Scuba Diving Articles by Kevin Magee

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About the photo (above):
The wheel from the Crystal Wreck. The Crystal is an unknown two-masted schooner that sank in 115' feet (35 m) of water off Long Point, Ontario, in Lake Erie. The wheel is partially draped in Canadian fishing net. Photo taken in 2004 by Ann Stephenson.

The following articles were submitted to the Visibility, the Lake Erie Wreck Divers (LEWD) newsletter. They were published at various times and provide information on whatever scuba topic came to mind at that particular time. Some are a little out of date, but hopefully they are informative nevertheless.

Drysuit Basics	Considering buying a drysuit? This article discusses the different drysuit types and the advantages / disadvantages of each type.
Kevin's Best Visibility Wrecks in Lake Erie Central Basin Eastern Basin	Based on my log books, I discuss the visibilities found on the wrecks in Lake Erie and rate them from best to worst. I do this for both Lake Erie's central basin off Cleveland, OH, and the eastern basin off Barcelona, NY.
How Much Does Your Gear Weigh?	Ever wonder how much all that dive gear weighs? This article measures the actual weight of my dive gear for both a recreational and technical setup.
Shore Diving Tips	For those not familiar with shore diving, this article discusses lessons learned from frequent shore diving in surf while diving in Hawaii. While not relevant to the Great Lakes, it's a useful skill.
Reel Usage	This article discusses the important skill of using a reel effectively in the context of diving wrecks in low visibility in the Great Lakes. This is a skill that is imperative off Cleveland.
Beginner's Guide to Thermoclines	Discusses the natural phenomena of thermoclines, how they affect visibility, how they form, and their behavior.
The Application of Technical Diving Lessons to Recreational Diving	Technical diving has many lessons for recreational divers in terms of the type of equipment carried and the way it is configured. Based on a talk given to both the LEWD and AquaMasters clubs, this article examines these lessons. Examples include how to stow the octopus, having redundancy in critical equipment, and the importance of oxygen.
Wreck Descriptions for Eastern Lake Erie Recreational Depth Wrecks	Considering a trip on Osprey Charters in Lake Erie's eastern basin? This lists the most popular recreational depth wrecks frequently visited by Osprey and provides a short description of each one. This is useful for someone who is new to the area and unfamiliar what wrecks they would like to dive.
Argon and Diving	This discusses the use of argon as an inflation gas in drysuits. In specific, it examines the controversy of using argon versus air and the theoretical and practical benefits of using each as an independent inflation gas.
Tech Talk	This article was written in response to the Fall, 2003, Immersed magazine article that discussed the potential problems of using an isolation manifold for doubles. I briefly discuss the article's contentions and instead propose my own solutions by addressing regulator configuration and operational practices. This article is admittedly not of interest to the general diving public but is a frequent topic of discussion and argument among the technical diving community.
Redundant Gas Supplies	Thinking of extending your depth range or safety with a redundant gas supply? This article discusses the pros and cons of the three main options: a pony bottle, stage bottle, and isolatable main tanks.
Dive Gases	This discusses the breathing gasses of nitrox and trimix, both of which are available to the modern diver. The article describes each, examines how they work, and why each is preferable in certain situations.
19th-Century Sailing Ship Parts: Bow Amidships Stern Masts & Rigging	This series of articles gives the names and definitions for those mysterious ship parts seen while diving Great Lakes sailing vessels from the 1800's. It is divided up into various sections of the ship to make the task more manageable and identification of the parts easier. Labeled sketches are provided in each section.