200 Feet Deep Working Diving in Hood Canal – Serious SCUBA Saves the Day! Written by Tory van Dyke Ed Forsyth, the owner of COMMERCIAL DIVERS, INC, Portland, Oregon, successfully bid a diving contract for the U.S. Navy in 1978. The job was located just outside the U.S. Navy Submarine Base in Bangor, Washington, on the world-famous Hood Canal. The…

Article 1243 The Valiant Bud Valian Story -- Mt. Hood’s Ski & SCUBA Diving Living Legend Early SCUBA Diving recollections of diving in the Pacific Northwest, Mexico & Belize Written by Tory van Dyke exclusively for the NORTHWEST DIVING HISTORY ASSOCIATION 8-22-22 I have been thinking about interviewing living Ski Legend Bud Valian of Government Camp, Oregon, for many years,…

I recently met my longtime friend again, the diving pioneer and living legend Spence Campbell, at Tom Hemphill’s NORTHWEST DIVING HISTORY ASSOCIATION meeting on April 12, 2022, at Tom’s well-furnished, neighborhood association Clubhouse. I hadn’t seen Spence for a few years and took the opportunity to sit down next to him at the meeting in order to acquire more knowledge,…

Underwater pipeline work is both physically and psychologically challenging and demanding. The SCUBA-equipped working diver, free from the constraints of lifeline, communication and air-hose umbilical attachments associated with surface-supplied hard hat diving, has the ability to make deep penetrations into underwater pipeline systems. However, the SCUBA diver is 100% self-contained, as he carries with him on his back-pack, his limited-time-duration…

Arcadia Publishing has officially released the book "History of Diving on the Oregon Coast", and it's available now. This book can be ordered now by clicking the Buy It Now button above, which includes shipping to addresses within the U.S. Books purchased using this method are also autographed by the authors.You may also order it from Amazon.com by clicking here. Floyd Holcom and…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km_VLj6IZWc The Oregon coastline is beautiful, rugged, and unspoiled. Even today, a relatively small number of scuba divers explore the near offshore rocks, reefs, and wrecks, but those who do are treated to some amazing diving. Scuba diving is not new here; divers have been exploring the Oregon coast since the sport first grained traction in the 1950s. Above is…

The Northwest Diving History Association's mission is to record and preserve the history of the people that contributed to the development of scuba diving. To help preserve this history, the Association has interviewed many dive industry veterans and history makers, and are making those videos available to anyone interested. One of the history makers that we've recently filmed is Sal Zammitti.…

While scuba diving is enjoyed worldwide today, few enthusiasts may be aware that the origins of their hobby can be traced to a pioneering Japanese immigrant in prewar Australia. Yasukichi Murakami (1880-1944) is credited with single-handedly developing advanced models of diving gear that substantially expanded the scope of the activity before the introduction of scuba. Hailing from Wakayama Prefecture, Murakami…

It was on my second dive of the Sea Use III-A mission that I had a “grandchild experience! That is an experience you call tell your grandchildren one day when you really want to hold their attention. It was the first dive of the day. Kirby Johnson and I were the divers. The morning was beautiful with perfect calm conditions…

Zale Parry doesn’t celebrate her own birthday. She shares, “being ageless is wonderful.” What she does celebrate is diving! Zale is a Pisces; the constellation and astrological sign named the Latin plural for fish. As the Greek legend goes, Pisces originates in the tale of Aphrodite and Eros, who leapt into the sea and transformed themselves into fish to escape the monster Typhon. They…

Dr. Glen Egstrom’s research in diving performance and development of fitness principles are timeless. His diligent work, role model and influence, continues to inspire and permeate the sport, business and safety of diving. While developments in diving and equipment were taking place around the globe, right here in the heart of America and later the heart of Los Angeles, a…

The Northwest Diving History Association concluded their annual weekend meeting and event Sunday evening in Olympia, Washington. The event marks the fifth year for the Association, which is dedicated to recording and preserving the history of the people that contributed to the development of scuba diving in the North Pacific Region. On a rainy, cool Fall day, the first day…

Early era fin of unknown origin, possibly foreign military – Circa most likley early 50's This pair of fins are unique in that they incorporate both a heel strap and a set of laces which seems somewhat odd since the boot pocket would be unlikely to cinch around the foot to a degree where the laces wouldn't either stretch or tear…

Navy Underwater Demolitions Teams “UDT” Fins – Circa post WWII throughout the 50’s-early 60's During the inception of the U.S. Naval underwater warfare units, Strong swimmer, Frogmen, OSS-UDT and finally SEALs teams, the earliest days utilized Churchill style fins but shortly after WWII the Navy began looking for a more military grade “hardier-use” fin to stand up to the rigors of…

Healthways “Web-Feet” Fins – Circa early to mid 50’s Yet another version of Healthways fin designs, very similar to the Waterdog style fin, the Web Feet were slightly softer and were perhaps more comfortable because of the pliable kick effect, however they would offer less power and were probably more effective and popular as a snorkeling or skin-diving fin.

Healthways Waterdog Fins – Circa early to mid 50’s The waterdog fins were a departure from some of the earliest fin types when the shape began to take on the more typical “fan-blade” style, and finally offered an adjustable style heel strap rather than the fixed size style making the fin more desirable to a broader number of foot sizes. The…

Voit James Bond 007 Fin – 1965 In 1965 Voit was commissioned to supply all of the dive equipment for the James Bond “Thunderball” feature film. The now classic movie highlighted modern day scuba equipment in a way it had never been done before. Underwater battle scenes with virtual underwater armies of divers engaged in watery spear gun warfare, along with…

Voit “Sea-Hawk” Fin – Circa 1960 A unique fin style, the Sea-Hawk was another design experiment of the times. Featuring a foot pocket style, with the blades extending up into mid-length of the foot pocket on either side thus widening and creating more blade surface. The Sea-hawk fin was only marketed in the Voit dive equipment catalogue one year in 1960.

Healthways “Webby’s Fins - Circa-early 50’s Webby’s are some of the most unusually designed fins there are. Harkening back to the very beginnings of skin and scuba diving, nearly all design concepts were worth testing as everything was virtually brand new within the infancy of the dive industry. By the early 50’s nearly everything fin-wise had shifted to the more standard…

Owen Churchill Fin – 1937 to present The Churchill fin was the first commercially manufactured diving fin. Conceived and developed around 1937, the design was applied for U.S. patent in 1940 and was granted patent in 1943. In the early 50’s Voit-Swimaster began marketing the Churchill fin design via licensing agreement, both entities had their brand name embossed in relief on…

Portland Sea Searchers is an active Portland, Oregon dive club to this day. The Sea Searchers of Portland were formed by diving instructor Pete George in 1963. For the first three years (63 – 65) the club met at Mr. Carol Godat’s dive shop on NE Union Avenue Portland Oregon. Godat’s shop closed in 1965 and all of the records…

Seattle, Washington: 1961 – present Marker Buoy Dive Club traces its roots to 1961 as a shop-sponsored dive club in Ballard, WA. The club was founded by John T. Miller, who together with his wife Alma, owned and operated the Marker Buoy dive shop in Ballard. The club was originally called "The Marker Boys" because in the early 60s, scuba…

My name is Tory van Dyke. I began SCUBA diving at the early age of 17 years old. I always wanted to be a diver, from my earliest childhood recollections of watching the fictional Mike Nelson character and “Sea Hunt” on TV in the fifties and sixties. My dad, Kenny van Dyke, had a small dive shop operation that he…

One of the Pacific Northwest’s diving pioneers from the early days of Pacific Northwest Diving. A “Pioneer” is a trailblazer that has the courage to explore the unknown. Spence Campbell is certainly a diving pioneer and has blazed many trails for the rest of us to follow. Since the late 1950’s, Spence has served the diving community in a variety…

My first dive experience was as Boy Scout in the local high school pool with a two hose regulator and a steel tank with a homemade backpack. The whole experience was less than 5 minutes but left a desire to do more. I was taking flying lessons from a friend in Fairbanks Alaska when he announced that there would be…

Paul Schorzman interviews diving pioneer Brent Budden, reflecting on his lifetime of diving that began just out of grammar school, when a friend asked him to help him dive for sunken logs at an old sawmill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et9STFkyzxo . .

Becky Witty interviews John Resect, Jr. with his reflections on a lifetime of diving which began in Southern California in 1945 when he was just 10 years old. He's logged more than 5,000 hours as a commercial diver and 10,000 as a recreational scuba diver. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxGX-ipGGNU

Becky Witty and Darlene Iskra recount their experiences as two of the few women diving in the 1970's. Becky became a dive instructor in the Caribbean, while Darlene worked for the military. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcbnJUJruL8

Tom Hemphill interviews Laurie Hannula, who began her diving career diving for pennies in her family's swimming pool. She was later certified as a scuba diver in 1977 through Underwater Sports. Tom shares his background in diving, which began with an interest in searching for treasure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcynW4L6Amc

Chris shares some interesting pieces of dive gear from the early days of diving, and reflects on how he became interested in becoming a scuba diver. He later became a NAUI Instructor. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTI7ZrfIuL4

The laboratory was started in the fall of 1967 by Dr. Merril Spencer, the Director of the research center. The laboratory was started as a result of private research on decompression sickness done by Spence Campbell and aired on KOMO TV as a special documentary by KOMO’s anchor, Bill Brubaker. Dr. Spencer saw the story and offered Spence the opportunity…

Jim Willoughby is one of the most popular and prolific diving leaders in the North Pacific Region. He is a true diving pioneer and highly respected mentor to many sport and professional divers. Of course, he is also a master storyteller. 1949 at age 19, at the Central California coastal community, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Jim began his diving adventure with homemade diving…

Tom Hemphill was attracted to the water and the underwater world as a very young boy. His father was a research biologist at Hanford, Washington where he conducted studies of the animals that lived near and in the Columbia River around the nuclear reactor reservation. His Dad was also an avid tropical fish breeder at home and Tom grew up…

A Historical Diving Article written by Tory the Diver. Commercial gillnet fishing on the Columbia River for salmon has quite a long history. Around the turn of the 20th century, many Scandinavian immigrants settled in Oregon and Washington on both sides of the lower Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean. Many salmon fish canneries opened on the shorelines of the…

Camas, Washington: 1954 – 1979 By Tom Hemphill Ed Palamounter, a former Navy UDT diver (Frogman) in WWII, founded the Aqua-Neer Dive Club in the early 1950s. Ed was enthusiastic about diving and he was a master teacher. Ed had no desire to make a living from diving. He simply wanted to share his skills and knowledge with anyone that…

The 1963 issue of Skin Diver Magazine lists over 1100 diving clubs and organizations. Click here to view the roster

As a diving instructor, I have met many wonderful people; some casual acquaintances and some life-long friends. Over the years a number of unforgettable people have given me the pleasure of teaching them to scuba dive. I recall one incident in particular that actually left me speechless and believe me, that didn’t happen very often. It was the first night…

Some time ago, I received a phone call from the National Enquirer. Just so that you don’t get it confused with National Geographic, the National Enquirer is a publication like the ones you find at the checkout counter of your local grocery store. They were told that I had an extensive collection of photos of the Giant Pacific Octopus, the…

Nikonos Calypso Nikonos Calypso is the name of a series of 35mm format cameras specifically designed for underwater photography launched by Nikon in 1963. The early Nikonos cameras were improvements of the Calypso camera, which was an original design by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Belgian engineer Jean de Wouters . It was produced in France by La Spirotechnique (currently Aqua Lung) until the design was acquired by Nikon to become the Nikonos. The Nikonos system was immensely popular…

Jim Recalls: “You have to remember, there were very few divers in those days. Sooner or later you would meet other divers on the beach. Eventually, five of us got together and formed a small diving club. You might think that the name of the club is Mickey Mouse. Believe me, to dive back then, with the available equipment and…

In my early days of diving in British Columbia, I recovered several pairs of glasses, wallets, fishing rods, and even some false teeth, among other things. I put up a bright red wooden sea horse in every marina in the area. My sign read SEA HORSE DIVERS in large black print, along with my phone number, and NO JOB TOO…