The Presidents Corner by Mike Cassetta

Transcription

1 FAIRFIELD COUNTY DIVING ASSOCIATION August 2012 Volume 19 Issue 8 Inside this Issue The Presidents Corner page 1 FCDA Donors I page 2 July Meeting Raffle Winners page 3 Events of Interest to FCDA Members page 3 FCDA Member Ads page 3 Members of the Month pages 4, 5 FCDA Donors II page 4 FCDA Donors III page 5 German U-Boat Discovered Off New England Coast page 6 Astronauts Train for Asteroid Mission Underwater by Maureen Halsema page 7 Next FCDA Meeting page 8 The Presidents Corner by Mike Cassetta The days are getting shorter and summers coming to an end, boo hoo. The good news is there is still plenty of diving to be had. The July meeting was extremely well attended. Capt Noel shared footage of his trip to the Maldives. Overall, this looks like it would be an extremely exciting expedition. On Friday, August 24th, we will have our annual FCDA movie night. This year's film will be the thriller Open Water. The film's major focus is how to run a dive charter, giving folks that up close animal encounter and the importance of good customer service. It is actually based on a kinda true story. We will plan to do a cookout prior to meeting, weather permitting. A small grill will be available for everyone to use. Please bring your own meat for grilling, but as usual at our meetings,. beverages will be available for purchase at the cottage. September will be members present night. So far we have several victims going to share short videos. If anybody else is interested, please let Matt or me know. We additionally, are looking for featured guests for both October and November. Once again, shark week is on Discovery Channel. As usual, air jaws is being featured, and lots of talk about large predatory sharks. Certainly the recent attack on the Cape is fueling the excitement.. I think it would be good if they featured other species besides the white sharks, we'll see how it goes. Advice for the month: don't walk outside in your socks in the rain. That also applies to snow. Well, That's all folks.. Mike

2 Page 2 FCDA Donors 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 2012 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 July Meeting Raffle Winners After an excellent presentation on The Maldives by our own Capt n. Noel, the club held its regular raffle to support our DAN Platinum sponsorship. The winners were: Defog and Scuba pack donated by New England Dive Center - Benedict Danielczuk; Akona Mask donated by Orbit marine Dive Center - Toni Morgan; Pink Access Bag donated by New England Dive Center - Julie Hellburg; Dive Gloves donated by New England Dive Center - John Hill; Hanger donated by New England Dive Center John Fanuko; Diver Accessories donated by New England Dive Center John Hill; Scuba Pro Hat donated by New England Dive Center-Toni M; 2 Air Fills donated by Rex Dive Center- Benedict Danielczuk; 2 Nitrox Air Fills donated by Rex Dive Center Jim Purcell; Slap Strap donated by Orbit Marine Dive Center Toni Morgan. Thanks to New England Dive Center, Orbit Marine Dive Center and Rex Dive Center for donating tonight s raffle prizes for our DAN raffle. Remember, you can't win if you don't buy tickets and you can't buy tickets if you don't get up and come out to FCDA events and meetings! Events of Interest to FCDA Members August 24th Movie Night and Cook-out The August meeting is Movie Night and BYOM Bring Your Own Meat. September 13-16, Annual Cape Ann Trip - September 13 - September 16. Cape Ann Campground. Shore diving on Friday; Contact - Mel Rich at divermel@optonline.net for details and for camping. October 28, Annual Underwater Pumpkin Carving/Beach Cleanup- 10:00 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 Members of the Month by Charlie Blanchette FCDA Donors The business listed on this page has donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. Lets get the meeting started! Who rang the bell? Let the presentation begin. (Continued on page 5)

5 Page 5 Member of the Month by Charlie Blanchette (continued) FCDA Donors The business listed on this page has donated dive gear and dive services to help support the Fairfield County Diving Association. (Continued from page 4) Our Jeff. Rex Dive Center Offers Technical Diving Classes Interested in taking your training to the next level? TDI Instructor George Sharrard (# 10270) is offering: New Camera. Intro to Tech Advanced Nitrox Decompression Procedures Stop by Rex Dive Center to talk about schedules, class requirements and gear. Or, georges00z@aol.com for more information.

6 German U-Boat Discovered Off New England Coast Page 6 The WW II German submarine U-550 was discovered on July 23,2012, 70 miles south of Nantucket Massachusetts. The U-550 was sunk by depth charges on April 16, 1944 after successfully torpedoing the American tanker, the Pan Pennsylvania. The exact location of the U-550 has never been known and though there have been several searches for the location of the U-550, all have been unsuccessful. Garry Kozak of Edge Tech, Wareham MA, is a specialist in undersea search with 40 years of experience. Edge Tech is a manufacturer of high resolution commercial & military side scan sonar systems used world wide for demanding undersea search operations. Garry teamed with AWS Expeditions operated by Joe Mazraani and associates to research and to finalize what should be the likely area the submarine sank in. Utilizing specialized side scan sonar largeare a search techniques, an area totaling over 70 square miles of seafloor were covered in 2 days of search operations resulting in the location of the U-550. The sonar image shows the U-550 sitting upright and tilting to her starboardside. Underwater images of the deck and torpedo loading hatch were captured and the images were assembled into a composite photo mosaic. Further documenting of the wreck site is planned. *Historical Background*: On April 16, 1944, the German submarine *U-550*,a type IXC/40 long-range U-boat under the command of Kaptitan leutnant Klaus Hanert, put a single torpedo into the stern of the 10,017-ton American tanker *Pan Pennsylvania*. The Allied tanker was in convoy and bound for England loaded with 140,000 barrels of gasoline at the time. Following the torpedo explosion, the Ship took on an immediate list to port, and when a fire broke out in the engine room the tanker was abandoned in short order. The convoy escorts picked up 56 survivors, leaving 25 men missing out of a crew of 81. After picking up the surviv o r s f r o m t h e P a n *Pennsylvania*, the U.S. Navy destroyer escorts USS *Joyce*, *Peterson* and *Gandy* combined their efforts to bring swift and fatal retribution to the attacking submarine. Picking up a solid contact with her sonar gear, USS *Joyce* closed on the target and made a depthcharge attack that quickly brought the *U-550* to the surface. Gunfire from all three escorts converged on the surfaced submarine as German sailors poured out of her hatches, briefly returning fire with their own weapons. Meanwhile, USS *Gandy* rammed the submarine aft and the Germans abandoned ship. A muffled explosion aboard the submarine indicated the crew had set off scuttling charges and *U -550* sank stern first. Twelve survivors from the submarine were picked up by the destroyer escorts, while 44 men were lost. Patrol boats picked up the bodies of three German sailors outfitted with escape gear during the next several weeks: they had apparently escaped the sunken submarine only to die adrift at sea. The tanker *Pan Pennsylvania* capsized and drifted for two days, her cargo of gasoline on fire, before finally being sunk with gunfire. For more historical information on the events of April 16,1944, please refer to the US Coast Guard website: *U.S. Coast Guard History: uscghist/u550.asp Press Release July27, 2012 source: WAHOO-FORUM

7 Page 7 Astronauts Train for Asteroid Mission Underwater by Maureen Halsema On June 11, 2012, NASA sent a crew to live for two weeks in Aquarius Reef Base to conduct research and mission-simulation training for work on asteroid mission scenarios. Diving is often used in NASA training to teach astronauts how to work in low gravity. The underwater environment simulates many aspects of space travel, allowing astronauts to acclimate, learn how to adapt to challenges, solve problems and practice skills prior to lifting off into orbit. This is the 16th crew NASA has dispatched to the Aquarius Reef Base for NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operations (NEEMO). NEEMO 16 is taking place at the Aquarius Habitat in NOAA's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, approximately 3.5 miles off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. This underwater laboratory is owned by NOAA and operated by the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. It provides excellent conditions to train the astronauts to endure isolation and live in a small habitat with several crew members. In space, the astronauts will live in small quarters in an unforgiving environment. Much of the equipment they will use while underwater including their communications systems, underwater vehicles and breathing apparatus are similar to what they will use when operating in space. are similar to what they will use when operating in space. This mission is specifically investigating methods of asteroid exploration, including robotic systems, necessary crew members and associated tasks, communication systems and challenges they may face or need to overcome when working in such an environment. Aquarius Reef Base is designed to withstand ambient pressure equivalent to 120 feet underwater (approximately 5 atmospheres absolute). It is an 82-ton doublelock pressure vessel that is nearly 50 feet long and 13 feet wide. This underwater research laboratory is located on a baseplate 63 feet underwater. The underwater habitat offers saturation diving research opportunities to NASA as well as other scientists. Researchers can spend more time at depth completing no-decompression dives in the waters that surround the habitat. Inside the habitat there are six bunks, a shower, toilet, refrigerator, microwave, computers and communication gear that connect to shore via wireless telemetry. This is how aquanauts can communicate with the shore-based mission control center. On the surface, above the lab are buoy floats that provide communications towers with VHF, cellular and wireless antennae. These floats are also equipped with important life-support materials such as generators and air compressors that connect directly to Aquarius Reef Base. After completing their mission, the aquanauts will decompress inside the Aquarius Reef Base. The pressure inside the habitat will be brought slowly from the operating depth to 1 atmosphere absolute. Then, the aquanauts will lock out and swim to the surface. Source; Divers Alert Online

8 Page 8 Next FCDA Meeting Friday, August 24, :00 PM Cookout - 7:00 PM (weather permitting) Coast Guard Cottage, South Benson Marina, Fairfield, CT FCDA at the Movies "Open Water" Independent filmmaker Chris Kentis directs the dramatic thriller Open Water, based on a true story. Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Travis) are a busy married couple on an island vacation. They board a vessel called the Reef Explorer with a group of other scuba divers, traveling 15 miles out to sea. Since they are certified to dive in open waters, the couple breaks off from the group to go exploring. The Reef Explorer accidentally leaves without a proper head count, leaving them stranded in shark-infested waters. Kentis and producer wife Laura Lau did all the filming themselves in the actual ocean without extraneous special effects, while the actors wore special steel-mesh under their wetsuits in the scenes where actual sharks were involved. Open Water was shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004 as part of the American Spectrum competition. We will plan to do a cookout prior to meeting, weather permitting. A small grill will be available for everyone to use. Please bring your own meat for grilling, but as usual at our meetings,. beverages will be available for purchase at the cottage. Fairfield County Diving Association P.O. Box 3005 Fairfield, CT Address Service Requested