Easy Diver

      I spent last weekend on the Easy Diver with Captain Fred Calhoun. Calhoun and his crew were shooting video for their next short film and I was happy to be invited to assist. Using their Ikelite Mini DV rig I dove behind Kettle Island (pictured on right) on Saturday. On Sunday we steamed to Lanesville looking for dogfish and then off to Folly Point. The find of the weekend was on Saturday when Kerry Hurd found a torpedo ray and was able to spend about 20 minutes shooting footage of her. Some stills can be seen here on the Easy Diver trip reports. Unfortunately, I was never able to find Kerry due to low visibility combined with my less than stellar navigational skills, so I never saw the torpedo ray in person.

Peter Donahue, the Captain and Linda Hurd

 I've been out with Easy Diver a few times now and have had a great time with the Captain, Peter, Chris, Veronica, and all the other friends and crew of Mr. Calhoun. These were also my first experiences with minimalist diving. Upon the Captain's suggestion (he can be rather persuasive) I stripped down to just the bare essentials. No BCD, no drysuit, no gadgets, no extra hoses, no dangling clips or plastic. Wetsuit, tank harness, regulator, camera, and a steel 72 manufactured in 1959; that's it. There's something to be said for the minimalist approach to diving. It was quite liberating. I could swim twice as fast and used much less air than I would have fighting the drag of all my usual gear.
   

Kerry Hurd with his HD rig

 Some will have you believe that minimalist diving is a dangerous activity, but I felt very safe and comfortable during all my dives. It was easy to control my position in the water and with less stuff on, there is less to go wrong. I was very happy the Captain talked me into diving with just the harness. It was a different sport altogether and a new level of freedom.