I have to put in a little more about Frank Hammet Sr.
He was the strongest "natural" diver I have ever met--he taught himself how to dive, after learning of Cousteu and Gagnon inventing a scuba system ( Aqua Lung) , right after he invented his own scuba tank and regulator using a CO2 tank and some other parts.
Frank created drift diving in Florida, by having the boat follow him as he spearfished, towing a milk jug so that the boat would know where he was. He found most of the reefs we all dive on today, back in the late 50's.
As a diver, when I first dove with Frank, I was amazed at how such an old guy was able to swim so much faster than EVERYONE else, even than me ( and I was a competitive cyclist--not used to anyone finning faster than me, lot less a guy who was probably 30 years older!!!).
Frank was genetically the perfect diver. Back in the 60's, he would be spearing on the Hole in the Wall ( a 140 foot max depth dive), suck his 72 cu ft tank dry ( the tank stops flowing air, you pull the J valve for 2 minutes of reserve air--just enough to get one more shot off before your free ascent), and then on surfacing from his free ascent, he would grab another 72 and go right back down! He did not "bend"....I will suggest this as a cross between good genes and spectacular cardiovascular system ( very high VO2 Max, much like George Irvine, but perhaps even better).
Frank had stories that would have made Ernest Hemmingway listen for hours, and be jeolous of the adventure and power in the stories....These true stories helped shape my own desire to spearfish in deeper and deeper spots, going for the big fish and big adventure not found in recreational depth diving. Frank always adapted what he thought was the BEST gear to accomplish his spearfishing or lobstering dives, with the highest amout of success he could get.
When I first started bringing George Irvine and Bill Mee, Robert Carmichael and a few others on Franks boat ( mid 90's) Frank was intrigued by the early DIR differences ( originally just tech stuff, as this predated George diving with Parker Turner , and then modifying as George began the real DIR evolution that Parker, sheck and Main had set him off on.
Frank liked our streamlining--he had little regard for big floppy BC's...but then, Frank had been known to tuck a rock from the bottom, into his BC, if he needed more weight on the bottom--so he would not become a poster boy for no-drag or perfection in gear based weighting and trim
Frank did many dives with us, and in short order, allowed George and me to do dives he would never take anyone else to--this mostly because he believed the DIR system we practiced was better than anything else he had seen other divers using, and because he did not have concerns that we would get ourselves killed.
In any event, Frank was in no way DIR, but he did like the system. As one of the real Pioneers of Scuba Diving, Frank Hammett ran the best boat in south Florida for DIR based ocean dives in Palm Beach and Jupiter ( best boat meaning he would do exactly what we asked of him, and would even try to push some of our techniques onto other dive groups that would dive with him when we were not around.
Frank has never been "honored" for his many contributions to Adventure diving..and he should be!
Regards,
Dan V
