Sunday, December 16, 2012

On assignement for Alert Diver

Allison Vitsky- Sallmon & Andy Sallmon came all the way from California on assignment for "Alert Diver", the DAN magazine, to produce a feature story on Grenada wreck diving and rebreathers. Allison on her new pink Titan ccr and Andy with his Evolution plus 4 large underwater camera housings where the perfect team to make this happen. Diving was awsome, only not enough time to cover all the wrecks in one week. So they said already, they have to come back. Picture shows the port prop shaft of "Bianca C". We also hit the Atlantic wrecks "King Mitch" and "Hema 1", should see some great images in the article.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

New Rebreather Diver "born"

Congratulations to Tim, who finished his 45m/ 150ft CCR certification this week! We had a great time working our "way down". At first Tim just wanted to do the basic course, but after the first couple of dives got hooked and went the whole nine yards. We had to add TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures to reach the new goal.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Bianca C, Reflections

BIANCA has been 51 years this week, at least when you count only the days on the bottom of the ocean. She is one of the worlds most magnificent ship wrecks, that should be on every divers bucket list who feels a lust for rust. We had our first date 15 years ago, when we started Aquanauts Grenada. It was love on first sight. Very little was known in the diving community about this sunken treasure, "the best kept secret" of some techies. Back then parts of the bridge still have been standing and we could watch the "dance of the eagle rays" through the windows. We created the "Titanic of the Caribbean" and many divers have come since to see it. The last year has been tough on the old Lady. Just after the 50th birthday celebration, the mast fell down. Since then the ship has been changing dramatically. During the last 2 month the whole starboard side has collapsed. The smoke stack sits now at 50 meters upside down on the sand. The bottom of the pool is at 135 feet. Decks have crumbled and safe penetrtation is almost impossible. The majestic bow is still standing and still blows my mind every time I'm sitting on the bottom looking up. This is "my cathedral". She still is a great dive, but better stay outside and enjoy one of the worlds largest wrecks and the wonderful marine life around. The eagles are still dancing.....

51 years "Bianca C"

It's now 51 years ago, that in the early morning 7.00 am of October 22nd 1961 an explosion woke up the people of St. Georges. Looking out of their windows they could see the giant Bianca C, that was anchored outside town on fire. Everybody who had a boat went out to help to rescue passengers and crew of the ship. As common with cruise liners, they did not manage to get the rescue boats down. Back then Grenada had few hotel rooms, so Grenadians offered their homes to the stranded people, gave them food and cloth. So this was the end of a ship, but the beginning of a tradition of hospitality that still lasts today. The ship burnt for 2 days until she finally sank on October 24th at noon. HMS "Londonderry" came from Puerto Rico but could not safe the ship, only managed to tow it away from the port. She sank in a perfect spot, just 50 meter deep, not far from Whibbles reef. Nature must have taken over quick. Here in Grenada coral grows fast and pelagic fish know how to navigate these wrecks. Bianca C has been one of the best kept secrets of Tech divers for many years. When we dicovered Grenada 15 years ago, one had barely heard about this treasure. Imagine, a 600 ft cruise liner within recreational diving limits and nobody knows... It was the time of the Titanic, so we called her the "Titanic of the Caribbean". We got writers from dive magazines from all over the world to Grenada and made it the trademark of Grenada diving. Thousands of divers have come to dive her, experience the sheer size and marine life around. A must on a wreck lovers bucket list. During the last year she has come of age now. The fire and the sometimes strong currents have taken their toll. Hallways that we used to run through with scooters have collapsed. Just a couple of weeks ago the whole starboard side broke down. The funnel with the big C on his side sits now at 50 meter upside down in the sand. While this all sounds sad, she still is a great wreck. The stern is still up and the majestic bow is "my cathedral". I've been there with many famous photographers, but nobody has "nailed" the perfect shot. So there is still work to do! If Bianca is on your bucket list, better come soon.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Nautilus Lifeline safety radio and GPS About three month ago a group of divers got lost in Grenada while diving one of the "Atlantic Wrecks". The wrecks are world class diving, but due to location can be done only in calm weather and around tidal currents. It was not a good day to go out there and I don't know if the shop they dove with did not check the weather forecast or if the guest pressured them to go. We choose to dive on the protected, leeward side of the island that day and this was bad enough. While down at Shakem it got almost dark as a night dive. When that happens it's probably time to go up, even if it's early in the dive, so we did. We just had enough time to run for shelter to the next bay when hell broke loose. Surface visibility around 10 feet in the rain, winds around 45 to 50 miles per hour and big thunder and lightning. As things calmed down a little we received the "mayday" call from another boat, out at Hema, that they lost 4 divers. We headed towards shore to drop passengers before heading out while another dive boat that had nothing to do went out straight. At the time they had drifted already for 90 minutes and where miles away from the site. The small diveboat wasn't even near and with no flybridge could not see much anyway. Luckily one of the divers had a Nautilus Lifeline. After trying with no success to raise his dive boat via VHF, they hit the distress button and the assisting boat could locate them immediatly via GPS. Chances for finding them without the Lifeline would have been small at best due to the existing conditions. We 've been one of the first supporting the Lifeline idea when it was introduced at Dema. It took a while for them to deliver, but since last DEMA they are available and we got some for the our shop. Especcially for rebreather diving, where because of the nature of the dive a permanent float is not practical, it put's your mind at ease. Unfortunately out of our 3 units, 3 failed due to manufactoring problems (guess, made in ch....). Still, the company is making a great effort, replacing them w/o hassle and hopefully will succeed to provide us with a tool that makes our beloved sport safer.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Great CCR dive today at "SHAKEM" wreck. It is a beautiful wreck of a cargo vessel carrying cement to Grenada from Trinidad and not quiet making it. The cargo ist still there, nice cement sacks all turned to stone by the seawater. But corals, sponges, Tunicates and schooling fish have taking over and transformed the wreck into an artificial reef. You can safely dive inside the bridge and cabin even down to the engine room - with lines and lights of course. The wreck is just a few miles off St. George's and can be dived anytime. An absolute feast for photographers.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Aquanauts Grenada Rebreather dive trip to Galapagos

Our latest Aquanauts Adventure got us to the Galapagos again. We had a group of 5 Rebreather and 10 OC divers aboard the Deep Blue liveaboard. There is no ccr supporting liveaboard there, but all you need is available from Jorge Mahauad of Galapagos Rebreathers in Santa Cruz. He rents booster, oxygen, sofnolime, tanks and bailout. Normally the Liveaboards start in San Christobal, but Deep Blue allowed a little change for us to leave from Santa Cruz. This way, we did not waste any time on the mainland in Guayaquil, but flew direct to Baltra/ Santa Cruz and organized some land tours. Especially North Seymour is highly recommended. This is where we boarded the boat. The Deep Blue is very well run, good cabins, great food and most important a wonderful crew, that makes the diving and the whole trip fun. The downside of the Galapagos now is, that the Park regulates the diving to death. The southern dive sites that they assign now are average and there are only 3 dives a day, 60 minutes permitted. Still, the diving in Wolf and Darwin is some of the "best" the world has to offer. It's the ocean on steroids. We choose the shoulder season again, just before the water get's cold and it worked out perfect. We split the tenders between OC and CC divers, so we could get the bottom times we desired. Currents in Wolf and Darwin where always between 1 to 2 knots with a Pacific swell. The marine life was outstanding, millions of creole fish covered the sites, making photography a challenge. Large schools of Hammerheads everywhere, lot's of Galapagos sharks in Wolf, a roaming 12 ft Tiger shark in Darwin and at last a big pregnant Whaleshark in Wolf, that decided to park on top of the divers in the current. Not to forget the Mantas, Mobulas, Eaglerays, Turtles, Dolphins and hundreds of Silkie sharks that entertained us on our safety stops. Many thanks to the crew of the Deep Blue for understanding us crazy rebreather divers and giving everybody such a great time. We sure will do this again.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Rebreather Forum 3

Back from Rebreather Forum 3 in Orlando. What an event it was. Some of the worlds brightest people in CCR diving, manufacturing and training, hyperbaric medicine , travel, military and explorers all the way down to TSA came together to make this a better world for our wonderful addiction. Three intense days filled with seminars and discussions, lot's to learn. Watch this space for more information. If you want to know more about rebreather diving watch this video, launched at the event.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Aquanauts Grenada at Rebreatherforum 3

Getting ready to leave for Rebreather Forum 3 tomorrow morning. What better preparation than having a dive on Bianca c this morning with some new rebreather buddies. Visibility was great, no current, almost did not want to leave...... Watch this space for news from the biggest rebreather event of this millenium. Orlando, here I come to represent Aquanauts Grenada