So, just who is George Irvine III?????

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

MikeFerrara once bubbled...
IMO, he will never contribute enough to make up for the damage some of his statements may cause.
... no sense actually *talking* to him about it...


btw... I am not a cave diver so I have no real first hand knowledge of such things... but I have heard that some caves have been closed because of diver deaths... is that true? And that Wakulla was one such cave... or in danger of being locked up until the WKPP came up with their proposal?
 
Continued and increased access to caves requires an ongoing effort. Public image and good landowner relations are obviously important. Divers have died in most caves. Divers have died in the ocean, lakes, rivers and quarries also. Divers have died in their beds and bathtubs as well. The Wakulla 2 project is talked about as if they were dropping like flies due to their methods. I think the real death toll was one. I believe it was a solo dive on a rebreather in shallow water (not in the cave). I don't think the dive even had anything to do with the project. I am speaking from memory here. I have heard the story many times but don't recall all the details. The point is that those guys were GI's competition in the system. Wakulla for all practical purposes is closed. The WKPP has done a good job of securing access for the WKPP. I am unaware of any work they have done to benefit the cave diving community as a whole. There may, of course, be things that I am unaware of.

Some things to think about...
The first thing one must have in order to achieve a penetration record is a long enough cave. There are not many of those.

If other teams were in the cave, they would have a shot.

World records sell equipment like scooters and rebreathers.

If a connection is made to another window the record in Wakulla will be sucure (at least in that system).

The work done by Exley and others lead to safer diving and a better public immage. The NACD and NSS attempt to work for cave diving (cave divers) and conservation. GI openly expresses his dislike for them. He may be on to something in that if we put an end to cave diving and there are no cave divers there will be no deaths in caves. We don't need anymore help like this. It may be appropriate to limit access sometimes for conservation or even safety but I don't believe thats what we are seeing here. There are other 300 ft deep caves that have not been walled out and we have access. I think if GI ever wants to dive them he will first go after exclusive access. I have no desire to dive Wakulla (today) but I do wish to see the sport and the caves continue. I will support divers and organizations who work toward that goal.

I don't think GI is our freind.
 
MikeFerrara once bubbled...
Hal Watts was the first to use a backup second stage.

/B]


Actually the backup second stage now knows as the octopus was concieved at UNEXSO of Grand Bahama by Dave Woodward around 1966. He added another second stage to his reg for safety divers who were stationed as safety divers for Jacques Mayol when he was training at UNEXSO. Later he made the backup second stage mendatory for all unexso staff.
 
That doesn't match what my text says but I wasn't there. It would be interesting to look into though. Where does that info come from?
 
I first came to unexso 10 years after that, but have been going there ever since several times a year, that's 26 years or so. Also was often training their staff, so I know a lot of people there, some original since unexso started so I heared the stories from those that been there in the beginning.. Also the concept of the backup reg is written up in the unexso history book.
 
Seems we have two different groups that claim to have come up with the idea.
 
I have sent an E-mail and I am waiting for a response, as soon as I get one I will post it here.
 
What e-mail?
 
JT2 once bubbled...
I have sent an E-mail and I am waiting for a response, as soon as I get one I will post it here.
Well hopefully it wasn't as rude and contemptuous as your first post sounded here...

Oh... btw... you might want to ask permission of him before you share his private email on a public list... common courtesy.
 
Most everything I have read of Irvine's regarding Exley portrayed a very strong friendship. No one is/was perfect, and that includes Exley. It also seems to me that the WKPP has done a great deal of good for the cave community and technical diving in general. It depends on one's perspective, I guess.

Mike
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom