original US Divers Conshelf XIV - but I already had a good idea what had gone wrong. The first stage of these regulators has an upstream valve opened by a thin stainless steel pin with a cylindrical knob at one end. If the knob sheered off, the pin could not open the valve and, suddenly, it could not supply air to the second stage. Mostly the problem with these first stages was that the high... More »
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