A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE There have been numerous articles written on the subjects of inert gas narcosis and attendant depth limitations. Many have re-hashed old formulas relating the preposterous “Martini’s Law” etc. and sanctimonious admonitions against any sport diving below 130 fsw. The authors of these materials are motivated by the best of intentions: diving safety. … Read more
My mother always insisted that we children waited an hour before swimming after eating in case we got the cramp. As a diver, I often ate a hearty meal immediately before diving without, I believed, ill effect. Cramp, though uncomfortable, doesn’t cause a diver to drown. During my long career as a diving journalist, I … Read more
Gary and Kat Vanhoeck set off from Britain with the intention of sailing around the Caribbean in their little sloop. Despite their European name, they were very modest people from Lincolnshire, a farming area of Britain, and rather like some others who set off from the Lincolnshire coastal town of Boston some centuries before: They were … Read more
“Genie”, who passed away on February 25th 2015 at the age of 92, was a star so bright in my life that I feel cast into darkness. But my sadness is tempered by my good fortune of having her as a friend and mentor for 25 years – you should be so lucky. Genie guided … Read more
It was back in 1993 that rebreather evangalist Peter Readey first introduced me to the pleasures of rebreather diving. I was meant to do his pioneering course with Martha Holmes, a producer/presenter for the BBC, but her employer decided this diving technology was far too hazardous and after the first day she went off to … Read more
