To order call DAN Membership Services at +1-919-684-2948 or 1-800-446-2671 (from the U.S. or Canada) and ask for:

Title: I May Be Bent… Now What? with Marty McCafferty
Run time: 40 minutes
Product code: 171-0000
Cost: FREE

• Changes in breast implants during diving and at high altitude
• Breast Augmentation Surgery and Diving by Divers Alert Network

• Getting Fit for Dive Season
• Fitness and Diving Issues for Women
• Exercise Training and SCUBA Diving
• Healthy, But Overweight

Did Titanic have a fatal design flaw? This was the question naval architect Roger Long
posed after Deep Sea Detectives John Chatterton and Richie Kohler discovered new
evidence at Titanic's grave in 2005.

Become a Contributor

I am always interested in hearing your thoughts and/or even recommendations to what you like to see in the future - more info, more pictures/less text, etc. My goal is to provide readers with information. I will leave the Disney stuff to publications like Sport Diver.

If you have a story or information in the form of an insider’s guide to a particular dive site or location in the US that you would like to share out side of this forum, I would (info@uwjournal.com) like to hear it. While we are limited at what we can pay for your work right now we can provide the author recognition through a short bio, contact information (email and website addresses), including hyperlinks to their website(s).

Furthermore, anyone whishing to become a contributor need not be worried at not having professional writing skills. What is desirable is that you are a detailed note taker able to record key (what, where, when, and how) information points and facts, combined with a few personal impressions of what you experienced. If you are good with a camera, all the better. From there, (through a little Word-Smithing at our end) we can make it work to provide other readers with something they would enjoy. Trust me, this is how most of the “pros” you see in the dive pubs started out. And half of them are not as good as you think at writing a story.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Innovative Scuba Concepts Recalls Diving Regulator Components Due to Drowning Hazard

Name of product: Swivel for a Scuba Regulator

Units: About 170

Importer: Innovative Scuba Concepts Inc., of Colorado Springs, Colo.

Hazard: The swivel, which is attached to a diving regulator, could separate while diving. This will result in a complete and sudden loss of the diver’s air supply, causing the diver to engage in emergency ascent procedures. This poses a risk of decompression sickness due to rapid ascent, and air embolism or drowning if the diver panics or the emergency ascent procedure fails.

Incidents/Injuries: The firm has received one report where the swivel separated during a dive and caused the diver to ascend using the buddy breathing technique. No injury was reported.

Description: The recall involves the HO110 Swivels sold as an aftermarket regulator component. There are no markings such as a date or production code embossed on the unit. Contact Innovative Scuba Concepts for information on where the recalled units were sold.

Sold at: Specialty retail dive stores nationwide from January 2006 through March 2007 for about $40. They also could have been installed by a dive shop regulator technician.

Manufactured in: Taiwan

Remedy: Consumers should stop using regulators with the swivel attached and contact the dive store where purchased for a refund.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Innovative Scuba Concepts Inc. at (800) 472-2740 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.innovativescuba.com

I would like to take a moment to give you an update on Wrecksploration.

This month has been a very exciting and busy time for us. On May 3^rd, we held our first general membership meeting, an open invitation to divers and non-divers alike from all around the state to join us and learn about our project. The turnout was even better than we had anticipated, as close to 100 potential explorers packed the Nassau University Medical Center amphitheater to find out more about Wrecksploration, and to hear Captain Dan Berg delight us with tales of exploration and discovery, as he recounted the origins of many of the wrecks we dive today. His pictures and videos brought wreck exploration to life, and served to fan the flame of the flickering explorer in many of us. I would like to thank all of you who joined us for your participation and support. We hope to continue to bring you more of these types of events in the future. I would also like to once again thank Captain Dan Berg for taking the time out of his busy schedule and expending the effort required to put together such an interesting and informative presentation. We presented Captain Berg with a certificate of appreciation, and awarded him an honorary membership in Wrecksploration. We hope to charter the Wreck Valley later this season for what I am sure will be some great exploration dives. I would also like to thank Dr. Glenn Butler and Ed Smith of Life Support Technologies, our sponsors for the meeting. Their commitment and dedication to the diving community is greatly appreciated.

At the meeting, we announced the scheduling of the first Wrecksploration dives, and overnight, the first trip was full, before we even knew the charter boat, location, depth, cost, etc. On Sunday, June 10^th, we will head out of Freeport under the capable command of Captains Frank Persico and John Lachenmeyer on the Sea Hawk dive boat. Individually, they are among the most experienced and respected divers in the area. Together, they have been responsible for the location and identification of several well known local wrecks. We will be exploring an unconfirmed wreck site in about 100ft of water.

Our second charter is still in the planning stage. It will either be Saturday, June 23^rd or Saturday, June 30^th, as announced at the meeting, depending on availability. If we have enough people, we will try to book both dates. If we do only one trip, it will be to a wreck in the novice range of 80ft or less, while if we book both, we may make one trip to a depth of around 100ft. We are also working on a weekday charter out of Montauk on the Sea Turtle dive boat. Captain Chuck Wade had a very successful track record for his own explorations, and has something for us that we hope to be very special. If it doesn’t pan out, we may hit a second likely target in the area, or we have the option to dive the Grecian, an excellent dive in the area.

Members interested in any of the above dives should contact us as soon as possible. For non-members who are interested, we invite you to become members and come out exploring with us. You can join online at http://www.wrecksploration.org/join.asp.

On Sunday, May 20^th, Newsday did a feature article in the LI Life section of the paper on Wrecksploration. We would like to thank Newsday reporter Bill Bleyer for taking the time to tell our story. If you missed the article in the paper, you can read it online: http://www.newsday.com/search/ny-vitalsigns5217631may20,0,1302604.story .

Our next meeting is in the works, and our research projects will be kicked off this month. We appreciate your interest and support. Please pass this email around to anyone who you think may be interested. If you received this email from a friend, you can join our mailing list by sending an email to mailings-request@wrecksploration.org with the word “JOIN” in the body of the message.

Dive Safe,

Adam

• Maldives Tourism Promotion Board
• Maldives SCUBA Tours
• Atolls of Maldives - Detailed General Info on Wikipedia.org
• Diving in Maldives article from SCUBADiving.com
• Maldives Diving from DiveGlobal.com
  *This site also includes diving in Atolls of Maldives - A Must Read
  

1. Breathe normally, but Inhale deeply and slowly, and exhale slowly
   One of the things I ask during Buoyancy class or exercise is if my students have ever tried Yoga before. Yoga and SCUBA have something in common - continuous breathing. In the teaching of Yoga, conscious breathing plays a big role in maintaining the posture. One of the things you can do during SCUBA is starting by Inhaling deeply, then exhaling slowly. When exhaling, try counting "1, 2, 3, ..." - if you can get to 8 seconds, it's pretty good. You can also try making sounds while exhalation as this extends the exhalation significantly. (remember Emergency Swimming Ascent Exercise??) Keep trying this method until this becomes like your second nature - this builds conscious but continuous breathing.
   
   
2. Check your weighting... Again.
   Weights you use during the dive seem like just a way to let you sink so that you can go diving, but it has a lot to do with your breathing. More weights you use, the more air you need to move around underwater to maintain your buoyancy. MORE WORK for you!! This means that you need more air to move around. Get an idea?
   
   Although checking your weighting at the beginning of every season is recommended, try checking it every dive if possible. If not, make sure you check it every time you have something new or add equipment to carry. For example, try checking your weighting on the first time you use new wet suits or dry suits. Even tanks, Aluminum or Steel give you a bit of differences.
   
   By checking it and recording it in your logbook helps divers to understand the importance of trimming weights. Trimming the weights does not mean you have to remove too much weights to end the dive. MINIMIZING the weight may be the right words to be used here. Just enough so that, with this correct amount of weights, you can continue and do the comfortable diving.
   
   
3. Buoyancy...
   Poor buoyancy skills give you more work = more air. Practice your buoyancy. If you need to tune up, speak to your instructor or take (my) SSI Advanced Buoyancy Control specialty course.
   
   Often seen in new divers, probably out of their excitement, they are not fully exhaling. Read above - Breathing section so that you can improve your breathing. The residue of air in your lung also makes you a bit positively buoyant. This means, constant buoyancy changes = more work = more air.
   
   
   
   
4. Stop, Breathe, and Think if necessary
   This is important, not only to improve air consumption but diving in general. Knowing how your dive is supposed to be conducted and what's involved give you a great peace of mind. Having anxiety underwater is not the way to dive, and we all know that! For example, constant buoyancy changes by dumping too much air out of the BC or constant sculling with hands (or poor kicks) can give you a bit of anxiety some times as you want to maintain your buoyancy at constant depth.
   
   If things come across during the dive, it's okay to stop, breathe, and think.
   
   
5. Equipment... or show-off?
   There is a reason why you carry additional equipment, and the most important of all, it's a life-support equipment you are carrying, not the way to show-off your newest and greatest dive light. Often, in advanced diving, it requires you to carry certain equipment for a reason, and this needs practice so that not only will you know how to use them but also how to handle them underwater. Try it in the pool once or twice to get an idea of how you can handle buoyancy. If your equipment is going to be a work for you to carry, keep practicing. Just don't give up.
   
   
6. Fin Kick
   
   

WASHINGTON, D.C., USA - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Scubapro� X650 Second Stage Regulator

Units: About 670

Manufacturer: Scubapro� with global headquarters located in El Cajon, Calif.

Hazard: A manufacturing error could cause the main housing of some regulators to change shape over time, which could cause the cover and diaphragm to become dislodged. If this occurs, air flow will be interrupted and the regulators will no longer function, posing a drowning hazard to users.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description and Models: The recall involves some X650 second stage regulators. All X650 second stage regulators are clearly marked with a blue capital �X� next to the numbers �650� in white. Affected regulators have a visible bump located on the right side of the unit between the letter �C� and where the mouthpiece attaches to the regulator body.

Sold at: Authorized Scubapro� dealers in the U.S. from June 2005 through May 2006 for between $400 and $670

Manufactured In: Genova, Italy

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the product immediately and contact Scubapro� to determine if they have an affected second stage regulator. If so, they will receive a free replacement regulator. The company is contacting registered owners of the product directly.

Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Scubapro� at (800) 808-3948 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday or visit their Web site at www.scubapro.com

Firm’s Media Contact: Cynthia Georgeson at +1(262) 631-6600

• Featuring a series of interpretive panels on wrecks from Lake Erie to the St. Lawrence River
• An interactive underwater learning program courtesy of Pennsylvania Sea Grant
• Diving & Underwater photography exhibits
• A collection of reclaimed anchors courtesy of French Creek Marina, Clayton, NY
• A series of presentations by noted authors, historians, dive and underwater photography experts on shipwrecks and diving the Seaway Trail