Here we are in sunny Hawaii, except that somwone forgot to tell the weather gods that Hawaii was supposed to be sunny. The skys are gray and full of water which the mountain god drops on us occassionally. Oh well no matter, we are only here for a short stop on our journey to Micronesia. In fact it seems really short since our flight to Kosrae leaves at 5:25 in the morning which means we need to be at the airport at 3:00 am to check all of the luggage. The driver today told us we needed to arrive early because the Micronesians really knew how to pack it in so there would be a lot of luggage — heavy luggage. Having done this before, I am sure the luggage of choice is still Igloo.
We are currently waiting on Susan and Ian to arrive from Philidelphia so we can head out to dinner and then home for a power nap before we leave for the airport. Such is the glamourous life of international travel.
Soon after Ian and Susan arrive, we ventured out to dinner ata the Chart House on Waikiki Beach. Thank Goodness for Open Table, an iPhone App that leys you make reservations easily.
Dinner and Rebreather Diving with Leon Scamahorn
- Christa Landowski On a Pathfiner Rebreather
Last week was a busy week at Oceanic Ventures. Leon Scamahorn, CEO of Innerspace Systems Corporation, was on town on a whirlwind tour. He was in town to help us introduce the new Pathfinder Rebreather. This new diving rebreather was designed with a recreational diver in mind. It is small and compact and features a radial scrubber and their new ISCan electronics.
Dave and I got to try the new pathfinder rebreather during Eric’s Megalodon crossover training program with Leon and both Dave and I also did the Pathfinder Instructor Crossover program. Diving this new rebreather is awesome! It is light weight, simple to use and the electronics are state of the art. Additionally, the ISCan electronics is based on the CAN bus technology invented by BOSH for the auto and aerospace industries. This technology allows for dimple additions of optional devises like depth transducers and computers as well as allowing for in-field changing of components.
The technology behind the unit is cool but it retains the breathing characteristics of the Megalodon rebreathers including their water trapping capabilities and set-point tracking. But the Pathfinder, with its smaller packaging is ideal for a traveling, recreational diver or even a more advanced diver doing some light technical diving.
Of course, Dave and I were not the only people to get to try this new unit; twenty-four divers contributed $50.00 to the Oceanic Ventures Foundation to try the Pathfinder as well as the Megalodon rebreathers. They were treated to an introduction and orientation from the man of the hour, Leon Scamahorn who explained his diving and manufacturing philosophy and the thinking that went into these rebreathers. In talking to these divers afterwards, the $5,500 Pathfinder was of real interest and a few are even considering purchasing one of the rebreathers in the next few months. It looks like Dave and I will be busy!
Leon was also the keynote speaker at our Club Aquarius meeting at the Black Labrador. While his presentations at the demonstration were more technical, his evening presentation was centered more on people using their rebreathers. Leon is passionate about diving and he focuses on having fun while diving. Of course you cannot talk about InnerSpace Systems without a little technical history and product development, his presentation was mainly centered on people having fun while diving on his Company’s rebreathers. As he said “look at those smiling faces, they are all having fun!” For him that is the ultimate goal but he wants the fun to be done safely using the best life support equipment available – the Pathfinder and the Megalodon family of rebreathers.
Leon, the staff from Oceanic Ventures and our clients and friends donated their time and resources to help with the Oceanic Ventures Foundation and our goal of raising money for the Bonaventure Home For Boys in Grand Cayman. We are still tabulating the results but it appears we raised over $2,500 for the home. Thank you to everyone who helped with the event, donated items for the Sealed Bid Auction, bid on the items or paid to try the rebreathers in the pool I know the group in Cayman will appreciate the gift!
Over the next few weeks we will be setting up schedules to get the new rebreather divers diving on their new rebreathers. It will be a lot of fun. As always, we have room for more divers…
Here are some of the highlights from the event.
Need a reason to take that Trimix Course?
300ft down.. perfect reason for me to get hypoxic & expedition trimix certified. Such were the words of one of our clients, John Mittendorf. What was John talking about you ask? Well it seems a group of Swedish treasure hunters discovered a perfectly round object at the bottom of the Sea of Bethena off the coast of Sweden. According to the team, it is unusual because it is perfectly round and appears to have a “drag” clearing leading up to it.
Of course there are other reasons to take a Trimix course. Imagine being able to swim with huge sponges reaching out and up from the depths along the walls in Grand Cayman. Visit a turn of the century sailing ship in the Dry Tortugas or a WW II submarine from the United States and another from Germany; these await deep divers in the Dry Tortugas. There are some incredible sites waiting for Trimix divers around the world including, caves, wrecks and walls. Dave and I have been fortunate to have visited a number of them over the past few years and we are always looking for some other adventurous souls to join us.
John, may be right. This might just be the reason to continue his rebreather training to include Hypoxic and Expedition Trimix. Of course you will also need some practice in a dry suit.
Here is what CNN reported about the find:
From the Highlands to the Islands – A Tasting Event
Recently, David Morris and I were sipping on a special glass of uisge beatha, which was a recreation of the spirits carried by Shakelton on his Antarctic expedition when we both had an idea. Wouldn’t it be fun to do a Scotch whisky tasting? We did a bourbon tasting last year so it seemed only natural to shift our attention to Scotland. So, David being the resourceful person that he is came up with a plan and voila we had an event.
With a little more thinking, refinement and an ambassador or two, we have assembled a really fine event that will be a real treat for our Club Aquarius members and our guests. On February 23, we will be hosting Andrew Hyman, from Whyte and MacKay, who will be leading us on a tour of Scotland through our palettes. He has promised to bring us a selection of Whisky from The Dalmore Distillery and the Jura Distillery. To make this event even more special, we will be in the Whisky Bar of the Royal Oak Bar and Grille which is located at 3100 Westheimer. As Ann would say, this bar is decorated in old world stuffy so it is an appropriate location for our event.
If you are in the area or plan on being here, please join us for this special event. In order to bring enough whisky and hors d’oeuvres, we need to know you are coming. Please email us and let us know you will be joining us on 23 February 2012 at 7:00.
Open Water Side Mount Scuba Diving
- Photograph by Pete Nawrocky
If you look through the various diving publications or look at current diving trends on the internet, you will find references to side mount diving. Have you ever wondered why? In order to help answer that question we should first talk about what side mount diving is.
Like the name implies, in side mount diving, you mount the cylinders on your side instead of on your back. This is accomplished using some clips on the bottles and the d-rings on your buoyancy control device, BCD. You can see a diver in side mount gear in the photo above.
So now that you have a basic understanding of what it is, you may still be wondering why? Side mount divers have a variety of resons fro switching to this method of diving. Of course technical divers have been doing this style of diviing for a long time in order to squeeze into tighter spaces; but recreational divers are discovering new reasons to try it.
One reason given by these divers is the fact that you can carry the bottles to the water or better yet to the boat’s dive platform one at a time and then enter the water with no cylinder. This allows you to reduce the strain on your back especially when you get to hand the bottles back up to the crew and climb out of the water with no cylinders on at all.
Another reason is simply a gas supply issue. This is especially desirable if you are a heavy breather. By carrying two bottles, you have a larger gas supply and can remain underwater longer. Yes, guys, this means you can stay down as long as your wife. An additional benefit is that by changing the placement of the cylinders, side mount divers trim out better or obtain a better, horizontal posture underwater.
You may be asking that if it is simply a matter of mneung the bottles, why should I take a course to learn how to do it? That is a good question to ask. One of the things you will learn in class is how to configure your equipment to best carry the bottles. Another thing is the scheme of changing second stages as you swim underwater. In another lesson, you will learn how to deal with the bottles and the beginning and end of your dive so you don’t drop them to the bottom (a really bad thing especially when you are over a wall).
So, to put it simply, there is a lot of interest in lightinig the equipment load exiting or entering the boats for all of us. Side Mount divers also love the extra gas available! If you have not tried it, you should take a course and get started…it is a lot of fun.
To find out more about Open Water Side Mount diving, send Eric an email or leave a comment.
The next Open Water Side Mount Course is scheduled to begin 28 February 2012. Other classes are available. Email us for more information.
Andrew Trent Speaks at Club Aquarius
- Drew Trent and Ann Keibler
What a fun presentation Drew Trent, Vice President of Oceaneering’s Engineered Solutions Group, made at our Club Meeting last evening. It was a full house at the Black Labrador with no vacant seats available. For those of you who were not there, Drew spoke about a variety of topics including what his group does and their particiation in the BP incident in the Gulf. While he did not give a lot of particulars, he did talk about things his group and the ROV group did to help coordinate and bring a positive conclusion to that incident.
Of course, Drew also talked about his past life as a saturation diver in the North sea and his love of diving and sailing. He had photographs from these adventures as well as his early courses with Oceanic Ventures. He even recounted how a mixed gas dive supervisor was forced to take a series of diving courses beginning with the Principles of Technical diving through Trimix.
It was fun getting together with so many people to talk about diving and to have such an entertaining speaker. You can see photographs from the event by clicking here.
Don’t forget to put next month’s meeting on your calendar (23 February 2012). The topic is From the Highlands to the Islands – A Scotch Tasting Event .
