Re: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Post for Vance Bradley

[Phil Nuytten <72020.572@compuserve.com>]

Hi, Vance:
        Yeah, the 'new, improved, Aquarius' is just that. We have been
diving our breasts off, over the past couple of weeks. We're in the middle
of the 'Submarine Safari' ( search ' Zegrahm - Submarine Safari - ) diving
with two passengers per dive, 3 to 6 dives per day,( dependant on
tides/weather), depth up to about 430'  Lots of small sharks, 'Ratfish' - 
a living fossil, hundreds of millions of years old - usually only found at
abyssal depths - 'Giant' pacific octopus -  many, many species of rockfish,
pelagic fish,etc. Place is Hornby Island, about 60 miles north of
Vancouver. Beautiful spot, beaches covered in clams and oysters, bald
eagles wheeling around all day, nice lodge, and terrific guest 'hosts' -(
last three days host was Dr. Sylvia Earle) Nice passengers ( for the most
part !) from Explorers club, National Geographic, Smithsonian. New England
Aquarium, etc.  I spent two tweeks on site, then beetled off to  Santa
Barbara for a week, then back to Hornby. Sun-burned, but smilin'!
        Aquarius is just great to drive! Pilot sits in a back seat with two
hi-rez color monitors hooked to a port and starboard wide-angle video
cameras - the two passengers get the big dome forward - the pilot can see
between them but his port and starboard video gives him a full front and
partial side view. Very nice. The angled vertical thrusters make Aquariusa
lot easier  to drive than it used to be, also the new Deepworker  thrusters
and controllers allow it to turn nearly on its own axis - much better than
the old single ' trainable'  stern thruster. I'll try to get some pics for
the website - but we have been going flat out . . lately, Hornby,
Sustainable Seas, NASA - and  pending projects in Palau, Alaska, and on and
on.
See ya
Phil