Soundings
Simon Morris’ sculpture of the ‘Exosuit’ with dolphin
Phil Nuytten
Publisher and Senior Editor
H
oly Cow! Who would have thought that you’d see a feature article on tattooing in a dive magazine? Well, tats certainly seem to be the current fad among young adults and even a lot of the not-so-youngs! Mind you, today’s crop of North Americans certainly seem to have more ‘canvas’ to spare than in previous times. Seems like it wasn’t all that long ago that a crude neck-tattoo on a heavily-muscled male might read, “WATCH OUT, MOFO!” – now it’s more likely to say, “I’d love to read you poems about my vegan bicycle”. How times change….
One thing I do enjoy about today’s ink-craze is the number of tattoo jokes that have come out of it. For example: I recently watched and listened as a television news- caster reported the following (with a straight face!) “Yesterday, at Royal London Hospital, a punk rocker staggered into the emergency department, doubled over and in obvious pain. Her purple hair was styled in a high fan-like Mohawk, she sported a variety of tattoos and some bizarre clothing. She was quickly diagnosed with acute appendicitis and was immediately scheduled for an emergency operation. When she was disrobed on the operating table, the staff noted that her pubic hair had been dyed green, and above it was a tattoo that warned ‘Keep off the grass!’ When the prep and surgery had been completed the operating surgeon pinned a note to the dressing. It said, ‘Sorry, had to mow the lawn’.”
Head down to your local beach and
you’ll see firsthand evidence that tattooing is a legitimate art form – that is, the examples vary from absolute garbage to beautifully done work – as in all other art forms. This issue’s feature on the Hamilton and
the Scourge is an interesting one. DIVER’s sister company ‘Can-Dive’ has been involved (or, more correctly, in and out of ‘volvement’) in a number of discussions ranging from the possibility of raising one or both wrecks, developing tourist- sub tours, development of a lakeside museum full of artifacts and graphics,
Phil and Mary in Curasub. Bruce Brandt, centre, piloting
Head down to your local beach and you’ll see firsthand evidence that tattooing is a legitimate art form
and so on. The most recent discussions were with a Canadian underwater survey firm called ‘Aquatic Sciences’. Based in Ontario, Aquatic Sciences is well-known for their hi-definition video surveys via suite of ROV’s, including some that set records for tunnel penetrations. (See www.
aquaticsciences.com) I was surprised that article author Scott Stitt was as candid as he was, in telling of his early tech dives on the site…hence the article’s fore-note from DIVER. It will be even more interesting to learn of the City of Hamilton’s plans to preserve the two historic wrecks, when that information is made available.
Nice piece on B.C.’s ‘Haida Qwaii’. The indigenous Haida people call their home ‘Qwai Haanas’, which translates as ‘Place of Wonder’. Man, is it ever! The diving around Haida Qwaii is absolutely world-class. In the late 1960’s, when I was working there with several other ‘Can-Divers’ – engaged in underwater geological surveys offshore – we’d often stop what we were doing, simply to look and marvel at some of the most beautiful underwater territory in the entire pacific northwest! (IMHO) Yet more about DIVER’s sister companies: The ‘Curasub’, which features in this issue’s ‘Big Picture’, was, as noted, built by Nuytco Research Ltd. It was the vehicle of choice for my wife’s first dive in one of Nuytco’s subs, off the Caribbean island of Curacao. She was impressed, which certainly pleased me.
Former DIVER editor and now internationally-known image grabber, Neil McDaniel puts down his camera to interview sculptor-diver Simon Morris and learn about his latest underwater work. Simon is a terrific artist and I’m proud to have one of his bronze sculptures in my office – fitted into its own cozy niche along one wall. A little bigger than your average tattoo . . .well, then again, maybe not! Cold weather is on the way: check out that drysuit, wash out those wools!
Regards Phil
www.divermag.com 9
Photos: Barry Brown, Phil Nuytten
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