Wanna play ?

[Raven C]

frogxman once bubbled...
RavenC,

you should change you avatar - it is a little bit distracting especially in a context with that snorkel stuff...

What you don't like my avatar? This amazingly beautiful strong graceful powerful creature going after what it wants. Commanding the deep sea. I think it is an aspiration. I want to be all those things.

What avatar would you suggest?

 

[Raven C]

SeaJay once bubbled...
What's the longest single scuba dive in the history of the world? Who did it?

I tried to look that up yesterday in Guinness Book. Didn't find it. What's the answer?

 

[scubaredneck]

How about this?

 

[frogxman]

scubaredneck once bubbled...
How about this?

Ditto.
RavenC - you avatar is good. But I would not play snorkel game with such a powerful creature with such teeth. Who knows what it is going after.

 

[frogxman]

SeaJay once bubbled...


What's the longest single scuba dive in the history of the world? Who did it?

I don't know the answer, but may be this will count:

2001 - John Bennett breaks his own world record with a dive to amazing 308 meter (1000 ft).

BTW, interesting fact about ongoing 350m scuba dive project:

A special safety feature will be that the contestants will spend their longest decompression time (over 6 hours) at –6 meters, in a cage. This will provide safety from dangerous marine life and ease buoyancy control. Additionally it allows the possibility of sleep and food - nutritions in liquid form delivered from the support divers. To counter the long waiting time the contestants will be provided with under water TV, music and waterproof reading material.

What is the deepest (not scuba) dive?

 

[scubaredneck]

The deepest dive was, is and forever will be that dive made by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard back in 196? when they plunged more than 35Kfsw to the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the very deepest point in the ocean.

Of course, then the U.S. space program got kicked into high gear and we never went back!! :fury:

What was the name of the first major oceanographic exploration expedition?

 

[SeaJay]

Raven: Your avatar should be a thumbnail of the "Twister Anyone" naked picture that started the whole ball rolling here. It's become famous in the minds of many by now, and would very much represent you here. At least, you could TRY that avatar... Then you'd have to see whether or not everyone could still be gentlemen...

The 350m scuba submergence is an interesting guess... And while being a very respectable record on it's own accord, does not even begin to come close to the "longest scuba submergence."

The correct answer to the question today is not the same as the correct answer to the question eight months from now. Eight months from now, the correct answer will be "SeaJay Bayne, 14+ days."

Right now, according to the email from Guiness (who is aiding me in the attempt, in order to keep it completely valid) says the following:

Claim ID: 40305
Membership Number: 38817

23 December 2002

Dear Mr Bayne

Thank you for your enquiry regarding your intention to break the record for 'Longest SCUBA submergence - controlled environment'.

<snip>

The current record is:
The continuous duration record (i.e. no rest breaks) for scuba (i.e. self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, used without surface air hoses) is 212 hr. 30 min., by Michael Stevens of Birmingham in a Royal Navy tank at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England from February 14-23, 1986.

However, you may wish to check with us again closer to submitting your full claim to be sure that a new record has not been set in the interim.

If you should require any further information, please do let us know, otherwise we hope that the event goes well and look forward to hearing the results.

Yours sincerely,

Amanda Sprague
Records Research Services

212 hours and 30 minutes equates to just shy of nine days underwater.

The document attached says the following:

LONGEST SCUBA SUBMERGENCE –
CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT
The following act as a guide to the specific considerations
and undertakings, in addition to the general requirements,
for any potential attempt on record title record. They should
be read and understood by all concerned – organisers,
participants and witnesses – prior to the event.

RULES
This record is for spending the greatest amount of time submerged using SCUBA gear in a controlled environment.
1. A controlled environment is defined as any man-made body of water, in which the water environment is manipulated to any degree. Swimming pools, diving tanks, ponds, aquaria, etc. whether indoors or out of doors, fall within this definition.
2. At no time during the record attempt may the diver (or any part of the diver’s body or equipment) break the surface of the water.
3. Only self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) without any kind of physical connection to the surface is allowed. Dry suits are permitted.
4. The diver must be supported by a support crew. There are no restrictions on the size of this crew.
5. When the divers scuba tanks are empty, the support crew may provide full scuba tanks or can refill the tanks being used by the diver at that time.

Sounds like a blast, doesn't it?

 

[frogxman]

Yep, sounds interesting. Just don't forget about relief valve.

 

[SeaJay]

scubaredneck once bubbled...

What was the name of the first major oceanographic exploration expedition?

It was called the "Challenger" expedition, and happened in 1872 with Charles Darwin aboard. Prior to this year, long-distance exploration was a serious problem. A good navigator on a clear night could use the stars and a sextant to get their latitude, but an accurate clock was necessary to get proper longitude. The most accurate clocks were the sand hourglass and pendulum style clocks, and of course, you don't have to be a brain surgeon to see what sort of havoc a pitching ship wreaked on them. Not until about 1870, when an accurate pocket watch was invented (one that would lose no more than one minute a day in accuracy) was accurate long distance navigation really brought into realization, and not until then was a recordable exploration really feasible.

Interestingly, since these comparitively accurate, newfound wind-up clocks were still in their infant stages, navigators had a rough time trusting them. They simply did not always work correctly, expecially in the harsh environment found on a sailing vessel of the 19th century. Thus, they often carried multiple, redundant clocks. Of course, if you had two and they did not agree, then you would not know which one to trust... So they always carried three with them. Whichever two agreed were the ones that were to be believed.

To this day, the British still call instruments (like in the dash of their car or on a diver's console) "clocks." It's also common to hear someone say that they were "clocked at a certain speed." This language is a leftover remnant from this era of navigation.

...And it also explains why navigational charts are measured in minutes and seconds rather than feet or miles.

Q: What am I going to think about nonstop after I break that record?

 

[scubaredneck]

I think you're mixing things up a litle, Jay. Darwin sailed on the HMS Beagle earlier in the 19th century and was studying land animals, not marine animals.