 |
|
The liveliest letters from the DIVER mailbag...
|
|
Before I did my first open-water dive, I had read the horror stories about what can happen to you while diving. Many of these situations seemed to be caused by over-confidence or simply panic.
I know divers who have done more than 200 dives but have only ever followed a dive leader. They go to 30-40m but have never advanced beyond their initial training.
When they finally lead a dive they go to 30m-plus thinking that they are fully prepared and that it isn't a particularly deep dive. Would you feel safe with this person?
I decided to find a dive partner of similar experience and we went on shallow dives to about 10m, shallower sometimes. We would create situations in these planned safe dives and overcome the issues calmly to build our skills.
We would do exercises such as stirring the silt up and then navigating safely back to land, both during the day and at night. I found these dives more challenging than going to 40m.
Who wants to find out if they can or can't cope with a situation only when their life or someone else's depends on it? I want to know that, in zero viz in any depth of water with a buddy who is panicking, I can control the situation and get us both safely back to land.
So before any diver starts saying that his or her training is better than anyone else's, ask yourself: do I fully understand my training? What else do I have to learn? Am I fully prepared in an emergency, and when did I last try an exercise to ensure that my skills are up to date?
I can't say that any particular style of training is the best, it's down to the aptitude of the diver. Why wait for a bad scare under water ? Learn from other people's mistakes.
And if divers brag about how good they are and that their training is the best, avoid diving with them. The only people they are trying to convince are themselves.
Danny Rivers, Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute
I write in response to Alan Thorn's letter Why Bother to Raise the Hunley? (September), and Dr Colin Martin's supporting letter (December).
As Chief Underwater Archaeologist for the US Navy and Project Manager for the recovery, excavation and ongoing research pertaining to HL Hunley, I believe both authors are misinformed about this Confederate submarine's historical and archaeological significance, and the professionalism of the scientific mission to recover, interpret and preserve it.
The problem seems to stem from the way in which the story was portrayed on British television. Channel 5 was permitted to rework the National Geographic Society's documentary for a British audience. I have not seen it but wish to clear up any erroneous information it may have presented.
Hunley was recovered because the site was four miles off South Carolina in only 9m of water and at considerable risk from looting, non-scientific salvage or other detrimental activities.
Collectors worldwide were making offers for pieces of the submarine, so government agencies worked with non-profit organisations in South Carolina to plan Hunley's recovery, excavation, conservation and long-term display.
Commercial gain never entered our discussions. There is no money to be made in restoring a national treasure to the public. The submarine is unique in its design, implementation and in the intriguing story of its crew. As an historical and technological first it ranks with the Wright Brothers' aircraft and the ironclad warship USS Monitor. It met all the criteria with which we in the USA judge what is historically and culturally significant, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hunley is a war grave, but there was wide concern that the crew's remains might be disturbed if the submarine were left on the seabed. Once recovered, those remains were treated with the highest degree of dignity, respect and honour. When all crew-members have been identified, they will be buried with full military honours.
Hunley's interdisciplinary research team from the USA and abroad is accomplishing a variety of tasks using 21st century technology, including "first-time-ever" research on the effects of industrial radiation, and is experimenting with new preservation techniques.
We have discovered a wealth of interesting - and surprising - information about Hunley's construction, mission and crew. More than just a converted steam boiler, it was a technological marvel with a sleek, hydrodynamic shape that was both practical and elegant.
Sophisticated machinery includes the hand-crank used for propulsion; a steering mechanism resembling an aircraft joystick; a counterweighted propeller shaft with handbrake mechanism; a wooden force bellows to pump fresh air into the crew compartment; and an innovative torpedo spar attached to the bottom of the prow. Numerous artefacts from the crew compartment reveal much about the lives of those aboard and help to identify each individual. More than 2000 items and 5000 samples have been collected.
I invite Mr Thorn, Dr Martin and the readers of Diver to come see the Hunley at the Warren Lasch Conservation Centre in Charleston, South Carolina, and witness the high degree of professionalism that the project and its participants represent. For more information please visit the Friends of the Hunley website at www.hunley.org
Dr Robert Neyland, Charleston, USA
I read with disbelief the article describing the beginners' guide to the Zenobia (Beginners' Luck, March). How could you print such irresponsible behaviour, without identifying it as such and vilifying those responsible? I have dived the Zenobia several times and could easily identify several dangerous practices:
1) There are few "deep" dives around Cyprus like Zenobia and HMS Cricket. Why was this group carrying out its deepest dives last?
2) Even I know that there are normally at least two visible thermoclines when descending onto the wreck. It seems that Daf Downes was allowed to dive with insufficient thermal protection, which he recognised too late.
3) This wreck was not sunk deliberately, nor in the manner your article describes. It is therefore not suitable for penetration by divers without specific training. This farce resulted in some divers "panicking" to get out. I hope they have not been too scarred by this debacle.
4) Very little light enters the wreck, partly due to its attitude, yet it seems that some divers were taken inside without torches!
5) The primary Zenobia expert is Octopus Diving in Larnaca, run by Ian McMurray. Its pedigree is vouched for in an article in Diver in September 1997. I also quote from another article (October 1999) which states: "Penetration [of the Zenobia] is only for the experienced."
Mike Impey
Comment: Thanks for your views on what is certainly a dive site that shouldn't be under-estimated. However, this was not portrayed as a "beginner's guide", as you suggest, simply entitled Beginner's Luck because this was a first for the writer and he had enjoyed it, and the photographer (on a separate dive) had not taken underwater pictures before. Diver tells it as it is about dives that have taken place, but that doesn't mean that we necessarily endorse every aspect described.
Good article on cold-weather diving recently (Central Heating, Free-Flow Beating, February). Here are a few additional tips for those southern cissy warmwater types like me:
Take a few towels and a couple of large waterproof plastic bags (bin liners are fine if tied) to keep them and your clothes dry.
Wear a wind/waterproof jacket/coat with a fleece liner between dives. Don't put it on over a really wet suit.
Have a shower cap to put over your woolly hat to keep it dry in rain or heavy seas.
Take soup with noodles or potatoes in a wide-brimmed flask (I've found Stanley to be the best).
Take high-carb/high-sugar snacks such as bananas or dates.
Take an extra hood so that you have a dry one for that second dive. Warm gloves are useful between dives for little cold handy-wandies.
Take an extra layer in case you're cold after the first dive (assuming that there's somewhere dry to put it on.
Forget about all that, and with the money you save, go dive somewhere warm.
Paul Lavender
I really enjoy Mystery Diver and was wondering, as I've been having huge trouble with Internet purchases, if you could test this area?
I just received an e-mail from one company that took 12 days to reply to my question. I feel this is too long. Also, certain sites are still displaying 2002 dates and have been saying that they will be updated soon for months.
Keep up all the great stuff!
James Belcher, London
Comment: Mystery Diver has already looked at some Internet sites and will cover more, but look out for our feature on the whole business of online shopping for dive gear next month.
I've been diving for just over three years, learning during a gap year and taking up the sport with a small university club. The club has basic equipment (BCs, regs, cylinders and weightbelts) but the entry cost for diving is still high, whether renting or buying kit.
I've managed to put together a near-full set at uni (a combination of loan cheques and secondhand kit), and am now short only of a set of regs. I can't decide which type to buy and there seem to be different opinions at every turn, usually from people who have tried only one or two regs.
For such an important piece of kit, at such a high price, it seems absurd to buy before trying a set out. Would you buy a car without a test drive?
So why is it that dive shops don't give the option of trying kit in the water? This would surely attract a lot of people in my predicament.
So come on someone, please open a shop where you can go and try kit before you buy it. If there already is one, then please shout about it.
Tim Stobart, Lancaster
Comment: Trying kit in advance? Surely that's what John Bantin is for, with Diver Tests carried out on your behalf! As it happens, we understand that Mike's in Chiswick now offers a "try-before-you-buy" facility by prior arrangement, at the new London School of Diving next door. Any other shop that can do the same closer to Lancaster, let us know.
In the March issue of Diver, Les Colbert writes that he believes the correct spelling of the popular East Midland dive site is "Guildenburgh". This has been the topic of many a conversation since we bought the site in 1985.
Gildenburgh Brickworks dates back to the 1890s and all maps from then through to our property deeds indicate the correct spelling as "Gildenburgh". This is confirmed by the wording on the bricks themselves. Observant divers can even find their own souvenir "Gildenburgh brick" while diving.
Guildenburgh Crescent is in Whittlesey, but this is a far newer development and we believe the road was named by someone in the local council not well up on local history!
The history of Gildenburgh is interesting. The quality of the extracted clay was said to be unparalleled, and the bricks made from it were of engineering grade, many with a white glaze for use in toilets and butcher's shops before glazed tiles were invented.
London Brick Company eventually bought out the brickworks and stopped clay extraction to eliminate competition. The lake filled up naturally, and the site became disused and derelict.
Regional diving clubs were given permission to dive the pit from the 1960s, and Cambridge City BSAC Branch 240 leased the water and sub-let to other clubs in the area.
When we bought the lake and its surrounding land we changed it from industrial to leisure use, renaming Gildenburgh Pit as Gildenburgh Water. The clubs that originally leased the property pay a reduced frequent-user fee and we thank them for their consistent support over the years.
Ian & Pauline Forster, Whittlesey
As a Shark Trust volunteer I would like to thank Diver for giving me the opportunity to do something positive on behalf of sharks, skates and rays at the London International Dive Show.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the show, I was struck by the public's apathy. People made the right noises, enthusiastically talking about how they have or would love to dive with sharks, but when asked if they wanted to find out how to help sharks, they mainly walked away.
If you take the recent Science article reported in Diver to its natural conclusion, an average 6% pa decline in hammerhead sharks would mean that this species will be extinct in under two years unless fishing practices are changed immediately. Other species such as the great white and tiger shark will follow shortly after.
On the journey home, I gazed at my two fossilised shark teeth purchased at the show and it struck me that this could be the only way we get to see sharks in the future. Born 400 million years ago. Died 2005. RIP.
Some people did express genuine concern and a willingness to help. Thank you to them - they stop me from despairing completely.
Lisa Chappell, Cardiff
I have pursued this wonderful sport all over the world for seven years. I don't want to sound like a tree-hugger, and certainly my knowledge of environmental matters was limited before I became a diver, but it seems to me that Joni Mitchell was right when she sang: "You don't know what you've got till it's gone".
Like many divers I have always found sharks magnificent and fascinating. In the Bahamas two years ago I had more encounters than I ever thought possible, and not only on dive-tourist feeding trips. I shall never forget these beautiful creatures swimming silently around us, unafraid and inquisitive, coming within inches before flicking away into the distance.
I had seen reef sharks before, but not this close and in such numbers. It makes me very sad when I read about how under pressure shark populations are around the world.
Imagine my dismay when I went into our local fish and chip shop last week and was offered a free shark steak with my chicken dinner! I didn't know which was worse, that the shop was helping to desecrate the environment or that it was giving the meat away free!
I asked the person serving how the shop could justify such a practice and he mumbled that I was quite right, and wasn't it shocking?
He then proceeded to ask the person next to me if he wanted a free shark steak with his fish and chips. It's not the staff's fault, of course, but I hope you will publish this letter and suitably shame the proprietor of Jack's Fish & Chip Shop, Station Road, Harpenden.
Martin Leach, Harpenden, Herts
Comment: We spoke to Joe at the shop, who told us that he had now stopped serving shark steak - because he couldn't get hold of it any more. He thought his suppliers might have come under pressure. So who knows, perhaps the message is getting through.
There is only one thing I can say about Diver: congratulations. I would also like to reply to a letter in the March edition, "Who Do They Think They Are?"
I live in Belgium and have been diving for about 20 years, with nearly 800 dives in different parts of the world, on holiday and in the North Sea and the southern Netherlands, I am a three-star CMAS diver and a PADI divemaster.
On holiday I have dived with different buddies, usually people I have met for the first time. I have met the sort of people so well described by Tony Gray. They call themselves "divers", but they can do little more than breathe under water.
You recognise a real diver by the way he acts on land, on the boat and in the water but certainly not by his certificate or the organisation to which he belongs - we can all become victim of diving accidents. You find assholes everywhere, so ignore them and act like a real diver. They might well learn something from you.
Steve Segers, Bruges, Belgium
As I was reading the Wreck Tour on the Hinrich Hey in April's Diver, I couldn't help noticing its strange cargo, in the shape of a Cadbury's Creme Egg near the boiler. Is this for real or just an April Fool/Easter gift? Great mag, best of the diving mags out there, thanks.
Dave Rigby, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Just wondering if it's a snack for divers, and how it would hold up under pressure. Did Cadburys make Creme Eggs in 1934?
Eddie Killeen, Enfield, Ireland
I am planning to dive this site next month and intend to recover the egg. However, could you advise me whether I would have to report this find to the Receiver or could I just swallow the evidence. How do you eat yours?
Mick Pritchard, Newcastle upon Tyne
Comment: We're so glad our readers have a sense of humour!
|
|
