EXPLORE YOUR OWN BACKYARD!Heading out of the Ventura Harbor in California was a dream come true. The boat was loaded with all the fixings of an extraordinary four day training session off the Northern Channel islands. The nine team members from Ocean Futures Society were super excited to test out the new cameras, rebreathers, lights and some very essential pieces of gear. The JMC SuperMask , KMDSI nato rebreather pod and a variety of Force Fins
Some of us had used Force Fins and the full face masks before but this would be the turning point in the Ocean Futures dive team because this would be the first time we would use the OPS fin made especially made for us from Force Fin. It was also the trip that became the official starting day that the common dominator in the teams dive kit would be Force Fins, the JMC SuperMask and KMDSI nato rebreather pod.
With a team of 9 you have people who are specialists in there own discipline, still photography, video, lighting, teaching, but the common factor for every diver was that we all had to wear fins underwater. The focus of the trip was to get everyone comfortable with the use of the semi closed rebreathers that we were using at the time, testing of new underwater lights and the new equipment we were introducing into the teams diving kit. We had a major expedition planned and before we arrived at said site the entire team needed to be comfortable and confident in their diving equipment.
The first day was great! We anchored off Anacapa Island and the deck of the dive boat looked like a movie set. Hey wait a minute. It was a mini movie with cameras rolling for the next four days. Don Santee and I finished the briefing and final checks on the SCR units that would be going into the water and the first dive of the trip had begun.
The dives over the next four days were very exhilarating because we were all experimenting with new dive gear and techniques. During those four days we were able to dive shallow, deep, no current, lots of current, kelp, cavern, day and night. It really provided us with the best of every condition to test our new equipment.
The dive I remember most was when I was using the Ops fins while being the cable tender underwater. An underwater cable tender has the most physically strenuous job underwater of all the team members. Their job is to provide enough cable from the power source on the surface to the diver lighting the scene underwater. This person is the human extension cord for the cable from the surface to the light head lighting the scene. The cable diver also has to make sure that the cable does not get caught on any obstructions like on the ocean bottom. Filming underwater can be a fluid motion or static, but most of the time you are going from one place to another and that means swimming. The cable diver is constantly signally to the surface to give out more cable or take in cable as the team underwater moves around. Therefore the cable diver has to have extra cable in their hand in case the camera operator and lighting diver have to chase after the rare and endangered pinniped that is swimming through their frame. What this means is that at any one time the cable diver might have to swim an enormous amount of cable through the water. With resistance and current the cable diver has to push a lot weight through the water. I had used the Ops fin just to swim from point A to point B, but had yet had the chance to see if the fin could perform under more physical conditions.
The Ops fin is amazing. It can be adjusted on the fly while you are underwater. You can adjust it to make it faster or more powerful by rotating the outer edges inward or outward. I cranked them inward for power and jumped in the water. I was so pleased that the fin was giving me the power I needed because again I was performing a job that was very strenuous. With my dry suit on and multi rolls of cable in my hand I was able to swim and signal all around the Kelp forest with ease. The Ops fin performed up to the Force fin standard of excellence and I was happy to be wearing the new fins and excited about the adventures to follow.
