And what cavern instructor was that?Originally Posted by contender
Welcome to the Cave Diver's Forum.
Tech gear gets me excited
I like the challenge
It forces me to become a better diver
The caves are beautiful
Curiosity - what is around the next corner?
Exploration (new to you or "virgin")
I already bought all the gear, I might as well use it
Natural progression from other diving
Environmental / Science persuits
I live here! What else would I do, go to Gator Games??
And what cavern instructor was that?
That brings back memories...
I used to work for Denny Breese who was the first to discover and put divers the City of Houston back in 1987 or 88. I was in the team of divers that made the first dives on the wreck. Very cool dive with that single piston steam engine sticking up from the bottom like a church steeple.
Burke,
You want to walk down memory lane a bit more? Click here for a flashback.
I have spent a lot of time on that wreck, it is one of my favorites. You spend any time with Wayne Strickland? He was the original guru there. He even started a museum with the artifacts originally brought up from the Houston. Southport Maritime Museum. At any rate, hope you get a chance to watch the vid I posted there, should bring a smile to your face.
I'll be on the City of Houston tomorrow afternoon, and I'll give her a hello for you. We are heading out to 18 Fathom, then the Houston tomorrow morning. I am psyched right now. back to your regular thread, and apologies for the hijack.
Last edited by fpsndiver; 01-04-2008 at 08:22 AM. Reason: remove second signature
I posted a longish story about my experience, but when I hit the post button, it asked me to log on again and apparently dumped my post. I'm too irritated to retype it right now...
Sorry, I can't access the video. It's blocked from my location.
Nice video, and well edited Tom. Great choice of music too
Mike Edmonston
NAUI Technical Instructor
Oxycheq Experimental Dive Team Test Pilot
US NAVY Submariner TM2/ss 1988 - 1996
Currently US ARMY Military Police NTM-A TSS-COSTALL Spin Boldak Afghanistan 2010 - ??
Instructor Trainer and NATO Advisor to Afghan National Police Force and Afghan Border Patrol
In the type of work I am in, there are cell phones, irritating people, deadlines, schedules, inept subcontractors, etc. I do most of my cave diving solo, and the thing that I absolutely love is hitting the water and feeling my mind clear as I submerge. When I hit the entrance I am not thinking of anything but the dive (the line, the light, the cave) until I am back on the surface. Even in deco, I'm just in a very nice, peaceful place, and the stuff on the surface just has to wait a while.
Mark
I've had similar experiances with this new software. I do a quick "double tap" on the back space key and it kicks me back a page, loosing everything I typed
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
CTRL-A, CTRL-C...on a regular basis
I
Semper Fi, Cameron David Smith, my son, my hero. 11/9/1989 - 11/13/2010
Never forget, we were all beginners once. Allain Burrese
My name is Shirley Kasser Creech and I approve this message. Well, at least one of me does, anyway. Maybe. Fire. Sharp things. Squirrel!
Shirley you're not serious? No, I'm not, but do stop calling me Shirley.
Yeah... I normally do, but just when I get complacent, I get hit again.CTRL-A, CTRL-C...on a regular basis
Trying again...
Wayne was the first one to begin running commercial charters out to the wreck and put recreational divers on it. During those trips, he collected a lot of artifacts. When I would go by his shop, he would have artifacts everywhere. I was a little envious because all I had was a stack of dishes. Well, and a lot of great memories! I can also probably claim rights as the first to ever dive it.
In 1987, my second ocean dive after certification was on the City of Houston. I dropped down to the bottom (90fsw), swam around, found a good spot, fanned my hand over the sand and exposed a stack of china dishes. They were concreted together and I spent the rest of the dive trying to work them free. I checked my pressure gage and saw that I only had about 1,200 PSI and realized that I was running out of time. I wasn't sure that I would get another chance, so I pulled out my knife and used it to pry a stack of dishes free. At the time we were diving it the wreck had not been identified. Wayne would identify it some time later. Now, 20 years later, I still have those dishes.
The first dive earlier that day was on a wreck called the Casket. It was an English Bark that sank in 1892, IIRC. Me and another diver were the first and maybe the only divers to ever dive it. I say that with confidence because when we got to the bottom the ship's bell was just sitting on the wreck. He brought the bell up and it had the ship's name engraved on it. That's how we identified it. We came back some time later to dive it again and the shoal had shifted and the water was only 8ft deep, where it had been 30ft before. Apparently, the wreck was uncovered and then reburied by the shifting shoal. Who knows if and when it will ever be exposed again.
We did a lot of dives on the 18 Fathom wreck too. The plan was to salvage the Manganese ore. We did a video survey and ran a quarter inch line with small floats from stem to stern to used as a survey reference. Since it was poly line, it should still be there along with a 50-inch pinch bar we left inside the frame of cargo hold number 2. If you're feeling froggy, I would love to have that pinch bar back. J
I was originally hired to maintain the electronics, but Denny paid to get me certified so I could help with the diving. I was very fortunate to get the opportunity to dive with a treasure hunter / commercial dive exploration, though I was only able to do it for 18 months or so. I also got to work on the motion picture The Abyss, but that's a whole 'nother story…
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