SCUBA Gear Feature of the Week: Aeris Package – A-1 Regulator, A-1 Octo, 2 Guage Console & Sport BCD

Product Description

Our Aeris package includes:

Aeris A1 Regulator

The ultimate performance to value ratio. The A1 Regulator is a great performer at a great price. Both the 1st and 2nd stages are low-profile, durable and lightweight. It has one high pressure port and four low pressure ports to accommodate most hose arrangements. The 1st and 2nd stage designs are easy to maintain and service, and are known by divers and technicians worldwide.

• Conventional second stage without diver adjustment • Lightweight • Nitrox compatible to 40% • Rugged and dependable

Aeris A1 Octopus

Built to withstand dive store rental departments. The A1 Octo is rugged yet lightweight and streamlined.

• Conventional second stage without diver adjustment • Lightweight • Nitrox compatible to 40% • Rugged and dependable

Aeris 2 Gauge Console

200′ depth gauge with maximum depth indicator. The maximum depth gauge is a necessity in diving equipment. The AERIS 200′ console is known for it’s accuracy and reliability.

Contemporary, easy to read dial design

Maximum depth indicator

Thermometer (in console only)

Luminescent gauge face absorbs light and glows approximately 7 times faster and longer than other materials

Aeris SPORT Buoyancy Compensator

Streamlined comfort. The clean and streamlined, no-nonsense weight integrated jacket sytle BC just got better. Comfortable but extremely functional, the Sport BC features a comfortable contoured air cell with big front pockets and multiple stainless steel grommets for knife and retractor mounting.

• High lift capacity and minimum drag • EZ-Lock Integrated Weight System accommodates up to 20 lbs. • Quick-release adjustable harness straps • 2 large pockets • Patented adjustable depth compensating cummerbund • Shown with optional Air Link Inflator, Silverjack BC Knife and Instrument Retractor.

http://www.atlantisdiversvastore.com/aepaa1rea1oc.html

40th Annual San Diego Underwater Photographic Society Film Festival

The San Diego Underwater Photographic Society (SDUPS) is proud to announce that its 40th Annual Film Festival will be held April 25, 2009 in San Diego, CA. This year’s film festival will feature a “headliner” film from Steve Drogin as well as a worldwide contest. The winner of the film contest, as determined by the audience, will be awarded a cash prize of $500. Additionally, there will be a reception honoring many of San Diego scuba diving pioneers with a special emphasis for those that lead the way in underwater photography and cinematography.

http://www.divephotoguide.com/competition/385

TSA: Transporting Scuba Equipment

Transporting Scuba Equipment

Travel Assistant

You may bring some scuba gear on-board an aircraft, but please follow the guidelines below.

You may bring regulators, buoyancy compensators and masks, snorkels and fins as carry-on or checked baggage.

Please also read our section on compressed gas cylinders for more information. Traveling with compressed gas cylinders.

Knives and tools are prohibited from carry-on luggage. These items should be packed in checked luggage.

Spear guns are prohibited from carry-on luggage. These items should be packed in checked luggage.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1190.shtm

Innovative product adds an HD camcorder to a scuba mask – Gadling

by Scott Carmichael Jan 4th 2009 @ 5:00PM

Several days ago I wrote about a digital camcorder that was waterproof enough to take on your next diving trip. Of course, the only thing that could be easier, is if you were able to bring your camera with you on every diving trip you take.

That is where the Liquid Image HD Scuba mask could help you. The mask/camera features an integrated HD video camera capable of recording at 720p/30 frames per second.

The mask is rated for depths up to 115ft, and includes 2 LED light attachments for increasing the color and detail which is usually lost as you dive deeper.

The camera has 64MB of internal memory, but any real life use will require an additional MicroSD memory card which adds 1 hour of space for every 2GB of storage.

The Liquid Image HD Scuba series camera mask will be available in Spring, and the suggested retail price is $215.

via Innovative product adds an HD camcorder to a scuba mask – Gadling.

Scuba Diving Computers: Types and Styles | beastmoon [dot] com

Scuba Diving Computers: Types and StylesPosted by beastmoon on Monday, January 5th 2009

JanDianne Rein asked:

A scuba diving computer can be a divers best friend. It will allow you to stay down longer than if you were diving off of tables. There are many types and/or styles of dive computers you can choose from. Which one is best is really personal preference and is suited to the way you dive. The following are some of the choices you will have when purchasing your dive computer.

via Scuba Diving Computers: Types and Styles | beastmoon [dot] com.

Spotlight: Angela Weedon Photography

Angela has some fantastic aquarium shots featured on this site.

 Angela Weedon Photography » Congrats #3.

Deadline for UnderWaterCompetition: 15th Jan 2009

Attention photographers and videographers: the deadlines for the Our World-Underwater and Deep Indonesia contests are coming up fast! The Contests are organzied and hosted by our friends over at Wetpixel.com and DivePhotoGuide.com. Make sure you enter your images before January 15 2009. With over $75,000 of world-class prizes, major industry involvement, and the opportunity to have your images showcased to the world as some of the best, these competitions can not be missed. Prizes include premium dive travel, underwater photo and video equipment, scuba diving gear and more!

New this year is a Novice category for the Our World Underwater contest, making it even easier for everyone from beginner to pro to compete. Worth mentioning is also that the contest is also open to underwater video, which is recently very strong in the German forums of Digideep. So go an jump over to compete. Entry forms and detailed guidelines can be found at underwatercompetition.com

via Deadline for UnderWaterCompetition: 15th Jan 2009 – digideep.com :: list of all underwater housings suitable for digital photography and videography….

Comments from Atlantis Divers:

Good luck everyone! If you submit to this contest, please let us know so we can sheer you on!

 

The Atlantis Dive Team

OzSail and Scuba Instructor Kylie Irwin to face criminal charges

 

Neely and Dalton

Australia · 01 January 2009
Source: CDNN
Submitted by: Simon Goodchild

Investigators say charges should be laid against the boat firm and scuba instructor who left two divers off the Great Barrier Reef.

Miracle dive couple Richard Neely and Allyson Dalton survived a 19-hour ordeal after being lost at sea during a Whitsundays dive expedition.

Now a Queensland Workplace Health and Safety report, after a six-month investigation, has found their failure to be picked up was due to “operator error”.

The report has recommended Airlie Beach-based dive company OzSail and its former dive trip director Kylie Irwin face charges.

State Government officials yesterday confirmed the report was being reviewed by a senior officer before being sent to a legal team.

“Legal officers will examine it to see whether it will lead to charges and to see whether there has been a breach of the Act,” a spokesman said.

Despite the high-profile case, which made headlines worldwide and sparked a media bidding war, officials are refusing to publicly release the document.

The British scuba instructor, 38, and his American girlfriend, 40, sold their incredible tale of survival in an international magazine and television deal rumoured to be worth as much as $250,000.

Rescuers found Mr Neely and Ms Dalton – experienced divers with more than 2000 dives – clinging together for warmth after they were swept 15km out to sea on May 26.

The couple told how crew and passengers failed to spot them waving a red safety inflatable as a strong current dragged them away from their dive boat, the Pacific Star.

“We were shouting and whistling but nobody saw us,” Mr Neely said.

“The boat stayed where it was, on a mooring, but we just kept drifting further away.”

Their disappearance on Bait Reef, northeast of Hayman Island, sparked a huge search, involving seven helicopters, three planes and a flotilla of boats, estimated to have cost $170,000.

Their harrowing ordeal was compared to that of the American couple Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who disappeared off Port Douglas in far north Queensland in 1998 and were never found. That tragedy was the inspiration for a movie, Open Water.

Mr Neely and Ms Dalton, a dive master, tied themselves together with rope from a marker buoy and desperately waved to helicopters that flew overhead every 45 minutes.

Mr Neely said he clung to Ms Dalton every half an hour, wrapping his legs around her and pressing their stomachs together for warmth.

The couple also jettisoned (scuba) tanks and (weight) belts to make themselves lighter.

 

Mr Neely said: “If I could see Ally getting weak, or Ally could see me getting weak, one of us would shout, ‘I love you’.”The QWHS findings offer a ringing endorsement for the couple after they were accused by some in the dive industry of a “stunt”.

OzSail owner Shannon Platt and company manager Fraser Yule did not return calls to The Courier-Mail.

In a separate incident, QWHS are also investigating the death of Taiwanese snorkeller Jade Huawg, 25, who was pulled from the water unconscious and died during an OzSail chartered reef trip to Hook Island last month.

via Scuba Diving News.

Sons find dad’s submarine, sunk in 1942

Sons’ love for missing dad plumbs the ocean’s depths

After more than 65 years, brothers find his sunken World War II submarine

Lt. Cmdr. Jim Abele commanded the USS Grunion, a submarine sunk during World War II that was finally found by his sons on the slope of an underwater volcano near Kiska, at the western tip of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

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Comments from Atlantis Divers:

This really isn’t a scuba related story, but it’s a GREAT special interest story we decided to post. Part of the reason why people dive is that there’s always a new adventure around the corner in a far away place. This certainly strummed that chord when we read this touching story. Enjoy!

The Atlantis Dive Team

via Sons find dad’s submarine, sunk in 1942 – American Story with Bob Dotson – MSNBC.com.

DEMA Congratulates the City of Key West and the State of Florida on Acquisition of USS Vandenberg

NewswireToday – /newswire/ – New York, NY, United States, 01/02/2009 – Ship bought at auction-destined to become the world’s second largest artificial reef.

The final fate of the USS Hoyt S. Vandenberg was determined this week when the 524-foot former navy vessel was bought by The First State Bank of the Florida Keys for $1.35 million at a federal auction in Virginia. The sale has cleared the way for the final preparatory work to be completed to bring the former World War II-era missile tracking ship to the Florida Keys where it will be sunk 6 miles off the coast of Key West in early 2009. This will make the USS Vandenberg the second largest artificial reef in the world.

“DEMA is delighted to learn of the purchase of the Vandenberg and congratulates the city of Key West and the First State Bank of the Florida Keys for their perseverance in making the 12-year artificial reef project a reality,” stated Tom Ingram, Executive Director of the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association. “We could not be more excited about the positive benefits the sinking of the USS Vandenberg will provide to the local Florida economy including the local dive retailers, charter operators and others in the scuba diving industry, as well as nearby restaurants, hotels and others. The Florida Ships 2 Reefs legislation enacted in 2008 with the assistance of DEMA and PADI was designed specifically to accomplish this kind of development for local economies. According to a recent study by NOAA, the Vandenberg Artificial Reef is estimated to bring in an additional $6.2 million in annual revenues and a half-million dollars in annual sales taxes,” Ingram concluded.

The USS Vandenberg will join the USS Oriskany and the USS Spiegel Grove to cement Florida’s position as a leader in the number of vessels functioning as artificial reefs in the United States. Thousands of visitors choose Florida to scuba dive on the artificial reef trail, providing an economic boost to the communities of the more than 300 Florida-based retail dive centers and local diving operators. “According to one study, the expenditures of divers visiting artificial reefs in Florida were more than $220 per person per day,” added Ingram.

In addition to being spectacular dive sites, artificial reefs provide additional hard bottom habitats that favor many species of large reef fish. Additionally they provide attractive and ecologically sound alternatives to fishing or diving on natural reefs. A recent study by NOAA also confirms 197 different species of fish thrive in the USS Spiegel Grove which was sunk just over 5 years ago. The ship also reflects how the historical and unique underwater sites are attractive to divers and snorkelers to explore. The USS Oriskany, which is the world’s largest artificial reef located off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, is so popular amongst the diving community that some local dive operations have up to a three month waiting list for divers to get on a boat to access this new edition to Florida’s artificial reefs. In May of 2006 the Pensacola Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB) invested $1 million dollars in bringing the decommissioned aircraft carrier to the Pensacola Florida area for sinking as an artificial reef. PCVB estimated that their entire investment was returned to the surrounding community during the three days after the carrier was sunk.

DEMA (dema.org), the Diving Equipment & Marketing Association, is an international organization dedicated to the promotion and growth of the recreational scuba diving and snorkeling industry. With more than 1,600 members, this non-profit, global organization promotes scuba diving through many initiatives including consumer awareness programs, media campaigns and sponsorship of DEMA Show, a trade event open only to companies doing business in the scuba diving, action water sports and adventure/dive travel industries. DEMA Show 2009 will take place November 4-7, 2009 in Orlando, FL. For more information on DEMA Show 2009, visit demashow.com. For more information on DEMA, call 858-616-6408 or visit the website. For more information on the Be A Diver campaign, visit beadiver.com.

via Newswire / Press Release: DEMA Congratulates the City of Key West and the State of Florida on Acquisition of USS Vandenberg – Travel/Tourism/Leisure – Adams Unlimited Public Relations & Marketing | NewswireToday.