Wreck Diving Training on the Robert Gaskin

By deepstop

The first two dives of my wreck diving course in 2007 were in the St. Lawrence River near Brockville, Ontario (or, if you prefer, Alexandria Bay, New York) on the Gaskin. At only 60 feet depth, and with lots of holes in the deck through which a diver can pass, the Gaskin is great place to practice wreck penetrations.

The setup for the course was to make 6 dives, consisting of two dives on each of 3 wrecks. For the Gaskin, and the second wreck, the procedure was for each buddy pair to descend together to the bottom of the buoy line where they were met my the instructors. Each diver would pair off with an instructor and separately enter the wreck, one on the port side and one on the starboard, tying off their lines on the outside. On the first dive, it was simply a matter of laying a good taut penetration line, then reeling it in on the way back.

The instructors and safety divers stayed underwater during both dives by the students, a total of about an hour and a half. The students were spaced every 10-12 minutes, so after a surface interval of only 25 minutes my buddy Mike (an instructor in the RCMP getting his civvy certifications) and I were back in the water descending to the Gaskin once again. This time, when we were reeling back in, the instructors silted out the wreck so we had to depend on the lines for navigation. No problem.

The water temperature at 20C (68F) was cool in my 3mm wet suit and hood, but the dives were short (20 minutes and 18 minutes) and the air was warm so no problem. The maximum depth was 68 feet, which I hit on the first dive. We used Nitrox because of the short surface interval with a mix of 37% Oxygen.

In short, it was lots of fun.

http://deepstop.wordpress.com/2009/01/10/wreck-diving-training-on-the-robert-gaskin/

He was in over his head – and loving it

I learned scuba diving at the request of my daughter Philipa when I was 60 years old and fell in love with it. As a thank you, I invited her on a cage dive to see great white sharks at the Pacific island of Guadalupe, Mexico, with sharkdiver.com. Standing in the cage, I saw my first shark swimming by, so close that I could almost touch him. I was 64 years old then and I never imagined how this trip would give my life a totally different direction.

When I sold my ranch in upstate New York a couple years later, I started to book dive trips where sharks were included. My first shark dive without a cage was in the Bahamas. Jumping into the ocean, knowing that there were at least a dozen Caribbean reef sharks down there, was a bit weird. But I jumped in anyway.

The sharks were inquisitive but never aggressive. I fell in love with those beautiful, amazing and highly developed animals. I started to read every book I could find and started my own Web site, sharkprotect.com. I am now an avid shark protector and am now on the Board of Trustees of the Shark Research Institute in Princeton, N.J. I give presentations about sharks in schools and colleges to tell as many young people about the importance of sharks in our oceans.

After 120 shark dives, I am still in love with sharks and take every opportunity I get to dive with them.

– Jupp Kerckerinck zur Borg, Millbrook, N.Y.

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