Tag Archive
Deep Breath – The Search for Fame
It's almost unthinkable that a group of British divers in their mid-thirties would not of heard of the actor James Stewart but that is what I encountered on a liveaboard recently. To think that such a famous stalwart of the Hollywood Dream Factory could have been forgotten only half a Century after he made such classic movies as Vertigo, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life and The Man Who Shot Liberty Vallance was shocking to me but that seems to be the story of fame. I grew up watching James Stewart in black & white movies almost every Sunday afternoon on television. On the other hand, as an OAP, I haven't heard of such famous people as Ashton Kutcher or Mischa Barton (I picked these names out of my teenage daughter's celebrity magazine.) When it comes to diving, almost only one name stands out with the general public and that is Jacques-Yves Cousteau who lives for about the same period of time (1910-1997) as James Stewart (1908-1997) and continuously worked at hard at his own self-publicity as he did making unique films about the undersea world. Fame can be short-lived. Commander Lionel Crabb, the diving hero from World War 2, would have been long forgotten if he had not disappeared in mysterious circumstances yet today's journalists still continue to confuse him with Buster Crabbe, a Hollywood actor that once played the part of Tarzan. Scuba diving is a comparatively young activity. Many of its most famous exponents are still alive but mainly forgotten about by the diving public. Hans Hass still lives in his native Austria and Stan Waterman, the man that among other things was the cameraman on Peter Gimble's iconic Blue Water White Death, is ninety and still diving. As one young person patronisingly said on an Internet forum... More »
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 »
So You Want to Climb Mt. Everest?
Many divers who emerge from initial diving certification programs with an “open water” certification choose not to pursue further formal training, going forward by acquiring practical experience though their diving activities. Often, this works well since practical “real life” experience arguably is just as relevant in producing a qualified diver. At least, in warm water, and under not-too-difficult, conditions. Many traveling divers are 55 years or older now in today's demographic. For some, sport diving was still in its infancy when they decided to jump in. A single “checkout” dive satisfied the criteria for a c-card and they went on to enjoy the sport without ever dipping a fin back into a training program. While certification agencies would now prefer that divers progress at least partly through an enhanced system of ratings, there is no requirement that they actually do so. Still, with age and prosperity also comes limitations that should be recognized as serious considerations. The 55-year-old plus diver has to take into account the realities of aging that include reduced stamina, possible high blood pressure, cardiac problems, reduced flexibility and mobility, arthritic joints, vision and hearing loss, deteriorated muscular strength, postoperative limitations, side effects of required medications, and general reduced physical fitness. Of course, there are exceptions to such broad-based generalities, but within the general population I’m identifying, possible limitations exist that can affect their fitness to dive. Hey, I’m soon to be 60 and certainly am aware that I’m not the specimen I was even in my forties and diving was my full time profession until just recently when I sold the last of my diving companies. I'm still active in diving, usually at remote areas... More »
Magic
I haven't blogged much lately. We recently finished a huge, time consuming project and I needed a break from thinking about diving, writing about diving, and, yes, even diving itself. The prospect of our upcoming trips, even though we were going to two of our favorite places--Lembeh Strait and Triton Bay--just didn't excite me like it used to. The problem was mine, not the destination's, resort's, boat's or crew's. I was bored, uninspired, whatever... I realize that most recreational divers find it hard to imagine a boring dive trip. Yet, it happens all the time. I see it a lot on some of the high end boats we charter. The couple who has been there and done that, and is just along for what I call the "after-story". That's when you get to tell your non-diving couch potato friends some wild tale about currents or sharks or storms, or anything that gives them a contact adrenaline rush. I decided I was becoming a lot like those folks. Just going through the motions, but not really finding joy in any of it. I kept thinking about what really turned me on to diving in the beginning: how it was never boring because there was always something new to see, something more stimulating and beautiful than what we experienced topside; how wonderful weightlessness felt; and how all of that had once been worth enduring the cramped, smelly boats, rough seas, crummy airlines, and stifling tropical heat. The problem was that I didn't feel the same way any more, and so the negatives were starting to outweigh the positives. I dreaded everything from dealing with traffic on the way to the airport to setting up my housing after we arrived. At Lembeh I didn't even bother to fill out my critter wish list. Blue Ring Octopus,... More »
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