DEMA 2007 Special: Day 3 - 2nd November 2007
Posted By DEMA Team 2007 on 2 November 2007
"Vandenberg" Key West's Newest Artificial Reef
A decommissioned Air Force ship, that once tracked Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space launches off Florida, is being prepared in a Virginia shipyard to become a new habitat for marine life and an attraction for divers in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Retired in 1983, the 524-foot-long "General Hoyt S. Vandenberg" also saw cinema duty as a Russian science ship in "Virus," a 1999 release starring Jamie Lee Curtis.
The sinking is scheduled for May 2008, in 140 feet of water, about six miles south of Key West.
Prior to scuttling, workers must rid the vessel of all environmental hazards. That means scrapping peeling paint, stripping out almost 800,000 feet wiring and off-loading any remaining petroleum products.
The addition of the Vandenberg is to anchor the lower end of a dive experience area dive shop owners are calling the Florida Keys Wreck Trek. At the top, off Key Largo, is the 510-foot former U.S. Navy Landing Ship Dock Spiegel Grove.
"It's the final piece in the wreck trek puzzle," said Bob Holston, president of the Keys Association of Dive Operators. "We'll have wrecks of every size and age from ancient galleons to freighters and military ships."
Artificial Reefs of the Keys: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com
Reefmakers: http://www.reefmakers.com
Body Glove Releases New Water-Resistant Wristwatch Line
Body Glove has teamed up with San Rafael, CA-based Time Concepts LLC to bring out a new line of water resistant wristwatches and introduced them this week at the annual Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association's annual trade show in Orlando. Aimed at the young adult market, the different models vary in water resistance from 100 meters to 300 meters, ranging in price from $85 to $325. The watches started shipping "last March and April," Time Concepts' Jennifer Leonard tells DeeperBlue.net. For more info, contact the folks at Time Concepts at tcbsc@aol.com or go to www.bodyglove.com.
'Team Scuba' Sponsors NASCAR Driver
If you thought NASCAR and scuba diving had nothing in common, you'd be wrong. Mares, NAUI Worldwide, the Divers Alert Network and Dive Training Magazine are among the sponsors of a new "Team Scuba" car to be driven next season on the lower-tier Busch circuit by 16-year-old, up-and-coming driver Ray Black, Jr. For more information, go to www.diverdownmotorsports.com or www.teamscuba19.com.
New Dive Boat/Base Station Featured at DEMA
A new inflatable dive boat/base station has been introduced at this week's annual Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association's annual trade show in Orlando. Originally designed for fly fishermen, the raft can transport two divers to a dive location and can be propelled by the divers' fins, pinned oars or by an electric motor. It sports an open bottom to allow easy entrance into the water and exit from it after a dive, can carry two extra tanks and has storage bags for each diver's mask, snorkel and dive computer. Deflated and packed into its own backpack-style suitcase -- along with oars, foot pump and patch kit, the boat weighs 55 pounds and retails for $2,100. For more information, check out www.totenfloat.com.
2008 Diving Almanac and Yearbook Featured at DEMA
The 2008 edition of author Jeffrey Gallant's Diving Almanac and Yearbook was featured this week at the Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association's annual trade show in Orlando. New additions to Gallant's 600-plus-page compendium made of recycled paper include popular dive destinations like Egypt, Honduras and Indonesia in the color section. The book also has 100 pages on events that took place in the last year in the dive industry. For more information, go to www.divingalmanac.com.
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