[Jon]

I am not talking about going past my present depth limit.

I have taken the Performance clinic as well.

I am not a daredevil.

I have added extra safety features into my diving as I found out about them, like when I first met Kirk at Dema a few years ago and we disscussed using spare-airs as bailouts for our scooter dives. I carry one all of the time now when I do that.

I think that your giving people the idea that I am going to try and dive to the Fitzgerald or something. That is not my intention.
It would be really cool to zip down, heads up, and spend more time on the bottom shooting pictures. It would also be cool to just play with the lift bag ascents.

I know that the rock and rope routine would be easier, but where is the challenge of building the thing?

We do a lot of things to entertain ouselves up here in the winter time because we can't swim with dolphins, and the only thing we're allowed to spear is carp.

To make up for that we ice dive, not as dangerous or exciting as it sounds; play underwater hockey, and drink some beers afterwards; run charters out to the shallow wrecks in the winter; have pool party dives; and teach scuba, always a great excuse to get into the pool a couple of times a week in the winter; and, when we can afford it, we go south for a week.

The other thing that we do in the winter is re-rig our kit and try to build new things for the summer dive season. One of my personal favorites are the surface powered video lights that a friend of mine built, complete with surface generator and 200 of cable attached to three light heads. It wasn't as functional as a cave light but it sure was fun to play with- it was just like a Jacque Cousteu special!

Another friend built his own cave light with a battery pack the size of an 80.

The best one yet was a gas mixing station, very coast effective and useful.

Full size diving planes that you can lie on top of are also fun.

Other friends have made their own gas switching blocks, one of the major dive manufatureers were interested in that one.

I also know a guy who made his own conversion block for his AGA so that he could run two sperate second stages to it at the same time. The same guy also made his own electrically heated drysuit underwear almost a decade before DUI came out with it.

The sled is another fun thing to build in the winter and play with in the summer. It seems lie child's play compared to making goggles that let you when flooded with water.

If I actually had any intentions of going to greater depths I could see taking a "sled" course. As long as I stay within my own constant ballast limits, and have safety divers, OC bailout, no weightbelt, and surface support, I don't see where I am pushing anything too far.

If you are uncomfortable with this information being available on your site in general I respect that.

Jon