http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com News and Reviews, Hints and Tips Mon, 12 May 2008 12:35:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Yay, the annual Spring France trip could not have come at a better time, as I was getting bored of the usual quarries and cold water, and last years ocean diving was laughable. This year there were five of us on the trip, Bob, Andy, Owen, Matt, and of course, ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2008/05/12/cave-diving-trip-to-the-lot-may-2008/ Some interesting news coming from Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. They have managed to breed some Manta Rays in their aquarium. The new baby is a female and measures about 1.9 inch in width. As its mother is over 4 mtrs wide, it looks like there is a bit of growing yet ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2007/06/21/the-first-manta-ray-born-in-captivity/ Well, I bought one of these hoods before Christmas and now it has a few dives in it I though I should tell people just how good it is. When I first purchased it I had heard mixed reports, well, bad reports really. Howard Radcliffe had one and seemed to be ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2007/01/12/polar-bear-8mm-rubatex-hood-review/ Scubapro have announced their latest scuba diving computer, the Aladin TEC 2G. This seems to be causing quite a splash within the diving community, and funnily enough, I have just ordered the existing TEC model for myself to replace my broken Suunto Vytec. This from the press release; The latest addition ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/13/uwatec-unveils-new-aladin-dive-computer/ This court case in Australia highlights some of the problems diving centres have when renting equipment to inexperienced divers. The trouble is, in my experience, many scuba divers do not advertise just how inexperienced they are, which makes things difficult for the dive centres when organising divers on a boat. ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/13/scuba-dive-firm-to-face-trial-over-death/ I just can't figure out what Matthew harvey was thinking when he decided to set up this hoax. I recently covered the story of Matthew Harvey being lost at sea for three days and being found by a passing yacht. It turns out that Matthew had actually been on a ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/08/rescued-scuba-diver-exposed-as-a-hoax/ Now that the news about the accident at Sipadan involving a construction barge destroying a portion of coral has blown over, it seems that the local diving businesses are being criticised for taking too many divers to the island, endangering the sensitive environment. This from Underwater Times(who have copied it ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/07/divers-illegally-overcrowding-sipadan/ I saw a news item over at contactmusic which states that the final moments of Steve Irwins life may well be broadcast on TV. Apparently this was his wish should he fall whilst filming his crocodile shows. Somehow I just don't think they will, and I am not sure I ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/07/crocodile-hunter-steve-irwin-death-to-be-broadcast/ I am sure that all the press will be shouting loud about how dangerous stingrays are, and they will probably be as hated as sharks for a while, but some tour operators in Grand Cayman, have stated that they will continue the trips to feed the stingrays at what is ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/07/stingray-tours-to-continue-despite-irwins-death/ I guess the whole world now knows that Steve Irwin, the famous crocodile wrestling aussie, was killed whilst scuba diving with Stingrays on the Great Barrier Reef. Steve wasn't supposed to be diving with stingrays however, but was on the hunt for stonefish, as part of a documentary. Unfortunately, as ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/07/stonefish-hunt-led-to-irwins-death/ Imagine swimming all the way down to 109 mtrs, and then swimming back up again, all on one breath. Thats what Frenchman Guillame Nery managed to do just a few minutes ago, breaking a world record in the process. This from DeeperBlue; At 11.18 on 6th September 2006 French FreeDiver, Guillaume ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/06/french-freediver-guillame-nery-breaks-world-record/ A scuba diver who was diving near Fermain Bay in Guernsey was found on Monday evening after being lost at sea for three days. Matthew Harvey, 35, was admitted to Princess Elizabeth Hospital suffering from extreme exhaustion. This is quite a feat, and lucky I guess that it is summer ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/06/scuba-diver-survives-three-days-at-sea/ Halcyon have announced a voluntary recall of a number of Halcyon Explorer Wings. They say that the over pressure valve may delaminate, causing the Wing to leak. Here is the announcment; Halcyon Manufacturing has identified a very small number of Halcyon Explorer-40 BC’s sold after July 2005 that could develop ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/06/halcyon-voluntary-recall-of-select-explorer-40-bc%e2%80%99s/ Well, its been a couple of weeks since my last post, due to me getting married and sailing around the Mediterranean for two weeks on the subsequent honeymoon, but now I am back normal posting should resume quite quickly. Going through my emails, I found this one from Lynne at the ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/09/06/changes-at-the-cave-diving-centre-in-the-lot-france/ I've often read Dr Mike's diving adventures with a mixture of respect and bewilderment. Just how many close scrapes do you need to experience before recognising that a change in dive planning and procedure is necessary? He seems to put cats to shame in terms of the number of lives ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/08/18/lost-in-a-cave-with-very-little-gas-and-only-one-fin-this-was-not-good/ Sad news yesterday that a 40 year old diver using an AP Inspiration rebreather was found dead near the wreck he had been lost on the previous day. There is some speculation over at Rebreatherworld that the diver had been trapped or pinned under the wreck, but that is unconfirmed. ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/08/18/rebreather-diver-fatality-in-los-angeles/ Roy Cowan died on Sunday August 14th, after rescuing a diver who had become seperated from the boat and was in distress. He was a well respected divemaster who spent many years helping divers out of Morehead City, NC. This from DiveNewsWire; The seas of the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’ were ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/08/16/divemaster-dies-during-rescue-after-weekend-dive/ 2,000 feet (600 mtrs approx) is a looong way down, and Chief Navy Diver, Daniel P Jackson, recently dived to that depth in a new Atmospheric Diving Suit (ADS). It took 11 years to plan, design, and test the suit, which is known as the Hardsuit 2000. As far as ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/08/08/navy-diver-sets-record-with-2000-foot-dive/ Earlier in the year I mentioned the world record for the most number of scuba divers diving at the same time held in the Maldives. Jeff Rice, owner of Portage Quarry, south of Bowling Green, reckons he has a chance of beating the record this weekend at the quarry. This ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/08/08/scuba-divers-aim-to-break-record-at-quarry-in-area/ There is some bad news this weekend for divers in the UK as we hear about a fatality off the coast of Plymouth. Richard Lewis, 57, died after a 30 minute dive on the Poulmic which lies in 18 mtrs. It looks like it might be the result of a ... http://scubageek.thedeepstop.com/2006/08/07/scuba-diver-dies-after-dive-off-plymouth-coast/