Rick Simon and Shoreline Diving: Day 2

Time for day two of work with Shoreline Diving. After getting prepped for another days worth of work, Rick, Dave, Austin and I headed out for a ride around the harbor to plan where the new moorings would be anchored in. Rick was able to plan the new moorings to be neatly in line with the existing ones, and was able to get them in sufficiently deep water. Once it was time to drill in the moorings, both Rick and Austin got into the water to work. Rick was on SCUBA, while Austin was utilizing surface supplied air while wearing a commercial diving helmet. This system means that Austin wears the helmet while diving, and his primary air supply is left in large bank bottles on the boat connected by an umbilical hose. I have never seen this done in person, and it was super interesting to learn how everything was connected together. Plus it was impressive how clear the communication was between the diver wearing the hat and their surface support! Rick and Austin worked on two more moorings, finishing the work from yesterday, and then it was time to head back to shore. We all enjoyed pizza together, and then it was time to clean the boat. Getting rid of all the silt and algae from the past days work took some time, but having a clean boat was crucial to having an efficient and safe work environment.

Once the boat was scrubbed down, Rick and I took some time to go over some important skills and knowledge when wreck diving in New England. These skills included an introduction to running a reel/line, as well as reviewing things such as dive planning and gas considerations. Rick explained that using a wreck reel was super important in our local waters, due to changes in both visibility and current, so that we can always find our way back to the boat. Using the reel for the first time showed that I had a ton to learn, since you always need to keep tension on the line to prevent it from getting tangled in itself or the wreck. Thank you to Rick for giving me a Manta Reel, and some other equipment which I have a feeling I will use a ton in the coming weeks!

With these lessons from Rick, I headed off for the day, but before going home, I got to go pick up a new dry suit provided to me by Fourth Element! Thank you so much to Fourth Element for their Hydra dry suit, as well as a set of Xerotherm Undergarments. I look forward to using them on an upcoming dive!

Today was another super insightful day, and I look forward to learning even more.