Lake Michigan once had its own pirate problem

By Dustin Friedman | Tribune staff reporter
April 18, 2009

You may know about the Somali pirates and the “Pirates of the Caribbean.” But what about the buccaneers of the Great Lakes?

Lake Michigan, it turns out, once had its own pirates—lumber pirates, Prohibition-era booze pirates and even religious pirates. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: Somali pirates, Great Lakes, Lake Michigan, pirates

Scuba Liability Waivers – Passing the Blame?

By Duane Johnson | Knowledge Base, Training

Duane Johnson - Technical Diving Instructor

In March 2009, the Florida Supreme Court delayed a vote on a purposed bill that is aimed at undoing a Florida Supreme Court ruling that invalidated parental waivers for dangerous activities. Such activities include scuba diving. The scuba diving industry has adopted a liability waiver strategy that binds the diving public to assume legal responsibility not only for their own conduct but also for dive operator negligence. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: scuba diving

Top 5 Most Important Scuba Diving Classes

By Duane Johnson | Training

Duane Johnson - Technical Diving Instructor

I wanted to share my top 5 list of important scuba diving classes. The open water class is what gets us started, so let’s target the continuing education classes after our initial open water class. Here is my list and reasons. Keep in mind, this list is agency independent and does not promote one agencies classes over another. I look forward to your list.

1) Buoyancy – Peak Performance Buoyancy, Advanced Buoyancy, or whatever people want to call it in my opinion is the most important class a person should take right after getting certified. This class should teach students how to position their weights to achieve good trim, what is good trim, proper weighting, correct breathing patterns, and thoughtful movements through the water column. Propulsion techniques should also be added. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: scuba diving classes, open water class, Buoyancy, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Advanced Buoyancy, Propulsion techniques

Diving the S.S. Wisconsin

By Duane Johnson | Trip Reports

On May 17, 2008 my buddy Hunter Lacey visited us here in paradise valley. Hunter is from Montana and I assume they don’t have many shipwrecks. I got to take him out for his very first Great Lakes dive. We did two dives on the SS Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin is the best shipwrecks in the Chicago area, in my opinion. At 130 feet and a balmy 40F bottom temp, it is an aggressive dive. We had an amazing 50+ feet of visibility and flat lake conditions. We couldn’t have a better day for diving. [Read more...]

Technorati Tags: shipwrecks, Great Lakes, SS Wisconsin, diving