Volume 53, Number 3

March 2011

President’s Message - March 2011

Hello all! I hope everyone has been enjoying the weather; the sun has been shining, and the snow has been melting. It is a great time to dust off that dive gear and get wet. Graham Smith has revived an ol’ Froggy winter tradition of bottle diving Salem harbor. Over the past few weekends Graham, Paul S, Meg T, and myself, have pulled up some great bottles dating to the mid-late 1800’s. We’ll be hitting the water every weekend so come down and try your luck.

Upcoming events:

March 5rd and 6th Sea Rovers will be held at the Crown Plaza hotel in Danvers Ma. We will have a recruiting booth set up at the show. Come by and visit, or volunteer to staff the booth!

Weekend diving, we’ll be hitting the water every Saturday and

Sunday 10am at PCYC (meet in the parking lot).

Palmer’s Cove Yacht Club is currently under renovation and will be for the next few months. As a result all guest presentations are on hold. Weekly meetings will be held as normal at 8pm on Thursday evenings. Come down early and have some dinner, great food, cheap prices.

D.O.M: This month I would like to recognize Tony Vieira. Tony has taken an active role in organizing club dive events. His careful planning and diligence have led to many successful multi club dive events. Most recently, Tony organized the largest New Year’s Day dive in recent memory. It was great to see so many divers together, braving the cold, and sharing in the camaraderie of diving. Also, a special thanks to the Dive Finatics

for coming out on the NYD dive.

M.O.M: This month I would like to recognize Hans Hug. Hans has been very generous to the club over the past year. Not only has Hans donated funds to the club, but he used his personal boat to ferry divers around during the Connecticut River dive trip. It is the generosity of members like this that make our club great.

-Jes

Winter Dives!!

Tony Vieira has offered to coordinate winter dives again this year. For the next few months, come to a Thursday night meeting to join the discussion on the day, time and location planned for that weekend’s dive. If you can’t make the meeting, or for updates, check Facebook or contact Tony to find out where Club members and friends will be diving.

Some folks will be diving off the docks at PCYC looking for interesting antique bottles.

Contents:

President’s Message – pg. 1 Meeting Summaries – pg. 2-4 Diver/Member of the Month – pg. 4

New! Froggy Blankets – pg. 4 Upcoming dive related events – pg. 5 Calendar – pg. 6

Alexander Lambert, by J. Munro – pg. 7-8 Ski Schedule – pg. 9

The North Shore Frogmen’s Club

PO Box 3604

Peabody, MA 01961

2011 OFFICERS

President: Jesse Leslie Tel: (978) 335-1811

Email: jesse.leslie@noaa.gov

Vice President: John Sears Tel: 978-750-4745

Email: john.sears@bostik-us.com

Treasurer: Vinny Egizi Tel: (858) 342-3365

Email: vinnymass@yahoo.com

Secretary: Meg Tennissen Tel: (781) 724-0071

Email: macduff18@yahoo.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Membership: Dan Hering membership@northshorefrogmen.com

Newsletter: Mary Howard

Tel: (781) 944-1292

Email: m.m.howard@comcast.net

Webmaster: Markus Diersbock

*Deadline for submissions* to the April 2011 issue

of Air Bubbles is

Monday, March 21

Please have all articles and information to the

Air Bubbles editor by March 21, 2011.

Air Bubbles – March 2011

Meeting Summaries

03-Feb-2011

Meeting called to order: 8:10 PM

Attendance: 4 Officers, 6 Members (A quorum!)

Correspondence –expecting package from Sea Rovers

Committees:

-Program: (see calendar for more info)

-2/10-Next week Graham is bringing bottles in from previous years’ dives.

-2/12-Planning a bottle dive at PCYC.

-2/26 Boston Naui Scuba Show in Marlboro

-3/5&6-Sea Rovers

-Air Bubbles: February AB just came out.

Old Business:

-Bob is still sick, not at the shop.

-Blanket w/ Froggy Logo – see John Sears. Price will probably be $30, min order is 25

-Paul made some changes from suggestions to the trifold flyers. Need to have them for Sea Rovers and Boston Scuba Show. Jes will look into printers, see how much it will cost. Can hand them out at winter dives, leave at dive shops and bring to the dive shows. Vinny will also check. Either glossy paper or a laminate.

-Vinny has courtesy cards

New Business:

-Dougie Russell is interested in giving another show on the New Hampshire. Thinking many have dived the NH, given he can give good tips on how to bring some of the artifacts back to life. Little thing using little nails; can show how to cut and solder pieces and possibly do something on the Can-Do. Any time maybe mid April – April 21st.

Dive Talk:

-Jes and Claus at Niles Beach the weekend before last, found pieces of a wreck – petrified wood, some clams.

General Discussion:

-Dougie’s website is creationsbydougie.com. Paul has a clock made by Dougie here tonight.

-Dougie has great shots of tall ships and the Boston skyline. When he heard they were 7 mi off Gloucester, he went out and had the whole fleet to himself under the bows.

-Mike’s Moments:

-Sailors on German tall ship training ship, in South America, a girl climbing the rigging slipped and fell and died. The Capt. jumped all over the crew put them back in line; the kids revolted. The Capt. is being investigated by DE Navy. This is being considered a mutiny at sea

-Couple of nights ago on 95N in Salisbury, a car went off the bridge; the state dive team fished the driver out around midnight

Raffles: Dollars Box: Mike Denneler Mystery Prize: Mike Denneler Bug Bag: John Marren

10-Feb-2011

Meeting called to order: 8:11 PM

Attendance: 4 Officers, 17 total Members

Secretary: Minutes read and accepted as amended.

Treasurer: report read and accepted.

Announcements:

-Bob is back in the store; he had pneumonia. Vinny sent him messages.

-Dave Cunningham turned 50 this week.

-Jes is getting charter to do the New Hampshire on 19 Feb; 2 tanks on the Donna Three, leaving at 10AM, between $70-80

Correspondence: Mary went to BSC meeting last night. Sea Rovers meet tonight and Vin Malkoski will give more info after that.

Committees:

-Website: Markus was able to put old website back up for the meantime, hoping to get the new site up soon.

-Program: (see calendar for more info)

-Graham has bottles this evening, wants to do dive on Sat.

-7/23-Great Annual Fish Count

-5/1-Easter Egg Dive, and Party at

Dodie’s.

-Victor Mastone is willing to give his postponed presentation when the room at PCYC is ready.

-Membership:

-Dan Hering –.2 hits on website. One is from a person in Peabody, not sure if he’s serious about joining.

On Scuba Board person looking for people to dive with; application was sent and he’s on FB.

-We currently have 31 life & honorary members; 42 paid members. We’re 17 away from last year’s number.

Old Business:

-Vinny got a quote for printing the flyers, 500 for $215 at Staples, about 43 cents each. What about 1000? Would that be too many? This seems a good price. Others can ask for quotes this week, take a vote next week. Jes will call around local, previously used a wholesale printer in Lawrence.

-You need to get the fishing license for taking any fish while diving.

New Business: Discussing combined club picnics for Sep – same day as the treasure hunt.

General Discussion:

-Does anyone know a place in Salem where we can store Club stuff for free where it will be handy to PCYC?

-Mary and Paul went to BSC meeting. A suggestion was made to revive the idea of “Catch the Wave”, a multi- club party from years ago. Angelo suggested a family fun day at George’s Island to bring divers together. A restaurant is going to be built on the Island. Can’t dive off the island, currents and boat traffic make it dangerous, but you can dive off boats off the Island. SSN members have boats. This would be in July.

-There was an article about the Dive Locker (Gloucester) in the Globe last week.

-Mike’s Moments:

Air Bubbles – March 2011

-Article about 64 year old man, 99days at sea, kayaked across the

Atlantic, customized 23’ sea kayak, over 3000mi.

-2 guys ice fishing in MN, caught something – turned out to be 2 divers.

-New kind of lobster discovered off Philippines, deep sea lobster one huge long skinny claw.

-Border patrol nabbed 2 guys in wet suits trying to cross in San Diego

-How to escape from a vehicle if it goes in the water: 1st, unbuckle seat belt and roll down window, if can’t roll window, can’t open door. If that happens, wait until car settles and fills with water.

Raffles: Dollars Box: John Marren

Mystery Prize: Paul Sauvageau

Bug Bag: Lauren Byrne

17-Feb-2011

Meeting called to order: 8:14PM Attendance: 3 Officers, 12 members Treasurer: report read and accepted.

Announcements: Committees:

-Program: (see calendar for info)

Old Business:

-John is taking orders for blankets.

They’re $30 each. So far he has 2 deposits.

-Sea Rovers tickets for sale by Mike L. tonight. He also gave a summary of Sea Rovers events.

-We have a quote of $215 for printing 500 tri-fold flyers. Motion made

seconded and passed to order.

Dive Talk: Jes and others did a bottle dive, which was a success.

General Discussion:

-Paul went to the Northeastern University presentation on Tuesday. Barbara Warren of Salem Sound Coastwatch was there. There are 2 more lectures at Northeastern this season, one in March, one in April.

-Dawn saw Ted Barnes recently. He had owned a dive shop in Gloucester which has closed recently.

-Tony Anthony was also seen recently.

He’s doing well and is waiting to sell his house in Beverly. He had done a

lot for the club behind the scenes years ago.

Raffles: not recorded

24-Feb-2011

Meeting called to order: 8:04 PM

Attendance: 3 Officers, 19 total Members

Secretary: Minutes read and accepted as amended.

Treasurer: Flyers are being run, will have them for Sea Rovers.

Announcements: Sea Rovers next weekend, Jes will be there setting up the booth on Friday. Sat and Sun, help’s appreciated. If you have any artifacts, bring them.

Fred’s show on Sat – Photographer Cathy Church will be there presenting

Committees:

-Program: (see calendar for more info)

-5/1-Easter Egg dive will be at 9AM at Stage Fort Park. Party from 10 on at Dodie’s.

-Membership: Dan Hering – Application from Charlene Carson, Undersea Dive Society, Salem State Dive Club, Undersea Divers Underwater Photo Club. Motion made seconded and passed to make her our newest member.

Old Business: Markus was supposed to be here tonight to update us on the website.

Dive Talk:

-Claus, in FL for a week W Palm Beach and Jupiter, 5 days training 3 days of fun, reefs and wrecks spectacular.

-Meg and Jes went on a bottle dive on Friday – Jes got about 10 bottles some late 1800s. Jes went on Monday again, 20’vis, got round bottom bottle, from 1840s-1860s. antiquebottles.com is a good website. Planning this Sat and maybe Sunday if not snowing. 10am

-Meg and Laura went Ice diving at Lake Winnipesaukee. Wreck of the Lady of the Lake, 34 degrees ice over a foot thick. About 8-10 divers, another group was there, we didn’t have to cut a new hole.

-Upcoming dives, Cape Ann going out on Sat doing the Poling

General Discussion:

-Graham: Christian Lambert died, invented SCUBA in 1952. He was a med student and used parts of anesthesia equip to develop his rebreather during the war. He was still diving at age 93.

-Paul began work on a new website if we need it.

-Mike’s Moments:

-People in England - Lake Windemere may have found another monster, like the Loch Ness Monster. 2 kayakers have a photograph. Giant eel 15-20’ long

-Danvers this week, 22year old man going over the bridge into Peabody, was texting and the car went into the water. He got out and the car was found at low tide in 16’ of water

-Somalia, 4 people killed on a yacht by pirates 200mi off coast of Oman; some of the pirates have been captured. Piracy costs between $7- 12bn/yr. Somali pirates have 30 boats and 600+pirates.

Raffles: Dollars Box: John Marren

Mystery Prize: Graham Smith

Bug Bag: Mike Denneler

Air Bubbles – March 2011

Member of the Month

for March 2011

Hans Hug

It is the generosity of members like this that make our club great.

Froggy Blankets

John Sears is planning an order of fleece blankets with the Freddy the Frog logo as pictured here.

Let him know if you are interested and whether he should pursue this order. He will need a minimum order of 25 blankets. The projected price is in the neighbor-hood of $30.

Place your order with John and give him a deposit of $10 for each blanket ordered.

Diver of the Month

for March 2011

Tony Vieira

whose careful planning and diligence have led to many successful dive events.

Upcoming Events of interest to SCUBA divers:

Boston Sea Rovers

57th Annual Underwater Clinic

Mark your calendars - March 4th - 6th, 2011

Join Us At Our New Home!

The Boston Sea Rovers 2011 Daytime Seminar schedule is now available on line - we've got a great lineup of world class photographers, videographers, and explorers eager to share their latest discoveries and images with you. Full details can be found on our website at http://www.bostonsearovers.com/. We look forward to seeing you in our new venue at the Crowne Plaza Boston North Shore, in Danvers, Mass.

The speaker schedule is available online at their website. Topics include a wide variety of subjects from photography, to dive medicine, to diving in places that are both colder and warmer than our home NE waters.

The Saturday Evening Film Festival starts at 8PM (sharp!!). Presenters at the Film Festival include: famed explorer Dr. Bob Ballard, cinematographer and marine biologist Rick Rosenthal, underwater photographer Berkley White, Canadian photographers Michel Gilbert & Danielle Alary, shark film producers Joe Romiero and Bill Fisher, and Master of Ceremonies Dr. Gregory Skomal.

Don’t miss it!

The Next BSC Meeting

The next meeting of the Bay State Council of Divers scheduled for Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at the South

Shore Neptunes’ Clubhouse in Quincy.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend these meetings

NEU MSC LECTURES

You are cordially invited to attend any and all of the

Marine Science Center’s monthly lectures this academic year. Lectures are held in the Murphy Bunker at the MSC (430 Nahant Road, Nahant, MA 01908), which is ADA accessible. Most programs last from 1 to 1.5 hours, and light refreshments are served half an hour before the program begins. No RSVP is required.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7 pm

RESTORING AQUATIC HABITATS – FROM THE SOURCE TO THE SEA

Tim Purinton, Acting Director, Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration

ANNUAL RISER LECTURE

Friday, April 29, 2011 at 4:30pm

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AS THE CENTRAL ORGANIZING CONCEPT IN MARINE CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Dr. Emmett Duffy, Loretta and Lewis Glucksman Professor of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary

Please welcome our Newest Club Member

when you see her at a meeting or out diving.

Charlene Carson

voted in on February 27, 2011

ALEXANDER LAMBERT

One of Siebe Gorman’s Most

Accomplished Divers

By Jack Munro

Construction on the Severn Tunnel began in March 1873, under both land and the water of the Severn River, to link London with South Wales. It was to be the longest undersea tunnel in the world and a major engineering feat. Things were going well with construction until a large fissure was hit on the Welsh side of the tunnel. Even with a large vertical shaft and lots of pumps, they couldn’t keep up with the huge volume of water and barely got all of the men out before everything flooded. Due to the deep vertical shaft and then a 1000 foot horizontal shaft, regular dive gear and divers could not dive it.

Henry Fleuss had just invented a self-contained rebreather with a copper oxygen cylinder, a chemical canister to absorb carbon dioxide, a counter lung with hoses for breathing, an exhaust port, and a waterproof mask. This device was brought to the site and Henry Fleuss tried it but could not get all the way to the door and valves to close them. They called in expert diver Alexander Lambert to see if he could help with the job. Fleuss showed Lambert how to use the rebreather so that Lambert could attempt the dive. Other divers had tried it before him and had given up saying it was impossible. Before Lambert could even try it with the rebreather, the tank of oxygen had to be re-charged in London by Fleuss at Seibe Gorman & Co, and the scrubber chemical changed, as no spare tanks or chemical existed at that time.

Prior to this trip in with the rebreather, Lambert had tried to do the job in his regular hardhat gear; over piles of dirt and rock, tipped over carts, drainage ditches, and heavy mud; dragging his 1200 foot air hose in the pitch black! When his hose became hung- up, he had to go back and untangle it. The hose hung up on “everything”! After hours of trying, he went back in utter frustration; not having even made it close to the door.

With the new rebreather, Lambert began his treks down the shaft and along the 1000 ft. tunnel into the pitch black with equipment and hazards everywhere. He found the huge iron door that had tracks running

through it; one track he ripped up by hand, but he needed a pry bar to remove the other rail. Back out he went again, 1000 ft horizontally and up 50 ft to the surface. After Lambert tried the second time he was not deterred and finally on the third attempt, he got the second track up and both valves shut along with the heavy iron door.

The project had been going since 1873. At the point when the tunnel completely flooded and work stopped, it was 1879. When Lambert finally succeeded it was 1880; before dewatering began. By this time they were building a paper mill and a brewery to use the pure water that was leaking into the tunnel project. Three years later, the tunnel flooded again, and Lambert was called back in with heavy gear and the Fleuss rebreather. The rebreather was now improved to 90% oxygen which almost killed Lambert because of oxygen toxicity at depth. The water depth being close to 50 feet instead of 40 feet; the concentration of the oxygen on the first trip three years earlier was only about 50%. This time Lambert took an oxygen hit. He was so strong, he shook off the oxygen hit with just one night’s rest! The next day, using his regular gear, and two divers to handle his 1200 foot hose, he marched over debris pulling his heavy rig and crow bar, shut the two valves, one on either side of the iron door, took up two tracks, shut and dogged the door, then marched out 1000 feet, and up 60 feet of ladder to the surface.

On another job for Siebe Gorman & Co., Lambert was in Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean affixing copper sheeting to a coal hulk. He was being bothered by a shark that visited every day, getting closer and closer in spite of Lambert scaring it away by venting his helmet. After a few days, he signaled topside to send down a large knife and a rope with a noose. Lambert baited the shark with his hand and when the shark attacked, he stabbed it repeatedly, slipped the noose around the body and had it hauled up.

Another tough job of Lamberts was a recovery of bodies from a coal mine hundreds of feet deep, which, after an explosion and fire was partially flooded. Lambert and his attendant were lowered into the mine by basket, with an air pump and full gear, and then they hauled the gear over and under debris to reach the site. Once there, they found all the miners were dead, some in groups, some alone. Lambert with gear on, removed them one at a time. Then painstakingly, he moved himself and his attendant and the bodies back to the basket. This was not an easy job with full gear on but he and the attendant (tender) got all of the bodies out and back to the surface.

Lambert’s next job was in 1885, when he was called in to recover some gold bullion from a sunken ship off the Grand Canary Islands. In deep water (162 feet), using three hand-operated compressors, he recovered £70,000 of gold bullion from the Alphonso XII which was sunk off of Point Grand, Grand Canary. This dive was his last deep water dive, as he was hit with severe bends. He stayed on at Siebe Gorman as a salvage officer and was a great public relations man for the company.

In 1891, the Chelsea Naval Exhibition featured a large brass tank with a helmeted diver and a rebreather holding a Greek sponge diver.

WHITE MOUNTAIN EXPRESS

Ride with us to your favorite ski/ride area aboard a luxurious motorcoach. Departs from Westgate Plaza, Haverhill every Wednesday morning at 6:30 and leaves the mountain at 5PM.

For $75 the ticket includes:

1)Motorcoach transportation w/ movie

2)Morning coffee & donut

3)Full mountain lift ticket

2011 SCHEDULE
Mar 16	Mount Snow	Mar 23	Sunday River
Mar 30	Killington	Apr 6	Sunday River
			(cookout)

Reservations are required for Wednesday trips and are secured with a $35 deposit; call 978-346-8667.

Cancellations: deposits will not be refunded or credited within 72 hours of departure.

Under 18 years must be accompanied by an adult.

42 Water St.

Beverly MA

978-927-9551

DIVE@underseadivers.com

2010 Hours:

Tue-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5, Sun 9-3

Sales  Service  Rentals

AQUA LUNG  SEAQUEST  SUUNTO GENISIS  DUI  VIKING  HENDERSON VISA  MASTERCARD  AE  DISCOVER

The Bay State Council of Divers

Supporting and promoting the recreational diving community in Massachusetts.

The Bay State Council of Divers (BSC) is a diver’s advocacy group. The BSC monitors local, state and federal regulations that may affect the recreational diving community in Massachusetts. When required, the BSC represents the interests of the diving community in these matters.

The BSC serves as a liaison between dive clubs and dive stores to promote recreational diving activity in Massachusetts. All divers are encouraged to support the BSC with an annual contribution of $5. Your contribution will allow the BSC to continue to be a strong advocate for the recreational diving community in Massachusetts.

For more information see the new BSC website at

http://www.baystatecouncil.org.