Today is arrival day. Expedition Leader Susan Eaton arrived in the wee hours of the morning after flight delays over Toronto. She is short some luggage, but we hope it...
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When Humpbacks Hit Snorkeling with humpbacks can be challenging. They are here in Newfoundland feeding voraciously on a buffet of capelin. There are literally schools of millions of fish that...
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Icebergs Make Their Own Weather Icebergs are temperamental. They make their own weather and effuse a moodiness underwater that is visceral. The approach to a small berg is done cautiously. In the...
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Taking On New Skills Technical diving and specifically, rebreather diving, is a continual learning process. If we closely examine how we learn, we can better prepare for the pitfalls associated with each stage of the learning process. Gordon Training International is popularly considered to be the originator of the conscious competence model, which describes the steps of learning any new skill. This model is particularly applicable to rebreather diving. The model describes the first stage of learning as “unconscious/incompetent” or “unconscious-unskilled.” This stage describes the rebreather diver on his or her first day of class; they are unaware of the…
Where Whales Went to Die We went diving in a graveyard of whales in Dildo, Newfoundland. Thankfully the practice of whaling has long passed in the these waters, but I was struck with the sadness of such a place. Whale carcasses were stripped of all their useful parts and then discarded in this bay. The backbones lead the dive through ribbons of solemnity and when you arrive at a great skull, you are stopped by the magnificent size. I’m hopeful we will swim with these great creatures on our expedition and celebrate them in their majestic life.
I was diving on the wreck of the Rosecastle this morning with Cas Dobbin and used my new Santi heated gloves for the first time. It was glorious. I can’t imagine how I worked without them. We had an hour on the wreck which sites in 150 feet of water. The temperature is 1°C on the bottom and I was comfortable for the duration of the dive. The under gloves are great insulators even without the heat. They sit inside my Kubi dry gloves and mate to the suit with a metal ring that is sealed with an O-ring. A small…
Few Canadians are aware of the time when WWII came to the shores of Newfoundland. During the Second World War, mines on Bell Island, Newfoundland supplied iron ore to Cape Breton’s steel mills, accounting for one third of Canada’s steel production. Germany knew that if they interrupted this flow of ore, even temporarily, Canada’s war output could be seriously affected. On the night of September 4th, 1942, a German U-Boat followed the ore carrier Evelyn B into its anchorage. The next morning and under the guns of the Bell Island Battery, the U-Boat sank two ships: SS Saganaga and SS…
Checklists are Broken The following article written by Chauncey Chapman, has an interesting viewpoint on checklists and how they can be implemented in the most efficient manner. I’ll always argue that any checklist that works for you is a benefit, but he is absolutely correct in the view that a checklist can’t be too complicated won’t be used. I applaud Hollis for securing the “little yellow card” to all the CCRs they ship. It is a terrific signal to the new CCR user that we take checklists seriously. From Chauncey: One interesting tidbit I have heard is that in most…
Professional Shooting in a Lightweight Solution When you have to travel light, you have to make difficult choices about imaging gear on an expedition. Becky Kagan Schott will be bringing...
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