Yesterday I went to Beneath the Sea and really enjoyed it. I don't go every year, I go every few years and for some reason this year I got a lot out of it.
I have been looking at getting into underwater videograpy and really enjoyed the large number of vendors of video housings that I could evaluate and compare. I really was impressed with Equinox and feel that I am going to bite the bullet and invest in this housing. I am going to first obtain a new video camcorder that works well in low light and take it from there. Hopefully I'll get setup for this dive season. I am new into this and still want to get more advise from other divers that have already invested in this. My Sealife camera has let me down so I don't want to invest in a video system without being sure it will suit my purposes.
I also really liked the Liquivision trimix computer. I was first drawn to it because of the bright neon yellow display. I need reading glasses and even with lenses in my mask, I have trouble reading my gauges in the dark NJ waters. I saw this computer and thought this is the answer. I later learned in talking to the rep. that you can adjust the font size too. This computer utilized a tap interface which was really nice too. The only problem was the price tag....a little pricey.
I have been wanting to buy Arctic weight Fourth Element dive underwear ever since my friend Helen, raved about how warm she it in this product. I ended up buying a full set yesterday. I will be warm this year!!! I got my drysuit back from Bare last week with new wrist seals and valves. It was leak tested and currently has no leaks. Between being dry and my new underwear...I am confident that those early season cold water dives will be warm.
Here are the links for the products I am referencing if you want to check them out:
Equinox; Liquivision; Fourth Element
It wasn't very crowded yesterday, I guess its a sign of the economic times. I only saw one old dive friend out of the corner of my eye. I never ran into him the rest of the show so, I didn't even get to exchange a hello. Maybe I'll see him again someday.
The dive season is approaching quickly and I am ready to roll. I have signed up for some awesome deeper dives this year and just pray the weather cooperates. We are working on getting our boat in the water by the end of April so we can get in a few shallow dives before my first deeper dive to the Northern Pacific in early June.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Nova Scotia 1991
In September of 1991 I went on an adventure to dive wrecks out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Little did I know at the time, but it would be some of the most challenging wreck diving I would ever do. I dove in Ketch Harbor for bottles and also the wrecks called the Deliverance, Lititia, Sonja Marsh and Zoe. I remember it was very cold both in and out of the water. We camped via motorhomes and tents and you never quite got warm the entire trip, after all it was September. Once unique characteristic about diving in Nova Scotia is the pink algae growing on the rocks which made it very beautiful.
There were a lot of laughs on this trip. There was a bunch of guys that bickered the whole time as if they were kids on a family road trip. They made the trip a lot of fun. In fact, there is one story of the "boys" that remains in my memory. It is the story of the disappearance of Franz's drysuit. He had his drysuit in the cargo hold on the bottom of the motorhome. Someone, I won't name any names, forgot to latch the hold. Well, when was time to get ready to dive, the drysuit was gone. Somehow the drysuit fell out of the cargo hold and was out there on one of the hilly Nova Scotia roads. We all backtracked and tried to find it to no avail. The drysuit was gone, and no where to be found. The "boys" fought the rest of the trip over whom did not lock the cargo hold. Meanwhile, Franz had the task of finding a drysuit or wetsuit to dive in the rest of the week. If my memory is correct, he found a drysuit but it was a tad small. I heard a year or two later that Franz's drysuit was spotted at a yard sale. I suppose someone came along and found the drysuit in the road, picked it up, and probably didn't even know what it was, held onto it and tried to sell it at the yard sale years later. This would explain why we could not find it when we backtracked our route. This is just one story of the many during this adventure to Nova Scotia.
Unfortunately I did not have an underwater camera for this trip so the pictures are topside only. In fact, I didn't even remember that I had these pictures, I thought I only had one or two pictures of the whole trip. In digging through all of my slides I found quite a few more. I did get an artifact on this trip, it was a drain grate from the Zoe. Although it was insignificant next to some other magnificent artifacts that were obtained by other divers.
During this trip we also visited the Halifax Citadel, a restored fort, and the Bay of Fundy National Park. I have yearned for a long time to go back to Nova Scotia to dive again. Maybe someday...
Press Play to watch the slide show
I want to thank Gene Peterson of Atlantic Divers for organizing this trip, I will never forget all the things that I accomplished as a diver on this adventure or the fact that Gene had faith in my diving capabilities. This is where my true passion for wreck diving began. It will always be a special memory for me.
There were a lot of laughs on this trip. There was a bunch of guys that bickered the whole time as if they were kids on a family road trip. They made the trip a lot of fun. In fact, there is one story of the "boys" that remains in my memory. It is the story of the disappearance of Franz's drysuit. He had his drysuit in the cargo hold on the bottom of the motorhome. Someone, I won't name any names, forgot to latch the hold. Well, when was time to get ready to dive, the drysuit was gone. Somehow the drysuit fell out of the cargo hold and was out there on one of the hilly Nova Scotia roads. We all backtracked and tried to find it to no avail. The drysuit was gone, and no where to be found. The "boys" fought the rest of the trip over whom did not lock the cargo hold. Meanwhile, Franz had the task of finding a drysuit or wetsuit to dive in the rest of the week. If my memory is correct, he found a drysuit but it was a tad small. I heard a year or two later that Franz's drysuit was spotted at a yard sale. I suppose someone came along and found the drysuit in the road, picked it up, and probably didn't even know what it was, held onto it and tried to sell it at the yard sale years later. This would explain why we could not find it when we backtracked our route. This is just one story of the many during this adventure to Nova Scotia.
Unfortunately I did not have an underwater camera for this trip so the pictures are topside only. In fact, I didn't even remember that I had these pictures, I thought I only had one or two pictures of the whole trip. In digging through all of my slides I found quite a few more. I did get an artifact on this trip, it was a drain grate from the Zoe. Although it was insignificant next to some other magnificent artifacts that were obtained by other divers.
During this trip we also visited the Halifax Citadel, a restored fort, and the Bay of Fundy National Park. I have yearned for a long time to go back to Nova Scotia to dive again. Maybe someday...
Press Play to watch the slide show
I want to thank Gene Peterson of Atlantic Divers for organizing this trip, I will never forget all the things that I accomplished as a diver on this adventure or the fact that Gene had faith in my diving capabilities. This is where my true passion for wreck diving began. It will always be a special memory for me.
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