Deep Sea World visit

Sand Tiger Shark

On Wednesday this week I visited Deep Sea World. This trip had been delayed due to the closure of the Forth Road Bridge. I had a great time in the Aquarium. Above is an image of one of the Sand Tiger Sharks that they have there. I have just started looking at my images and more will follow along with an in depth report.

Mike Clark

2016 Diving and Photography

2016

Hi all,
I hope you all have a great New Year. For me 2016 is shaping up to be a good year for me. I am currently looking to organise some dive/photo trips and I have some exciting equipment to test.

first up will be a product that should improve my diving experience. I have reached that age where I have noted a deterioration in my eyesight. it was getting to a point where I could not read my dive computers as my arms were not long enough. rather than invest in expensive new dive computers I looked into a prescription Dive Mask. I turned to a company called Divesight who make precise prescription lenses for dive masks. I had a mask made up for my exact prescription for distance and close up. Divesight can provide a wide choice of masks and I chose a Cressi big eye mask which I am used to using.

Underwater vision is paramount to safety and enjoyment of diving and I cant wait to get underwater and try the mask out. I'm hoping it will open up the underwater world again to me and that I start spotting Anglerfish and Octopus again as well as all those tiny Nudibranchs. Also being able to clearly see my camera controls again may also improve my photography.
I truly am excited and looking forward to SEEING how I get on.
A full review will come soon after testing is complete and I hope it will be useful to all you divers who may be experiencing similar problems.

Mike Clark

Merry Christmas Everybody.

FogCity Mask Inserts

Fogcity fog Resistant Lens  Mask Inserts

I have high hopes for this product. I use a mask in the pool and it’s on and off all the time. Because of this it fogs up all the time. Would Fogcity fog resistant mask inserts be just the job to sort this out??

They come in 3 styles.

1.       2 lens mask small

2.       2 lens mask large

3.       3 single lens mask

Firstly divers can really forget about the 2 window small inserts as I think they would be more use in large style swimming goggles or a very small dive mask. These inserts are designed to be cut so if you have a twin lens mask go for the large size and cut them down.

I fitting the inserts is fairly easy and intuitive experience. Each pack contains an instruction pamphlet.

I found the most difficult part of the process was removing small trapped air bubbles between the glass and insert. With a bit of work you can get rid of them though. In total it was a quick job and I placed the inserts into 2 masks and I was ready to go in less than 10 minutes.

I decided to conduct the test in a pool under my usual photo shoot conditions. Initially I thought things were going to work well but this was not the case and my experience was that my mask was as fogged up as ever. Whether it was the constant on/off and the inside of the mask getting wet that was responsible for the fogging or a warm swimming pool,  I do not know but the test mask did fog up and I soon switched to a spare mask without the inserts and continued the shoot with much less fogging.

I followed the instructions to the letter but I found that in my test the product unfortunately failed to deliver the desired results. Performance in colder sea conditions may vary but after the results in the pool I resisted the urge to test these inserts in my dive mask in the sea. As the Fogcity marketing material states “you don’t want to miss a single moment of your ultimate dive” I didn’t and left the inserts out.

This is my report on my personal experience with the product. As stated above the testing was limited as I could not afford to carry on with a fogged up mask. The idea of the product is excellent but my limited testing showed that the product failed to live up to expectations, which is a shame.

Mike Clark
PS

My friends in Suunto Diving UK​ who market this product have been in touch. While that they agree that the performance of these inserts in a pool environment is not good, they state that performance in salt or fresh water provide better results. I will en-devour to test this and see for myself, next time im out and not completing  a dive where a foggy mask would cause problems. more will follow on this thread.

Nice Teeth. Seal pup turned rottweiler. this seal pup was gently inspecting the front of my dome port. thank goodness they are gentle and good natured when in the water. Seeing these teeth it makes me realise just how gentle these seals are being with the clumsy diver. For the avoidance of doubt i have never felt threatened or know of anybody who has been threatened by these fantastic animals underwater. if you are thinking of going to see them make sure you do. its great With Farne diving Services and Lee Hall

Mike Clark