2010 Class Schedule

I know it's not even Christmas yet, but I'm already plotting out next year. I have some tentative dates for courses set up, but naturally if you want to take a course on a different date, let me know and we'll work something out. I'll get the dates up on my website tomorrow, but those of you who follow the blog get a sneak preview.

• Saturday March 27, Gas Blender (Wauseon, OH)
  
• Sunday April 25, Gas Blender (Wauseon, OH)
  
• May 22-23, Intro to Tech (White Star Quarry, Gibsonburg, OH)
• June 26-27, Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures, further dates TBD, (Gilboa Quarry, near Findlay, OH)
• July 2, 3, 4, Trimix Diver, (Gilboa Quarry, near Findlay, OH) completion dives will be July 22-25 in Presque Isle, MI
  
• Aug. 7-8, Intro to Tech (White Star Quarry, Gibsonburg, OH)
• Aug. 10-13 I'll be in the 1000 Islands. All courses are possible including Adv. Nitrox/Deco, Advanced Wreck Diver, Trimix Diver.

E-mail me if you are interested, would like more information about classes or have questions. If you know of anyone else interested, please feel free to forward this info to them.

Risk Assessment, A Call for Action

There seems to have been a handful of diving fatalities lately. I guess accidents are inevitable. There have always been a few diving accidents per year, however it seems in recent years the people involved has changed. It used to be most accidents in the technical diving/cave diving realm involved divers untrained for these "extreme" activities. Lately, it seems that more and more fatalities involve highly trained divers (i.e. divers who should know better) putting themselves at risk by violating basic procedures that have stood the test of time.

At the recent NACD conference, Steve Lewis (TDI/SDI HQ staff, Instructor Trainer, Technical Diving Instructor and all around man about town) presented his thoughts on risk assessment/management, cave training vs. wreck training, and related issues.

Here is a link to the text of his presentation. Please read it and please be careful when diving. Follow your training and don't cut corners. To paraphrase Larry Green, NACD Training Director, "Develop solid safety protoccols and have the discipline to follow them on every dive."

Cave Diving Conference & Trip Report, Nov. 2009

I just returned from five days in north Florida where I attended/presented at the National Association for Cave Diving's (NACD) 41st Conference. After the conference, Marshall Allan and I hung around for a few days of cave diving.

We arrived in High Springs, FL on Friday Nov. 20. After checking into our motel, the very nice Rustic Inn (which actually isn't that rustic), we headed over to Ginnie Springs for the Friday Night Social that the NACD has each year the night before the conference. It was a very nice affair, with free food, free beer and a Chili Cook-Off. We had a good time seeing old friends and meeting some new ones. We called it a night early since I had to do a presentation at the conference the next day and preferred to do it without a hangover.

Saturday morning, we drove to Gainesville for the conference. This was my first time to the NACD conference and I was impressed. There were probably 15 or so exhibitors displaying their wares in addition to the presentations that ran from 9-5. I won't go into detail about all the presentations, but my favorite was Becky Kagan's video of Weeki Wachee Springs. I wouldn't be surprised to see an expanded version of it air on Discovery Channel or some other entity. Other presentations covered training and safety issues in cave diving, updates on various surveys and explorations and some joker from up north talking about cold water wreck diving. Oh wait, that was me. I talked about Great Lakes wreck diving and showed some footage of the North Wind, one of the best wrecks in the Great Lakes (that I've seen anyway). The gist of my talk was about overhead diving in cold water/limited vis. When I was invited to give the speech, I honestly couldn't figure out why a bunch of cave divers wanted to hear about wreck diving. The presentation went pretty well. If they fell asleep, they were at least polite enough not to snore! Much to my surprise (and delight), a couple people actually found me after the show and told me they enjoyed my talk, had no idea Great Lakes wrecks were so well preserved, but we're nuts anyway to dive in that cold water.

That evening, we were invited to Larry and Debra Green's house for drinks and to shoot the breeze. Larry is a true diving pioneer and it was amazing to just sit back and listen to his stories and marvel at the history he lived through. This guy was experimenting with trimix in the Eagles Nest cave system back in 1989! As the evening progressed and the stories flowed, it became obvious Larry has forgotten more about cave diving than I'll ever know.

Sunday morning was rainy and chilly. About noon, the weather started to clear, so Marshall and I headed up to Peacock Springs for a couple dives. We did two, one hour dives there. It was a good way to reacquaint ourselves with cave diving since we hadn't been in a cave in about a year. We headed back towards High Springs, stopping by Amigo's to fill our tanks on the way.

Monday we got an earlier start. We stopped by Alice's Parkside Restaurant for breakfast, and then headed to Madison Blue, a cave system we had not dived before. Other than the park ranger and a couple of her friends, we were the only ones there. The spring is probably about 60 feet in diameter and very clear. We could easily see the cave entrance at the bottom of the pool. We geared up and jumped in. After our S-drill, into the cave we went. The flow wasn't as bad as we expected, so entering was easy. The cavern area is fairly large and interesting to dive in it's own right. To enter the actual cave passage, we dropped down a crack into a relatively low passage. The low part only last the first few hundred feet and then it opens up a bit. It's quite a nice dive and even though the flow isn't all that bad, it only took us 15 minutes to exit the cave, after spending 35 minutes swimming in. On our second dive, we went in about 500 feet and then jumped off to a side tunnel. We think it might have been the tunnel to the Banana Room. After our dives, it was back to Amigo's for gas fills. Then dinner at the Fleetwood Diner where I had the meatloaf platter. I'm a pretty good eater, but even I couldn't finish the two huge slabs of meatloaf and pile of mashed potatoes.

Tuesday was departure day. We cleared out of the Rustic Inn, packed the car, and headed back to Madison for one last dive. After all, it was right on our way home. We did one dive, an hour long, and just stayed on the main line. It was loads of fun. There's a lot to be said for diving in warm, clear water with no waves. If only Florida and Ohio were a few hours closer. Anyhow, we packed the car and started the trek home. We made good time (except around Atlanta of course). We felt pretty good and not a bit tired, so drove on and on. By the time we started to think about calling it a night, we were crossing in to Kentucky, so we said what the hell, let's keep going. So while one of us slept, the other was awake. We just had to make sure the awake guy was driving and the sleeping guy was in the passenger seat. We pulled into my driveway at 5 am Wednesday morning.

It was a great trip and I loved seeing some old friends and doing some cave dives again. I need to get down there on a more regular basis and not wait another year and a half like I did last time.

2010 Dive Trips

Fall is in the air and the 2009 dive season is about over. That means it's time to plan for next year! I currently have two Great Lakes wreck diving trips planned for next year (more to follow).

On July 10-11, 2010, I'm going up to Harbor Beach, MI for a very special trip. I have booked the morning charter both days with Rec and Tec Dive Charters and my good friend Capt. Gary Venet. We're going to try to get to the seldom-dived stern section of the Daniel J. Morrell. The Morrell was a 586 ft. steamer. In November 1966, the Morrell was upbound on Lake Huron in a horrible storm. Near the tip of Michigan's thumb, she broke in half. The bow section sank as the stern, still under power, steamed another 5 miles until it sank. Due to it's distance from shore and the uncertainty of the weather, neither of the sections of the Morrell are visited a lot, and when people do get out, they usually do the bow section. Our other objective for the weekend is the newly-discovered Charles A. King. Gary tells me the King is an upright, intact schooner. He and his colleagues discovered her several years ago and have been diving her to identify and document her. 2010 will be the first year Gary will be running charters to her. Be among the first of the diving public to see her.

On July 22-25, 2010, I'll be diving Lake Huron near Presque Isle, MI. I used to dive that area 2 or 3 times per summer until about 2005. Last I led a trip there and fell in love with the area all over again. To read the trip report, which includes descriptions of the wrecks, look here.

Trimix certification is required for both trips, as depths of the wrecks range from 165'-200'. Obviously the target wrecks may change due to weather. Contact me at rick@GreatLakesTechDiving.com for more info and keep an eye on my website, www.GreatLakesTechDiving.com for more trips.

Online SCUBA Training?

I would like your opinion of SCUBA training. As some of you know, teaching diving is my avocation. My "real" job is in the education field, specifically distance/online education. So when I recently had the chance to review some online SCUBA materials, I jumped at the chance.

Now, using the internet to deliver SCUBA training is not a new concept. Recreational SCUBA agencies have been using it for years. The course materials I reviewed were for TECHNICAL diving classes. The modules are designed to present the academic portion of a given course as well as present demos (via video clips) of some of the in-water skills. Obviously you cannot deliver an entire technical diving course over the internet, but it may be helpful for students to go through the academic portion prior to the in-person sessions. The academic modules I saw were PowerPoint-style slides with narration and the occasional video clip. Just to be clear, students are still required to read the student manual, so if you prefer to see things in print, or are a computer-phobe, fear not.

So what do you think? If you're already a tech diver, think back to your last tech course, would you have benefited from reviewing the entire "classroom" session before meeting with the instructor? Would you have liked to have seen videos of the in-water skills? If you're not a tech diver (yet), would the online experience I've described sway you one way or the other? If you think an online component would be valuable, what dollar amount would you put on it? Would you pay $50 to access these materials? $75? $100?

Feel free to respond. I'm curious what people think.

2010 Course Schedule

I'm beginning to sort out my 2010 course offerings. If there's a course you're interested in taking next year, let me know. This early in the process, I can almost guarantee you'll get your choice of dates (almost).

1000 Islands Trip Report, Aug. 11-14, 2009

When I tell people at work I'll be gone diving for a few days in warm, clear water, they ask where I'm going. Florida? The Bahamas? No, I'm not leaving the Great Lakes. "Oh, so it'll be cold," they say. Nope, 73 degrees. "But that's on the surface probably." Wrong again, it's 73 degrees top to bottom, no thermocline I tell them. "Ooooo-Kayyyy" they say, now convinced that perhaps I do need a few days off.

The 1000 Islands region of the St. Lawrence River is one of my favorite places to dive. The St. Lawrence connects Lake Ontario on the west to the Atlantic Ocean on the east. The 1000 Islands region is the section of river nearest to Lake Ontario. The St. Lawrence has long been a major transportation route, even before the man-made "Seaway" existed. Hence, there are all sorts of shipwrecks to dive. And due to the constant mixing of the water by the current, there's no thermocline and the water warms up quite nicely in the summer.

This year, I seem to have picked the worst possible week to go to the islands. Everybody I asked was already busy or couldn't get vacation time, so it turned out my "group" trip consisted of Marshall and Renee Allan and me. Renee was completing her Adv. Wreck course, so wreck penetration was the objective.

Our first dive day we dove the Ash Island Barge and the Kingshorn. While "Ash Island Barge" isn't a very glamorous name, it's actually quite a nice little dive in about 100'. The Kingshorn is always a favorite of mine. She's a wooden schooner in about 85' in decent condition and only about 5 minutes from the resort dock. We jumped in on the Kingshorn and it was time for Renee to do some coursework. She ran a guideline inside the wreck, we followed the line out blind, went back in, did lost line drills and just as she thought it was over Marshall threw in an out of air for good measure. After returning from diving, we headed to Brockville for dinner at the Keystorm Pub, in honor of our dives the next day.

Day 2 found us doing two dives on the Keystorm. The Keystorm was a 250' steel steamer built in England in 1910. She was only two years old when she ran aground in dense fog October 26, 1912. Her crew escaped and she lay stranded on the shoal for five hours at which time she slid off the shoal into deeper water. Today, the Keystorm is one of the most popular dives in the area. Still lying on the shoal that sank her, the Keystorm offers a variety of dive profiles. Her bow lies in only 25' of water, with the deepest part of her stern in 115'. We moored amidships. On our first dive, we swam to the deeper part of the wreck and went into the engine room. On our second dive, we headed to the bow (shallow) and visited the captain's bathtub as well as the wheelhouse and forward superstructure.

After returning to Caigers and cleaning up, we headed over to Dive Tech for air fills and to see owner Dan Humble. Dan has a knack for finding new gizmos you just can't live without. In all my travels around the Great Lakes, I have to say that Dive Tech has the most extensive retail offerings, largest gas blending operation, best service and all around most pleasant atmosphere I've seen. Our tanks filled, we headed back to Brockville for dinner at Bud's on the Bay for dinner on the outdoor patio. It was a beautiful evening to sit outside and have a piece of chocolate chip pie for dessert!

On day 3, our dive objective was the Daryaw. The Daryaw, originally named the Marinier, was built in France in 1919 and came to the Great Lakes in 1922. She was 216' in length and sports the unique feature of having twin screws (two propellers). Her name was changed in 1935. She ran aground in a dense fog on November 21, 1941 and sank near Brockville, ON. The Daryaw lies in about 90' of water, upside down. Her upside down orientation on the bottom makes it easy for divers to view both of her propellers. Once again, we did two dives on her. On the first dive, we ducked under her upside-down hull and visited the bow briefly before heading to the stern. We penetrated the aft cabin area and conducted more drills for class. On our second dive, we explored the stern further and, at the end of the dive, we drifted off the wreck and did our deco drifting along with the current, rather than fighting it on the mooring line.

On our last dive day, we headed to the Roy A. Jodrey. The Jodrey may well be the signature dive of the 1000 Islands. A modern day, steel freighter, she was built in 1965 for the lucrative ore-carrying trade. She's a huge shipwreck at just over 600' in length.

In November 1974, she was carrying 20,000 tons or iron ore pellets on their way to Detroit, MI when she struck Pullman Shoal. Taking on water, she tried to beach in shallow water near the US Coast Guard Station on Wellesley Island. Unfortunately, there was no shallow water to be found and she eventually filled with water and sank in a little over 200' of water. The Jodrey lies against the wall of the channel just beneath the US Coast Guard station.

As the Jodrey is in the channel, there is no mooring attached to her. Divers enter the water upstream of the wreck and navigate down the wall to her. Our captain suggested we try a new route to the wreck, one not familiar to me. We decided to give it a try. Dropping down the wall where we were directed, we didn't find the wreck. I couldn't believe it. How could we have missed a 600' ship? I figured the current must have carreid us a bit too far downstream, so we started working our way upstream. After about 8 minutes, I decided I made the wrong choice so we turned around and drifted with the current and sure enough, before long I could make out a large shadow looming in our path. The shadow soon materialized into the bow of a huge ship. Drifting in the current plays funny tricks on one's mind. As you drift towards the wreck, it's easy to believe that you are stationary and the ship is actually coming at you!

We were able to enjoy our dive on the Jodrey and explored the forward area pretty extensively despite losing precious minutes finding the wreck. Our ascent was much less dramatic than our descent. As our captain predicted, following the wall up brought us up just upstream of the boat. In fact, we spotted the anchor line when we arrived at our 15' deco stop.

Sadly, that was our last dive and it was time to leave. By the time we got back to the hotel, packed up and got on the road, it was nearly 3 pm. Now, all we have to do is drive 9 hours and we'll be home free. We ended up arriving at my house about 12:30 a.m., so with brief goodbyes, Marshall and Renee continued on home and I went to bed.

As always, our trip to the 1000 Islands was great. Thanks to Caigers Resort, Thousand Island Pleasure Diving and Dive Tech. I'll be returning to the 1000 Islands in 2010 to teach a full range of technical diving courses. If you're interested in doing a course, or just joining in our group to go diving, drop me an e-mail.