Remember those old Double Hose Days.
Those days when all you needed for a great day at the beach was your mask, fins, double hose regulator, your steel 72 strapped to your back with some air, and some gas in your  tank to get you there.  Reflecting on those early days of youth is a ritual where some of "the boys" participate in an annual Double Hose Dive.  The DHD  pictured is off Silver Strand Beach, just south of Coronado, California.   We had a great day diving the submarine which is just offshore, shall we say in the Surf Zone.  These dives always bring back memories of youth.  Remember how great it was to breath off a single stage double hose regulator...and without SPG's it was a simple mater to end the dive.  When no more air comes out, it is time to go up. Dive Over! They were good old days. Preserve your memories...and relive them!

Multiple Hose Days

Remember those old Multiple Hose/Multiple Tank Days.
Those were the days when all you needed for a fun day in the water was twin 95's, a pony bottle, sometimes that being  a steel 72, multiple regulators and multiple dive computers, spare mask, lift bag, reel, pneumatic tools, surface supplied oxygen for decompression, etc., etc., etc., and of course a little gas in your tank to get you there.  This image shows me during an early "technical" era at Blue Caverns, Catalina, California.  We were diving what we called  "The Tower".  This "tower" was a pressure vessel with a submarine hatch on the top and bottom.  The top hatch had a flange around it that most likely is a mating surface for a DSRV Rescue craft to attach to.  Its location is in about 220 feet of water on a sloping bottom. The chamber was erected above the ocean floor atop steel girders from a central cement slab and stabilized with four mooring cables. The chamber sat  above a small platform up about forty feet or so from the bottom.  The dive usually was at around 165 feet.  The chamber had some viewing ports.  The ports were of plexiglass and the port hole fittings were steel which crumbled when handled.  Thus not many keepsakes were obtained. (Oh there was one or two little keepsakes, brought up. But nothing to write home about. BTY, these were the days when we used to dive deeper than our boats anchor.) We suspect that this structure was a docking device to train DSRV crews in mating with a submarine escape hatch. (If anyone knows more about this structure, please pass the info along. Thank you.) I understand that a few years ago a dive boat snagged an anchor to one of its support cables.  In lifting the anchor, this snagged cable either broke or displaced its mooring such that the structure fell to the ocean floor.  I have not been back since I heard this.

Combat Swim Days

Remember those old combat swim days....

    Actually this was a day when we recovered an dinghy outboard motor from our neighbor  who happened to drop it over the side.  The "charge" and fouled rudder was just a little insurance for "salvage payment".  Payment was made, and insurance being no longer required, was removed.

Remember the days hunting the Wily and Elusive Pismo Clams?

Yes, for many years this delectable prey eluded capture.  What with the first sound of air escaping from the exhaust port of our open circuit scuba gear, these fast moving creatures would rapidly burrow down into the ocean floor, way beyond the grasp of mere mortals.  But Now, with the advent of Homebuilt Closed Circuit  Oxygen Rebreathers, our Stealth Technology enables us to Stalk, Approach, Attack, and "Wrestle to the End" these fierce objects of our quest.  Both On, and Beneath the Seabed the battle unfolds.  But now, before they can withdraw beyond our reach, our technology gives us the edge to victory.  Yes, the mystery of the Elusive Pismo Clam has been solved.  This picture shows the Victors with their prey.  Me, behind the Genesis O2 Rebreather, and friend Ron with his inspirational ST-1 ( Stealth Technology #1) O2 Rebreather.  Yet, another fine day in the ocean has been enjoyed and remembered.   (This day was also used to teach a group of  SCUBA divers small boat exit and entry techniques.)