Shadow Divers: John Chatterton's Interview with ScubaBoard

[UnderSeaBumbleBee]

John,
Thanks for taking a moment to post. Welcome to the board. I hope you will continue to post from time to time on topics that catch your eye when you have the time.

 

[tridacna]

All,
Why 5?

Here's one: Why the obsession with Scottys? I saw you and Carla there again before BTS. Driving down from Maine to go there first? My wife won't let me take her near there.

 

[Buoyant1]

Nice! JC in the house! Thanks for stopping by...My only question to you is, what is your perspective of Gary's book? (have you read it?) As my posts stated, I've read both (enjoyed both, and enjoy Gary's other books immensely) but it seems like a lot of the events were just basically the same through another's eyes. I guess a follow up is have you spoken to Gary about his "rebuttal"? He brings a lot of "baggage" between you guys to the table!

 

[Chatterton]

All,

Thanks for all the nice comments, welcoming me to SB.

I have always been something of a nostalgic guy who will drive by my old neighborhoods. When the opportunity presents itself I will stop by Scotty's in Springfield. We never really went there for the food, it was just a quiet neighborhood restaurant where we could talk and make our plans and it is always fun to go back.

I was sick as a dog for the MJN Memorial dives, so I apologize for spreading the crappy cold that I got at DEMA. I have not been scallop diving yet, just because I have been busy.

How does one say no to Bar-b-que? If I am in town, I will be there.

Since you asked, I do have a copy of Gary's self published "Exposé", but have not read it yet. I have seen his promotional material and I think I get the general idea. Maybe I am just an overly sensitive guy, but I get the impression it is all about slamming me and my partners?? If you have read the book then you should be telling me?

Then again, I am involved in TV and publishing?? I have chosen work that gives me a high profile as a diver. I am no shrinking violet. Should I expect that people are only going to say complementary things about me? I don't think so, and if I can't take the heat then I can just stay out of the kitchen.

Gary and I do have a long history, but there was never any kind of feud between us, and I have never had anything against him? We are not competitors, we are just guys who have done some diving together years ago. I admired him as a very talented wreck diver. He has his shortcomings, the same way we all do. We had a friendly conversation at a dive show a couple of months before his book came out, and he didn't mention anything about Shadow Divers or a book?

I was totally surprised to be the subject of anything coming from Gary, as we have never been that close, and we never worked together on the U-boat. Rob, Richie,or I were never interviewed for SDE? I have not seen Gary or spoken with him since the release of his book and we have not been diving together since about 1997.

Richie and I are working on another book about Titanic with author Brad Matsen. If it is successful, I wonder if somebody will have to write an exposé on that, too??? If I don't like it, I guess I can alway go back to commercial diving???


Cheers

 

[Gombessa]

Welcome John!

Never in a hundred years would I have expected this thread to explode the way it did; I really just enjoyed the story thoroughly and wanted to get some more background on the diving-specific aspects which weren't quite so detailed in the story.

As long as you're here, would you mind saying whether or not you and your friends still subscribe to the "no buddy is the best buddy" and "progressive penetration" schools in wreck-diving as described in the book, or have your thoughts changed on these and other methods prevalent at the time of the U-Who expeditions?

Thanks again for dropping in!

 

[scubajb]

Maybe you should write a "how to" book on getting so much stuff into a small car after the DEMA show! all healthy again here so should be diving in a couple of weeks... must have been that chiraz!

 

[Wayward Son]

Hi, John. I read SD a while back & found it quite enjoyable. I was surprised that I connected with it on a personal level in several ways. It made the story more "real", if you will. I could relate to many of the people in it, including the sailors that crewed the sub. My mother was German, immigrated here after the war. It caused me to think of those people & their families from that point of view. My mom had many men in her life who went to war & never came home, just as happened to those men.

 

[Chatterton]

Again, thanks for the nice feedback.

Rob is an incredibly talented writer, and a very smart guy. He writes generously for the reader and people seem to appreciate it. I guess he got something out of that Harvard Law School education??

I started diving solo, before I was certified, then when I finally got certified I was a Buddy Diver, and then I became a Solo Diver again when I started penetrations on deeper wrecks. One set of bubbles inside a silty wreck was too many. Two sets was just not practical for many of the places I was diving. Then I became a rebreather diver, and I am now a Buddy Diver once again, for good reason.

Diving deep wrecks on OC we carried our own gases, not the other guys. As a rebreather diver we are taught to carry enough Bailout Open Circuit to make the entire dive (in case of a rebreather failure)?? This removes the advantage of a rebreather in the first place, and also means we can't dive deeper than we can on OC because we can only carry so much Bailout gas! However, if we take a team approach to risk management then we can carry plenty of OC Bailout distributed amongst the team members. This means we can dive where we want to go and still manage the risk of catastrophic rebreather failure.

As for wreck pentration, one size does not fit all. I don't think that everyone will approach the same problem the same way and wreck conditions are incredibly varied, so I will just give you my opinion??

I think progressive penetration has been misunderstood to be "remember the way in so you know the way out??". This is a gross oversimplification and doesn't work. If I am penetrating a wreck I will use multiple methods, as any single method can fail?? I may use strobe lights, identifying where in the wreck I am from familiarity, my compass, a penetration reel (or two), following the naturally occuring lines of the wreck, and exact depth readings. Different methods work in different situations. I use whatever methodology I feel the situation calls for. You might use something different? That is part of the fun of diving.

For me, when it comes to wreck penetration I need to work at it. If I am fully prepared, and I have practiced good execution, then I am far less likely to be intimidated or overwhelmed by the challenging circumstances that can sometimes develop....


Cheers

 

[captain]

Welcolme John, it was a pleasent surprise to open the forum today and find you as a new member. Loved the book.

 

[ScottZeagle]

I loved the Shadow Divers book....so much that I actually sent Rob an email thanking him for such a great read!! (Something I had never done before, by the way)

The story is amazing, and if it isn't 100% factual was never an issue for me...I just thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Welcome to ScubaBoard, John...enjoy the ride!!