In July, Jill Heinerth was invited to England by Suunto UK to participate as the 2015 Visiting Luminary for TEKCamp at Vobster Quay. The week long event brought together aspiring technical divers from across the country to learn from mentors in a relaxed and fun atmosphere. The instructional team included pioneering divers, explorers and instructors who worked with individuals to help them improve their skills and focus on future plans.
Behind the scenes with Jill Heinerth and the National Geographic team searching for dive sites in the most unlikely places. Published here in Scuba Diving Magazine.
Jill Heinerth recently returned from the UK after making a series of talks that included spreading a water literacy message through her We Are Water Project. Heinerth spoke at numerous diving clubs and venues and also a group at Portsmouth IBM called Connecting Women. Jill’s trip was sponsored by Suunto UK who have been incredibly supportive of the We Are Water Project. Shown here: The Suunto UK Team and supporters from the inland dive site Wraysbury Dive Center.
On July 14, 1935 Penelope Powell and Graham Balcombe made what is considered to be the first cave dive. It was conducted at Wookey Hole in England. This historic site is still open to the small membership of divers belonging to the Cave Divers Group (CDG). On the day following the anniversary Jill Heinerth was invited to dive by members Duncan Price, Gavin Newman and Claire Cohen. Swimming from the cave resurgence through to Sump 22 fulfilled a dream for Heinerth who has had her sight focussed on visiting the historic site for more than 20 years. Wookey Hole is…
Shirley Kasser wrote and excellent blog post on the realities of pee valves for women. Read here.
I carry a tiny handheld Light and Motion Sola Tech600 for my primary light while technical diving. I love being unencumbered. No cord. No canister. Lightweight for travel. Some of my diving colleagues have asked about whether such a small light can have adequate runtime for two serious cave or technical dives in a day. The answer is unequivocally, “yes!” The Sola Tech600 offers up a robust nine hours maximum burn time. Better yet, you can easily monitor the remaining capacity as you dive. This feature alone provides an unprecedented advantage over other lights. It acts as a fuel gauge,…
Chester the manatee is making his debut! I approved the final proof this morning and placed an order for the first shipment of books. I am really excited to offer up a beautifully illustrated children’s book that will help instill and environmental ethic at an early age. Sometimes I am not sure if it is too late to change the core values and daily practices of adults, but I know I can help kids to love their water resources and want to protect them. I’ll make a post as soon as the books are available of sale. All proceeds continue…
Photography without Strobes Today I decided to take a fun dive with my girlfriends Renee Power and Pam Wooten. It was a casual day of diving and that gave me the freedom to experiment. I’ve been testing the Aquatica AGH4 housing with the Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera and decided to shoot some still photos. I was determined to forego using any strobes. Light & Motion offers an interesting suite of lights these days and I decided to use the new compact Sola 3000 video lights. Most of the time I used them on low power. I found the results to be…
Google Earth Pro is now free Friday, January 30, 2015 Over the last 10 years, businesses, scientists and hobbyists from all over the world have been using Google Earth Pro for everything from planning hikes to placing solar panels on rooftops. I’ve been using it to find caves halfway around the world and discover targets for exploration in my own backyard. Google Earth Pro has all the easy-to-use features and detailed imagery of Google Earth, along with advanced tools that help you measure 3D buildings, print high-resolution images for presentations or reports, and record HD movies of your virtual flights…
I have been testing the Panasonic Lumix GH4 camera which was loaned to me by Aquatica in Canada. I decided it would be a great idea to try to shoot broadcast quality underwater video using only items I could fit in a single carryon case. I packed the Aquatica AGH4 housing, camera, arms and a complete Light & Motion video light set in a Nanuk 935 wheeled carryon case and went to task. The resulting video had to be downsized for the internet, but it was shot in glorious 4k Ultra HD quality. The camera shot some unbelievable stills too (well…