NSF Speakers

April 23, 2009 - Stan Waterman

2009-04-02T16:00:00.001-04:00

April 23

The North Shore Frogmen and Undersea Divers proudly invite you to a Stan Waterman Symposium April 23^rd, 2009 at 8:00pm

Stan Waterman has been at the forefront of scuba diving since its inception as a recreational sport both in this country and throughout the world. His attraction to the underwater world began as a schoolboy in 1936 when he first dived with a Japanese Ama diver's mask in Florida. In the 1950s, inspired by Jacques Cousteau's revolutionary invention of the Aqua Lung, Mr. Waterman acquired the first one in Maine and went on to pioneer scuba diving in that state.

In 1968 he collaborated with Peter Gimbel on the classic shark film, Blue Water, White Death. He was associate producer and underwater cameraman during the seven-month long filming.

However, he may be best known for his work in commercial film. He was co-director of underwater photography and second unit in the production of The Deep, based on Peter Benchley's best-selling novel. In other collaborations with his close friend and neighbor Mr. Benchley, he was responsible for ten years' worth of productions for ABC's American Sportsman Show. More recent productions include documentaries for ABC's Spirit of Adventure series and the Expedition Earth series on ESPN.

Stan will use various films, pictures and publications to discuss the evolution of underwater photography, video and film making. Tickets are on sale now from North Shore Frogmen members and at Undersea Divers, 42 Water Street, Beverly, MA at the cost of only $5.00 before the event, $10 at the door.

Stan will have personalized copies of his latest book for sale.

Advance Tickets: $5.00 Night of Event: $10.00. Buy Online Now (50¢ service fee added, your confirmation of sale is your ticket.)- No Longer Available as of 7:45 AM 4/23 - Limited tickets available at the door.

April 16, 2009 - CPR Course with Jay Swallow

2009-04-01T20:46:00.000-04:00

Jay Swallow of the Manchester Police Department gave a CPR course at this meeting.

March 26, 2009 - Norman Russell: USS New Hampshire

2009-03-27T16:56:00.000-04:00

Norman "Dugie" Russell was our Guest Speaker on Thursday, March 26th at 8:00pm.

Dugie has been diving on the USS New Hampshire since the very early 1960s. He has amassed a huge collection of artifacts with one particular piece that will be of interest to anybody that has ever dove the wreck.

Dugie has what just might be the only one in existence: a NY Militia belt buckle he recovered in pristine condition. The NY Militia crewed on the USS New Hampshire and this artifact is Civil war era and is magnificent to see.

Dugie gave a fun and informative presentation with a slide show, narration and artifact viewing.

March 19, 2009 - Bob Foster: SS Portland

2009-03-20T19:04:00.000-04:00

Bob Foster, Slav Mlch, Dave Faye, Paul Blanchette and Don Morse - The SS Portland

The Steamship Portland, lost with all hands in a devastating storm at the turn of the last century, was thought to be beyond the reach of scuba divers. In August of 2008, a group of Massachusetts divers pushed the boundaries of technical diving and visited this untouched wreck.

Bob Foster showed video at the meetine on March 19 and took us along on the first dives to the Portland, lost for almost 100 years after sailing into the “Perfect Storm” of November 26th, 1898. This elegant paddle-wheeler carried over 190 passengers and crew as it left India Wharf in Boston bound for Portland Maine, and was last seen as night fell off the coast of Cape Ann. The wreck was discovered in 1989 and positively identified in 2002, lying over 450 feet deep in what is now the Stellwagen Bank Underwater National Marine Sanctuary.

Bob and fellow divers Slav Mlch, Dave Faye, Paul Blanchette and Don Morse were the first to visit the Portland in 110 years.

January 29, 2009 - NOAA Special Agent Andy Cohen

2009-01-08T12:08:00.003-05:00

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Special Agent Andy Cohen will draw on his many years as a diver and law enforcement officer, as he discusses important preservation initiatives spearheaded by him and NOAA to help sustain the oceans we all love so much.

Andy Cohen has twenty eight year’s experience in Federal law enforcement with NOAA and the National Park Service. He is currently the Special Agent-in-Charge of NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement’s Northeast Division. As such, he supervises investigations of conservation related crime in a nineteen state area. Cohen specializes in international investigations, involving organized crime syndicates smuggling high value commodities, such as bluefin tuna, caviar and Patagonian toothfish.

During the 1980's he was assigned to an elite undercover unit that orchestrated the largest undercover fisheries and wildlife sting in history. The case involved high seas caught salmon, unlawfully taken in the by foreign pirate fleets and resulted in a United Nations resolution banning high seas driftnet fishing.

More recently, he helped to implement satellite based Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) in domestic, high seas and foreign fisheries.

Cohen graduated from Western Washington University in 1979 with a Bachelor’s degree in Park Management. He has been awarded US Department of Commerce Gold and Silver medals, the NOAA Administrator’s Award and is a Senior Fellow at the Council for Excellence in Government. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the Boston Special Agents-in-Charge Association and is a member of the US Treaty Delegation to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Please plan to attend earlier for the usual social gathering to enjoy the great pub on site, serving up good food and drink with very reasonable prices at the Nineteenth Hole Pub.

December 11, 2008 - Navy SEAL Master Chief William Atkinson

2008-11-30T21:32:00.005-05:00

Navy SEAL Master Chief, William Atkinson, a recently retired SEAL spearheads a recruiting initiative with the US Navy recruiting offices for New England tasked to assess and mentor qualified candidates for acceptance to the US Navy Special Warfare School, Special Operations School as well as their EOD and SEAL Program. He will talk about Navy training in these highly specialized disciplines, show some short videos, have specialized DOD equipment to display and plans to have a couple of recruits with him to answer questions and share their experiences. He is also bringing a large semi-type truck with underwater robots, Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), X-Ray equipment and other equipment used in this highly specialized discipline.

November 13, 2008 - Garry Kozak, L3/Klein

2008-11-02T23:24:00.005-05:00

Garry Kozak grew up in the Great Lakes area and began diving in 1962. Shipwrecks became a major interest and the challenge to dive wrecks that had not been previously located. In the late 1960’s, he left the Great Lakes to pursue a career in the field of commercial diving. This work took him off the coast of Newfoundland providing diving support on oil drilling rigs, to the Gulf of Mexico providing diving support to the offshore oil industry, and salvage operations in the Great Lakes.

In 1975, he returned to the Great Lakes and formed a company, Innerseas Inc., whose purpose was to locate and salvage shipwrecks and cargoes in the Great Lakes. The first ship selected was a ghost ship, the Dean Richmond. The Dean was a steamer that disappeared on the waters of Lake Erie in October of 1893, carrying a cargo of lead and zinc ingots. On July 13, 1983, the Dean Richmond was found, solving a 90 year old mystery.

For the past 31years, Garry has been employed by Klein Associates of Salem, N.H., the technology leader in Side Scan Sonar systems. He is a recognized expert in undersea search operations and travels the world providing consulting and training expertise to Navies and companies who have a critical underwater search need. His work has taken him to the Canadian Arctic with Dr. Joe MacInnis to locate the H.M.S. Breadalbane, off the coast of England with author Clive Cussler in search of John Paul Jones’ vessel, the Bon Homme Richard, and on countless other treasure and historic shipwreck.

You will see some amazing images in his presentation coupled with very interesting background information and stories about them. Please attend!

October 30th, 2008 - Diving Truk Lagoon with Michael Prange and Dick Brady

2008-10-27T21:45:00.012-04:00

On 17 February 1944 the US Navy launched a massive attack against the Imperial Japanese Navy located on Truk atoll currently in the Federated States of Micronesia.
On 19 January 2008 Michael Prange (NEADC/BSCD) and Dick Brady (NEADC/NSFC) joined a group of divers on a ten-day land-based trip to Truk to dive and photograph the many wrecks littering the bottom of Truk Lagoon. Each day they dove four wrecks, rarely diving the same wreck twice. In this presentation Dick and Michael will share photos of their adventure and tell a bit of the history of these wrecks.

October 16, 2008 - Pat Madden & Annette Spaulding - Exploring One of America's Heritage Rivers: The Connecticut River

2008-10-14T09:23:00.003-04:00

The 410 mile-long Connecticut River is New England’s longest river. Its headwaters are at the Canadian border and it empties into Long Island Sound at Old Saybrook, Connecticut.

Known to Native Americans as “Quenticut- the Long Tidal River”, it is one of America’s earliest developed rivers with European settlements stretching back over 350 years.

Dammed and dumped in for over the past 150 years, it was called at one time, the Nation’s “best landscaped sewer.” However, since the 1972 passing of the Federal Clean Water Act, it is now swimmable, fishable and in some areas drinkable.

Connecticut River diving is outstanding. In their NSF return engagement, Annette Spaulding and Patrick Madden hope to give you insight into the biodiversity, history and excitement of this historic river.

September 18, 2008 - Galapagos video and slide show in honor of Bill Whiffen

2008-09-12T14:26:00.005-04:00

Daryl Findlay showed never-before-seen video footage from the 2007 Galapagos adventure of some of our members.In particular Daryl’s movie will highlighted exploring and diving with Bill Whiffen, whose memory we wanted to honor. Daryl’s film will was followed by the DVD slide presentation “Galapagos, an Unexpected Sojourn” that Paul Sauvageau produced for the NAUI Boston Scuba Show in February 2008.

September 11, 2008 - MA State Police Underwater Recovery Team

2008-09-10T02:20:00.006-04:00

Sergeant Blake Gilmore with other Troopers from the Massachusetts State Police Underwater Recovery Team gave a presentation on their specialized equipment and operational procedures along with discussions of high profile cases as seen in the news.

August 14, 2008 - The Raising of the Squalus

2008-09-08T14:12:00.003-04:00

On August 14 Paul Harling of the Diving Locker Museum and our own Jack Munro showed a US Navy film on the raising of the Squalus after its accidental sinking in May of 1939. This recovery operation was the first time that mixed gases were used for diving. Jack and Paul also brought a lot of interesting gear, books and pictures that helped demonstrate the status of navy diving at the time. One book was a log of every dive done during the recovery operation, showing times, gases, etc. for each diver for each dive.

July 31, 2008 - Matthew Lawrence - SBNMS Draft Management Plan

2008-07-28T22:12:00.005-04:00

Matthew Lawrence of NOAA’s Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary gave a presentation to the Club highlighting the proposals in the Draft Management Plan and Environmental Assessment. The final Plan could affect divers’ rights regarding use of Stellwagen Bank, as well as the rights of fishermen and other groups. It was a very interesting night and there were a lot of questions from those in the audience.

If you want to have input on the final Plan and its impact on your rights to dive on the Bank, now is the time to find out about the proposals and to make your comments – the deadline for comments has been extended until the beginning of October.

July 24, 2008 - Peter Venoutsos - Last Kill

2008-06-18T10:38:00.000-04:00

Peter Venoutsos has been a certified scuba diver since 1976 and a commercial diver since 1983. As a commercial diver he has worked for private engineering firms, the Federal Government and the US Navy. His primary interest is underwater photography and videography of shipwrecks and caves. Peter has produced and presented one of the most comprehensive historical information and digital media videos of the German U-Boat U-853.

Peter has presented his video and lecture in venues such as Beneath the Sea (NJ) and Our World Underwater (Chicago) and has published articles in Immersed, Skin Diver and Northeast Diver. Peter’s video takes you on a tour from the building of the U-853 through her sinking on May 5, 1945 when she was depth charged off the coast of Block Island - the last kill of World War II.

June 19, 2008 - Coast Guard Air Rescue Helicopter Demonstration/Beach Meeting - White's Beach

2008-06-16T16:01:00.003-04:00

Each year the NSFC holds informal beach meetings that are combination picnics, barbecues, cookouts and/or optional evening dives.

Local and regional dive club members, friends and guests who would like to join us at this year's special event are welcome to bring grills, food and beverages. Join us to swap dive stories, commiserate and network with divers from other clubs before the evening's featured demonstration.

This year the Frogmen have invited a United States Coast Guard Air Wing from the Cape Cod Air Station. They are going to utilize a Jay Hawk Helicopter to demonstrate the rescue of a disabled diver. This should be very informative. A rescue swimmer will load a diver into a basket as the victim is winched into the helicopter. On the beach, a USCG narrator with loudspeaker in hand will detail all the action.

Conditions permitting, there may also be a simulated rescue utilizing a Coast Guard fast response boat. The demo is going to begin at 7:30PM following the cookout and dive. It promises to be exciting and informative. If the need ever arises, it will further serve to demonstrate to divers the protocols involved in such rescue operations.

See you at White Beach, Manchester this Thursday

June 12, 2008 - Environmental Police Officers Michael Lees & Scott Amati- Massachusetts Fishing Regulations

2008-05-22T20:02:00.010-04:00

Officer Michael Lees & Officer Scott Amati discussed Massachusetts Fishing Regulations. It was a perfect time to ask any questions about fishing regulations or laws. Among the laws reviewed were zero-tolerance lobster v-notches and measuring, flounder, and scallop fishing.

May 15, 2008 - Patrick Madden & Annette Spaulding -The Ghost of Charron Lake

2008-05-01T06:53:00.001-04:00

Teams have searched for the aircraft since 1975. This is the conclusion of the successful search and recovery of a historic, 1928 Fokker Standard Universal aircraft that broke through the ice on Charron Lake, Manitoba, Canada in December 1931 and subsequently sunk in the spring of 1932.

Patrick Madden has been diving since 1968 and is a Master Instructor and Instructor Trainer. He is a retired 26 year Veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and was the dive supervisor and instructor of their Underwater Recovery Team. He has trained in U/W archaeology, pollution and sedimentolgy.

Annette Spaulding, a certified master diver, has been diving for over 25 years and has worked in many countries and states on shipwreck searches and other projects. She has been on the U/W S&R team in Southern Vermont and New Hampshire since 1981 and is trained in U/W evidence recovery. Both Pat and Annette are NSF Club members.

The presentation followed an abbreviated club meeting at 8:00 PM:
Beverly Golf & Tennis Club
134 McKay Street
Beverly, MA 01915

April 17, 2008 - Diving Scotland's Scapa Flow with John and Jay Ganson

2008-04-07T14:39:00.004-04:00

This program was first presented at the Naval War College in Newport and runs a little over 30 minutes.It aims to illustrate what one can learn on any dive trip, simply by looking at all the things beyond diving. As part family travelog it focuses on two divers as well as two non-divers on a family trip. The diving, together with the history of the wrecks from the First World War German Fleet is captivating. That experience together with their tourist exploits to venues like St. Magnus' Cathedral, (one of the largest in Great Britain), provided John's group with a more unified and complete sense of place. The underwater photography, shot mostly with available light and without flash strobes, similarly is meant to convey that dark ambiance to viewers.

Son Jay co-presented. He expounded on his experiences, particularly the training course in extended-rang diving (what we call deco). British training differs significantly. At the end of the presentation John and Jay entertained technical questions on both the diving and how this DVD was created.

March 27 - Bill Whiffen - Underwater Photography in California

2008-03-15T09:42:00.004-04:00

Underwater photographer, Bill Whiffen gave a slide presentation on diving in California. He focused his talk on diving Catalina and the Eureka Oil Rig.

March 13, 2008 - Member Arnie Pettiglio - "My New England Dive Adventures"

2008-03-05T12:30:00.001-05:00

At the meeting on March 13, Arnie Pettiglio gave a presentation on his "New England Diving Adventures" including anecdotes on his three decades of diving the wreck of the USS New Hampshire, and a show and tell on various assorted vintage dive gear.

On this 50th anniversary year we are happy to present members as guest speakers with lots of stories and years of experience to share with the club.

Arnie displayed his wreck salvaging tools, in addition to artifacts, commercial diving equipment and specialty masks. He showed flyers with photos of the ship as well.

February 7, 2008 - Peg Harrington - Conserve Our Ocean Legacy

2008-02-10T12:20:00.007-05:00

NSFC hosted guest lecturer Peg Harrington of the National Environmental Trust's 'Conserve Our Ocean Legacy' (COOL) campaign,(www.oceanlegacy.org) She discussed her organization's efforts to promote responsible, sustainable fisheries here in New England, including their efforts aimed at the National Marine Fishery Service and the New England Fishery Management Council. She also included discussions regarding petitions on specific fishery issues, including the Magnuson Stevens Sustainable Fishing Act.

Please visit the Conserve Our Ocean Legacy to see how divers are making an important difference nationwide. According to this website, divers who join the campaign are taking the first step toward becoming active advocates for healthy oceans. Over 300 dive clubs, dive shops, dive organizations, and dive businesses have joined. They recognize the need for a unified, mobilized coalition of divers who are willing and inspired to speak up for the marine environment.

January 17, 2008 - Capt. Ray Bates - Shipwrecks North of Boston

2007-12-17T18:52:00.001-05:00

Captain Raymond Bates, Jr. gave a retrospective on his year 2000 published book: "Shipwrecks North of Boston, Volume One: Salem Bay". His slide show concerned his ongoing research on wrecks north of Boston that include those north of Cape Ann and New Hampshire.

Captain Bates has been diving since 1968 and went into professional diving after attending the Commercial Diving Center (now the College of Oceaneering at Wilmington, California to study underwater welding, commercial diving, and underwater photography. He then attended a course in Cornwall, England to get Lloyd's of London certification in underwater inspections. He subsequently spent eleven years doing commercial hardhat diving work along the eastern seaboard. He now does contract diving and fishing when not logging numerous hours in libraries and museums such as the Peabody Essex Museum pursuing his passion for maritime history and wrecks.

Author and historian, Captain Bates who makes his home in Marblehead had copies of his book for sale and autographed them for interested members. It was an absorbing talk and fascinating evening.

November 15, 2007 - Fred Calhoun

2007-11-06T07:53:00.000-05:00

The North Shore Frogmen's Club presented the indefatigable Fred Calhoun as our featured guest speaker for November 2007.

Something of a local legend in the dive arena here on the North Shore, Fred has been diving as far back as Mike Nelson (Lloyd Bridges) in Sea Hunt. He shared his unique take as an eye witness to the history of diving, dive equipment evolution as well as the politics and personalities within the commercial scuba diving industry going further back than most of us can remember and before many of us were even born.

Skipper of the dive charter boat 'Easy Diver' at Cape Ann Marina in Gloucester, Fred also presented two very brief videos:

"Going with the Flow" very short takes on diving in frigid conditions among the ice flows in winter and...

"Invasion" a 20 minute short that was Fred's contribution to Barbara Warren's Salem Sound Coast Watch initiative to make the public aware of the extent to which Invasive Species have colonized our local waters.

October 18, 2007 - Club Members - Galapagos Islands

2007-10-02T22:23:00.001-04:00

Several members of the club took a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in July. They gave a presentation on their trip to the Islands of the Galapagos. Although they did not have a chance to DIVE, the trip was very interesting and the group came away with a lot of pictures of wildlife above and below the water.

October 11, 2007 - Club Members - Ecuador

2007-09-29T23:26:00.000-04:00

Several members of the club took a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in July this year. They gave a presentation on October 11 on the mainland Ecuador part of their trip, from 14,500 ft elevation in the Andes to 1400 ft in the Amazon River watershed.