I Need to Talk to a Shipwreck Survivor...

[detroit diver]

Seajay,

Question for you:

Where is the line drawn for "breaking the surface of the water"?

ie. Full face mask vs. full helmet vs. dive bell

What is considered the surface? Is it the top of the pool/aquarium, or some "underwater surface"?

If you can see where I'm going, I'm thinking a dive bell is no different than a FFM.

 

[jiveturkey]

I think you've really got to be concerned about your sanity. You're going to be there for 2 weeks! Ok you've got a tv and computer and you plan to do a bit of exercise but 336 hours is a long time. If I had to stay in my house for that long I'd go insane. You'll need a whole bunch of things to keep you occupied. What else have you got planned? Can other divers come in the water with you? Like maybe for a game of chess or an underwater massage? You could try an underwater frizbee. Those are a lot of fun and work much better than you'd imagine.

 

[ScubaTexan]

SeaJay once bubbled...
That's the coolest thing I think I've ever heard... That your dad worked on his plane. Small world, eh?

...So... What... Happened... To Charlie Hillard?

Unfortunately, Charlie was killed in a plane crash in 1996. He was doing a performance in a vintage post-WWII fighter jet at a stunt show in Lakeland, Fla., and lost control of it.

If I can find an article on it, I'll send it to you.

 

[SeaJay]

Boy, does that suck.

'Course, in the end, everyone dies. Life's a tragedy, and that's all there is to it. Nobody makes it out alive.

It still sucks, though.

 

[SeaJay]

A diving bell, hunh? I can see your point, DD... And certainly I can ask Guinness for some clarification on the matter. It'd be really interesting to check that out. It could mean for an interesting plan, hunh?

Jiveturkey: Believe it or not, past attempts on this record have NOT generally addressed the issue of boredom or taken it seriously. Yeah, no doubt... The psychology of the dive has just as much potential to threaten the success of dive as anything else... Which is why I consider it so important to have that window... A computer, an internet connection, music, movies, television, entertainment, and of course, the interaction with other people (on the other side of the glass) as well as other divers... I think it's all important to staying sane. Effectively, it'll probably be like staying in my house for two weeks straight. At least I'll have all the amenities of home, and the occassional guest! I love your idea of an underwater game or two... That sounds like a blast... I also plan on being able to have some *private time* with my sweetheart and dive buddy RavenC. Perhaps this won't be so bad after all!

You know, of the three people I talked to who had done attempts before, not one of them addressed any sort of psychological needs at all for their dive. In fact, one of them did his dive in a modified propane tank. Obviously, there wasn't even enough room in that to swim! I can't imagine...

SeaCobra, I'm not sure where you got that information about sleeping with a demand regulator. I've never had any problem sleeping in one. I'd be interested in whatever information you have on that...

 

[dsgobie]

Well what's the latest?

 

[Sauron]

Seajay,
Do you think your damaged fingers will cause you any issues being under that long?? Numbness, etc??

 

[SeaJay]

How'd you know about those?

You know, that's an interesting question. I don't know if it will be a problem or not... But my experience thus far with them is that the scar tissues that have formed rather nicely on the two affected fingers is generally LESS affected by superhydration than "normal" fingers.

...So no, I don't think it will cause any problems.

In fact, it would not surprise me at all to find that a week after the dive ends and all tissues return to normal, the scar tissues are actually softened on a somewhat permanent basis... And perhaps some of the nerve damage will be lessened a bit (which is actually less than one might think anyway).

It'll be an interesting experiement to find out what happens, won't it? I'm not worried, since they historically haven't given me any problems, even during the really long dives that I've already done.

...So how did you know about my fingers? Do you ride motorcycles like I do?

 

[SeaJay]

Very cool picture there.

Have we ridden together? I've been a bike week a few times in Daytona, and I've spent many days buzzing the tarmac in North and South Carolina, Tennesee, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, California...

You weren't part of the group that stayed with us in the spring of 2001 in Daytona, were you?

I take it that you dive, too, then? Where do you dive? I'm in Florida all the time, and have plans to be there a dozen times or so this summer...

 

[Barracuda2]

Seajay:

Being a video producer, I was just wondering how you are planning to document this event.

Barracuda2