The Presidents Corner by Mike Cassetta

Transcription

1 FAIRFIELD COUNTY DIVING ASSOCIATION September 2014 Volume 21 Issue 9 Inside this Issue The Presidents Corner by Mike Cassetta page 1 The Presidents Corner by Mike Cassetta FCDA Donor I page 2 August Raffle Winners page 3 Events of Interest to FCDA Members page 3 FCDA Member Ads page 3 FCDA Donor II page 4 Top 10 Things not to say on a Dive Boat page 4 Divers Identify Sunken Vessel as WWII Wreck of USS Houston page 5 Tips for Matching Wetsuit Thickness to the Water Temp You re Diving page 6 Lessons for Life pages 7 & 8 Next FCDA Meeting page 9 Hope everybody got to enjoy the good weather this summer. Fall is typically the best time for diving in the Northeast and the tropical fish have been in and around Fort Weatherill, over the past few weeks. We enjoyed our annual movie night in August. A strong crowd turned out for a viewing of Sharknado. Although there were some scientific inaccuracies, It was still an enjoyable film. September will be our annual Members Present. We look forward to several interesting and exciting presentations. If you have something you would like to share, please let Matt or I know so we can make the proper arrangements. We have speakers scheduled for both October and November. Our very on Charlie Blanchette will be sharing footage of Chuuk, and Dr. David Charash will be sharing film of his visit with Fabien Cousteau during Mission 31. Rather than our typical Christmas party, this year we have talked about having a gathering at the cottage in December. We will further discuss this at the next two meetings and look forward to your input. Good diving and look forward to seeing all soon. Mike Here is Mike chumming for Members Present night!

2 Page 2 FCDA Donor The business listed on this page has donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. New England's Tech Diving Center! New England Dive Center 476 North Colony Street Wallingford, CT Fax Dealer for OMS, UWATEC, Oceanic, Mares, Dacor, C r e s s i - S u b, P o s e i d o n, Scubapro, Bare, O ' N e i l l a n d Henderson. P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT Internet mail: fcda@aol.com Presidents 2014 Board Matt Rownin & Mike Cassetta Vice-President Mark Shannon Secretary Treasurer Charles Blanchette Paul J. Gacek The region's foremost source for scuba and technical diving gear, t r a i n i n g a n d everything for the r e c r e a t i o n a l o r serious tech diver. Draeger Atlantis I Rebreather training, certification and rental. New England Dive Center offers complete training for all levels of diving, from Open Water through the most advanced technical courses. Our instruction provides certification through SSI, PDIC, TDI and IANTD. Visit us on the Web:

3 Page 3 August Raffle Winners After an exciting viewing of that award wining movie Sharknado, the club held its regular raffle to support o u r D A N P l a t i n u m sponsorship. The winners were:bc Hanger donated by New England Dive Center- Paul Gacek; Solar Recover Moisturizer donated by New England Dive Center- Charlie Blanchette; Para 550 Multi-purpose Paracord donated by New England Dive Center- Paul Gacek; Co-Pro Personal Carbon Monoxide Protector donated by New England Dive Center-C-C Cassetta; Fix n Zip Zipper Repair donated by New England Dive Center James Purcell; Book Bag donated By Ski & Scuba Tom Thomes; Padi H2O Bottle donated by Ski & Scuba-Tom Thomes Thanks to New England Dive Center and Ski & Scuba, for donating tonight s raffle prizes for our DAN raffle. Events of Interest to FCDA Members Oct. 26, - Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving/Beach Cleanup 11:00 AM FCDA Member Ads Hey - have you got a non retail-diving business that you d like to share with fellow members of FCDA? Get your business card size ad in the FCDA monthly newsletter Surface Interval for only $50.00 for one year. Give your business a boost and help support the production of our monthly newsletters. For more information, write to FCDA, P.O. Box 3005, Fairfield, CT or to fcda@aol.com.

4 Page 4 Top 10 Things Not to Say on a Dive Boat FCDA Donor The business listed on this page has donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. 10) "Can I keep this coral that your anchor broke off?" 9) "Buddy? Oh, did I go down with a buddy?" 8) "Can someone lend me a computer? Mine keeps flashing 'Deco Violation'?" 7) "I count seven, are you SURE there are eight names on the manifest?" 6) "Does anyone else smell smoke?" 5) "What do I do with this bucket of vomit?" 4) "Could you 'warm up' my wetsuit for me?" 3) "Macarena anyone?" 2) "Certification smertification!" 1) "Is that your mask under my tank?"

5 Page 5 Divers Identify Sunken Vessel as World Was II Wreck of USS Houston Where 700 Troops Perished PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii Navy divers from the U.S. and Indonesia have confirmed that a sunken vessel in the Java Sea is the World War II wreck of the USS Houston, a cruiser sunk by the Japanese that serves as the final resting place for about 700 sailors and Marines. The Japanese sank the Houston during the Battle of Sunda Strait on Feb. 28, The ship carried 1,068 crewmen, but only 291 sailors and Marines survived both the attack and being prisoners of war. The Houston's commanding officer, Capt. Albert H. Rooks, posthumously received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism. U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Harry Harris said Monday that divers have documented evidence the watery gravesite has been disturbed. Assessments conducted in June to determine the condition of the Houston found that hull rivets, a metal plate and unexploded ordnance were removed from the ship. There is also oil ac- tively seeping from the hull. Monday. (AP Photo/ U.S. Navy) Officials are working on measures to keep the site from further disturbance. "In my discussions with our Indonesian navy partners, they share our sense of obligation to protect this and other gravesites," Harris said in a statement. "Surveying the site, of course was only the first step in partnering to respect those sailors who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the freedoms and security that we richly enjoy today." The Navy History and Heritage Command concluded that all of the recorded data is consistent with the identification of the former USS Houston. The Houston was nicknamed the "The Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast." Resting off the west coast of Java, Indonesia, the ship, which remains sovereign property of the United States, is a popular recreational dive site, the Navy said. The Navy estimates there are more than 17,000 sunken ships and aircraft resting on the ocean floor worldwide. Reprint Scuba Diving Depth Finder 8/19/14

6 Page 6 When planning a dive, it only makes sense that the colder the water is going to be, the thicker the wetsuit you re going to need. But how cold, and how thick? These aren t easy questions because there are many factors that enter into the equation. First, there s the personal. Everybody has a different internal body thermometer, based on gender, age, health, amount of body fat, metabolism and individual comfort level. Then there s the diving itself. How many dives you make, how deep you go, how long you stay, not to mention the topside conditions it all makes a difference. That said, you ve got to start somewhere. Since this is so subjective, we reached out to a collection of wetsuit manufacturers, neoprene companies and diver forums to create the following reference chart for matching wetsuit to water temperature. Note: these are all based on wearing a standard wetsuit; by adding hoods, vests and gloves, etc., you can experiment in finding that sweet spot in your personal comfort zone. by John Brumm Tips for Matching Wetsuit Thickness to the Water Temp You're Diving WATER TEMPERA- TURE FIND YOUR COMFORT ZONE FOR HOT-BLOODED DIVERS FOR DIVERS PRONE TO COLD 85 Degrees & Above Aw heck, dive in your 2mm to 1mm shorty swim trunks or bathing suit 80 to 85 Degrees 2mm shorty to dive 2mm to 1mm fullsuit skin 73 to 79 Degrees 3mm fullsuit to 2mm 5mm to 3mm fullsuit shorty 66 to 72 Degrees 5mm to 3mm fullsuit 7mm to 5mm fullsuit Degrees 8/7mm semi-dry to 7mm wetsuit 50 Degrees and Below 8/7mm semi-dry or drysuit Drysuit Enjoy the view of the water from the nearest coffee shop

7 Page 7 Lessons for Life: Fatal One-Way Trip to the Bottom Natalie was uncomfortable with the dive gear she was wearing but decided to ignore h e r u n e a s i n e s s. S h e really wanted to see this shipwreck. Natalie made a giant stride from the boat, and though she struggled a bit on the surface with the extra gear and weight, she was convinced she would be fine once she got underwater. She began venting the air from her BC, and almost immediately dropped below the surface and out of sight. THE DIVER Natalie had made 24 lifetime dives, nearly all of them in warm water. She owned her gear, but the heaviest wetsuit she had was a 2 mm one-piece suit. THE DIVE It was a clear and cold morning when Natalie and her dive buddy, Steve, boarded the boat for the trip out to a recently discovered shipwreck in the Great Lakes. The ship rested in 50 feet of water, listing slightly to port. All of her friends told her the dive was fantastic, but the w a t e r t e m p e r a t u r e was something she needed to be prepared for. Natalie decided to rent a drysuit. She had never dived in a drysuit before, but Natalie reasoned that it couldn t be that diferent from a wetsuit. Steve was comfortable diving in a drysuit, but he didn t have any experience helping someone else set one up. They guessed at how much weight she d need, and finally decided that Natalie would wear the same amount as Steve. She was much smaller than Steve, but they reasoned that the extra weight would help her descend. Neither of them wanted her to struggle to get down. THE ACCIDENT Once suited up, the divers made their way to the swim step and donned their fins. Natalie added air to her BC. It was the same one she used when diving in the Caribbean, and she was comfortable with it. Steve completed his giant stride first and made himself buoyant on the surface while he waited for Natalie. Natalie completed her giantstride entry and slowly bobbed to the surface. She had to kick to keep her head above water as she and Steve swam to the bow to begin their descent. They agreed they were ready for the dive, even though Steve could tell Natalie was winded trying to stay on the surface. Natalie put her regulator in her mouth and took a deep breath while she released air from her BC. As soon as she exhaled she dropped below the surface. Steve descended only a few feet before he saw Natalie rocket past him to the bottom. She had a panicked look in her eyes and frantically tried to grab her nose to equalize. The unfamiliar gloves she wore made that nearly impossible. Realizing Natalie was in trouble, Steve returned to the surface and shouted for help. The boat s divemaster immediately jumped to action, suiting up and descending the anchor line, but his search was unsucc e s s f u l. R e s c u e crews responded quickly, but by the time they found her, Natalie had drowned. ANALYSIS Enthusiasm for diving and exploration is a wonderful thing, as long as it is tempered with the understanding that you (Continued on page 8)

8 Page 8 Lessons for Life: Fatal One-Way Trip to the Bottom (continued) (Continued from page 7) don t know everything about every dive environment. Natalie s experience included 24 dives in warm, tropical environments. Diving in warm salt water is not the same as cold fresh water. Natalie s b i g g e s t p r o b l e m r e - volved around her equipment and lack of familiarity with its use. Dive accidents involving failed equipment are rare, but accidents involving the improper use of equipment are much more common. Drysuits are wonderful tools, and Natalie s drysuit was not the cause of her problems. Attempting to make a dive in a drysuit without understanding how to use one was. She didn t understand that she needed to adjust her buoyancy underwater using the drysuit itself, not the BC on her back. If Natalie had added air to her suit on the surface, once she defated her B C, s h e w o u l d n o t have descended so rapidly. If Natalie had taken a drysuit -diver course, she would have understood her weighting requirements. She would have taken time to get comfortable with the controls of the suit and learned how to make a safe d e s c e n t a n d a s c e n t. The extreme overweighting caused her to drop like a stone. In a moment she went from a diver excited about a dive to a panicked diver racing toward the bottom. The pain in her ears would have been extreme for a brief period until her eardrums burst inward from the water pressure. She was descending too quickly to equalize, even if she had been able to pinch her nose with her gloves. Once Natalie s eardrums burst, cold water would have rushed into her middle ears, making her disoriented and dizzy. Between the pain, the dizziness and the panic, Natalie probably lost consciousness and drifted away from the shipwreck on the bottom. Last, Natalie used her warm -water BC for this dive. It was designed for tropical warmwater environments, where divers wear lightweight exposure protection and very little weight. It did not have sufficient lift to support her in the water with the equipment and weight she was wearing, especially without adding air to the suit itself. Like any tool or piece of equipment, BCs are designed for diferent situations and uses. It is debatable whether Steve should have stayed with his buddy or ascended and attempted to get help as he did. If he had descended, he could have jettisoned her weights and brought Natalie back to the surface. To do that, he would have had to descend very rapidly himself, just to keep up, and possibly injured himself in the process. He was not experienced at performing dive rescues, so it is likely he didn t know what to do. Many divers don t. An inexperienced diver attempting to make a rescue can sometimes put two people in trouble instead of just one. Lessons for Life 1. Gain experience with an instructor if you aren t familiar with the diving environment. 2. Take time to learn to use new equipment properly. 3. Make a buoyancy check in a safe environment prior to a dive using unfamiliar equipment. 4. Be ready to call any dive at any time if you feel uncomfortable. In this situation, Natalie could have returned to the boat when she was struggling and winded on the surface. 5. Get rescue-diver training and learn skills in case you are called upon to rescue a dive buddy. Reprint from Scuba Diving Magazine 8/26/2014

9 Page 9 Next FCDA Meeting Friday, September 26, :00 PM Coast Guard Cottage, South Benson Marina, Fairfield, CT FCDA Members Present!!" presentations by "FCDA Members" Lisa Jarosik Palm Beach Diving Captain Noel Voroba Bali/Komodo Diving TBA Fairfield County Diving Association P.O. Box 3005 Fairfield, CT Address Service Requested