German submarine U-352 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine during World War II.
1st patrol
U-352 left Kiel on 15 January 1942, and arrived at Bergen on the 19th. She left the next day and patrolled south of Iceland without success before sailing to her new home port at Saint-Nazaire by 26 February.
2nd patrol
U-352 left St. Nazaire on 7 April 1942 and sailed across the Atlantic to the coast of the north-eastern United States. There on 9 May 1942, she was sunk by depth charges from the US Coast Guard cutter USCGC Icarus, south of Morehead City, North Carolina, in position 34°21′N 76°35′WCoordinates: 34°21′N 76°35′W. Fifteen of the crew were lost, but 33 survived, and spent the remainder of the war as prisoners of war.
Dive site
The U-352 lies in about 100 feet (30 m) of water, and sits at a 45-degree list to starboard. This wreck is a popular scuba diving spot for advanced divers. A replica of the wreck is on display at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.
Heinz Richter
Heinz Karl Richter, a Maschinengefreiter (equivalent of a Fireman 3rd Class) who survived the sinking, was found living in Canada and was interviewed for Discovery Channel's special coverage of U-352. He said that Captain Rathke was obsessed with receiving a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross medal for sinking 100,000 tonnes worth of enemy ships. Richter said that the captain's obsession eventually led to recklessness, ultimately resulting in the ship's sinking. Richter also said he was the last man out of the boat before it sank; those still on board were already dead, or perished in the boat as it sank.
Video of U-352, sunk May 9, 1942, taken in July, 2011 while diving with Olympus dive charters located in Morehead, NC.
Lying on the bottom in approx. 100 ft of water 30+ miles from shore, heavy seas often prevent access to divers.
Thanks to Wikipedia for the article and Brian Spilsbury for the video.
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Be a smart diver
Join efforts to preserve dive experiences for future generations of divers by protecting and supporting your national marine sanctuaries.
Sharpen your skills. Mastering buoyancy control and streamlining your equipment will help minimize the risk of entanglement or accidental disturbance of the bottom. Even the slightest damage can permanently alter an entire ecosystem or historical shipwreck site.
Learn the proper techniques for shipwreck diving. When diving shipwrecks, always know the orientation of the wreck site and only enter the wreck if specifically trained to do so.
Be familiar with kelp diving procedures. Always swim below the surface of a kelp canopy and navigate with your compass. Don't panic or thrash around if entangled, slowly remove the kelp or have your buddy gently untangle it for you.
Respect marine wildlife. Enjoy viewing marine mammals and wildlife from a safe distance. Should you encounter marine mammals and observe nervous behavior, back away.
Don't collect underwater souvenirs - leave them behind for others to enjoy. Resist the temptation to collect shells, rocks or other underwater artifacts, because they provide homes for sea creatures. Additionally, removal of any historical artifacts is regulated by law.
Be a marine debris crusader. Once you finish your dive, make sure to carry away any trash you - and others - may have left behind. Beach litter poses a significant threat to the health and survival of marine organisms, which can swallow or get tangled in beverage containers, plastic bags, six-pack rings and other debris.
Thanks to National Marine Sanctuaries and Bing
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Sharpen your skills. Mastering buoyancy control and streamlining your equipment will help minimize the risk of entanglement or accidental disturbance of the bottom. Even the slightest damage can permanently alter an entire ecosystem or historical shipwreck site.
Learn the proper techniques for shipwreck diving. When diving shipwrecks, always know the orientation of the wreck site and only enter the wreck if specifically trained to do so.
Be familiar with kelp diving procedures. Always swim below the surface of a kelp canopy and navigate with your compass. Don't panic or thrash around if entangled, slowly remove the kelp or have your buddy gently untangle it for you.
Respect marine wildlife. Enjoy viewing marine mammals and wildlife from a safe distance. Should you encounter marine mammals and observe nervous behavior, back away.
Don't collect underwater souvenirs - leave them behind for others to enjoy. Resist the temptation to collect shells, rocks or other underwater artifacts, because they provide homes for sea creatures. Additionally, removal of any historical artifacts is regulated by law.
Be a marine debris crusader. Once you finish your dive, make sure to carry away any trash you - and others - may have left behind. Beach litter poses a significant threat to the health and survival of marine organisms, which can swallow or get tangled in beverage containers, plastic bags, six-pack rings and other debris.
Thanks to National Marine Sanctuaries and Bing
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Saturday, December 10, 2011
From milk bags to mats
Newmarket seniors help Haiti’s children
We’ve all heard milk “does a body good”, but seniors from Newmarket, Holland Landing and Sharon are taking it one step further.
The seniors are taking milk bags and doing good for children of Haiti.
There are nine women who meet once a month to crochet plastic mats out of milk bags.
The plastic mats are used to wrap medical supplies for shipping to Haiti, instead of using plastic wrap.
After, the mats are distributed to local children to sleep on.
It takes about 250 to 300 milk bags cut into two-inch strips to make one mat, said Jean Mennen, who brought the idea to other Holland Landing and Newmarket seniors after reading a pamphlet on how the mats can help.
“These would normally go in the garbage,” Ms Mennen said. “Now, these children have something to sleep on instead of sleeping on dirt.”
Milk bags are collected from hockey arenas, day care centres, churches and libraries.
“Everyone is amazed by the product in the end,” said Robin Ward, who collects and cuts milk bags for the women to crochet.
The main reason is to show people there are other uses for milk bags. They don’t have to go to a landfill and they can be used to help people, he said.
The different selections of milk, such as skim and 2-per-cent, which come in different coloured bags, make for a colourful selection, almost looking like a crocheted blanket.
“I used to separate the bags, 2 per cent over here, purple ones over there,” Ms Mennen said. “But it all comes out nice and colourful anyway.”
It takes almost a week to complete one mat, which is larger than one square metre.
The group sent 15 mats in February and is gearing up for another shipment later this month. The mats are sent to Haiti through Emmanuel International Canada, a non-profit organization that has been in Haiti since 1979.
Not only are the mats used as protective wrap for medical supplies and sleeping mats, they are also used during surgery.
“Sometimes, they don’t have linens,” Ms Mennen said. “So they use the mats, then wash them and reuse them.”
The mats also help protect children from parasitic infections, such as hookworm.
“Most people are still living in tents and sleeping on the ground,” Emmanuel International Canada executive director Richard McGowan said.
“These aren’t very thick, but it gets these children off the damp ground.”
To donate milk bags, you can drop them off at the Holland Landing Public Library or e-mail Robin Ward at sward225@rogers.com
Thanks to yorkregion.com
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
We’ve all heard milk “does a body good”, but seniors from Newmarket, Holland Landing and Sharon are taking it one step further.
The seniors are taking milk bags and doing good for children of Haiti.
There are nine women who meet once a month to crochet plastic mats out of milk bags.
The plastic mats are used to wrap medical supplies for shipping to Haiti, instead of using plastic wrap.
After, the mats are distributed to local children to sleep on.
It takes about 250 to 300 milk bags cut into two-inch strips to make one mat, said Jean Mennen, who brought the idea to other Holland Landing and Newmarket seniors after reading a pamphlet on how the mats can help.
“These would normally go in the garbage,” Ms Mennen said. “Now, these children have something to sleep on instead of sleeping on dirt.”
Milk bags are collected from hockey arenas, day care centres, churches and libraries.
“Everyone is amazed by the product in the end,” said Robin Ward, who collects and cuts milk bags for the women to crochet.
The main reason is to show people there are other uses for milk bags. They don’t have to go to a landfill and they can be used to help people, he said.
The different selections of milk, such as skim and 2-per-cent, which come in different coloured bags, make for a colourful selection, almost looking like a crocheted blanket.
“I used to separate the bags, 2 per cent over here, purple ones over there,” Ms Mennen said. “But it all comes out nice and colourful anyway.”
It takes almost a week to complete one mat, which is larger than one square metre.
The group sent 15 mats in February and is gearing up for another shipment later this month. The mats are sent to Haiti through Emmanuel International Canada, a non-profit organization that has been in Haiti since 1979.
Not only are the mats used as protective wrap for medical supplies and sleeping mats, they are also used during surgery.
“Sometimes, they don’t have linens,” Ms Mennen said. “So they use the mats, then wash them and reuse them.”
The mats also help protect children from parasitic infections, such as hookworm.
“Most people are still living in tents and sleeping on the ground,” Emmanuel International Canada executive director Richard McGowan said.
“These aren’t very thick, but it gets these children off the damp ground.”
To donate milk bags, you can drop them off at the Holland Landing Public Library or e-mail Robin Ward at sward225@rogers.com
Thanks to yorkregion.com
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Secrets of the Deep
Has Nova Scotia put its treasure hunters — and the bounty they seek — at risk of extinction?
AT 40 METRES LONG and 540 tonnes, the Chameau was a powerful frigate, designed to carry people and goods to New France and take natural resources back to Europe. She was a fast ship but a cranky one; when the weather got bad, she would toss like a toy boat in a bathtub. On her final voyage, the Chameau was carrying approximately 100,000 livres in gold, silver, and copper — along with 316 passengers, including the newly appointed intendant of New France. As she approached the coast of Nova Scotia in August 1725, a southeast wind rocked the waters. By nightfall, a squall had brewed, thrashing the vessel. It plunged into a reef, where it broke apart and sank into the depths. There were no survivors. Most perished in the storm; those who didn’t were either consumed by the undertow, or died from exhaustion after washing ashore near the fort town of Louisbourg.
In 1961, twenty-three-year-old Louisbourg transplant Alex Storm was thumbing through a history of his adopted home, by then a fishing community. His interest was piqued by the story of the Chameau. A recent émigré from Indonesia, where his family had been imprisoned in Japanese-run internment camps during World War II, he had settled in Nova Scotia and volunteered for a position aboard the Marion Kent. Taking advantage of the circumstances, he dove near Chameau Rock, the ostensible site of the wreck, and came upon a cluster of some twenty cannons, strewn alongside anchors and guns. “It was a solemn moment, because I knew that no one had seen it since the night when the ship wrecked,” he recalls from his home nearby. But the expedition yielded more than history: glinting among the ruins was a single silver four-livre piece, embossed with the year 1724 and a portrait of King Louis XV.
The coin was a small discovery, but one that set Storm on a mission to find the rest of the Chameau’s loot. He took a job with an underwater archaeologist and, in his spare time, familiarized himself with eighteenth-century ships, and gathered weather reports and ocean current data from the night the Chameau went down. He assembled a team of divers, and in 1965 located the ship’s final resting place. There, along the gully and the cracks in the bedrock, Storm found his treasure: over 2,000 gold louis d’or coins and more than 11,000 silver livres, which later sold for untold millions at auction.
His discovery was a watershed moment in the province, the first time a treasure wreck was discovered by a recreational diver. “Alex Storm is the grandfather of it all,” says Terry Dwyer, a shipwreck expert and explorer. “He probably initiated the industry of searching for shipwrecks for treasure hunting and for salvage.” Dwyer, a thirty-year veteran, has uncovered his own share of historical ruins: in the summer of 2000, he located the Anna, a full-rigged British ship that had sunk off St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia, in 1874. In 2009, his team found parts of the Sovereign, another British ship that sank near the end of the War of 1812.
Nova Scotia holds special prestige for marine treasure hunters. Navies, cargo ships, privateers, and fishermen have sailed its waters for hundreds of years. Its traffic, as well as its rugged, stark coastlines, have left an astonishing number of shipwrecks dotting the ocean floor. A study released by the provincial government estimates that its coastal waters might hold upwards of 10,000 shipwrecks, compared with 50,000 in the entire United States.
But the provincial government has put an end to the industry Storm set in motion. Since 1954, the interests of private hunters have been secured by the Treasure Trove Act, a unique piece of legislation that permitted the salvaging of treasure (defined as “precious stones or metals in a state other than their natural state”) from shipwrecks. At the beginning of this year, the province repealed the act, following a recommendation from a provincial task force, which cited the need to protect Nova Scotia’s underwater cultural heritage.
The repeal may ensure that Nova Scotia’s heritage stays in the province, but it raises an entirely new problem: without private sector salvagers, no one would find anything. The province lacks the resources to even locate (much less recover) shipwrecks, and the treasure hunting report suggests that a handful of profit-motivated parties — divers and private companies — are responsible for the bulk of underwater discoveries so far; both Storm and Dwyer estimate that number to be close to 99 percent.
Clearly, heritage alone is not enough to motivate the recovery of underwater artifacts; it is the promise of gold that sets salvagers’ hearts racing. For Storm, that silver piece was only the beginning. After auctioning off his gold coins from the Chameau for between $3,000 and $8,000 apiece, he continued to chase riches. In 1968, he located the remains of HMS Feversham, a seventeenth-century British warship, part of a fleet sent to attack Quebec. Although glittering prizes were always his ultimate goal, the lure of adventure — like that of the stout-hearted sailors in his history books — gave him momentum. “Just like a mountain climber, you need to climb the mountain because it’s there,” Storm says, in his lilting East Coast brogue. Now in his seventies, he is distinguished by a coarse white beard and skin tanned from years of seafaring.
He has retired from diving, but he worries that outlawing treasure hunting may leave these historical sites to fade away beneath the currents. The province’s decision brought it in line with UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, a document that privileges in situ preservation over excavation. While this makes sense for some locations, strong evidence suggests that the powerful wave movements along Nova Scotia’s coastline put wrecks at risk of deterioration. “The ships are disappearing,” Storm states plainly. “Natural electrolysis on the sea bottom is diminishing the metal until it’s all gone, and biological agents eat up the woodwork, because it’s organic.”
With them will go a significant chunk of the province’s history. The Chameau, the Feversham, and the Sovereign have been rescued, but others, such as the British warship HMS Tilbury and the treasure ship Triton, have yet to be recovered.
For now, these vessels will languish underwater. And while they dwindle, rogue explorers like Storm — sea-weathered adventurers with the wits, skills, and fortitude to unearth the mysteries of the deep — risk extinction. “We all know that when you’re motivated by silver and gold, that’s romance,” Storm says with a chuckle. “Anybody who is not is nuts.”
Thanks to The Walrus
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
AT 40 METRES LONG and 540 tonnes, the Chameau was a powerful frigate, designed to carry people and goods to New France and take natural resources back to Europe. She was a fast ship but a cranky one; when the weather got bad, she would toss like a toy boat in a bathtub. On her final voyage, the Chameau was carrying approximately 100,000 livres in gold, silver, and copper — along with 316 passengers, including the newly appointed intendant of New France. As she approached the coast of Nova Scotia in August 1725, a southeast wind rocked the waters. By nightfall, a squall had brewed, thrashing the vessel. It plunged into a reef, where it broke apart and sank into the depths. There were no survivors. Most perished in the storm; those who didn’t were either consumed by the undertow, or died from exhaustion after washing ashore near the fort town of Louisbourg.
In 1961, twenty-three-year-old Louisbourg transplant Alex Storm was thumbing through a history of his adopted home, by then a fishing community. His interest was piqued by the story of the Chameau. A recent émigré from Indonesia, where his family had been imprisoned in Japanese-run internment camps during World War II, he had settled in Nova Scotia and volunteered for a position aboard the Marion Kent. Taking advantage of the circumstances, he dove near Chameau Rock, the ostensible site of the wreck, and came upon a cluster of some twenty cannons, strewn alongside anchors and guns. “It was a solemn moment, because I knew that no one had seen it since the night when the ship wrecked,” he recalls from his home nearby. But the expedition yielded more than history: glinting among the ruins was a single silver four-livre piece, embossed with the year 1724 and a portrait of King Louis XV.
The coin was a small discovery, but one that set Storm on a mission to find the rest of the Chameau’s loot. He took a job with an underwater archaeologist and, in his spare time, familiarized himself with eighteenth-century ships, and gathered weather reports and ocean current data from the night the Chameau went down. He assembled a team of divers, and in 1965 located the ship’s final resting place. There, along the gully and the cracks in the bedrock, Storm found his treasure: over 2,000 gold louis d’or coins and more than 11,000 silver livres, which later sold for untold millions at auction.
His discovery was a watershed moment in the province, the first time a treasure wreck was discovered by a recreational diver. “Alex Storm is the grandfather of it all,” says Terry Dwyer, a shipwreck expert and explorer. “He probably initiated the industry of searching for shipwrecks for treasure hunting and for salvage.” Dwyer, a thirty-year veteran, has uncovered his own share of historical ruins: in the summer of 2000, he located the Anna, a full-rigged British ship that had sunk off St. Paul Island, Nova Scotia, in 1874. In 2009, his team found parts of the Sovereign, another British ship that sank near the end of the War of 1812.
Nova Scotia holds special prestige for marine treasure hunters. Navies, cargo ships, privateers, and fishermen have sailed its waters for hundreds of years. Its traffic, as well as its rugged, stark coastlines, have left an astonishing number of shipwrecks dotting the ocean floor. A study released by the provincial government estimates that its coastal waters might hold upwards of 10,000 shipwrecks, compared with 50,000 in the entire United States.
But the provincial government has put an end to the industry Storm set in motion. Since 1954, the interests of private hunters have been secured by the Treasure Trove Act, a unique piece of legislation that permitted the salvaging of treasure (defined as “precious stones or metals in a state other than their natural state”) from shipwrecks. At the beginning of this year, the province repealed the act, following a recommendation from a provincial task force, which cited the need to protect Nova Scotia’s underwater cultural heritage.
The repeal may ensure that Nova Scotia’s heritage stays in the province, but it raises an entirely new problem: without private sector salvagers, no one would find anything. The province lacks the resources to even locate (much less recover) shipwrecks, and the treasure hunting report suggests that a handful of profit-motivated parties — divers and private companies — are responsible for the bulk of underwater discoveries so far; both Storm and Dwyer estimate that number to be close to 99 percent.
Clearly, heritage alone is not enough to motivate the recovery of underwater artifacts; it is the promise of gold that sets salvagers’ hearts racing. For Storm, that silver piece was only the beginning. After auctioning off his gold coins from the Chameau for between $3,000 and $8,000 apiece, he continued to chase riches. In 1968, he located the remains of HMS Feversham, a seventeenth-century British warship, part of a fleet sent to attack Quebec. Although glittering prizes were always his ultimate goal, the lure of adventure — like that of the stout-hearted sailors in his history books — gave him momentum. “Just like a mountain climber, you need to climb the mountain because it’s there,” Storm says, in his lilting East Coast brogue. Now in his seventies, he is distinguished by a coarse white beard and skin tanned from years of seafaring.
He has retired from diving, but he worries that outlawing treasure hunting may leave these historical sites to fade away beneath the currents. The province’s decision brought it in line with UNESCO’s Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, a document that privileges in situ preservation over excavation. While this makes sense for some locations, strong evidence suggests that the powerful wave movements along Nova Scotia’s coastline put wrecks at risk of deterioration. “The ships are disappearing,” Storm states plainly. “Natural electrolysis on the sea bottom is diminishing the metal until it’s all gone, and biological agents eat up the woodwork, because it’s organic.”
With them will go a significant chunk of the province’s history. The Chameau, the Feversham, and the Sovereign have been rescued, but others, such as the British warship HMS Tilbury and the treasure ship Triton, have yet to be recovered.
For now, these vessels will languish underwater. And while they dwindle, rogue explorers like Storm — sea-weathered adventurers with the wits, skills, and fortitude to unearth the mysteries of the deep — risk extinction. “We all know that when you’re motivated by silver and gold, that’s romance,” Storm says with a chuckle. “Anybody who is not is nuts.”
Thanks to The Walrus
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Monday, December 5, 2011
Florida Diver Breaks World’s Record For Longest Saltwater Dive
Florida scuba diver Allen Sherrod set a new world record Saturday in South Florida for the longest scuba dive in saltwater.
Sherrod’s breaking record: 48 hours and 13 minutes. The old record for the longest saltwater dive was held by William Gordon, a United Kingdom diver who set it in January 2010 in Lombok, Indonesia. Gordon’s record was 48 hours, 8 minutes and 7 seconds.
This was Sherrod’s second attempt to break the record. On Friday, his wife said he was on track to complete the task even though he’ll leave the water earlier than anticipated.
Sherrod wanted to stay in the water until noon Saturday, but then decided to even cut that goal short due to expected rough surf, which makes it difficult for safety divers to bring him air tanks.
Divers with his safety team were pounded by the surf and sea conditions overnight as they carried fresh air tanks out to him. Some divers lost gear; others returning to shore were swept far south of the Windjammer by strong currents.
But surely enough, Sherrod surfaced at 10:25 a.m. on Saturday, breaking the current world record by just under 5 minutes.
A crowd of supporters and members of his dive safety team applauded when Sherrod emerged. Divers helped Sherrod walk up to the beach, where Volunteer Fire Department Beach Patrol members and paramedics were waiting to transport him to his hotel room.
Once there, paramedics with American Medical Response checked his blood pressure and other vital signs, according to Steve d’Oliveira with the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.
The back of Sherrod’s knees were bruised from the trip. His hands were also visibly puffed up from two days of exposure underwater, d’Oliveira said. As he emerged from the ocean, he also needed assistance walking.
He spoke to the media and thanked his dive safety team and Gold Coast Scuba, a Lauderdale-By-The-Sea dive shop which supported his efforts.
“I was glad I was able to break the record in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, the Shore Dive Capital of South Florida,” he said.
Sherrod, who is from Groveland, Florida, went into the water Thursday morning just after 10 a.m. by the Windjammer Resort, which is off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. He’s in about 15-feet of water and is also eating, drinking and sleeping underwater.
“All I have to do is stay three days,” said Sherrod on Thursday before he began his lengthy dive. “Just think about this when you get a three day weekend off from work, it is never long enough.”
On Friday, Debby Sherrod told CBS4 News that Allen was “doing wonderful and the safety divers are doing an impressive job.”
Sherrod set up his temporary ocean residence in about 15 feet of water near the Town’s newest artificial reef, which stimulates coral growth by using a low-level electric current fed by solar panels.
The buoys housing the panels are being repaired after they were damaged by rough seas earlier this year. The artificial reef is about 250 yards offshore and just south of the Windjammer Resort.
A NAUI diving instructor for 11 years, Sherrod chose the Town’s coral reefs because they are close to the beach, according to the city.
A popular spot for beach divers because of its near-shore coral reefs, the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea was declared the “Shore Dive Capital of South Florida” by the Broward County Commission in September 1997.
Nicknamed “the grouper” by Windjammer Resort General Manager John Boutin, Sherrod recently set a world record for the longest freshwater scuba dive in Central Florida (five days). During the attempt, he said he lost six pounds.
During the dive Sherrod limited his food intake Gatorade and chocolate Ensure. He also slept, but not for very long.
Sherrod first attempted to break the record on Oct. 25. He cut short the effort after just 12 hours, when worsening sea conditions posed a threat to his safety divers.
Thanks to:::CBS Miami
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Sherrod’s breaking record: 48 hours and 13 minutes. The old record for the longest saltwater dive was held by William Gordon, a United Kingdom diver who set it in January 2010 in Lombok, Indonesia. Gordon’s record was 48 hours, 8 minutes and 7 seconds.
This was Sherrod’s second attempt to break the record. On Friday, his wife said he was on track to complete the task even though he’ll leave the water earlier than anticipated.
Sherrod wanted to stay in the water until noon Saturday, but then decided to even cut that goal short due to expected rough surf, which makes it difficult for safety divers to bring him air tanks.
Divers with his safety team were pounded by the surf and sea conditions overnight as they carried fresh air tanks out to him. Some divers lost gear; others returning to shore were swept far south of the Windjammer by strong currents.
But surely enough, Sherrod surfaced at 10:25 a.m. on Saturday, breaking the current world record by just under 5 minutes.
A crowd of supporters and members of his dive safety team applauded when Sherrod emerged. Divers helped Sherrod walk up to the beach, where Volunteer Fire Department Beach Patrol members and paramedics were waiting to transport him to his hotel room.
Once there, paramedics with American Medical Response checked his blood pressure and other vital signs, according to Steve d’Oliveira with the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea.
The back of Sherrod’s knees were bruised from the trip. His hands were also visibly puffed up from two days of exposure underwater, d’Oliveira said. As he emerged from the ocean, he also needed assistance walking.
He spoke to the media and thanked his dive safety team and Gold Coast Scuba, a Lauderdale-By-The-Sea dive shop which supported his efforts.
“I was glad I was able to break the record in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, the Shore Dive Capital of South Florida,” he said.
Sherrod, who is from Groveland, Florida, went into the water Thursday morning just after 10 a.m. by the Windjammer Resort, which is off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. He’s in about 15-feet of water and is also eating, drinking and sleeping underwater.
“All I have to do is stay three days,” said Sherrod on Thursday before he began his lengthy dive. “Just think about this when you get a three day weekend off from work, it is never long enough.”
On Friday, Debby Sherrod told CBS4 News that Allen was “doing wonderful and the safety divers are doing an impressive job.”
Sherrod set up his temporary ocean residence in about 15 feet of water near the Town’s newest artificial reef, which stimulates coral growth by using a low-level electric current fed by solar panels.
The buoys housing the panels are being repaired after they were damaged by rough seas earlier this year. The artificial reef is about 250 yards offshore and just south of the Windjammer Resort.
A NAUI diving instructor for 11 years, Sherrod chose the Town’s coral reefs because they are close to the beach, according to the city.
A popular spot for beach divers because of its near-shore coral reefs, the Town of Lauderdale-By-The-Sea was declared the “Shore Dive Capital of South Florida” by the Broward County Commission in September 1997.
Nicknamed “the grouper” by Windjammer Resort General Manager John Boutin, Sherrod recently set a world record for the longest freshwater scuba dive in Central Florida (five days). During the attempt, he said he lost six pounds.
During the dive Sherrod limited his food intake Gatorade and chocolate Ensure. He also slept, but not for very long.
Sherrod first attempted to break the record on Oct. 25. He cut short the effort after just 12 hours, when worsening sea conditions posed a threat to his safety divers.
Thanks to:::CBS Miami
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Friday, December 2, 2011
Breaking through barriers
Eight feet below the surface of the water in the Florida Keys, Matt Johnston became the world’s first ventilator-dependent person to dive in the ocean.
With that dive on the Hen and Chickens coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Matt realized his dream. But his feat also showed others with physical disabilities that they should not be discouraged from following their own dreams.
Matt has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, so the dive was made via a hose connected to a ventilator on the surface. An alternative that would make the dive easier and allow him to go deeper involves a life support system consisting of a half ventilator and half regulator. But in the Keys, eight feet was deep enough to open up a new world for him.
There were colourful corals “and the turtles were awesome.” A barracuda came menacingly close. A shark circled 15 feet away from Matt and his two support divers.
“I’m a shark guy,” says Matt, adding that he was not frightened by the shark’s presence.
His precedent-setting dive in November of 2006 was followed the next year by another in Key Largo above an underwater hotel.
To participate in diving, Matt needs an instructor and a rescue diver. “I have to put all my trust in them,” he says.
Over the years, he has received emails inquiring about scuba diving from other people on ventilators.
His trail blazing in ventilator-dependent persons’ diving has also gained him recognition in diving museum in the Keys.
For Matt, diving is therapeutic. “It helps me relax. I have no pain of any kind (in the water) but my body aches all the time on the surface.”
Now, he’s working on a book about his life story. So far, it’s up to 27 pages – and counting.
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
With that dive on the Hen and Chickens coral reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Matt realized his dream. But his feat also showed others with physical disabilities that they should not be discouraged from following their own dreams.
Matt has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, so the dive was made via a hose connected to a ventilator on the surface. An alternative that would make the dive easier and allow him to go deeper involves a life support system consisting of a half ventilator and half regulator. But in the Keys, eight feet was deep enough to open up a new world for him.
There were colourful corals “and the turtles were awesome.” A barracuda came menacingly close. A shark circled 15 feet away from Matt and his two support divers.
“I’m a shark guy,” says Matt, adding that he was not frightened by the shark’s presence.
His precedent-setting dive in November of 2006 was followed the next year by another in Key Largo above an underwater hotel.
To participate in diving, Matt needs an instructor and a rescue diver. “I have to put all my trust in them,” he says.
Over the years, he has received emails inquiring about scuba diving from other people on ventilators.
His trail blazing in ventilator-dependent persons’ diving has also gained him recognition in diving museum in the Keys.
For Matt, diving is therapeutic. “It helps me relax. I have no pain of any kind (in the water) but my body aches all the time on the surface.”
Now, he’s working on a book about his life story. So far, it’s up to 27 pages – and counting.
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
Thursday, December 1, 2011
4 Effective Strategies In Preserving Air While Underwater
Air consumption is very important for your diving success.The longer you last underwater, the more air is required from you. If you have just started your scuba diving lessons and conserving air while underwater is one of your main problem, there are some simple steps you can take to perfect your breathing technique and last longer underwater.
1. Increse your diving routine. This might sound like a cliche, but definitely you really have to learn to be comfortable with water. Find time to dive more to be totally comfortable with water. Diving most often will help you relax your muscles while in the water. Ever notice how your air consumption have dramatically decreased since the first time you dive to your recent dive? I bet you have observed a decrease in you air consumption. This is so because your body was able to finally compensate to your air requirements while underwater and relaxes your muscle.
2. Practice deep and slow breathing. Short and shallow breaths will make you lose air more easily. Breathe deeply and then slowly exhale. Avoid holding your breath just to decrease your air consumption. You will only retract your diaphragm, which increases your air consumption which could lead to physical exhaustion while underwater. So avoid holding your breath if you want to last longer in water.
3. Avoid any unnecessary movements while underwater. When diving, avoid moving too often. Use your fins when moving. The more you move the more air you will consume. Place your hands either at your side or in front of you. Actually, it can be any position you would feel comfortable to.
4. Check your gear setup. Before you go on diving, make sure you don’t have anything hanging loosely on your gear. Anything that hangs loosely on your gear will create a dragging movement while underwater and will definitely increase your air consumption. Always get rid of those unused scuba accessories just before you go out for diving.
Thanks to Simply Scuba
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
1. Increse your diving routine. This might sound like a cliche, but definitely you really have to learn to be comfortable with water. Find time to dive more to be totally comfortable with water. Diving most often will help you relax your muscles while in the water. Ever notice how your air consumption have dramatically decreased since the first time you dive to your recent dive? I bet you have observed a decrease in you air consumption. This is so because your body was able to finally compensate to your air requirements while underwater and relaxes your muscle.
2. Practice deep and slow breathing. Short and shallow breaths will make you lose air more easily. Breathe deeply and then slowly exhale. Avoid holding your breath just to decrease your air consumption. You will only retract your diaphragm, which increases your air consumption which could lead to physical exhaustion while underwater. So avoid holding your breath if you want to last longer in water.
3. Avoid any unnecessary movements while underwater. When diving, avoid moving too often. Use your fins when moving. The more you move the more air you will consume. Place your hands either at your side or in front of you. Actually, it can be any position you would feel comfortable to.
4. Check your gear setup. Before you go on diving, make sure you don’t have anything hanging loosely on your gear. Anything that hangs loosely on your gear will create a dragging movement while underwater and will definitely increase your air consumption. Always get rid of those unused scuba accessories just before you go out for diving.
Thanks to Simply Scuba
Kathy Dowsett
www.kirkscubagear.com
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