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September 17, 2018

Want to be Seen at the Surface?

To be more visible than with a safety sausage, consider deploying a pop-up flag on an extending pole. You carry it strapped to your tank with bungee cords, and when the time comes, it extends to well above wave height. The only supplier seems to be in the UK, but if you order the flag they will ship it to North America for a total cost of about $50. http://www.bowstonediving.com/store/itemDetails.asp?id=20-0-118

Aqua Lung Replaces a 30-Year-Old Regulator

Juli Tracy (San Diego, CA) wrote to Undercurrent about her US Divers Conshelf 21 regulator -- she bought it in 1987 and had it regularly maintained, but discovered a crack in when she took it in for servicing this year. Fortunately, Tracy held on to the original receipt, and Aqua Lung, through her dive shop, Ocean Enterprises, replaced her regulator with a brand new Titan Classic – all for the cost of $15 shipping. Kudos to Aqua Lung for extending great service to a long-time customer.

Watch Out for Spears – Especially Your Own

A Maryland spearfisherman was in critical condition after he accidently shot himself in the head with his speargun while aboard his boat. The Coast Guard answered the 911 call from another person aboard his cabin cruiser, 35 miles off the coast of Ocean City, on September 2, and flew him to Baltimore for emergency treatment.

Glass, Not Plastic

Per our article last month on magnifiers for underwater use, subscriber Ken Paff (Richmond, CA) makes the point that when choosing a magnifying glass for spotting macro critters underwater, it’s important to choose one with a glass lens. The refractive index of plastic is too close to that of water to be effective when immersed.

Florida’s Red Tide Moving North

The deadly algae bloom is creeping north, stretching more than 20 miles from Clearwater to St. Petersburg and now Tampa Bay. Hundreds of thousands of fish, hundreds of turtles, manatees, a whale shark and even a whale are victims. It’s become a political issue in the upcoming primaries, since much of the cause it due agricultural runoff, and issue ignored by Florida politicians.

Fire Wrecks Curaçao’s Oldest Dive Business

Likely arson has destroyed this Caribbean island’s longest-established dive school. Dive Wederfoort in the village of Sint Michiel, which is north of the capital, Willemstad, had been operating for 63 years when it was completely destroyed by fire last month. The frequency of burglaries in the area meant that no insurance company would cover the risk, so joint owners Patrick Geers and Shay Janga are attempting to raise $43,000 via GoFundMe to rebuild. https://www.gofundme.com/zv4b87-support-dive-wederfoort

A Must-Have Dive Accessory

Drybags come in a range of sizes to accommodate differing needs. Astute and experienced passengers on liveaboards keep their essential items, such as passports and credit cards, in a drybag and leave it for safekeeping with the skipper in the wheelhouse. Nobody wants to be searching for such items in cabins below decks should the worst happen.

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What You’re Missing in Undercurrent this Month

A frozen-in-time Caribbean isle . . . readers report on Bonaire, Cozumel, Fiji, Palau and other places . . . we tell the dive industry to stop with single-use plastic . . . how exercise, diving and dehydration can sometimes make a bad mix . . . why it’s more than just the diving that makes liveaboards the best dive boats . . . new pirates of the Caribbean . . . Divers most at risk of heart-attacks . . . is your regulator mouthpiece causing you pain? . . . the red menace off Florida’s shores . . . a legal ruling puts Hawaiian fish collectors are in a fine mesh . . . why – and how – you can reduce your carbon footprint . . . and much, much more.

Free to Read in Undercurrent This Month

“Deadman Diving” is apparently sweeping across Asia, and ostensibly enjoyed by many Chinese tourists. What is it exactly? Some dive centers give untrained tourists an in-ocean experience by putting them in scuba gear, minus the fins, and have dive guides drag them around underwater. A number of readers wrote to Undercurrent concerned about the risk to both the people and the environment. When questioned, the training agencies remained tight-lipped. You can read about it for free here . . .

Undercurrent has drawn attention to concerns about safety and design issues of the Sherwood Avid BC several times before, but we still get reports of complete failure of the system that attaches the tank to the diver -- with dramatic consequences. We’re warning unsuspecting users once again; you can read it for free here ...

Ben Davison, editor/publisher
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