May 2004

Florida Keys – The Often Overlooked Great Dive Location.
by Chris Councill

    I recently had the chance to use a cottage I share in Ramrod Key located 25 miles from Key West in Florida.  I must say the dive experience was way better then I had hoped for and I will certainly be going back many times.  We arrived on Key Ramrod on April 9th and left on April 14th.  The weather was great at 82 to 95 degrees in the day and a low one evening of 72 degrees for the entire trip.

    The water conditions were as good as the weather and certainly rivaled the Bahamas.  Water temp was 76 to 78 degrees; visibility was just about as good as the Bahamas, at approx 150 feet or better.  We had a chance to travel a short distance (50-75 yards) on a huge sea turtle on a reef dive in Key West with Captain’s Dive shop located next to the Pier House Restaurant (highly recommended), that we located by using the Key West Visitors Inc. located at 31281 Overseas Hwy. on Big Pine Key (305) 872-7447 (www.keywest123.com). 

    The sea turtle did not seem to mind and he was over 6 feet in length, with a shell width of over three feet.  Many varieties of fish, including Barracudas, groupers, sharks, and angle fish were present daily and the dive team was very accommodating and friendly. There were many outside diving booths located on the historic seaside mall, and the dive shop was located right next to the Pier House Restaurant.

    Back on Ramrod Key I had the chance to Dive with Looe’s dive shop on a 125-foot wreck where once again the water and dive were great, but I did prefer the diving off Key West both with Captain’s Dive shop and our on personal dives in Key West the best.

    Needless to say the nightlife was great during spring break and no one should miss the fine dinning that is abundant on Key West at all different price levels.  I do hear the hotels are expensive but do not know the exact cost.  Don’t forget a quick stop at “No Name Key” but you will have to ask one of the locals how to get there.  The No Name restaurant is quite unusual and should not be missed!

 

DAN Unveils Revamped Research Section on Website
Ern Campbell, MD, On-Line Dive Medicine http://scuba-doc.com/

    Divers Alert Network (DAN®) has launched a revamped version of the research section of its website that now makes it more user-friendly and up-to-date than ever before. The new Research section home page is www.DiversAlertNetwork.org/research.

    It includes:

o Progress reports on ongoing projects - Studies done in the laboratory (e.g., U.S. Navy Flying After Diving) and in the field (Project Dive Exploration, also known as PDE) receive an overview of their objectives, qualifications and procedures, and names organizations and businesses who support the studies.

o Information on completed studies - The same as above, with final results added, for such projects as ascent rate, breath-hold and diabetes and diving.

o Publications database - Documents written and / or edited by DAN Research staff since 1988 can be searched by keyword, author's last name, title, category and year of publication. This bibliography includes abstracts, magazine articles, journal articles, conference papers and reports.

o Downloadable materials - Forms and brochures related to PDE, the DAN Research Internship Program and the U.S. Navy Flying After Diving study are available for printout here on PDFs.

o Staff biographies - Includes Research employees at DAN Headquarters in Durham, N.C. and adjunct staff in the anesthesiology department at Duke University Medical Center.

o News and events involving DAN Research.

    In addition, the Research section now is listed within its own category (previously, it had been part of the Diving Medicine section of the website). Another new feature is a constantly updating count of participants involved in PDE dive profile collection, now standing at more than 83,000 dives.

    "This revamped section required months of extensive cooperative planning, discussion and writing by the Research and IT (Information Technology) departments," said Dr. Richard Vann, Vice President, DAN Research. "I am pleased with the results and hope all DAN Members and supporters find it a convenient and informative tool to use regarding our work."

    "We are happy to report that the new Research section on the DAN website is now live," said Panchabi Vaithiyanathan, Vice President, DAN Chief Information Officer. "Research and IT worked cooperatively on this project. Specifically, I commend the efforts of Peter Winkler, Donna Uguccioni, Jeanette Moore and Wesley Hyatt for making this happen."

    Winkler is web developer for DAN who designed and developed the look and layout of the Research section. Uguccioni, DAN Research Coordinator, and Moore, DAN Research Staff Assistant, provided the content for the section. Hyatt, DAN Senior Editorial Assistant, worked with all parties in reviewing content, spelling, grammar and syntax.

    DAN is the leading recreational scuba diving health and safety organization in the world. For more information about it, visit the website at www.DiversAlertNetwork.org.

 

Great Fresh Water Diving in Pennsylvania
by Greg ZajacDutch Springs Logo

    I was sitting on the back of a fire truck playing with my watch. Brett said, “I wonder how old this thing is?”
    “I don’t know,” I said. “But it’s a hell of a lot older than one we ride at Lake Monticello.”
    He nodded in agreement.

    Of course, neither one of us could actually hear this. We were 25 feet underwater in Dutch Springs, Pa. www.dutchsprings.com

    We glided back into shore and popped up onto one of the diver friendly docks next to the waters edge.  Taking our mask and fins off, we were smiling about the huge Sikorsky helicopter we had just seen.  Sunk in 1994 it lies suspended at 50 feet from two large pontoons on the surface. It was just on of the dozens of sunken scuba treasures lying quietly in Dutch Springs.

    Brett Henyon and I were finishing an ”adventure” dive as part of our Open Water Scuba Instructor course.  We had taken a few underwater compass headings and traveled around the quarry as practice for our upcoming exam.  We were stunned at the clarity of the water.  We mentioned the 30 to 40 feet visibility to Chip and PADI Course Director Nick Jenny from Philadelphia and they shrugged.  “To be honest, the rain may have knocked it down a bit. It gets much better.” said Nick.

    Dutch Springs is a 50 acre lake with 50 acres of surrounding land sitting off route 512 in Bethlehem, PA.  In a word, it’s monstrous.  The facility can handle 500 divers a day during the summer with plenty of room for everyone underwater.  It also boasts a campground and children’s water park/play area.  Divers can find fire trucks, a trolley, a tanker, an Air Force crane, a Sikorsky H-37 Huey helicopter, as well as a host of other boats, cars and sunken treasures. Nestled within the Lehigh Valley area there is also plenty to do and see outside Dutch once you’ve scratched your water itch.

    Last week I was at Dutch again and I’m thrilled to say I passed my PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor exam. Brett will be taking his exam in June. We both look forward to taking a few are divers up to Dutch as soon as possible.  See you then!

Greg Zajac is an EMT for the Lake Monticello Rescue Squad and Assistant Captain of the Lake Monticello Water Rescue Team.  Brett Henyon is a flight paramedic for UVA Hospital’s Pegasus helicopter and a member of the Charlottesville Water Rescue Team.