Phrenzy
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I really don't think that is a very big deal. He is just looking for the fin he dropped.
English Channel crossing with Scooters!
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I really don't think that is a very big deal. He is just looking for the fin he dropped.
AbyssalPlains
Contributor
The only way this would be REMOTELY interesting is if they did it without switching divers at all.
Other than that, snore......
Other than that, snore......
Wiggsy
Contributor
Good luck with the project and the fundraising. I'm from Melbourne, Australia and at the entrance to Port Phillip Bay, we get tidal current flows of around 7 knots, interspersed with periods of slack water. All diving here takes place according to tide tables. Heath, are you going to be able to use tidal currents at all to your advantage, or are you motoring cross current? Seems to me that a good study of current flows and timing could help you a lot. And crossing open waters will always present difficulties - have back up days scheduled.
Rick Laney
Registered
RE: Underwater English Chanel Crossing: Way to go, God Speed
It is great to hear of such an adventurous project.
Let me know when they open up the challenge to wet subs. I think it is possible to make it all the way across without surfacing by using rebreathers and going just over 5 miles per hour in a wet sub. I have a wet sub that can go the distance without surfacing. See Submersible Systems Development - Honolulu, Hawaii Question is, can the divers handle the 4 hour water time?
Go for it,
Rick
It is great to hear of such an adventurous project.
Let me know when they open up the challenge to wet subs. I think it is possible to make it all the way across without surfacing by using rebreathers and going just over 5 miles per hour in a wet sub. I have a wet sub that can go the distance without surfacing. See Submersible Systems Development - Honolulu, Hawaii Question is, can the divers handle the 4 hour water time?
Go for it,
Rick
Anthony Appleyard
Contributor
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> The divers will work in pairs, moving across the channel for an hour at a time
> and will have to consider oxygen levels, buoyancy and the risk of
> developing the bends, a decompression illness.
Either they will use rebreathers, or the reporter is one of the many who knows little about scuba diving and calls air scuba "oxygen cylinders". Plus likely some newspaper's non-diving sub-editor had hacked the report about.
> and will have to consider oxygen levels, buoyancy and the risk of
> developing the bends, a decompression illness.
Either they will use rebreathers, or the reporter is one of the many who knows little about scuba diving and calls air scuba "oxygen cylinders". Plus likely some newspaper's non-diving sub-editor had hacked the report about.
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Hi Heath
Other than the actual diving logistics, what plans do you have for dive support and safety? Although technically at 5m for an hour or two you shouldn't be getting DCS, there is still a possibility for a range of pulmonary injuries.
Stefanie
I always wanted to do a dive like this, but between Anacapa Island and Santa Cruz Island. When I wrote this story, I don't think it was technically feasible, but if I am correct, using a modern rebreather and a scooter that exists now, it could be done.
In any case, it made me think some and I wrote the story below. Believe it or not, I was actually sober at the time and also a dive was made to 1000 feet using a hydrogen mix. Maybe that gave me this wacky idea. I hope it amuses you and you enjoy it. Also, topographically it is correct as well. It would be a fun dive.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt
Yellow Banks at the south end of Santa Cruz Island
Dive 1000 Feet With Captain Nemo
4 Leagues Under The Sea
Rarely do I communicate with the people beyond my shores, those who live on the dry land. My domain is the sea. You know me as Captain Nemo. Reports of my death are grossly exaggerated, though I guess it is understandable. I will say no more of that, beyond that some of my biological experiments, conducted many years ago on an island, have resulted in my continued health.
Sometimes, documentation of my inventions and discoveries have reached your world. When I have judged that they should. In this case I have recently tested a prototype scuba system and feel that the world should know what we found to be possible. The equipment was designed to give divers great mobility with the capability to dive more than 1000 feet for an extended time, without risk of Caissons Disease. (It is commonly referred to as the Bends or DCS these days)
While there were numerous places I could make this test, I had decided that the proper place would be at the islands offshore from Southern California. Looking at my charts, the water conditions and terrain seemed quite appropriate for the test. Looking for the proper place to carry out the test, I then remembered that some 20 years before, an acquaintance had suggested this very thing at this spot. He had said the dive he had wanted to make was to swim between the west end of Anacapa Island and the east end of Santa Cruz Island. With conventional diving equipment of the time, the dive would have been quite impossible. The distance, depth and terrain seemed an ideal test for my new equipment.
The logistics of the dive was both simple and complicated. We would use one of my standard shielded torpedo sleds, powered by compressed gas. The diver would then breathe the exhausted gas. The problem is the necessary gas mixture to allow the diver to survive. There is only one gas mixture that could allow the diver to safely make this dive. That is a mix using Hydrogen and Oxygen. The methods of this technique were complicated, but not unknown. The problem is to overcome is the explosive flammability of the Hydrogen. Hydrogen, mixed with a partial pressure of Oxygen that would allow a diver to breathe on the surface, would almost certainly result in an explosion. The solution to the problem is to use 3 different gas mixtures. Normal Oxygen enriched air could be used to 130 feet. Then a Helium and Oxygen mix could be used to a depth of 300 feet. At 250 feet, the diver could use the primary breathing supply of mixed Hydrogen gas. My aluminum silicate crystal pressure vessels on the sleds have an operating pressure in excess of 12,000 psi. Actually, something like this was done off of Catalina Island many years ago. It turned out rather tragic, because only one of the three divers survived, but they did leave their diving bell to make a 1000 foot dive with scuba.
The actual apparatus would be a backpack for the diver that would carry the two gas mixes for the shallower water and a reservoir of the Hydrogen mix that was replenished from the torpedo sled. The reservoir would both allow the diver to separate from the sled for a limited period of time and also in an emergency. The hydrogen and oxygen are combined by the backpack.
The objective of this test was to gather data for the eventual creation of a rebreathing apparatus that could dynamically supply these different gas mixes to the diver.
On the first dive it was planned that the divers would not use the air mix for the descent. Instead, it was planned that they would breathe pure un-pressurized oxygen before the dive to reduce their nitrogen content. The first 150 feet of the descent would be made in my vessel, the Nautilus.
I will note that in its 5 previous incarnations, my vessel and home, always called the Nautilus, has been powered by what you call nuclear fission using Uranium or Plutonium for fuel. My present and greatest vessel is powered by a hydrogen fusion plant of my own design. Its magnetic propulsion system allows for the speed of a propeller driven aircraft. The silence of my vessel and its indestructible ceramic hull allow me to undetectably go anywhere to any depth for any period I desire.
I do not know what led me to my final decision about this test. Perhaps it was the energy he seemed to take from the sea, but in any case, I decided that I would invite the diver along that had suggested the dive to me so many years before.
I had been studying Sea Lions at the time we met. Because the political powers of the surface states were on the verge of war, it was necessary for me to develop concealment and detection capability to keep my privacy. My vessel cannot be found by their sensors. One night, I checked that there were no boats or aircraft near and surfaced near 2 miles off the coast just north of the city of Los Angeles. It was a silent, still, moonless night. While I have little to do with those who live on land, even I had to admire the lights of the city, looking like burning jewels on the black velvet shore. They do not tempt me. Perhaps I was tempted though, because then the unthinkable happened. I was hailed from behind with "hey dude, neat ship". I spun around and there in the darkness was a diver standing on the aft deck.
---Why I don't write for the BBSs anymore. Most make it too hard to post the pictures I use or in this case, limit the length of my post. If you want to read the rest of this, check out Deep Dive of Whimsey With Captain Nemo ... Remember though, dive with Captain Nemo and you will probably meet a sea monster...
In any case, it made me think some and I wrote the story below. Believe it or not, I was actually sober at the time and also a dive was made to 1000 feet using a hydrogen mix. Maybe that gave me this wacky idea. I hope it amuses you and you enjoy it. Also, topographically it is correct as well. It would be a fun dive.
Enjoy the diving, seahunt
Yellow Banks at the south end of Santa Cruz Island
Dive 1000 Feet With Captain Nemo
4 Leagues Under The Sea
Rarely do I communicate with the people beyond my shores, those who live on the dry land. My domain is the sea. You know me as Captain Nemo. Reports of my death are grossly exaggerated, though I guess it is understandable. I will say no more of that, beyond that some of my biological experiments, conducted many years ago on an island, have resulted in my continued health.
Sometimes, documentation of my inventions and discoveries have reached your world. When I have judged that they should. In this case I have recently tested a prototype scuba system and feel that the world should know what we found to be possible. The equipment was designed to give divers great mobility with the capability to dive more than 1000 feet for an extended time, without risk of Caissons Disease. (It is commonly referred to as the Bends or DCS these days)
While there were numerous places I could make this test, I had decided that the proper place would be at the islands offshore from Southern California. Looking at my charts, the water conditions and terrain seemed quite appropriate for the test. Looking for the proper place to carry out the test, I then remembered that some 20 years before, an acquaintance had suggested this very thing at this spot. He had said the dive he had wanted to make was to swim between the west end of Anacapa Island and the east end of Santa Cruz Island. With conventional diving equipment of the time, the dive would have been quite impossible. The distance, depth and terrain seemed an ideal test for my new equipment.
The logistics of the dive was both simple and complicated. We would use one of my standard shielded torpedo sleds, powered by compressed gas. The diver would then breathe the exhausted gas. The problem is the necessary gas mixture to allow the diver to survive. There is only one gas mixture that could allow the diver to safely make this dive. That is a mix using Hydrogen and Oxygen. The methods of this technique were complicated, but not unknown. The problem is to overcome is the explosive flammability of the Hydrogen. Hydrogen, mixed with a partial pressure of Oxygen that would allow a diver to breathe on the surface, would almost certainly result in an explosion. The solution to the problem is to use 3 different gas mixtures. Normal Oxygen enriched air could be used to 130 feet. Then a Helium and Oxygen mix could be used to a depth of 300 feet. At 250 feet, the diver could use the primary breathing supply of mixed Hydrogen gas. My aluminum silicate crystal pressure vessels on the sleds have an operating pressure in excess of 12,000 psi. Actually, something like this was done off of Catalina Island many years ago. It turned out rather tragic, because only one of the three divers survived, but they did leave their diving bell to make a 1000 foot dive with scuba.
The actual apparatus would be a backpack for the diver that would carry the two gas mixes for the shallower water and a reservoir of the Hydrogen mix that was replenished from the torpedo sled. The reservoir would both allow the diver to separate from the sled for a limited period of time and also in an emergency. The hydrogen and oxygen are combined by the backpack.
The objective of this test was to gather data for the eventual creation of a rebreathing apparatus that could dynamically supply these different gas mixes to the diver.
On the first dive it was planned that the divers would not use the air mix for the descent. Instead, it was planned that they would breathe pure un-pressurized oxygen before the dive to reduce their nitrogen content. The first 150 feet of the descent would be made in my vessel, the Nautilus.
I will note that in its 5 previous incarnations, my vessel and home, always called the Nautilus, has been powered by what you call nuclear fission using Uranium or Plutonium for fuel. My present and greatest vessel is powered by a hydrogen fusion plant of my own design. Its magnetic propulsion system allows for the speed of a propeller driven aircraft. The silence of my vessel and its indestructible ceramic hull allow me to undetectably go anywhere to any depth for any period I desire.
I do not know what led me to my final decision about this test. Perhaps it was the energy he seemed to take from the sea, but in any case, I decided that I would invite the diver along that had suggested the dive to me so many years before.
I had been studying Sea Lions at the time we met. Because the political powers of the surface states were on the verge of war, it was necessary for me to develop concealment and detection capability to keep my privacy. My vessel cannot be found by their sensors. One night, I checked that there were no boats or aircraft near and surfaced near 2 miles off the coast just north of the city of Los Angeles. It was a silent, still, moonless night. While I have little to do with those who live on land, even I had to admire the lights of the city, looking like burning jewels on the black velvet shore. They do not tempt me. Perhaps I was tempted though, because then the unthinkable happened. I was hailed from behind with "hey dude, neat ship". I spun around and there in the darkness was a diver standing on the aft deck.
---Why I don't write for the BBSs anymore. Most make it too hard to post the pictures I use or in this case, limit the length of my post. If you want to read the rest of this, check out Deep Dive of Whimsey With Captain Nemo ... Remember though, dive with Captain Nemo and you will probably meet a sea monster...
My first post for a long time.
For those SoCal divers saying how easy the crossing should be...check out the tide tables for the English Channel. It is more than ebb, flow and slack. Trust me, I was onboard a yacht (of the sailing variety - no SatNav) and the navigation wasn't simple. Plus, I have see everything from flat calm to 20 foot waves on the same crossing, conditions which were not forecast!
What these guys are doing is no cake walk!
For those SoCal divers saying how easy the crossing should be...check out the tide tables for the English Channel. It is more than ebb, flow and slack. Trust me, I was onboard a yacht (of the sailing variety - no SatNav) and the navigation wasn't simple. Plus, I have see everything from flat calm to 20 foot waves on the same crossing, conditions which were not forecast!
What these guys are doing is no cake walk!
cool_hardware52
Contributor
OP
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