Diving of the Mind

There are a few books I think every diver should read. There are also books that every adventurer should read, some of these books do bring the dangers of diving into light but the true stories and heartaches are what make these stories so incredible. Here are a few I would recommend:

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson
The Last Dive by Bernie Chowdhury
Fatal Depth by Joe Haberstroh
SCUBA Diving the Wrecks and Shores of Long Island, NY by David Rosenthal
The Treasure by Kathleen Harrison

If you cannot go diving this summer or have not been able to get certified yet, why not take you mind scuba diving for you. All of these books are amazing stories of teh difficulties and the rewards of diving. So dive in...to a good book. (yes i know that was very corny, but I had to do it)

Signals

I recently completed a refresher course, since it has been a while since I have gone diving and wanted to review all the basics before I hit the water again. When I got to the class I realized that I had forgotten all of the hand signals. SO here is a quick review of the basic hand motions when diving.
(Click on image below for larger view of signals)

Gear up!

There are alot of different brands and kinds of equipment out there and it can be pretty confusing at first. However, as long as you have the basics alot of the fancy stuff is not really needed. Still it is always important to know what options you have so here is a breakdown of the necessary gear and the fun extras.

Basic Diving:
Wetsuit
Booties
BCD (with/without weights
Weightbelt(if bc does not come with integrated weights)
Fins
Mask (with snorkle)
Hood
Regulator (full octopus with secondary regulator)
Tank (if you do not go diving that often many dive shops will let you rent for the day or weekend)
Tank accessories(yok/din, k-valve/international valve)
Dive Computer
Compass
Depth Gauge
Dive knife (optional but hightly recommended)
Submersable Pressure Gauge

Fun extras
Flashlight
Underwater Camera
Speargun
Underwater Scooter
Drysuit

Safety Equipment
Dive Flag
Safety whistle
Surface Marker Buoy
Signal Device

Local Marine Life

There are alot of fish that can be seen in New England, and even more of these fish are found at dive sites. If can make a dive that much more interesting when you are aware of the fish that are swimming right along with you.

Fish:

Foureye butterflyfish


Bicolor Damselfish



Goatfish

Beaurgregory -


Trunkfish-


These are just some of the fish you can see when doing wreck dives.These fish are special becuase they are tropical fish that are only seen during the summer and are seen earlier every year many scientists think that it is due to the rapid warming of New England waters. And as the waters warm more fish are coming to new england and more of their eggs are surviving.

Advanced Dive Sites (Rhode Island)

Block Island:
Spartan was a steel Feighter, it sits at a 222ft long. Located on Old Harbor Point, South. This Freighter is a good ship to try if you are jsut beginning with ship wreck diving, it lies only 16ft under water, many pieces are still scattered across the ocean floor, in fact two boilers are lhying on their sides near the wreck and it is said that if you stand on one at low tide teh diver will be aboce water. There a re a few precautions when diving this site. ONly dive here when teh ocean is calm, if their are large swells then it can because hazardous; also if you arrive by boat, ther are several large boulders that lie just beneath the surface that can cause damage to your boat.


Charleston:
Mary Arnold An old tugboat 70ft below sea level. Located in Charlestown Breachway, teh bow has collapsed adn the deck is level; many of what remains is debris and the large equipment. About 100ft away are the remains of a second boat, Progress there is alot of its machinary remaining and people who dive this site still find artifacts.

Jamestown:
Kettle Rock Bottom is located about 1000 yard form the enterance tinto the west cove of FOrt Wtherill. Many people feel that boating is the only way to get to this dive site but once you get there this is a fun dive bewcause many ships have been known to be wrecked here, what makes it even more interesting is that teh various wrecks has caused many tropical fish and people have been known to encounter Tautog and even eels.

Misquamicut:
Metis is one of the harder wreck dives, it lies 130 ft below sea level, the ship was originally a freighter turned passanger ship. Around 5 miles southeast of Watch Hill the passanger ship was suddenly hit and finally sank in Misquamicut. The ship that hit them made it to dock without one loss of life, an ending the Metis was unable to make. THe Metis lost 1/3 of its passangers and many of the aritifacts that remain are hidden in the sand. Many major machinary peices are still scattered around the wreck as well.

Newport:
Explorer was a wooden trawler 62 foot long vessel. This wreck is very well preserved at only 90ft below the surface, but the diver must be very careful because the mass and outriggers still tower 50ft about the ocean floor. Massive amounts of sea life still clings to the cables anfd rigging which causes some clutter at the wreck. HOwever it is a very intrersting dive because of how intact the ship is still. Other than some holes form the original sinking hte boat still sits upright on the ocean floor.

George W. Humphrey an old wooden fisihgn steamer about 143 ft long. and lies only 15-20ft below the surface. WRecked off the coast of Newport Neck near Brenton Point, the reef is teaming with fish and many aritifacts are still recovered from this dive.

Wreck diving can often be very dangerous escpecially if you plan on going into the wreck, please remember that you hsould always dive with a buddy and make sure that you are comfortable enough and properly certified before you take on any of these dives.