Santa Ana, California February 1, 2007 -- Sherwood Scuba, an established leader in designing and manufacturing efficient and reliable scuba diving gear, has announced the launch of the new Sherwood Gemini Breathable Inflator. The Gemini will be available for purchase in February of 2007 through Authorized Sherwood Retailers.

With more than fifty years of experience producing dive equipment and accessories, Sherwood has applied its "simply reliable" values in the development of the durable Gemini.

By combining the BC inflator and Octopus (safe second) functions into a single unit, the Gemini maximizes convenience by placing these important controls in location familiar to virtually all divers that have trained with a traditional buoyancy compensator. As an added bonus, one hose is eliminated to simplify and streamline gearing up.

The Gemini couples to a high flow capacity hose attached to the first stage regulator to supply both the BC Inflator and Octopus. The unit then lies flat against the BC minimizing bulk but in a location that is easy to access.

The easy-to-operate power inflation, oral inflation and exhaust trim valve controls are designed to remain similar to conventional BC controls to take advantage of single-handed control familiar to virtually all trained divers.

If you need to quickly access the Octopus, simply reach for the Gemini that has been used to maintain buoyancy control throughout the dive. The breathing performance of the Gemini is superb -- in many cases exceeding the performance of primary regulators. There are no diver-operated controls to adjust as the Gemini is capable of providing ample air delivery without any annoying tendencies to free flow when unattended. Simple, reliable and Free Parts For Life.

Dive Dirty, Dive Mexico City

Julio Cesar Cu wanted to be an oceanographer. He instead swims through foul-smelling sewage in underground tunnels beneath the city of Mexico where the occasional dead body bobs beside excrement and car parts.

Julio Cesar Cu is paid $400 a month to de-clog the miles of sewage tunnels running beneath the Mexican capital. Cu comes across the nastiest of flotsam. Cu’s job is to prevent blockages in tunnels up to six meters wide that could cause sewage to flood into the streets. “Once we fished out car parts which, I think, would have fit together to make a whole car,” says Cu. Cu and his team of 3 divers are responsible for the deepest 166 kilometer section of the sewers through which 35,000 liters of liquid pours every second.

The construction of our beauty continues! And speaking of construction, check out our growing website, we’re building it up with lots of useful information, like a calendar! Remember, official trips will begin Memorial Day weekend, 2007, so get ready to book your trips.

Study: Antioxidant Vitamins Might Protect Scuba Divers' Vascular Function by Underwatertimes.com News Service

Split, Croatia (Jan 31, 2007 18:13 EST) A new study, published in The Journal of Physiology, shows that acute oral intake of largely accepted antioxidants Vitamin C and E prior to a scuba dive can reduce alterations in cardiovascular function, particularly acute endothelial dysfunction, that are caused by a single field air dive.

People scuba dive for recreational and professional purposes. However, only recently has evidence of the different cardiovascular changes that appear after each scuba dive been seen. In most cases those changes are silent or subclinical, posing little or no threat to the health of divers, but is that always the case?

Obad, Dujic and their colleagues at the University of Split School of Medicine, collaborating with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, studied a group of professional scuba divers before and after a moderate load scuba dive (a dive to a depth of 30 meters for 30 minutes, similar to those enjoyed by countless recreational divers). Different cardiovascular parameters were investigated, including endothelial function. A single scuba air dive induced mild changes in cardiac function and a significant decrease in endothelial function. The authors thought that these changes could be influenced by oral ingestion of antioxidant vitamins C and E prior to diving, and that endothelial function, in particular, might be preserved.

This intervention showed a positive effect on vascular endothelial function, whereas other cardiac functional changes were unaffected. Although generally very safe, diving may be associated with serious, and sometimes fatal, consequences, which are usually related to decompression sickness. These new data raise the possibility that pre-dive intake of antioxidant vitamins may prevent some of the negative effects of diving on vascular function. The results of this study are of interest for those involved in all types of recreational and professional diving.