Divers discover World War One sub off Lothian coast July 31, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : News, WreckDiving , add a commentThe South Queensferry Sub Aqua Club (SQSAC) have become the centre of attention after finding what is thought to be a World War I submarine. Initially believing it was a trawler on their first trip, the divers visited again and found that it was a sub. They are now waiting for information from the Admiralty before they decide to ecplore further, as they have no idea whether any lives were lost when the vessel sank. This from the Scotsman;
AN intact First World War submarine has been discovered in deep waters off Eyemouth after divers initially mistook it for a sunken fishing trawler.
Turner Sink update from WKPP July 31, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : CaveDiving , add a commentI was browsing through the GUE website as you do and saw this recent report from the WKPP exploration of Turner Sink during June. Turner Sink is seen as an important part of the continuing exploration of Wakulla Springs and it is hoped that exploration of this system will lead to more answers about the cave systems in the area. Casey McKinlay begins his report by describing the long wait the WKPP have had to endure for the conditions to be right;
Precious few assaults had been mounted against the labyrinth of Turner Sink; the cave had only seen two notable exploration pushes in 15 years. The first exploration was conducted by Gavin, Irvine and English in 1992 and the second by Irvine, Jablonski and Mckinlay in 2002. This enigmatic sink was the last of the big caves in the WKP to clear; this together with a heavy emphasis at Wakulla Springs and difficult logistics at Turner discouraged regular exploration. This was a long time to wait for a shot at serious exploration. Turner Sink is the southernmost entrance to the Leon Sinks Cave System; exploring south would help to answer important questions being asked by a range of state and federal managers. Over the years, Turner had come to represent both the key to unraveling the secrets of the Woodville Karst Plain while also epitomizing exploration in the WKP.
Scuba diving not seen to impair lung function July 31, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : Trivia, general , add a commentApparently there are reports out there which state that scuba divers have an accelerated decline in lung function. Reuters have recently reported on a German Naval Institute study which disputes these claims;
“Obstructive changes in lung function have been reported with cumulative scuba diving exposure,” Dr. Kay Tetzlaff, of the University of Tuebingen, and colleagues write in the medical journal Chest.
To look into this, the researchers studied in 468 military scuba divers and a comparison ‘control’ group of 122 military submariners, all of them men. Specifically, the team tracked the participants’ decline over time in lung performance — measured as the maximum volume of air expired in 1 second (called the FEV1).
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Story of the Andrea Doria July 27, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , 1 comment so farAs it is the 50th anniversary of the Andrea Doria, I thought I’d do some digging and found a nice article which covers some of the history of the sinking of the Italian luxury liner, and some of the people on board. Apparently, at least 14 people have died whilst exploring the wreck, the latest one being on July 8th this year, when David Bright died from Decompression Illness.
The Andrea Doria sank after colliding with the Stockholm, a Swedish passenger ship. There were disputes over whose fault it was and the case was eventually settled out of court, but many say it was simply human error. The collision paved the way for increased communications between vessels as well as well defined shipping lanes, which means that a similar incident today is unlikely.
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Scuba Diving the Yamashiro July 27, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , add a commentI recently mentioned that Cedric Verdier was planning to dive the HJMS Yamashiro, which is a Japanese warship sank during World War 2, and now lies in nearly 200 mtrs of water in the Phillipines. Cedric recentyl reported that he has made the dive, although everything didn’t quite go according to plan. After all the time, effort and money Cedric spent literally only a few minutes on the wreck. The question now is, will he go back? This from Cedric’s report;
180m. The line is horizontal, 15m above the bottom. I follow the line and discover a huge hull in front of me. My Halcyon canister light has flooded and I have to use a 10W HID light. The beam is narrow and hardly covers more than a few metres. When I finally reach the wreck of the Yamashiro, I’m already 14 minutes into the dive. A quick check at my handsets and my computers and I start exploring the wreck. It’s so dark and the wreck so huge that it’s difficult to have any clue about where I am. I see superstructures, a hull and it looks like the complete wreck sits on her side. After a few minutes on the bottom, my VR3 and my tables strongly remind me that it’s maybe the right time to start my ascent. Already!!
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Scuba Diving the Andrea Doria ‘exhilarating’ July 27, 2006
Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , 3commentsThe Andrea Doria is said to be the Everest of diving. The Italian luxury liner, which sank off the coast of Nantucket 50 years ago yesterday, lies at a depth of 230 feet, in the cold, dark, and unpredictable New England water. Metrowestdailynews.com has published an interesting report interviewing Joseph Augusto, who enjoys diving and penetrating the wreck;
“It was awesome to go down and see the outline as you descend, look at your depth gauge and see the ship come into view,” said Augusto, who grew up in Shrewsbury and owns Augusto Sprinkler Co. in Worcester with customers in the MetroWest area.
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