The HangLine Library

What began as a small dive business in 1986 running boat charters out of Bala, Ontario, DeepFathoms emerged as an entity that has continued to support the Canadian diving community for 35 years. With an avid interest in deep shipwrecks, mixed gas and cave diving I sought ways to combine the unique approaches to extended range diving. My company, [doing business at the time as Serious Divers Only (S.D.O.)] expanded taking me across Canada and around the world teaching all levels of diving, operating charter vessels and engaging in a variety of underwater research projects. What came naturally was the evolution of an operation inevitably dedicated to aquatic exploration, specifically marine and diving sciences. This is the story celebrating the 35th anniversary of DeepFathoms.

Rebreathers provide a sophisticated and affordable way to dive deeper, safer and longer. Divers however, must incorporate a higher level of understanding of diving physiology and physics. This article explores those intricacies but from a perspective every diver can understand with the intent of inspiring informed decisions around the merits of closed-circuit diving.

In 1988 Sheck Exley, one of the greatest technical divers of all time entered a cave in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Almost eleven hours later he emerged breaking the previous deep cave mixed-gas diving record by 124ffw reaching an astounding depth of 780ffw. The previous record was his own. These like many records set by divers, including Canadian Dr. George Benjamin, trailed a path for today’s divers.

When it was first introduced the Discovery MK VI Rebreather by Poseidon was referred to as a radical and unique design and caught a lot of people's attention. When Cis-Lunar launched it´s MK 5 Rebreather back in 1998 it became an instant sensation in the diving community. Is there a parallel to be drawn here on how innovative designs that once thought to be too radical for the industry, are now leading it?

It is difficult to explain the feeling of weightlessness and wonder that the warm Caribbean Sea offers a diver – especially to a non-diver. It is even more difficult to describe the experience of diving through a tunnel filled with brightly coloured soft and hard corals. Coral caves however, add a whole new complexity to overhead diving.

Despite how long mixed gases and specifically 'normoxic trimix' has been around, many divers still do not take advantage of the benefits notwithstanding the increasing costs of helium. This article breaks down what trimix is all about and if it is right for you. It also explains what ‘normoxic’ trimix is and why it is becoming increasingly more popular at the recreational level.

Caves and wrecks create an arena for divers offering fantasy and time travel. Their environment introduces an unknown element that perpetuates challenge and human endeavour, an intrinsic reaction in human behaviour (to explore). For many, the bowels of wrecks and caves is a foreboding environment that conjures feelings of claustrophobia, darkness and pernicious fates. Yet, with training and experience, diving in overhead environments can be rewarding and very safe.

Those who fail to gain the experience and the training necessary to dive to extended ranges, in overhead environments, with mixed gases or nitrox and dive decompression are what we refer to as ‘Armchair Tekkies’. They take unnecessary risk because they do not know any better yet persist in dabbling in the activity because its appeal either feeds an ego, an image or a lifestyle.

Quality assurance is now the hot topic of discussion among insurance brokers around the world. The insurance companies that have provided Professional Liability Insurance to diving professionals for reasonable rates over the decades have recently either cancelled those policies or are now offering them at exorbitant rates. These underwriters are citing a lack of quality control on behalf of the training agencies consequently leading to costly arbitration associated to diving incidents.

In extended range diving, compromising on any piece of your air delivery system can result in serious problems. Don’t be complacent because ‘it is only your back up’. Think of it this way; would you compromise on a back up parachute if you were a skydiver?

Necessity is the mother of all invention; however, there is a recurring predicament that transpires periodically. In our striving to extend limits comfortably, we have left ourselves vulnerable to something I call ‘gadget pandemonium’. It is true that redundancy is the basis from which we design any SCUBA configuration, be it a 20 meter (66 foot) dive or 100 meter (330 foot) dive. Yet this fundamental safety feature can also be a killer and the defence is not always so straightforward.

We asked you and you replied. We solicited the public opinion on what they felt was Vancouver Island’s top 10 technical dives. These are not your run of the mill recreational dives; to qualify as a technical dive, a site must require some form of advanced diver training or equipment.

I am often asked what I foresee in the future for diving technology. We saw the future 20 years ago yet I believe many continue to resist on what I once thought should have evolved into a standard setting practice for underwater exploration – and this includes Nitrox and Rebreathers.

It was less than 30 years ago that some dive industry institutions set an embargo against any individual or company attempting to promote Nitrox or technical diving. We have come a long way however, the ignorance of many still prevails spreading misinformation.

One of the greatest issues threatening the reputation of the diving industry today is the diver’s inability to accurately assess and accept risk. Quite often this is the result of his lack of awareness of what can happen (panic) and what to do to prevent it – (eliminate stress). A key problem is that many divers may not have been taught to accurately analyze what risks there are. He may feel prepared to deal with a problem when it occurs, but it is possible that a typically well-trained diver could be misled into thinking that he is truly prepared to handle even the simplest problems in the water.

Captain Murphy, creator/discovered of Murphy’s Law, must have been a diver. In fact he must have been a seasoned technical diver because his other principles are incredibly relevant to typical problems experienced by extended range divers. We have so much to learn from these lessons.

Divers are often lured into cheaper training misguided by some who purport 'that you don't need to go through all of those steps to dive deep, ina cave or dive a rebreather'. Divers can also be sold the 'quick and easy' by having their egos stroked, it is an attempt to justify that complete training can be waived based on the student’s previous experience or history.

Finding yourself needing a more lead on your weight belt than others? Feel like you are the first one to call dives because of air consumption? A common problem among divers is their inability to breathe properly. Many divers invest hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in equipment and training to master some of the most basic diving skills however, proper breathing control is a fundamental skill-set that is essential to maintaining peak performance in all facets of diving activity.

It is true that in most cultures and countries one cannot really be expected to give up their rights to sue anyone (i.e. Instructors or industry professionals), not in Canada anyway. There is however, a mandate to have divers acknowledge the risks of what they are about to do. We explored how well Industry professionals are aware of all the risks involved in what services they offer and more importantly, if they are able to inform their students/clients of the same.

Imagine a small pool of water sunk in the middle of high rocky cliff edges and cathedral pines. This Canuck Billabong is set deep amidst a temperate rain forest and is a karst phenomenon fed and drained by a number of springs and siphons that have passages branching for many kilometers and includes a mountainous escarpment. The second of a two part series on Canadian Cave Diving.