Archive for June, 2011

How do dives use scuba gear underwater?

Cause I want to be one.

When you go diving, there are four primary systems that you need to work with. The first, the exposure system, is quite simple- there’s just your wet/dry suit, gloves, hood, boots etc, as you will need depending on the temperature of the water and the depth that you plan to dive down to.

The second system is the buoyancy control system- you have a weight belt, of varying mass depending on your body weight. You just clip that on before you dive, around your waist, and you shouldn’t need to touch it again during the dive unless there’s an emergency and you need to go up to the surface as soon as you can- then you use the quick release lever to undo it and ditch the weight belt so that you ascend.

In the buoyancy control system, you also have a BCD vest full of air over your wet suit; you put that on before you dive, and then you can add air inside it from your tank, or vent air from it, by using two buttons on the end of a tube that comes off it. More air will make you more positively buoyant (you start floating up), and less air will make you negatively buoyant (you start sinking)- the aim is to be neutrally buoyant, so that you are going neither up or down, then you have more control over your movements underwater. This is also more difficult and needs a lot of adjusting since air changes density as you go deeper underwater- you’ll need to add more air as you descend, and vent air as you go up.

The third system is the air delivery system, which is also relatively simple- just your tank, strapped to your back, and two hoses coming out of it with a mouthpiece each- your primary and your emergency regulators, which you breath from. There’s a button to remove any water from them, but apart from that, they’re quite simple.

The fourth system is the information system- gauges to tell you how much air you have left and how deep you are. These are on the end of long tubes, and they’re fairly easy to read.

Oh, and apart from that, there’s your mask and your fins, but they’re also really simple.

The training is fairly easy to get into basic diving; I qualified over a weekend, having done four evenings of theory class before that. It’s quite fun though, and a great experience. 🙂

2004 Papua New Guinea Paradise Sport

Pete and Cheryl’s Scuba diving vacation on the Mike Ball Paradise Sport in Papua New Guinea. This video was shot for us by the Mike Ball crew member Uzi.

Duration : 0:39:36

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Do you love to wreck dive? Click to browse the world’s top Dive Resorts & Scuba Liveaboards at http://scubadivergirls.com/travel/ or call our Scuba Diver Girls travel agents at 858-926-5565

The girls head out to the Miss Opportunity off the island of St. Thomas with Admiralty Dive http://admiraltydive.com/. We were able to swim through the wreck from end to end! It was absolutely beautiful! We even saw a little sea turtle just outside and stopped to film him as he swam by!

Thanks to the USVI Department of Tourism http://www.usvitourism.vi/ for making this trip possible.

Thank you to Equinox Housings for supplying the camera and housings for this dive. http://www.equinoxhousings.com/

Thank you to Aqualung http://www.aqualung.com/ for providing all the travel dive gear for this trip.

Duration : 0:3:29

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How to adjust the sideplates of the TransPac scuba harness in order to get the right fit and support.

Duration : 0:1:26

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Wreck Diving with Force Fins

Explore the Wreck of the John J. Audubon. She rests in 180 FFW in Lake Huron and is still intact enough to answer questions about her era of shipping as well as bring question to her demise. The reports from the October 20th 1854 collision with the Defiance, claim the Audubon was struck midships, yet the wreck reveals only a massive split to the bow section.

The Ocean Futures Society Dive Team explored this wreck using both Open Circuit (SCUBA) and Closed Circuit mixed gas to complete their survey. They also used Force Fins. The Closed Circuit Rebreather divers are using the Tan Delta Excellerating Force Fins while the Open Circuit divers are using the OPS Force Fin in the Tan Delta material and the Excellerating Force Fin in the Original polyurethane material.
The team had been filming segments for the PBS Ocean Adventures series and this was the first and only fresh water stop. They had one shot to make the dive and when they left the harbor there was thunder, lighting and rain, but under the guidance and support of Captain Luke Clyburn and the sea cadets they made the dive in between storms and experienced how fast Lake Huron’s weather can change. Reports from the Dive Team said they experienced almost no light to bright conditions changing very rapidly while underwater with the passing storms. The closest you get to the wreck is with the OPS Force Fin which is made exclusively for Jean Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Futures Society Dive Team. It has a long narrow blade that tapers to a point, to draw water similar to the way in which water wicks to the end of a leaf. When you kick it oscillates like an eel! When locked into its flat position, the blade is flexible. Twist the blade at its point of attachment to stiffen the blade and shorten the oscillation for more sprint acceleration, when confronting current!

The Excellerating Force Fin is the other star of the show as this blade was chosen by the CCR divers that are carrying the lights. The Excellerating Force Fin feature a long, scooped blade with recoiling underside ribs that catapult you forward for instant acceleration. Clean leading edges for turbulence-free, rapid response to changes in direction and tapered trailing edges snap for extra propulsion and is what most of the team flys.
http://www.forcefin.com/product/XCTD.html
Special thanks goes out to Russ Green, Program Operations Coordinator for Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, for his support, guidance and access to the finest ship wrecks in the area.
Please support education, exploration and preservation!
http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/index.html
http://www.oceanfutures.org/
http://www.greatlakesdivision.org/
http://thunderbay.noaa.gov/

Thank you for your support

Duration : 0:2:29

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