Wreck diving question

[Mountainturtle]

Hey Gasman,

Good to know that there's someone from this part of the puddle kicking around on the boards. At the moment I'm in Armidale, inland from Coffs Harbour and The Solitary Islands Marine Park.
Glad to know that you enjoyed Oz. Know what you mean about the wet. I spent a fair bit of time growing up on Cape York and North Qld so got my fair share of it. Great time of year. I also enjoyed NZ the twice I've been there.
Who else but a Kiwi would devise such an ingeniously fiendish plan to make money. However, with way the dollar is at the moment it might be worth more to keep any treasures hidden for a couple more years.

Mountainturtle

 

[DivingGal]

Beyond the courses already suggested. Might I also offer that you take a course (or two) from The Nautical Archaeology Society (http://www.nasportsmouth.org.uk/) Taking a course from NAS gives you a whole new view on wrecks. Up here in Canada there are more interesting wrecks than interesting fish - at least near where I live. I just finished the first level, found out all sorts of interesting things. Now when I go to a wreck, I'm looking at construction methods, and inidications of what happened when the wreck happened. It's amazing. I'll be taking the second level lectures in November.

 

[daylight]

I agree with DivingGal and the recommendation of developing skills as a trained amateur underwater archaeologist. This training puts a completely different perspective on wreck diving.

The research and knowledge of ship design and history surrounding the wreck adds significantly to the dive experience. you will also develop skills to deal with the task loading and bouancy control requirements.
One additional benefit is learning the necessary teamwork.

DSAO

 

[Mountainturtle]

Thank's Diving Gal and Daylight,

I went to the NAS site and found a link to The Australian Institute of Marine Archiology )(http://www.aima.iinet.net.au/frames/aimavtframe.html).
AIMA offers courses in association with NAS which would be very interesting, and which I would like to do in the future once I am more experienced.

Mountainturtle

 

[DivingGal]

You're welcome - anytime. I've been told that if you have a NAS certification and show up at a UW archeological site, they may allow you to assist on the site. Without such certification - it's a "no way".