Midget P-1 Hands Free Underwater Light - Midwest Scuba Diving ...

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TAKE ONE 

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Premiere Issue 

Summer 2006 

Midget P-1 

Hands Free 

Underwater 

Light 

S.S. Wisconsin Shipwreck 

Diving Medicine: Decompression Illness 

Is Basic Open Water Training Enough? 

Diving Science: Archimedes Principle

VOL . 1 NO. 1 

ON THE COVER 

8 GEAR REVIEWS 

Midget P-1 Hands Free Underwater Light 

By John Johnson and Dan Friedel 

22 

10 DIVING MEDICINE 

Decompression Illness and its Treatment 

By Dr. E.D. Thalmann, 

DAN Assistant Medical Director 

14 SUNKEN TREASURES 

Diving S.S. Wisconsin 

By Captain Dale Bennett 

10 

17 DIVING SCIENCE 

Archimedes Principle 

By Richard Talaga Ph.D 

20 DIVE BUDDY 

Is Basic Open Water Training Enough? 

By Pat Hammer 

22 SAFETY STOP 

Bio of Hal Watts 

“World Record Deep Air Diver” 

By Captain Darrick Lorenzen 

www.AKONA.com 

17 

Visit us online at: 

www.midwestscubadiving.com

...the Caribbean 

of the Midwest! 

TM 

- 12-acre spring fed quarry 

- Fish and underwater attractions 

- 8 training platforms 

- Easy access via beach entry 

or covered docks (20’ x 40’) 

- Picnic tables and dressing rooms 

- Rental gear and tank refills 

EDITORIAL 

Captain Darrick Lorenzen, Publisher & Editor 

captdarrick@midwestscubadiving.com 

Brian Pautsch, Web Development, Graphic Art 

bpautsch@newvisionusa.com 

Thomas McDonald, Editorial Assistant 

Elizabeth Wilczynski, Comptroller 

ADVERTISING SALES 

773-732-8972 

NEWS BRIEFS & FEATURES 

773-732-8972 

ADVISORY COMMITTEE 

Patrick Hammer 

Recreational Training and Education 

Captain Dale Bennett 

Technical Training and Education 

Great Lakes Shipwrecks 

Richard Talaga Ph.D 

Diving Physics 

Argonne National Laboratory 

High Energy Physics Division 

Captain Tim Taylor 

Scientific Research and Exploration 

Research Vessel Tiburon 

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND CLASSIFIEDS 

815-344-7956 

Captain Darrick Lorenzen 

Travel Editor 

Midwest Scuba Diving is published quarterly by Maximum Publications 4417 N. Riverdale, Johnsburg, Il., 60050. Copyright 2006 by Maximum Publications. All rights reserved. Subscription 

rate U.S. possessions one year $29.95. All other countries one year $39.95. CONTRIBUTIONS. News, articles, information, and photos are enthusiastically encouraged and should be sent 

to Captain Darrick Lorenzen 4417 N. Riverdale, Johnsburg, Il., 60050. All submissions become the property of Midwest Scuba Diving. Any material accepted is subject to such revision as is 

necessary, in our sole discretion, to meet the requirements of this publication. The act of mailing materials shall constitute an express warranty by the contributor that the material is original 

and in no way an infringement on the rights of others. Six weeks notice is required to change a subscriber’s address. 

NOTICE: Scuba diving is a potentially dangerous activity. Persons engaging in this activity should be certified by a recognized training agency. You should always dive within your training 

and personal limits. Information published in Midwest Scuba Diving is not a substitute for training and Midwest Scuba Diving is not responsible or liable for the contents of any information 

or recommendations published herein. 

Advertising and editorial deadlines: 60 days prior to printing. 

2738 E. 2000 North Rd 

Kankakee, IL 60901 

815.939.7797 

ehead@keynet.net 

www.HaighQuarry.com 

Events 

June 

6/3 

22nd Annual Midwest Dive for DAN 

Mendota County Park 

Lake Mendota 

Madison, Wisconsin 

608.243.8359 

http://www.fourlakesscubaclub.org 

6/10 

2006 Underwater Treasure Hunt 

Gilboa Quarry 

Findlay, Ohio 

412.531.5577 

http://www.splashws.com 

6/24-25 

Scuba Show 2006 

Long Beach Convention Center 

Long Beach, CA 

310.792.2333 

http://www.saintbrendan.com 

6/25 

26th Annual Underwater Treasure Hunt 

Benefit 

Scuba North, Inc. 

Traverse City, Michigan 

231.947.2520 

http://www.scubanorth.com 

July 

7/15-16 

14th Annual DAN BBQ and Treasure 

Hunt 

Portage Quarry 

Bowling Green, Ohio 

614.864.1235 

http://www.subaquatics.com 

7/16 

Jim Haigh Memorial Dive 

Haigh Quarry 

Kankakee, IL 

815.939.7797 

http://www.haighquarry.com 

November 

11/8-11 

DEMA Show 2006 

Orange County Convention Center 

Orlando, FL 

703.706.8221 

http://www.demashow.com 

Do you have an upcoming event you 

would like to include in Midwest Scuba 

Diving Magazine? Send an email to 

events@midwestscubadiving.com 

or call us at 773.732.8972. 

PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING

COMMENTARY 

We are pleased to premier our new magazine 

Midwest Scuba Diving! 

Our motto is “Information, Education and Dive Safety”. To 

complement the magazine we have developed an interactive 

website, www.midwestscubadiving.com. This publication and 

website will focus on informing, educating, and marketing 

products and services to Midwest divers in Illinois, Indiana, 

Wisconsin, and Michigan. Midwestscubadiving.com will 

provide an open forum for divers to discuss such issues as 

training, travel, and equipment. Open dialog and interaction 

is encouraged. We invite you to register today! Midwest 

Scuba Diving Magazine will initially be published quarterly 

in February, May, August, and November. The magazine will 

be mailed out “free” to over 100 locations in the Midwest. In 

addition, we will have home subscriptions available to anyone 

worldwide. 

Our intention is to distinguish ourselves from other 

“newsprint” regional publications by focusing on a 

sophisticated audience with a sophisticated content and 

In the “ Deep Hole” at Haigh Quarry, Kankakee, Illinois 

look. According to our research, approximately 2% of the U.S. 

population is interested in diving and about 1% of the U.S. population are certified divers. In the 

“Information, 

Education and 

Dive Safety” 

Chicagoland area alone, 140,000 individuals are interested in diving and about 70,000 individuals 

are certified divers. According to our plan, Midwest Scuba Diving Magazine will have a circulation 

of 80,000 representing almost ½ the scuba diving market in the Chicago area alone. The Midwest 

represents the third largest diving market in the U.S. next to California and Florida. The vast majority 

of Midwest divers complete their certification in the Midwest using local dive shops and local dive 

sites. Midwest divers may be better trained and suffer less accidents than any other regional group 

because of the excellent training they receive under harsh conditions such as cold water and low visibility. Midwest divers travel more 

than any other regional group (perhaps to escape the cold!), and purchase more personal gear items. The average diver in the Midwest is 

34 years old, is college educated, and has an income in excess of $50,000 per year. Some individuals have consulted us to focus only on 

Midwest dive sites, dive shops, and personalities. I disagree, sophisticated and educated Midwest divers want information not only about 

their region, but other destinations, and individual operators that offer adventure and exploration. Midwest divers want a choice and we are 

going to provide that choice! 

Midwest Scuba Diving is committed to educating and informing the diving community on cutting edge subjects. We will address not 

only regional issues, but also national and international issues. Our focus is dive safety, and we will emphasize comprehensive training 

and continuing education. Diving gear and innovative design will be addressed as well as both foreign and domestic travel. Hyperbaric 

medicine and technical training will have a place in our publication. The exotic as well as the mundane will be a part of our magazine and 

website. We intend to establish a Midwest presence in the diving industry, which is long overdue. 

Snapshot: Captain Darrick Lorenzen 

Dive safely, 

Career Highlights: Captain Darrick has over 30 years as a recreational and commercial diver. He is a graduate of the Florida 

Institute of Technology with a degree in Underwater Technology. He was an instructor to commercial oilfield divers in saturation, 

mixed gas and bell bounce techniques. Captain Darrick is a United States Merchant Marine Officer and was awarded the 

U.S. Coast Guard Public Service Commendation for personal colurage and selfless initiative. 

Favorite Midwest Dive Sites: Haigh Quarry is a great place to train. Bonne Terre Mines is one of the most visually impressive 

dive sites. 

Favorite U.S. Dive Sites: Florida Keys, Crystal River, FL and West Palm Beach, FL. 

Favorite International Dive Sites: Cozumel Mexico and Turks and Caicos Islands 

Passions: Deep Diving and Photography. 

Contact Captain Darrick at captdarrick@midwestscubadiving.com 

Why do I need a website? 

- Instant credibility 

- Global exposure and branding 

- Cost effective advertising 

- Easy access to information 

- 24x7x365 online store 

Our Services 

- Basic brochure websites 

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Are you keeping an eye on the competition? 

Why New Vision? 

- Experience in most vertical markets 

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- Qualified professionals 

- Excellent customer support 

- Great reputation www.newvisionusa.com 

MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING

GEAR REVIEWS 

Innovative Design: 

The Midget P-1 

The curious story of the Midget P-1 dive light 

began two and a half years ago with a stop at 

the health club for a stress-relieving swim. 

For John Johnson, the inventor of the Midget 

P-1 hands free dive light, this particular stop 

would change things forever. John has always 

been a “water person”. He has always loved 

any time spent in the water, be it on his boat 

or splashing around at the beach. On the way 

out of the club, after his swim, his eye caught a 

poster, which read “Learn to Scuba Dive”; he 

had to check this out. 

Upon attending 

the orientation, 

the dive instructor 

explained how 

diving was a 

technical sport and 

was not going to be 

as easy as bowling. 

There were 

physical as well as 

mental challenges 

involved, which 

must be mastered 

“Over the glove” style to prevent injury 

or death. The 

instructor went on to say that diving is not 

for everyone, but it will most likely be one 

of the most exciting and fulfilling activities 

you will ever do. Being an outdoorsman and 

an adventurous individual, John signed up for 

dive training. The very next weekend, he was 

in the class learning the basics. 

Several months past and a few dive training 

trips later, John received his NAUI advanced 

certification. Now that John was a competent 

diver, his instructor encouraged him to look at 

enriched air training. They agreed it was time 

to move up to NITROX- besides; additional 

training is a great excuse for another dive trip. 

His first NITROX training dive was at Devil’s 

Den in Williston, Florida. Devil’ Den has 

multiple chambers connected by swim-through 

passages in the rocks. The dive was great 

but he found his “conventional” dive lights 

frustrating to use, especially while navigating 

the narrow channels through the rocks. 

The dive lights, clipped to his BCD, seemed 

clumsy and un-natural feeling. There had to 

be a better way of doing this than holding a 

light with one hand while using the other hand 

to grab and pull through the passages. John 

was struck with an idea for a new and different 

kind of dive light. By coincidence, he has an 

extensive mechanical engineering and design 

background so his wheels were immediately 

turning to solve the problem. 

On his very next dive John had to fend off 

the assorted commentary and strange looks as 

he slid into in the water with his lights “duct 

taped” to the back of his neoprene gloves. 

On this dive, the swim-through passages 

seemed much easier to navigate, especially 

when using the grab and pull method. Now 

both hands were free for maneuvering from 

cavern to cavern through the narrow openings 

and plenty of light was available wherever his 

hands went. No one could have guessed the 

series of events that would be set into motion 

from this unorthodox test and how two average 

guys from Chicago would go on to invent a 

new way for divers to use hands free lights. 

John knew he had a great idea but he needed 

to run this past his long time friend and now 

NEW 

Freeport, 

Grand Bahama 

Departure 

business partner, 

Dan Friedel. Being 

an electronics 

and electrom 

e c h a n i c a l 

technology wiz, he 

would be the guy 

to talk to in order to 

make his dive light 

idea work. Dan 

almost instantly 

“Shorty” style 

had some ideas for 

the light project but he needed to have some 

first-hand knowledge of the conditions and 

pressures to which the light would be exposed. 

That would mean dive training for him as well, 

the next day Dan signed up for classes. 

Finally, John and Dan both had an understanding 

of the conditions their light would have to 

endure. The next step was to file for a patent 

and produce a product worthy of the concept. 

Several prototypes were made and tested on 

multiple dive trips. The two inventors gained 

valuable diving experience while testing their 

invention in real open water dives. During the 

course of the following year they went diving 

whenever they could. John was able to do quite 

a bit more diving than Dan, which gave him the 

opportunity to test the light in a broad range of 

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environments. These dives also allowed John 

to receive his Master Diver certification and 

an extended range certification; of course, all 

while wearing his hands free lights. 

The Midget P-1 hands free light has been 

dive tested at many Florida dive locations 

such as Devils Den, Rainbow River, King 

Springs, Blue Grotto, Paradise Springs, 40 

Fathom Grotto, and many Atlantic Ocean 

dives on wrecks such as the Speigel Grove, 

Duane, Eagle, Bibb, and Benwood. It has also 

ventured into Haigh Quarry in Kankakee IL, 

and Bonne Terre Mine in Missouri. Many 

design changes to the invention have occurred 

along the way. The main concerns were water 

pressure activating the power switch and the 

drag coefficient of the unit itself in the water. 

By persevering and solving these problems, 

they have come up with a hands free dive 

light that is comfortable to use, well designed, 

attractive, and ready when you need it. 

The Midget P-1 is completely sealed, leak 

proof, and able to ignore pressures to 300 

feet and beyond. The inventors also wanted to 

minimize any worry of replacing the batteries 

while providing for a full day of diving. 

Knowing that high intensity LEDs would be 

completely impervious to depths of 600 feet 

INTERNATIONAL 

DIVE MAGAZINE 

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or more, Dan and John 

decided to use ten of them 

as the light source. They 

did away with the battery 

replacement issue by using 

a nickel metal hydride 

rechargeable battery, 

which has no recharge 

memory, meaning that it 

will charge back to 100% 

power potential from any 

percentage of loss. Also, 

the charging system is 

simple, rugged, light 

weight, and can easily 

be packed away with the 

rest of your dive gear. 

The final result is a long 

lasting, versatile dive light 

that is useful as a main light source or as a 

great backup light that can be relied upon for 

years to come. 

Visit the Midget P-1 web site at 

www.handsfreelights.com and check out 

this revolutionary dive light and some pretty 

interesting photos. “You’ll get to know the 

Midget P-1 like the back of your hand”. The 

light is still undergoing tests under extreme 

conditions and should be ready for sale to the 

public by Fall 2006. 

GEAR REVIEWS 

Snapshot: Johnson & Friedl 

John Johnson is a mechanical 

engineer, master diver and is 

extended range certified. Dan 

Friedl is an eletronics technician 

and an advanced certified diver. 

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MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING

DIVING MEDICINE 


Decompression Illness 

and its Treatment 

By Dr. E.D. Thalmann, 

DAN Assistant Medical Director 

Decompression illness, or DCI, is a term used 

to describe illness that results from a reduction 

in the ambient pressure surrounding a body. A 

good example is what happens to your body 

when you’re surfacing after a dive. 

DCI encompasses two diseases, decompression 

sickness (DCS) and arterial gas embolism 

(AGE). DCS is thought to result from bubbles 

growing in tissue and causing local damage, 

while AGE results from bubbles entering the 

lung circulation, traveling through the arteries 

and causing tissue damage at a distance by 

blocking blood flow at the small vessel level. 

WHO GETS DCI? 

Decompression illness affects scuba divers, 

aviators, astronauts and compressed-air 

workers. It occurs in approximately 1,000 

U.S. scuba divers each year. Moreover, DCI 

hits randomly. The main risk factor for DCI is 

a reduction in ambient pressure, but there are 

other risk factors that will increase the chance 

of DCI occurring. These known risk factors 

are deep / long dives, cold water, hard exercise 

at depth, and rapid ascents. 

Rapid ascents are closely linked to the risk 

of AGE. Other factors thought to increase 

the risk of DCI but for which evidence is 

not conclusive are obesity, dehydration, hard 

exercise immediately after surfacing, and 

pulmonary disease. In addition, there seem to 

be individual risk factors that have not yet been 

identified. This is why some divers seem to get 

DCI more frequently than others although they 

are following the same dive profile. 

Since DCI is a random event, almost any dive 

profile can result in DCI, no matter how safe 

it seems. The reason is that the risk factors, 

both known and unknown, can influence the 

probability of DCI in myriad ways. Because 

of this, evaluation of a diver for possible 

decompression illness must be made on a 

case-by-case basis by evaluating the diver’s 

signs and symptoms and not just based on the 

dive profile. 

DECOMPRESSION SICKNESS 

Decompression sickness (DCS, also called 

the bends or caisson disease) is the result of 

inadequate decompression following exposure 

to increased pressure. In some cases, the 

disease is mild and not an immediate threat. In 

other cases, serious injury does occur; when 

this happens, the quicker treatment begins, the 

better the chance for a full recovery. 

During a dive, the body tissues absorb 

nitrogen from the breathing gas in proportion 

to the surrounding pressure. As long as the 

diver remains at pressure, the gas presents 

no problem. If the pressure is reduced too 

quickly, however, the nitrogen comes out 

of solution and forms bubbles in the tissues 

and bloodstream. This commonly occurs as a 

result of violating or approaching too closely 

the diving table limits, but it can also occur 

even when accepted guidelines have been 

followed. 

Bubbles forming in or near joints are the 

presumed cause of the joint pain of a classical 

“bend.” When high levels of bubbles occur, 

complex reactions can take place in the body, 

usually in the spinal cord or brain. Numbness, 

paralysis and disorders of higher cerebral 

function may result. If great amounts of 

decompression are missed and large numbers 

of bubbles enter the venous bloodstream, 

congestive symptoms in the lung and 

circulatory shock can then occur. 

Signs and Symptoms of DCS 

• Skin may show a blotchy rash 

• Paralysis, muscle weakness 

• Difficulty urinating 

• Confusion, personality changes, bizarre 

ehavior 

• Amnesia, tremors 

• Staggering 

• Coughing up bloody, frothy sputum 

• Collapse or unconsciousness 

• Unusual fatigue 

• Skin itch 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Pain in joints and / or muscles of the arms, 

legs or torso 

Dizziness, vertigo, ringing in the ears 

Numbness, tingling and paralysis 

Shortness of breath 

Note: Symptoms and signs usually appear 

within 15 minutes to 12 hours after surfacing; 

but in severe cases, symptoms may appear 

before surfacing or immediately afterwards. 

Delayed occurrence of symptoms is rare, but 

it does occur, especially if air travel follows 

diving. 

Denial and Recognition 

The most common manifestations of DCS are 

joint pain and numbness or tingling. Next most 

common are muscular weakness and inability 

to empty a full bladder. Severe DCS is easy to 

identify because the signs and symptoms are 

obvious. However, most DCS presents subtly 

with a minor joint ache or a paresthesia (an 

abnormal sensation like burning, tingling or 

ticking) in an extremity. 

In many cases these symptoms are ascribed 

to another cause such as overexertion, heavy 

lifting or even a tight wetsuit. This delays 

seeking help and is why it is often noted that 

the first symptom of DCS is denial. Sometimes 

these symptoms remain mild and go away by 

themselves, but many times they increase 

in severity until it is obvious to you that 

something is wrong and that you need help. 

What happens if you don’t seek treatment? In 

severe DCS, a permanent residual handicap 

may result: this can be a bladder dysfunction, 

sexual dysfunction or muscular weakness, to 

name a few. 

In some cases of neurological DCS, there 

may be permanent damage to the spinal cord, 

which may or may not cause symptoms. 

However, this type of damage may decrease 

the likelihood of recovery from a subsequent 

bout of DCS. 

Untreated joint pains that subside are thought 

to cause small areas of bone damage called 

osteonecrosis. Usually this will not cause 

symptoms unless there are many bouts of 

untreated DCS. If this happens, however, 

there may be enough damage to cause the 

bone to become brittle or for joints to collapse 

or become arthritic. 

Prevention of DCS 

Recreational divers should dive conservatively, 

whether they are using dive tables or 

computers. Experienced divers often select 

a table depth (versus actual depth) of 10 

feet (3 meters) deeper than called for by 

standard procedure. This practice is highly 

recommended for all divers, especially when 

diving in cold water or when diving under 

strenuous conditions. Computer divers should 

be cautious in approaching no-decompression 

limits, especially when diving deeper than 100 

feet (30 meters). 

Avoiding the risk factors noted above (deep / 

long dives, exercise at depth or after a dive) 

will decrease the chance of DCS occurring. 

Exposure to altitude or flying too soon after a 

dive can also increase the risk of decompression 

sickness. 

ARTERIAL GAS EMBOLISM 

If a diver surfaces without exhaling, air 

trapped in the lungs expands with ascent and 

may rupture lung tissue -- called pulmonary 

barotrauma -- which releases gas bubbles into 

the arterial circulation. This distributes them 

to body tissues in proportion to the blood flow. 

Since the brain receives the highest proportion 

of blood flow, it is the main target organ where 

bubbles may interrupt circulation if they 

become lodged in small arteries. 

This is arterial gas embolism, or AGE, 

considered the more serious form of DCI. 

In some cases the diver may have made a 

panicked ascent, or he may have held his breath 

during ascent. However, AGE can occur even 

if ascent appeared completely normal, and 

pulmonary disease such as obstructive lung 

disease may increase the risk of AGE. 

The most dramatic presentation of air 

embolism is the diver who surfaces 

unconscious and remains so, or the diver 

who loses consciousness within 10 minutes 

of surfacing. In these cases, a true medical 

emergency exists, and rapid evacuation to a 

treatment facility is paramount. 

On the other hand, air embolism may cause 

less spectacular symptoms of neurological 

dysfunction, such as sensations of tingling or 

numbness, a sensation of weakness without 

obvious paralysis, or complaints of difficulty 

in thinking without obvious confusion in 

individuals who are awake and easily aroused. 

In these cases, there is time for a more thorough 

evaluation by a diving medical specialist to 

rule out other causes of symptoms. 

Like DCS, mild symptoms may be ascribed 

to causes other than the dive, which only 

delays treatment. Sometimes symptoms may 

resolve spontaneously and the diver will not 

seek treatment. The consequences of this are 

similar to untreated DCS: residual damage to 

the brain may occur, making it more likely 

there will be residual symptoms after a future 

bout of AGE, even if the later bout is treated. 

Signs and Symptoms of AGE 

• Bloody froth from mouth or nose 

• Paralysis or weakness 

• Convulsions 

• Unconsciousness 

• Cessation of breathing 

• Death 

• Dizziness 

• Visual blurring 

• Areas of decreased sensation 

• Chest pain 

• Disorientation 

Currently cerebral gas embolism is responsible 

for approximately 10 percent of all DCI cases 

annually. AGE has decreased significantly 

over the past decade, however, moving from 

18 percent of all cases in the late 1980s and 

early 1990s to much lower numbers. By 1997, 

the fraction had fallen to 7-8 percent. 

In 2001, AGE was still cited in 7-8 percent 

but by 2002 it had fallen to 6.6 percent of the 

total diving population reporting DCI. It has 

been speculated that one of the reasons for 

this decrease is the advent of dive computers, 

which help chart the rate of ascent, thus 

reminding divers to slow down. 

Prevention of AGE 

Always relax and breathe normally during 

ascent. Lung conditions such as asthma, 

infections, cysts, tumors, scar tissue from 

surgery or obstructive lung disease may 

predispose a diver to air embolism. If you 

have any of these conditions, it warrants an 

evaluation by a physician knowledgeable in 

diving medicine. 

Treatment - Call DAN! 919-684-4DAN 

Collect EMERGENCY calls accepted 

The treatment for DCI is recompression. 

Captain Dale Bennett 

Will take you Diving on 

Lake Michigan or Teach You How! 

Charters and Training Info: 

P: 847.640.8113 C: 847.431.8113 

www.captdales.com 

Novice to 

Technical to 

Tri-Mix 

10 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 

PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING 11


However, the early management of air 

embolism and decompression sickness is the 

same. Although a diver with severe DCS or an 

air embolism requires urgent recompression 

for definitive treatment, it is essential that he 

be stabilized at the nearest medical facility 

before transportation to a chamber. 

Early oxygen first aid is important and may 

reduce symptoms substantially, but this should 

not change the treatment plan. Symptoms of air 

embolism and serious decompression sickness 

often clear after initial oxygen breathing, but 

they may reappear later. Because of this, 

always contact DAN or a dive physician in 

cases of suspected DCI -- even if the symptoms 

and signs appear to have resolved. 

Treatment involves compression to a treatment 

depth, usually 60 feet, and breathing high 

oxygen fraction gases at an oxygen partial 

pressure of between 2.8 ata (atmospheres) and 

3.0 ata. Delays in seeking treatment have a 

higher risk of residual symptoms; over time, 

the initially reversible damage may become 

permanent. After a delay of 24 hours or 

more, treatment may become ineffective and 

symptoms may not respond to treatment. Even 

if there has been a delay, however, consult a 

diving medical specialist before drawing 

any conclusions about possible treatment 

effectiveness. 

In some cases, there may be residual symptoms 

after a treatment. Soreness in and around a 

joint that was affected by DCS is common 

and usually resolves in a few hours. If the DCI 

was severe, significant residual neurological 

dysfunction may be present, even after the 

most aggressive treatment. In these cases, 

there may be follow-up treatments, along 

with physical therapy. The good news is that 

the usual outcome is eventual complete relief 

from all symptoms, provided treatment was 

begun promptly. 

Returning to Diving after DCI: Guides For 

Sport Divers 

For recreational divers, where diving is not a 

livelihood, a conservative approach is called 

for to minimize the chance that a diving injury 

will recur. 

• After pain-only DCI where there are no 

neurological symptoms, a minimum of two 

weeks without diving is recommended. 

• If there are minor neurological symptoms, 

six weeks without diving is recommended. 

• If there are severe neurological symptoms or 

any residual symptoms, no further diving is 

recommended. 

Even if symptoms were not severe and they 

resolved completely, a diver who has had 

multiple bouts of DCI must take special 

considerations. If DCI is occurring where 

other divers on the same profile are DCI-free, 

the diver may have an increased susceptibility 

to DCI. In these cases, a Diving Medical 

Specialist must be consulted to determine if 

diving can be resumed safely. 

Remember, your health needs to last as long 

as you do. 

Snapshot: Dr. Thalmann 

Dr. E.D. Thalmann is DAN Assistant 

Medical Director. He may be contacted 

through the Divers Alert Network. 

www.diversalertnetwork.org 

800.466.2671 

 

w w w . n a t i v e v a c a t i o n s . c o m 

 

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12 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 PREMIERE ISSUE 2006 MIDWEST SCUBA DIVING 13

SUNKEN TREASURES 

DIVING 

S.S. WISCONSIN 

It is 7:00 AM and we are headed out of 

Waukegan’s North Harbor on course of NNE 

aboard the dive boat, Enterprise. The sun is 

breaking over the horizon on our starboard 

bow. Lake Michigan is calm and the weather 

prognosticators are calling for more of the 

same. Gulls in our path spring into the air, 

squawking, complaining about being disturbed 

so early in the morning. There is a chill in the 

air. It is still early spring and the lake has not 

yet warmed up. At the harbor everyone was 

in shirtsleeves. Now jackets are going on and 

we are huddled in the cabin where the heater 

is gradually warming us all back up. We are 

headed out to dive the steamship Wisconsin 

which lies on the bottom in 128 feet of water 

about five miles off of Kenosha. 

I am at the helm in the pilot house; my partner, 

Dave Manchester, is going over a pre-dive 

briefing with our divers in the aft cabin. My 

Bollard - S.S. Wisconsin 

mind wanders to that October night in 1929 

when Captain Dougal Morrison was steaming 

north from Chicago to Milwaukee with a 

load of machine castings, general cargo, 

some automobiles and a few passengers. The 

weather was nasty, as it had been for several 

days. In fact, Captain Morrison had lost a 

by Captain Dale Bennett 

good friend, Captain Robert McKay, when 

the railcar ferry, Milwaukee, sank just the 

week before. Then, at about 1:00 AM, Chief 

Buschman informed him that Wisconsin was 

taking on water and the firehold was beginning 

to flood. It is believed that one or more of 

the heavy machine castings broke loose and 

punched a hole in the hull in the cargo hold. 

For the next few hours the captain and crew 

fought to save the ship. Distress messages 

were sent out. Captain Morrison dropped his 

anchor, shut down the engine and diverted all 

his steam to the pumps in a desperate effort 

to stay afloat until help could arrive. When 

the fires went out about 2:30, the pumps failed 

and it became obvious that the vessel could 

not be saved. It was not until after 4:00 AM 

when two small Coast Guard boats and the 

fishing tug, Search, arrived to take off the 

passengers and crew. As light was dawning, 

just after 7:00 AM, SS Wisconsin rolled over 

and slipped under, never again to see the sun. 

Fifty-nine survivors made it back to shore, but 

nine, including the captain, were lost, most 

from hypothermia. 

The Garmin GPS unit tells me I am threetenths 

of a mile away when I first pick out 

some plastic jugs bobbing in the water. There 

are three, arranged in a straight line running 

roughly northwest and southeast, spaced with 

about one hundred feet between each of them. 

They support our mooring lines and mark the 

final resting place of the passenger-freighter, 

Wisconsin, once the pride of the Goodrich 

Line. Her steel hull, 215 feet long and 35 

feet across, lies nearly intact and upright on 

the bottom almost 130 feet below. Since there 

are no other boats here we have our choice 

of moorings. We pick the northwesternmost 

line and tie up to it. This line is attached to 

the extreme end of the bow of the wreck. For 

divers, this makes it the easiest point from 

which to navigate and return. 

The Wisconsin is one of those rare dive sites 

that offers something to each of a very wide 

range of divers. Obviously, because of the 

depth, there are minimum requirements. 

Divers must be qualified to do deep dives 

and willing to properly plan and execute their 

dives. Among the divers aboard today are 

Beth and Scott, a couple who have dived with 

us many times. They are technical divers and 

are planning to do a single decompression dive 

with an in-water time of something over an 

hour. They are looking forward to returning 

to an area in the forward cargo space in which 

they found some interesting artifacts on their 

last dive here. (Of course, no one is allowed 

to remove or disturb any of the artifacts.) 

Steve and Mike are also regulars. Steve and 

Mike are advanced recreational divers with 

wreck diving training. They plan to do two 

no-decompression dives. They want to see 

the automobiles that are parked on the second 

level, amidships. Sue and Carrie round out the 

diving team. Sue dived with us several times 

last year. Her buddy, Carrie, is an experienced 

diver but has not dived with us before. Sue 

1929 Touring Sedan 

and Carrie will spend their time on the exterior, 

exploring the deck areas and getting familiar 

with the wreck. Steve and Mike will hit the 

water first, followed by Sue and Carrie. Beth 

and Scott will go in last. 

Steve and Mike hit the water at 8:30 and, after 

doing a quick buddy check, pull themselves 

along the granny line to the front of the boat 

and begin their descent along the mooring 

line. As they pass 45 feet the wreck starts to 

take shape out of the gloom. 

At 95 feet they are on the foredeck. Swimming 

past the massive windlass and bollards, they 

follow the port rail aft. With fifty feet of 

visibility they can see all the way across the 

deck to the opposite rail. About half way back 

they come upon the midships mooring line, 

chained to a deck cleat just inside the port rail. 

Captain Dale before the descent 

This is the “signpost” they have been looking 

for. They are now at a depth of about 110 feet. 

They swim over the rail and descend another 

eight or ten feet and find what they have been 

looking for. There is a hole large enough to 

fit a Volkswagen in the side of the ship. They 

stop for a minute, check their buoyancy and 

turn on their lights. There is plenty of light 

coming through holes in the deck above, but 

their lights help them see into the corners and 

crevices. They cautiously swim a body length 

or two and concentrate their attention to their 

left. They pick out a rubber tire amid the debris 

and, then, the car it is attached to. Quickly 

they make out another car parked right next to 

it; and, another. They spend a minute or two 

exploring the cars and then, noting the time, 

reluctantly turn to retrace their trail back to the 

mooring line and up to the surface. 

Our second buddy pair plan to swim once 

around the wreck. Since Carrie has never dived 

this wreck before, their main goal is to gain 

some familiarity with the ship. They start their 

swim aft along the starboard rail. This way, if 

they run into any problems they will have an 

upline at the halfway point (the aft mooring) 

and at the ¾ point (the midships mooring). A 

huge school of bait fish passes over the deck 

ahead; their silver scales sparkling in the light 

filtered down from above. As Sue and Carrie 

press on, the swarm parts and reveals the 

ship’s afterdeck. There are mounds of clay on 

the deck, scooped out of the bottom when the 

ship sank. Next to where the stern mooring is 

chained to a deck cleat, a 24” long lawyer fish 

rests across the rail. The stern of the ship is 

rounded, and soon the divers find themselves 

on the return trip along the port rail. As they 

reach the bow and begin their ascent they 

catch sight of Beth and Scott headed down 

to the bottom along the starboard bow. Beth 

and Scott, on their way down the line, have 

already crossed paths with the first two divers 

on their ascent. 

Beth and Scott now swim along the bottom 

next to the hull for a few yards until they come 

to a large jagged hole. Beth takes the lead 

and ties off her reel as the two prepare for a 

deep penetration. Beth enters, spooling out 

line and tying it off periodically as she goes. 

Scott follows along. In the first room they 

come there is a large hand truck, hung up on 

debris, seemingly suspended in space. They 

go left and work their way into the next room 

and past a large wooden box of white leather 

boots poking out from a foot of accumulated 

silt. Working back farther, the deck is littered 

with wooden boxes, broken furniture and 

brass piping. In among all this disarray 

have been found numerous bottles, drinking 

glasses, Lincoln Logs and die-cast children’s 

toys, all cargo from the last ill-fated voyage of 

this once proud ship. Our divers spend some 

time exploring and reflecting on the lives of 

those who once lived and worked aboard the 

SS Wisconsin. As their planned dive time 

approaches an end they leave what they have 

Radio Broadcast 

1:30 A.M. the Milwaukee’s Kenneth Carlson flashed 

his first message from the imperiled ship: “We are 

four miles off Kenosha. Fireholds all flooded. In 

immediate danger. Please stay with us. May need 

your help soon. [Signed] “Wisconsin” 

1:40 “Please get captain of steamer Illinois. Tell him 

we need help.” 

1:43 Operator Webster relayed message to Captain 

Delletre of the Illinois, in harbor at Milwaukee. 

1:50 “My chain has parted. Tug Butter field trying to 

turn me around. Will come soon. 

[Signed] “Capt. Delletre” 

1:52 Operator Webster relayed Delletre’s message 

to the Wisconsin, adding, “Am sending you Racine 

and Kenosha Coast Guards.” 

2:15 “Due to sink any time now. For God’s sake 

send help.” 

2:17 “Hold on, help on way.” [Signed] “Webster 

2:25 Webster phoned Wisconsin’s message to 

Captain Taylor, superintendent of transportation for 

the Goodrich Line, at his Chicago home. 

2:30 Webster flashed Wisconsin at direction of 

Captain Taylor. “Have captain of Wisconsin send 

me message under his signature.” 

2:35 “Fires out. No steam. Rush boats for tow before 

it is too late. We may save her. 

[Signed] “Captain Morrison” 

2:50 Captain Morrison repeated message. 

3:00 SOS SOS SOS 

found for the next divers to wonder over. They 

retrieve their line as they work their way back 

out to the daylight. They swim back to the 

bow of the wreck where they have staged their 

decompression bottles that they will need on 

their long trip back to the surface. 

The four recreational divers will make a second 

dive and then we will set our course back to 

Waukegan. But we will be back. There are 

more dives to be made, more areas to explore 

and more memories to take back. 

Snapshot: Capt. Dale Bennett 

Captain Dale Bennett is co-owner of 

Enterprise and holds a 100 ton US 

Merchant Marine master’s license. 

He has been diving Lake Michigan 

shipwrecks since 1973. He is a TDI 

Instructor Trainer and specializes in 

Advanced Wreck Diving and Mixed 

Gas technical training. Captain Dale 

can be reached at 847.640.8113 

dale@captaindales.com 

www.captaindales.com 

3:30 “Am drifting in toward Kenosha” 

3:40 “Can stay up half hour longer, is help coming?” 

3:50 “Can see Coast Guard coming to us. They are 

about halfway out from Kenosha.” 

4:00 “Kenosha Coast Guard here. Have attached 

two of their lines.” 

4:05 “Coast Guard can do nothing. Is standing by to 

take off our crew. Are larger boats coming?” 

4:08 “Tugboats and other Coast Guard on way. 

We’ll make it yet.” [Signed] “Webster” 

4:30 “We have received SOS. We are just outside 

Milwaukee. It will take us two hours to get there. 

We are starting now. [Signed] “Pere Marquette car 

ferry” 

4:31 “Rush it. [Signed] “Webster” 

4:32 “Abandoning ship. Leaving boat now. Can’t 

stay longer. Thanks. Won’t forget you. 

[Signed] “Wisconsin” 

4:34 “Not enough boats for us all.” 

[Signed] “Wisconsin” 

SUNKEN TREASURES 

4:35 Webster tried to reach Wisconsin but could 

not. He concluded that the power had gone dead or 

that the ship’s wireless operator had left his post to 

take to the boats. 

5:20 Kenosha Coast Guard Station telephoned Goodrich 

dock at Chicago: “Understand tug Butterfield 

can’t make it. She is turning back.” 



DIVING SCIENCE 

One of the great joys of diving is our ability 

to defy gravity in water and experience travel 

in three dimensions. Another is to perform 

feats of strength like a super hero. Take a 

slightly longer breath and rise above a coral 

outcropping. Exhale more deeply and drop a 

bit to peek under the ledge of a wreck. Lift 

your two hundred pound buddy above your 

head with ease. Once we have mastered 

buoyancy control it becomes second nature 

to navigate beyond the two-dimensional 

constraints of everyday life. But 

what is buoyancy, really? 

To understand it scientifically, we 

look to a fundamental principle of 

physics given to us by a brilliant 

mind from long ago: A body 

immersed in a fluid is buoyed up 

by a force equal to the weight of 

the displaced fluid. This wonderful 

insight into nature, expressed in 

only a single sentence, is known 

as the Archimedes Principle named 

after the great Greek mathematician 

and inventor who lived in the 

ancient city-state of Syracuse from 

287 to 212 BC. Like many great 

thinkers who have made significant 

contributions to scientific thought, 

Archimedes had a passion for 

problem solving and it is recorded 

that he once ran naked through the 

streets of Syracuse crying “Eureka!” 

I’ve found It! after jumping from 

his bath in excitement at solving 

a problem to determine whether 

the king’s crown was made of pure 

gold or a cheaper gold alloy. One 

can only imagine his satisfaction 

in knowing the lasting significance 

of his concepts and the broad 

application of the principle that 

bears his name. 

While most people think of 

Archimedes’ Principle as it 

applies to naval architecture it has 

significant meaning in the context 

of diving as well. Although it 

may not be necessary to know 

the physics behind Archimedes’ 

principle in order to enjoy diving, it can add 

another dimension to the informed diver’s 

appreciation of the sport and is a good mental 

exercise. 

Buoyancy of an object, such as a diver, is 

directly related to the amount of the volume of 

fluid (water, in the case of a diver) the object 

displaces when partially or totally submerged. 

There are several factors to consider in knowing 

the volume a diver displaces, such as the 

volume of air in his buoyancy compensating 

device, the compression of his exposure suit 

and his breathing. Let’s consider the effect of 

breathing and suppose all of the diver’s gear 

maintains a constant volume throughout the 

following example, so we can focus solely on 

the effect of breathing. 

contracts with each inhalation and exhalation. 

The expanding chest increases a diver’s volume 

and, according to Archimedes, an increase in 

volume is an increase in his buoyancy. It isn’t 

the amount of air he inhales or exhales that 

determines his buoyancy; it’s the increase or 

decrease of his body volume. A diver inhales 

twice as much air at 99 fsw than at 33 fsw, 

but, on average, his chest expands to the 

same volume at both depths and therefore the 

buoyant force he experiences is the same at 

both depths. 

What causes buoyancy? Buoyancy is an 

upward force produced by fluid pressure; 

water pressure, in our case. If an object is 

submerged, displaced water tries to re-occupy 

its former space with a force proportional to 

the value of water pressure at that location. 

When we breathe, our chest expands and It is this pressure acting on a submerged 

object that gives rise to 

the buoyant force. Shortly 

Archimedes 

we will use an example to 

illustrate this point. But 

first, we must understand 

the relationship between 

Principle 

pressure and force. 

Pressure is defined as the 

force on an object divided 

by the area of contact. 

For example, imagine 

a book that weighs two 

pounds and is placed face 

up on a shelf, occupying 

100 square inches. The 

pressure beneath it is 0.02 

pounds per square inch (psi) 

because the two pounds are 

distributed over an area of 

100 square inches. Now 

imagine placing the book 

on its edge, the way books 

By Richard Talaga Ph.D 

usually are stacked. On 

edge, the book is in contact 

with only 10 square inches 

of shelf space. Since the 

book still weighs 2 pounds, 

the pressure beneath the 

book is 0.2 psi, 10 times 

greater than when it was 

face up. Even though the 

force exerted on the shelf 

is 2 pounds, the pressure 

depends on the area of 

contact. 

How is this relationship 

between force and pressure 

applied to determine the 

buoyant force in water? 

We have already discussed the force-pressurearea 

relationship by starting with force and 

calculating the pressure over an area of contact. 

Now let’s use this relationship again, but start 

with the pressure and determine the resulting 

force. If a pressure of 10 psi, for example, acts 

on an object whose area is equal to one square 

foot, the force is equal to 10 x 12 x 12 = 1,440 

pounds. However, if the object were half as 




big, the force would be equal to 10 x 6 x 6 = 

360 pounds. Remember the story of the Dutch 

boy who saved his village from a leaky dike 

by plugging it with his finger? If the hole were 

any bigger, he would have had to use much 

more force to stop the leak. 

Now we are ready to understand the physics 

of buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle. 

Buoyancy is a force caused by water pressure 

acting on the exposed areas of an object 

immersed in water. Water provides a buoyant 

force that opposes the force of gravity on 

an object, otherwise known as its weight. 

A simple example will illustrate this point. 

Imagine a cube, 1 foot high, suspended from 

above and totally submerged in water. This 

cube is built strong, so that water pressure 

can’t collapse it. For simplicity, assume the 

cube is positioned so that its top and bottom 

faces are parallel to the water’s surface. This 

makes it easier to do the math, but in reality 

it doesn’t matter at all what the orientation is. 

For other orientations the buoyancy is still the 

same, only the math is a bit more complicated. 

Since the volume of the cube is 1 cubic foot, 

it displaces one cubic foot of sea water, which 

weighs 64 pounds. 

Let’s analyze the forces on all of the cube’s six 

faces to calculate the buoyancy. First, we will 

show that the net force on four of those faces, 

the side faces, is zero. Each of those sides is 

exposed to the same amount of water because 

each face has the same area. Although the 

pressure increases from the top to the bottom 

of the cube, it does so in the same way on all 

sides. Therefore the same amount of force is 

applied to each side of the cube. Consider two 

opposing sides: the left and right sides. Both 

sides are pushed inward by the same amount 

of force and these forces cancel each other, 

so there is no net force acting to move the 

cube either left or right. As an analogy, think 

of squeezing an object, like a brick, between 

your hands. Although you are applying a lot 

of force, the brick can take it and it doesn’t go 

anywhere. This reasoning also applies to the 

other two opposing sides of the cube, the front 

and the back. In summary, the forces due to 

water pressure acting on the four sides of the 

cube cancel each other. There is no sideways 

motion caused by water pressure. 

However, when we consider the forces on the 

top and bottom faces of the cube the situation 

is different. The pressure is less over the top 

face than under the bottom face. There will 

be some cancellation of force due to water 

pressure, but not complete cancellation. The 

resulting net force is known as the buoyant 

force that opposes the downward force of 

gravity. The apparent weight of an object in 

water is equal to its weight on the surface 

(which is equal to the force of gravity) minus 

the buoyant force. A worked example will 

help clarify this assertion. 

Let’s continue to analyze the forces on the top 

and bottom faces of the cube. The pressure 

acting on the bottom face of the cube is 

greater than the pressure acting on the top face 

because the bottom face is in deeper water, by 

one foot. The force, which is equal to water 

pressure multiplied by the area, is greater on 

the lower face than on the upper face and the 

forces do not cancel each other. The greater 

force pushes the bottom face upward, while 

the lesser force pushes the top face downward. 

The result is a net upward buoyant force. 

We can calculate the buoyant force. Water 

pressure increases by 14.7 psi every 33 fsw, so 

the pressure difference in one foot of sea water 

is 14.7/33 = 0.445 psi. The area of the bottom 

face is 144 square inches and it experiences a 

pressure difference of 0.445 psi, resulting in 

144 x 0.445 =64 pounds. This is the buoyant 

force on the cube. No matter what the cube 

weighs on land, it will weigh 64 pounds less 

in sea water as long as its volume is one cubic 

foot. The buoyant force does not depend on 

the depth in water, only on the difference 

between the absolute pressure acting on the top 

and bottom surfaces, which, in our example, is 

0.445 psi at any depth. If you cut the string 

and allow the cube to sink, it would still weigh 

64 pounds less, even at the bottom of the sea. 

We have shown that the buoyant force on an 

object with volume equal to one cubic foot 

is 64 pounds, which is exactly equal to the 

weight of one cubic foot of sea water. A body 

immersed in a fluid is buoyed up by a force 

equal to the weight of the displaced fluid has 

been shown to hold true; we have verified 

Archimedes’ principle! 

Buoyancy does not depend on an object’s 

shape, just its volume. If the submerged object 

didn’t have the shape of a cube the buoyant 

force would still be the same as long as the 

volume of water it displaced was the same. 

For example, instead of a cube, consider a box 

whose volume is one cubic foot and has top 

and bottom faces that measure 1 ft x 2 ft and a 

height of 6 inches. The buoyant force is given 

by the difference in water pressure acting on 

the top face and the bottom face, which are 

now only 6 inches apart, times the area of the 

bottom face. The buoyancy is still 64 pounds. 

Why don’t you fill in the numbers and check 

this calculation? Hint: the difference in water 

pressure is 0.2225 psi. 

So far in this example we have assumed that 

the cube would sink if it weren’t supported 

from above. In other words, it is negatively 

buoyant. If the cube weighed exactly 64 

pounds, the weight of a cubic foot of sea 

water, its weight would be countered by the 

buoyant force and the cube would be neutrally 

buoyant. Moreover, if the cube were positively 

buoyant we would have had to hold it down 

from below, like a submerged buoy, instead. 

In that case the cube’s weight is less than 64 

pounds and, if the string were cut, it would 

pop up to the surface and float. How much 

of it would be out of the water? That depends 

on the weight of the cube. For example, if it 

weighed 32 pounds, half of it would be out 

of the water. The submerged portion of the 

cube displaces 32 pounds of sea water (half its 

volume), so the upward buoyant force cancels 

the downward force of its weight and the 

cube feels no net force acting on it; it has no 

apparent weight. 

Another way of looking at buoyancy and 

flotation utilizes the concept of density, which 

is defined as the weight of an object divided 

by its volume. In the case of the floating cube, 

its density is 32 pounds per cubic foot. The 

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density of sea water is 64 pounds per cubic 

foot. An object with density less than that of 

water will float. All you have to do is weigh 

an object and divide by the number of cubic 

feet it occupies to get its density. If the density 

is less than 64 pounds per cubic foot, it will 

float in sea water. If the density is more than 

64 pounds per cubic foot, the object will sink. 

As all divers know, one needs heavier weights 

to be neutrally buoyant in sea water than in 

fresh water. Here’s why. Let’s say a neutrally 

buoyant diver displaces 200 pounds of fresh 

water. The same volume of sea water weighs 

1.025 times more than fresh water because 

of the salinity of sea water. Therefore the 

diver displaces 200 x 1.025 = 205 pounds of 

sea water. He will need a little more than 5 

pounds of additional weighting to counteract 

the upward buoyant force and achieve neutral 

buoyancy in sea water. The reason he will 

need more than 5 pounds is that 5 pounds of 

lead is also subject to a buoyant force and 

has an apparent weight of only 4.6 pounds in 

water, 0.4 pounds short of the needed weight 

to achieve neutral buoyancy. Five and a half 

pounds of additional lead weights would do 

the trick. 

Now that you understand Archimedes’ principle 

and the concept of density, it should be easier 

to understand why a ship made of steel floats 

on water. As it first enters water, the ship sinks 

until the weight of water it displaces is equal 

to the ship’s weight. People sleep in quarters 

below the water line, so the space previously 

occupied by water has been replaced with 

the ship’s hull and living quarters, which are 

mostly air. The density of the ship is less than 

the density of water even though part of the 

ship is made of steel. Of course, if the air 

spaces are filled with water, the fate of this 

ship will be like that of the Titanic, which, in 

the end, had a density greater than water. 

In case you are still wondering how 

Archimedes’ experiment with the crown turned 

out, here is how the tale is told. Archimedes 

is said to have placed a solid nugget of gold 

that weighed exactly as much as the crown 

into a tub of water and measured the displaced 

volume by noting the rise of the water level. 

After removing the nugget, he then placed the 

crown into the tub and saw the water level rise 

even higher. Archimedes concluded that the 

density of the crown was less than the density 

of pure gold because the crown displaced 

a greater volume of water even though it 

weighed just as much as the nugget. The 

crown was a fake. Eureka! 

Snapshot: R. Talaga Ph.D 

Richard Talaga has a Ph.D in physics 

from the University of Chicago and 

is a Physist at the Argonne National 

laboratory High Energy Physics 

Division. Richard is a NAUI Advanced 

Open Water Diver, IANTD Nitrox 

diver, and is certified in Extended 

Range Recreational Diving through 

PSAI. 

E X P L O R E 

A W H O L E N E W W O R L D 


DIVE BUDDY 

DIVE BUDDY 

IS BASIC OPEN WATER 

TRAINING ENOUGH? 

by Pat Hammer 

With the world changing at such a fast pace, 

and everyone living in a “must have now” 

society, is one class really enough for the 

recreational diver? When we look back at 

SCUBA classes in the 60’s and 70’s, we see 

courses of instruction that ran for 12 weeks. 

Today you can earn a certification in as little as 

two days [of course this rating has restrictions]. 

Is it enough? 

I strongly believe a long course of instruction 

will not work with today’s lifestyles. This is 

apparent when we look at other educational 

industries. Today you can earn a college 

degree over the internet. SCUBA must 

compete with a lot of other recreations. An 

individual can purchase a $50,000.00 boat 

and with no lessons at all be out on the lake, 

but to operate the boat safely that individual 

will need experience, education, and training. 

You need no training for golf, but to play well 

you do. You need no training for Tennis, but 

to play well you do. With SCUBA, training 

is essential, safety is the focus, but as with 

other recreations just learning the basics is 

not enough. Most divers are not ready to be 

set free and dive unsupervised after just one 

course. Your entry-level class teaches basic 

knowledge. It is in your advanced classes 

you learn the application of the skills taught 

in the basic course. We learn about air spaces 

getting bigger in an entry-level class, and in 

the advanced class when you use a liftbag 

to lift an object off the bottom from 30 feet 

underwater you see how often the liftbag 

needs to be vented. Now is that not education, 

when a lift bag has to be bleed air continuously 

on ascent, and the advanced diver sees this? 

Students are amazed at how much air keeps 

coming out. This holds true if it is a dry 

suit dive, purging on ascent or a deep dive 

and letting a lot of air out of the BC. Divers 

often look at an advanced class like they do 

a menu in a restaurant. While visiting friends 

in Chicago we went to Greek town. The menu 

was fabulous but I didn’t know what to order. 

We ordered a variety appetizers, and that gave 

us a great taste of what the restaurant offered. 

When I decided on the main course it was 

fantastic! Your advanced training dives are just 

like this, you get a taste of many special areas 

and this helps to determine your direction. It 

is great trying a specialty before you buy the 

course. 

To be a BASIC diver and just descend 30 feet 

down with a professional will lose its appeal. 

How often have we looked down and wanted 

to go just a little deeper. I would call this a 

good first step. All divers need to move into 

the advanced classes where they learn in detail 

the application of skills practiced in the basic 

course. I strongly believe that divers should 

go one step further into a Rescue course. In 

an entry level class the diver gets the basics, 

and is able to look out for themselves. The 

Advanced course teaches the diver specific 

skill applications, and it is in the Rescue Diver 

Course where the diver not only learns to help 

himself but also assist others. A rescue diver is 

a very confident diver. 

I have been training divers for over 30 years. I 

still remember teaching those 12-week classes, 

and understand we cannot have long courses 

of instruction, or we will lose potential clients 

to other recreations. It is because of this reason 

that as divers demographics have changed so 

has diver training. As equipment technology 

changed so have the classes. With families 

diving together, it would be impossible to 

keep children and parent’s focused for a 12 

week training class. A shorter entry-level class 

is a must, but we cannot settle on this level of 

training. The skill we gain from other courses 

makes us a better and safer diver. 

We all learn in different ways and retain 

information differently. This is what makes 

continuing education so important. The Family 

can start as a group and in an advanced course 

can stay together even though one child may 

be doing a fish ID, Dad an Enriched air dive, 

and Mom may be doing the photo dive. The 

value is they all are together, with different 

objectives. 

So why offer a Basic Course? 

Just imagine, that before you purchased a 

hobby, you were required to take a long and 

detailed course of instruction. I would bet 

most of us would not be doing many hobbies. 

I think if dive training now, was like it was 

years ago, even I could not participate today. 

We do not have the time. The idea of a basic 

class is great. It turns a lot of people on to 

SCUBA. After these people move into an 

advanced course you can see their confidence 

level builds and their appreciation for diving 

grows. I am willing to say an advanced diver 

will dive at least three times as much as a 

basic diver does. Learning the basics for 

some people may be enough. If you go on a 

cruise every two years a basic card will allow 

you to dive with a professional divemaster 

or instructor. This way you are not paying 

to try SCUBA in a resort course every time 

you travel. Many people interested in SCUBA 

diving want a higher level of involvement in 

the sport. An advantage to advanced training 

is that it will prepare students to competently 

dive unsupervised at resort locations. 

People like adventurous things and this is 

where the advanced courses come in. For the 

competent, try a wreck dive or a cavern dive. 

The great thing about SCUBA diving is it 

attracts people for a lot of different reasons. 

Some want the peace of floating over a sandy 

bottom in Lake Michigan, while looking for 

old bottles, others want to tie off their boat 

and penetrate inside the hull to explore the 

Straits of Mackinac, a 200’ ship, sunk in Lake 

Michigan. Some divers like the thrill of an 

ice dive, submerging through a hole in the ice 

and seeing fish barely move, their metabolism 

slowed by the frigid water. Diving recreation 

and the sport dive activities is what keeps us 

interested and involved as advanced level 

divers. 

The nice thing about SCUBA diving is we can 

pick all or just a part a part of what we like. 

Not every one wants to dive under the ice, and 

not everyone wants to go in a cave. A family 

can all go away for a weekend to Devils Lake 

Wisconsin near Baraboo and do night dives, 

fish id dives, and underwater naturalist dives. 

The entry-level class and certification is a 

doorway to explore a new world. As you move 

through this new and exciting world you see 

that there are a lot of doors for us to open. The 

more a diver learns thru advanced courses 

and frequent involvement, the safer, more 

competent, and confident they become. 

Taking classes beyond the Basic course is 

like a baseball player hitting a home run with 

bases loaded, it feels good and you want to do 

it again. 

Snapshot: Pat Hammer 

Pat Hammer is owner of the Scuba 

Emporium at 16336 S. 104 Ave. 

Orland Park Illinois. He is a PADI 

Course Director and has been in the 

diving business since 1974.Pat can 

be reached at 1-800-778-DIVE 

Patrick@scubaemporium.com 

www.scubaemporium.com 


“SAFETY STOP” 

Check out www.midwestscubadiving.com today! 

Here’s what you’ll find: 

- Great prizes given away every month. Past prizes include 

dive cruises, gear bags, dive knives and compasses. 

- Read Captain Darrick’s blog and participate in our forums. 

- Browse the photo galleries and upload your dive photos. 

- Shop for gear, plan a trip and meet divers. 

- Find a local dive site in the Midwest. 

- much, much more! 

SAFETY STOP: BIO OF HAL WATTS, “WORLD RECORD DEEP AIR DIVER” 

Hal Watts is the founder of the Professional Scuba Association 

International. His first experience with SCUBA was in 1955 when he was 

working toward a Master of Law Degree in Atlanta Ga. As a young man 

Hal spent significant time in Chicago. In 1967 he set a World Record 

Deep air Dive to 390’, which was acknowledged in the Guinness Book 

of World Records. Hal holds the World Record Deep Air Dive Cave Dive 

at 415’. 

He has trained 6 other world record deep air divers. 

In March 1996 Hal was presented with the prestigious Diver Of The Year 

Award For Education presented by the Beneath the Sea organization 

of New York. In 2002 he was the keynote speaker for the NACD cave 

diving seminar. Hal is the co-founder of the National Association of 

Cave Divers. He is qualified to teach deep air, nitrox, extended range 

nitrox, trimix, rebreathers, full face mask, dry suit, cave, cavern, DPV, 

and wreck penetration. Hal has taken more than 55 divers to depths 

between 300’ and 415’ with ZERO ACCIDENTS. 

Hal’s reputation as being one of the diving industry’s foremost authorities 

has afforded him the opportunity to dive all over the world. On July 4th 

1990, Hal was one of the first divers to dive on the Monitor, a civil war 

ironclad, off Cape Hatteras, NC. He had the privilege to be on the dive 

team with Gary Gentile, Billy Deans, and Steve Bielinda (all famous 

wreck divers). Another famous deep wreck that he has dived is the 

Andrea Doria, the Italian luxury liner, which sunk in 1956 in 246’ of water 


off the coast of New York. 

Hal has dived with sperm whales in the Azores, the Bahamas, Brazil, 

Cuba, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Honduras, the Red Sea, Greece, Truk 

Lagoon, New Zealand, the Galapagos, Canada, the Aegean Sea, 

England, and under the ice in Chicago. Hal trained Gregg Bemis, and 

was his safety diver in June 2004, to dive on the Lusitania off the coast 

of Ireland. Mr. Bemis owns the rights to this historic wreck. 

In 1998 Hal was selected by Tanya Streeter, of Grand Cayman, as 

a safety diver for her Women’s World Record Free Dive to 220’ in 

Sardinia Italy. Tanya made a freshwater World Record Free Dive to 

185’ at Hal Watts’ Forty Fathom Grotto in Ocala Florida. Hal has also 

been the safety diver for the World Record free diver Alejandro Ravelo. 

Alejandro and Tanya made many training dives at the Ocala facility. In 

July 2000, Hal was a judge and support diver when a new Women’s 

World Record breath hold dive on a sled was made to 393’ by Yas 

Dalkilic, in Turkey. During this trip Hal made a deep air dive to 364’. 

In the 1960’s Hal Watts introduced and named the “Octopus” second 

stage regulator and coined the often-used phrase “PLAN YOUR DIVE 

– DIVE YOUR PLAN”. 

For technical training inquiries Hal Watts can be contacted at the Forty 

Fathom Grotto in Ocala Florida 352-861-7724, psainternational@aol. 

com, www.psainternational.net. 

www.midwestscubadiving.com

$65.00 

$29.00

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