The Com Line

Newsletter of the California Classic Equipment Divers

Published Quarterly by Dorothy Barstad Membership - Charles Orr and Duke Drake 1036 Gulf Ave. Wilmington, CA 90744 - www.calclassic.org

For the third year a dive demonstration was held at the historic Banning=s Landing in Wilmington. The cool day with a heavy marine layer did not dampen the spirits of those who turned out for the fun of diving in the L.A. Harbor. Senior divers, Harold Nething and Ken McElvain were on hand to supervise and make sure things were running safely and smoothly.

Al Pilkington, diving the Kirby-Desco, was the first man in the water. New member Randy Bundschuh, who completed the Heavy Gear class in Santa Barbara last year, made his first dive with the group. Diving continued throughout the day using both hard hat and vintage scuba gear.

The 1943 DeVilbiss Air Compressor, rebuilt by Compressed Air Specialties, put out an abundant supply of air for the divers. Our dive ladder has been refurbished by Mark Howell and was originally built by Torrance Parker and Fred D. Schmedeke in the early 1950s. This historic piece of equipment was donated to our group in 1998. Also used for the first time was a pair of US Navy light weight dive boots modified by Harold Nething.

Visitors for the day included Nick Icorn, and Lavinia Pilkington from New Zealand, as well as a number of family members and local residents.

Many thanks to Patricia Benoit, Alina Bueno, Mary Werk, The Friends of Banning=s Landing, and Capt. Tracy of the L.A. Port Police for making this event possible.

As usual, the rally held at the College of Oceaneering was a great day for everyone with 19 heavy gear divers and a number of vintage scuba divers. Heavy gear divers were using the old Mark V and one of the new Chinese hats. Ken McElvain was the first diver of the day to dive the Mark V. Bill Kurka brought out his Jack Browne mask and several people took turns trying it out. Dr. Bob Innallo brought along a rebreather and a Abubble@ hat. The wide variety of gear always keeps everyone busy and often diving several times during the day. Travis Robinson from Oregon, had dove four different sets of gear, including the Mark V, before the day was over.

Several people drove a long distance to spend the day including Bill Huffman (Sacramento), Kevin Monahan and Brad Speer (San Diego), Dr. Bob Innallo (Crestline), Travis Robinson (Salem, OR) and special guest, Tom Rose who was from South Carolina. Raffle winners were Brian Price and Shan Gardner. Several COO students also tried out the heavy gear.

Many thanks to everyone for all the help loading and unloading the gear and to the College of Oceaneering staff for giving us the opportunity to dive at their facility.

Setup 8:00 a.m. and diving to continue until about 4:00 p.m. The COO will be furnishing us with BBQ hamburgers for lunch. Plan on having a good time! Call Charlie @ (310) 834-7051 for more info.

We will be participating in the APortside Neighbors Celebrate Local Landmarks and Legends@ event at the Fort MacArthur Museum in San Pedro on August 10 from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. We plan to have a display of commercial diving equipment and will also be participating in a AFashion Show@ using heavy gear as our period costume.

We will be diving from the tug AAngels Gate@ and using a variety of heavy gear including hard hat and vintage scuba. This will be in open water so all divers must be familiar with the hard hat gear and should have made their first dives at the College of Oceaneering and be checked out before they will be allowed to dive at the Museum. No rebreathers will be allowed at this event due to the high security of L.A. Harbor.

This event has been a favorite with everyone from the beginning in 1999. Tracy Howard from Chicago is making plans to attend this year and we hope to see Butch Medeiros from Hawaii and many others who make this a yearly vacation stop. Be sure to see and enjoy the excellent A20,000 Jobs Under the Sea@ exhibit sponsored by Torrance Parker and featured at the Museum.

Diving Into The Past CANCELED - Regrettably, due to conflicts with work schedules, the HDS Rally and DEMA being held in Florida, it has been decided to cancel our plans for the ADiving Into The Past@ event that was to be held at Banning=s Landing on October 18. We hope to reschedule the event sometime in the near future.

Seeking Information on Capt. Louis Sorcho - I recently purchased a souvenir postcard dated June 16, 1913 with a picture of Capt. Louis Sorcho, titled AChampion Deep-Sea Diver of the World.@ Has anyone heard of this old diver or have any information regarding his life and career????

This project started because the heavy gear divers weren=t heavy enough. We were bobbing around like we were on the moon. We needed more weight. Mark Howell had a pair of Jack Browne boots that weighed about ten pounds each. The Mark V boots are about twenty pounds each. I knew I could add some lead to the brass soles of the Jack Browne boots and bring them up to the twenty pound range. My problem was how much lead to add. I did some figuring to find how many square inches each sole was. Then my son Tim looked up the weight of lead per cubic inch and after a little more calculating he said if you make the lead sole 7/16 inch thick, it will weigh 10 pounds.

Using the brass sole as a pattern, I made a mold out of what looks like compressed wood. It stands up better to the molten lead than plywood. Placing dowels were the bolt holes would be eliminated the need to drill the holes in the lead. Drilling lead is not easy. The drill bit wants to bite and dig in. I had a little trouble melting the lead, because the first batch had kirtsite in it. This raised the melting point a little and gave me some trouble. With Mark=s help, we finally got the lead up to temperature and made a clean pour. The second pour didn=t have any kirtsite in it and went a little smoother.

Opening up the mold and driving out the dowels, I was ready to form the lead sole to match the curve of the brass one. Replacing the brass bolts with longer ones finished the project. After a quick assembly they were ready to dive.

We broke them in at Banning=s Landing on June 7. Brad Speer especially liked them with his new eighty pound weight belt. No more complaints about being too light. Brad was able to plant his feet in the mud and move around like a pro. After a few bouncy controlled assents, Brad gave them his stamp of approval. ~ Harold Nething

A couple of months ago a pair of ARare Shallow Water Dive Boots@ were sold on e-Bay. I started to laugh as I recognized the boots as a pair of "Weider Boots" sold in the 1960s by the fitness guru, Joe Weider. The boots were advertised in Muscle Builder magazine to strengthen and build the leg muscles by strapping them on over your shoes and simply walking or exercising.

As a teenager in the 60s, I just HAD to have a pair. That summer my nephew, Barry Barstad, who is the same age I am, stayed with us. Now, Barry had a similar boot, but they had springs on the soles. Each time we mowed the lawn, I would strap on my Weider Boots and Barry would buckle on his ASpring Boot@ and we would dream of the well developed leg muscles we were building as we followed the power mowers around the yard.

The Weider Boots were several inches high and strapped on with a thin leather straps over your shoes. As your strength increased, a convenient hole was provided in the heal of the boot to slide a bar and attach more weight. Walking was treacherous to say the least and can only be compared to a young girl with her first high heels. I would wobble along pushing the mower until I hit an uneven spot in the grass. Then an ankle would turn over and I would stumble, swerving the mower into trees, the fence, or even worse, one of Mom=s flower beds. Barry would bounce past me, usually ending up plastered to the back fence or crashing into the nearest tree.

By the end of summer, we had suffered several sprained ankles, scrapes and bruises, even thorns in my "bum" when I actually pitched over into a rose bush, and we were pushing Mom almost to the brink of hysteria due to all the damage inflicted on her flowers. Barry returned to Oregon for the start of school taking his ASprings@ with him. By this time, we had both decided to give up the muscle building and my Weider Boots became a thing of the past.

The old boots disappeared as I grew up. Probably sold at a garage sale, trashed, or perhaps just buried in the old garage. I had not thought of them for years until Dorothy found one at an antique shop in Yuma and it was sold to her as a "diving boot." Guess the seller and buyer on e-Bay aren=t the only ones to be fooled by the old Weider Boot. I wonder if Arnold Schwarzenegger still has his pair???

"His Rudeness" was born in Van Nuys, California, attended Chaminade High School and received a BS degree in Environmental Biology and also Marine Biology from Cal State Northridge.

Neither of Brian=s parents knew how to swim. But, after moving to Southern California, his mother was determined that her children were going to learn so they could enjoy the ocean and beaches close to their home. Brian was swimming by the time he was two years old, free diving at eight and was Scuba certified at fourteen which, at the time, was the earliest age for certification. Like so many others, he became interested in Scuba diving from watching Sea Hunt on TV and reading Hans Hass books.

Brian=s other interest include dirt bike riding in Baja, sailing, hunting (birds, elk, deer and wild boar), restoring antique Scuba gear, and he is a gourmet cook. He is an avid reader who enjoys reading about diving, war stories, hunting, backpacking, and sailing. If he wasn=t so tall (6'5"), he said he would have loved to have been a fighter pilot.

Nicknamed ARude Dog@ by his fellow firefighters and addressed as AHis Rudeness,@ Brian is a member of the HDS and has been an active member of the CCED from the beginning and seldom misses an event.

The story of west coast diver Al Hanson and his wife Norma who worked along side him as his tender. Hard bound with a beautiful fly cover and 704 pages. There are numerous black and white photos of the Hanson=s. Limited edition - 500 individually numbered and signed by Norma Hanson. Price is $40, plus $10 for US Priority mail. CA residents add 7.75% sales tax.

• Wanted - Early US Diver J-valve, pre1953 with the side yoke mount. 1956 US Divers catalog. Pair of WWII black Churchill swim fins. Any parts for pre 1953 US Divers regulators (metric) double hose regulator. Mark Howell (949) 770-4920; e-mail: LAFireboat@aol.com
• Antiques of the Sea, Sunset Beach - Erik Bakker Nautical items, both old and new. If you are looking for a specific item give him a call at (562) 592-1752.
• Compressed Air Specialties Inc. - 1340 S Simpson Circle, Anaheim, CA 92806 Phone: (714) 991-8800