The Importance of Choosing an Instructor

This may seem an odd post, coming at the end of the season when most people are hanging up their fins for the winter rather than signing up for a scuba course, but some recent conversations have brought this topic back to mind so I thought I'd share some thoughts. While framed in the context of technical diver training, these notions, I think, apply equally to recreational training.
This piece is based on advice passed on through the technical diving community for decades.

The first thing you need to do is to figure out what you want to get out of your course; no matter what level of training you desire. Different instructors have different philosophies and may teach the same course in completely different manners. All courses are not equal (even if both instructors teach through the same agency). It's critical for you to choose an instructor who is offering the course that meshes with your wants/needs.

But how do you find the "right" instructor? You have to be an active, rather than passive consumer. You have to do your homework and actively search out training options. Talk to several instructors about the course you're interested in taking and treat these conversations as job interviews. You are interviewing this instructor to see if you want to hire him/her to train you.

• Ask your prospective instructor about his/her experience in the particular area that the course covers. If you're interested in a wreck diving in the Great Lakes, ask the instructor about his/her experience in Great Lakes wreck diving. If he/she isn't actively engaged in the type of diving you want to do, keep looking.
  
• Ask about the balance between teaching and personal diving. If the instructor's dive log is crammed with 20' training dives in the local quarry, but lacking in quality, challenging and fulfilling personal dives, again, keep looking (unless you want to learn how to do 20' dives in a quarry).
• Ask about details of the course. What topics are covered, how many dives are conducted, where are the dives conducted, etc. Again, not all courses are equal. One instructor may offer a course that covers the basics, while another may go into greater detail. One may conduct dives only at the quarry, while another may add open ocean of Great Lakes dives.
• See if there's a rapport between you and the instructor. It's no surprise that not everyone gets along. There may be lots of competent instructors, but that won't give you much solace if you take a class from a competent instructor that you really, really don't get along with. You don't have to be BFF's, but you need some sort of amicable relationship, especially at the more complex levels of diver training.

That gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. I'm sure you can think of additional questions. The bottom line here is to be proactive. By investing some time and doing research, you will hopefully avoid a disappointing course experience and have the diving experience of your life.

New Helitrox Course!

I'm happy to announce an exciting new course option: Helitrox. Helitrox is a breathing gas with up to 20% helium. Since helium is virtually non-narcotic under pressure, adding it to our gas allows us to manage or nitrogen narcosis exposure.

I'm offering Helitrox certification as part of the Adv. Nitrox/Decompression Procedures program. I think Helitrox adds a vital, missing piece of the Adv. Nitrox/Deco Procedures course when taught in the Great Lakes. Adv. Nitrox/Deco Procedures trains you to conduct dives requiring staged decompression to a maximum depth of 150' and use oxygen-rich mixtures as decompression gasses. But we were limited to using air or nitrox as bottom gas. However, using air in the Great Lakes at 150' is not always a good choice. The cold water and limited visibility can exacerbate nitrogen narcosis even as "shallow" as 150'. With the addition of the Helitrox certification, we can add up to 20% helium to our bottom gas which gives us the equivalent narcotic dose as breathing air at 100'.

I am forming an Adv. Nitrox/Deco Procedures/Helitrox course for September. Contact me (rick@greatlakestechdiving.com) quickly if you're interested or have questions.

Bartender, Another Martini!

Remember when Nitrogen Narcosis was called Martini's Law? The theory goes that the narcotic effect of nitrogen is similar to consuming one martini for every 33 ft of depth. So if you dive to 33 ft., you feel as if you'd had one martini, 66 ft would be equivalent to two martinis, 99 ft, three martinis and so on. It sounds silly now, but it sounded reasonable when Lloyd Bridges said it on the television show Seahunt.

Our knowledge of Nitrogen Narcosis and its effect has grown a little since "Martini's Law," and one of the most profound advances was the realization that if we added helium to our breathing mix, we could limit the amount of nitrogen and hence manage our narcosis level. Mixed gas diving has been around for a long time in commercial applications, but it's only gotten popular in recreational/technical diving in the last 10 years or so. There are myriad diving courses teaching the use of helium mixes in various forms (trimix, triox, heliox, heliair, helitrox, ad nauseum) for use at various depths.

I would like to pose a question: at what depth here in the Great Lakes do you need to start adding helium to the mix? Traditionally, the entry level technical diving courses have taught the use of air or nitrox to a depth of about 150'. Students not comfortable diving air to that depth either have to limit their depth, or take a more advanced course like Trimix Diver to be able to utilize helium-based mixes. Do you think there is value in adding a module to the entry level courses, like Adv. Nitrox/Deco, that would cover using limited helium-based mixes. Many organizations offer such courses, I'm just wondering how many people see the value in making "trimix lite" available at the Adv. Nitrox/Deco level, or do you feel breathing air to 150' is fine and we should leave the helium alone until divers take the full Trimix Diver course?

Presque Isle 2010

Wow. I just got back from 4 days of diving at Presque Isle, MI and it seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. The 2010 dive season continues to be one of the best in recent memory. We've had excellent weather all summer with no dives canceled due to bad weather.

Presque Isle is a small community situated between Alpena and Rogers City, MI, on the shores of Lake Huron. Our group consisted of five divers (Mike, Marshall, Renee, Eric and yours truly), my wife and daughter. Once again this year we chartered with Greg Such (www.shipwreckadventures.com). Greg's an easygoing guy who works hard to make sure you get quality dives every day. The weather and sea conditions were pretty consistent all 4 days: partly cloudy, mid to upper 70's (F) with no wind. Waves were 2 feet or less with most of the days in the "or less" category. Water temperature was the usual 40-ish degrees on the bottom and 65 degrees at the surface.

Our first dive was on the S.S. Florida. She's a big wooden steamer, nearly intact. The surface water was crystal clear, but as we descended, the water got cloudier and greener. Just as I was resigning myself to a dive in mediocre visibility, the water magically cleared and the entire wreck came into view some 70' below me. We found the same visibility pattern on the rest of the wrecks as well; clear at the surface, clear at the bottom, and a cloudy layer from about 50' to 130'. The visibility at the wreck was outstanding. If I put a number to it, you probably wouldn't believe me, but it was greater than 50'. The Florida is a lot of fun to dive and so big you can barely cover her in one dive. We saw the forward capstan cover on which you can still read the engraved name even though time is finally catching up and has deteriorated this great artifact. You can also dip down into the holds and view a time capsule of bygone days: barrels of flour and other bulk goods, rusted together cans of something, stacks of pots, pans, coffee pots and all manner of other goods. The rear of the wreck is broken, allowing easy access to the engine, where you can still see the gauge panel. Overall, it was an amazing first dive.

The second day we dove the Cornelia B. Windiate, a beautifully intact schooner sitting upright on the bottom in about 175'. The Windiate is not your run of the mill schooner; she seems to have been built with the graceful lines of a pleasure yacht than a working cargo ship. Outstanding features of this wreck are the forward mast (still standing), the wheel and the yawl boat. Another unique feature of the wreck is its overall condition. She seems to have been placed on the lake bottom. There is no obvious damage to her. The aft cabin and cargo hatches are still in place. These are usually the first things to get blown off by escaping air as the ship sinks. These clues tell us that she sank very slowly.

Our next dive was on the Typo, a new wreck for us. The Typo is, can anyone guess? ...... anyone?.....anyone?......Bueller?...... a wooden schooner. Do you see a pattern developing? Many of the wrecks around Presque Isle date back to the golden age of Great Lakes shipping, when thousands of vessels plied the waters of the lakes. I think the most impressive part of the Typo has to be her bow, which is perfectly intact and undamaged from sinking. To swim beyond the tip of her bowspirit and look back at the ship is awe-inspiring. Looking down the bowspirit, you see chains hanging, the anchors perched on the bow, the graceful curve of the hull. I'm not sure why we never made a point of getting to the Typo before, but we will certainly dive her again when we return.

The weather deity granted us almost flat calm seas the first three days of our trip. When we arrived at the marina on our fourth and final day, the flag was flopping around in a light breeze. Certainly not bad enough to cancel the dive, but we had gotten spoiled the first few days. The lake was giving us two foot swells to deal with, not bad, but enough to be annoying. We had saved the Kyle Spangler for our last dive. The Spangler is the closest wreck to shore, so it's a quick trip out and back allowing us to get on the road home by lunch time. Because she's a little closer to shore, she's also less affected by wind than sites further out. I'm doing the Spangler a disservice by painting her as the "consolation prize," a wreck you dive when nothing else is possible. She may well be the best wreck we dove. You may be expecting me to say that she's a nearly intact, wooden schooner. But no, something new and different here! She's a wooden brig! Most sailing ships on the Great Lakes were in fact three masted schooners. Less common were two masted brigs. Presque Isle actually has wrecks of two brigs: the Spangler and the Audubon. The Spangler sits with a slight starboard list on the bottom of Lake Huron in about 170' of water. Both masts are still standing, the wheel stands ready for the next helmsman to take over. The name board is still legible on her port side, kept clear of zebra mussels by visiting divers. The Spangler was an excellent last dive of the trip and I remember ascending the mooring line looking down at her, watching her fade into the haze as I ascended.

And so, another successful trip goes into the logbook. Four days, four dives. You can't hope for more than that.

Lake Huron Trip Report

Just a quick note to update everyone. This past weekend (July 10-11, 2010), we once again dove the Charles A. King in Lake Huron. Marshall Allan, Renee Allan, Mike Cameron and I drove up to Harbor Beach, MI Friday morning hoping to get in an afternoon dive on the King to shoot video and stills. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Capt. Gary Venet (www.rectecdivecharters.com) was bringing his boat up from Port Sanilac and estimated he'd be in Harbor Beach between 1 pm and 2 pm. The lake wasn't behaving though and kicked up some pretty good waves, delaying his arrival in Harbor Beach until a little after 3. No one was too interested in heading out given the lake conditions, so we prepped gear and loaded it onto to the boat for Saturday morning.

Luckily the wind died Friday night and the lake laid down quite nicely. Both Saturday and Sunday were quite calm, with sunny, blue skies overhead. Joining us on Saturday were James Mosely and Trimix Diver candidate Eric Field. On Sunday, divers Jack Papes and Ken Farnsworth joined our group.

We were treated to two nice dives on the King. Gary always does a great job and Tom and Charlie are always willing to lend a hand. The King is an amazing dive. She was recently discovered and has been visited by many divers yet. See my previous post for more details about the wreck itself.

First Dive on the King

Yesterday was my first dive on the Charles A. King
, a two masted schooner, 140' x 30' sitting upright in 215 feet of water. The wreck lies on the bottom of Lake Huron off the town of Harbor Beach, MI.

The story of the King's recent discovery starts about 3 years ago. I was diving from the Sylvia Anne, an awesome charter boat operated by Capt. Gary Venet (www.rectecdivecharters.com). He spotted a large, odd-looking ship in the distance. As it turned out, it was the Lake Guardian,an EPA research vessel heading down to Lake Erie to take water samples for a water quality survey. As they headed south on Lake Huron, they were testing their side scan sonar. Gary got into a conversation with them on the radio and when they found out he operated a wreck diving charter, they told him they had some hits on the side scan and wondered if he wanted the coordinates.

In the intervening years, I often asked Gary what he did with those numbers. He always politely answered, "Oh, we haven't had a chance to get out there yet." In reality though, he had investigated and one of the hits turned out to be a nearly intact schooner, upright on the bottom in just over 200' of water. He and his partners fully investigated the wreck and eventually identified her as the Charles A. King, named for a prominent businessman and former mayor of Toledo, OH.

2010 is the first year that Gary is offering public charters to the King. I jumped at the chance to dive a recently discovered wreck for the first time. I headed up to Harbor Beach Saturday evening with Marshall Allan. Another of our dive buddies, Dale Musser, had already checked in to the motel, as had a trimix student of mine, Andy Morrison (the world-renowned photographer).

Sunday morning dawned clear and bright with not a hint of breeze. At the marina, the flags hung limp on the flag pole. We wasted no time loading the boat and getting out to the wreck. Andy I were in no particular hurry, so we let everyone else get in the water and we went in last.

Dropping down the mooring line, we encountered the top of the foremast at about 130'. From there it was another 70' down to the deck, which is at about 195'. The forward part of the wreck is the most intact. The anchors are still on the bow, as is the windlass. The King was a canal schooner, so her bowspirit was made to fold back on her deck to fit through the locks. As she sits today, the bowspirit is indeed folded back. Gary and his buddy Tom Mehringer theorize that it folded back when she hit the bottom of Lake Huron stern first.

Moving towards the stern, we find deadeyes, lots of steel wire rigging, the capstan and other artifacts. I agree with Tom and Gary; it does appear she hit the lake bottom stern first. There is moderate damage at the stern with the cabin gone and the transom spring. The ship's wheel is still there and easily recognizable despite it's coating of zebra mussels. The ship's stove is on the bottom next to ship. Be sure to have a close look at the drawing above by Robert McGreevy (www.mcgreevy.com).

Andy and I work our way back to the bow and the ascent line. After almost an hour of ascent time we board the boat. The wind was still calm and we had a nice boat ride back to the harbor.

I'm really excited to have a "new" wreck to dive and we couldn't have had a better first dive on her than the one we had yesterday.

Calendar Shuffle

Due to high demand for courses on certain weekends and no demand for other weekends, I've shifted the dates of two activities.

First, the Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures course scheduled for July 17-18 at Gilboa quarry has been moved to July 31 and Aug. 1. I discovered Gilboa is running this year's Guinness Worlds Record Attempt July 17-18 so I thought we'd better move the course date.

The August 1000 Islands trip has been shifted one week to August 17 through the 20th.

Summer is going fast (I can't believe it's the middle of June already), so if you want to expand your diving this year, call or email me quickly before all the dates are filled.