Wayback Machine

While I was looking for something else, I stumbled across this old photo:

This is what it looks like when you sand through multiple layers of paint - psychedelic. I'm pretty sure the rail in the foreground belongs to the Seeker.

Wood boats like this are all but extinct. Every Spring they had to be hauled out, sanded down, and repainted, as well as a lot of other maintenance. That was how the crew earned their spot, in addition to everything they did during the season. Plastic boats just need a bit of rubbing.

The Coast Guard had it in for wood-hulled charter boats, and it became harder and harder to pass annual inspection. I expect by now there are none left, which is a shame - nothing rides as smooth and quiet as a heavy old wood hull.


An Explanation of Professor A.A. Buhlmann's ZH-L16 Algorithm

by Paul Chapman

Note to new divers and potential new divers:

This information is presented for general interest. Don't be scared off by what you see here - you don't need to learn any of this to become a safe and competent scuba diver. You will however need to understand dive planning.

The following is a summary of the decompression algorithm described by Dr A.A. Buhlmann in the fourth edition of his book Tauchmedizin ( diving medicine ) published in 1995 ( only in German. ) the book contains a considerable amount of other information and is published by Springer-Verlag ISBN 3-540-58970-8. Rumor has it that at the time of writing ( November 1999 ) an English translation is being prepared for publishing, so hopefully, in due course, this document will become redundant.

The algorithm is simply a "recipe" for modeling the behavior of inert gases, which diffuse in and out of our body tissues when breathed under varying pressures. The intention is that if the recipe models the actual processes in our bodies accurately enough, it can be used to plan dives ( and other pressure exposures ) with a view to avoiding decompression sickness.

Printed from njscuba.net