The Great Dive Podcast

The dive community has lost more than a couple notable figures this past month. This week the boys pay homage to one of those legendary figures that left an indelible imprint on many of us that were around for the birth of technical diving, Bret Gilliam. Have a listen!

This year for the TGDP Halloween Special, the boys harken back to Jamesy’s old days on an underwater habitat in the Baltic Sea. Germans, French women, a Brit and unfortunately no bathrooms… but they did have a moon pool. Wait… what was that???

This week the boys discuss Paulette's "event" off the coast of Northern California in Carmel. Unusual hypothermia symptoms throw Paulette and Dennis a curve ball. Have a listen and find out what the confusion is all about!

This week the boys go back in time to learn a lesson from a warm water diver who wanted to try a cold water dive on his vacation to Norway. Cold water, dry suits, dark water, overweight… it all comes together in an exhausting and dangerous experience for Jeffrey. Don’t forget to tip your dive guides.

This week the boys continue more cold water chat with an episode addressing some of the considerations for underwater photography in cold water. Have a listen!

They say that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but, this week the boys learn 4 tips for staying warm in cold water. Pour yourself a cup of Hot Jolene because its time to dive with Jamesy and Brando.

As summer comes to an end and the cold weather diving season returns, TGDP prepares to answer some cold-water diving questions that have been coming into our emails. As the boys prepare a new fall season of TGDP, join us as we revisit our first TGDP Quiz Show. We will talk to you next week.

IIiiiit's time for your favorite diving Game Show.... The Great Dive Podcast Quiz Show.... with your host, Ol' Jamesy and the sole contestant Brando! Have a listen as the boys reminisce about the old game shows while they share a buoyancy quiz from Ol' Dennis Graver!!

This week the boys take a jittery dive to far limits of recreational diving. What could go wrong when a diver with not enough experience, takes not enough gas, to a deep wreck dive where he has never been? Join us and find out.

This week the boys wrap their 2 part discussion on panic and the diver. This is the conclusion of last week's article written by a UCLA Professor and DSO back in 1971 that examines the readiness of the new diver and what is needed to prepare them for confidence and competence underwater. Have a listen!!

This week Jamesy and Brando visit a paper written by a UCLA Professor and DSO. It examines the readiness of the new diver and what is needed to prepare them for confidence and competence underwater. You may be surprised to find out that the answer is NOT shorter and faster classes.

This week the boys discuss the role of confidence in diving and learning diving. As an added bonus, we have another poem from the great Dr K-Seuss!

Episode 330 – Anchored To The Bottom This week do a little treasure hunting. But you know what they say about one mans treasure, it’s another mans junk. When you’re looking for loot, it is easy to hyper focus on the prize and forget about the important parts of diving. Join us for a search and recovery dive that goes bad.

This week the boys regale all of us with a chat about their memorable trip to dive some of the deep wrecks of Isle Royale up in Northern Lake Superior. Have a listen!!

It’s Shark Week everyone and Jamesy and Brando dive into a different story from Jaws author Peter Benchley. This week your buddies, take a few minutes to get back into the swing of podcasting. After a week off diving in Isle Royale, Lake Superior they give a few thank yous to all the listeners.

Join the boys this week as they finish the story of the raising of the submarine Squalus. The story left off with the Squalus stuck in 240 feet of cold Atlantic water and divers were attaching the new McCann Rescue Chamber to the sub to begin rescue operations. At 240 feet the divers were on air and in the late 1930's helium use was in it's infancy and still being "felt out" so it was not being em...

This week the boys return to the sunken Squalus along with navy diver, Martin Conrad Sibitzky and more seamen jokes. After a full day of sitting on the bottom of the ocean the Squalus had been found and marked and it was time to send a diver down.

In light of recent events in the news surrounding the Oceangate submarine tragedy, the boys visit the story of the USS Squalus. The Squalus was a US Sargo-class submarine that sank off the coast of New Hampshire during test dives on 23 May 1939. The sinking drowned 26 crew members, but an ensuing rescue operation, using the McCann Rescue Chamber for the first time, saved the lives of the remaining...

Jamesy and Brando are up in Mackinac diving and will be back with a brand new episode next week. In the meantime, take a trip back and listen to this early episode of TGDP about a Mackinac shipwreck, the Sandusky.

This week the boys revisit the old "I learned About Diving From That" section of Skin Diver Magazine to discuss an article that describes what happens to a diver who thinks "it" can't happen to me when it comes to DCS. Do you know anyone who dives with the "It Can't Happen To Me" mentality? Fact is it can happen and eventually will happen if you dive long enough and/or are careless and unaware whi...

Join your favorite autodidactic podcasters, Jamesy and Brando as they celebrate another Jacques Cousteau birthday. The Undersea Research Group of Cousteau and the boys were the first to do so many things in the sea, and dispelling some of the myths of blood thirsty sea monsters was one of them.

What happens when a diver finds himself in trouble in the water and is about to lose hope? What led to what can only be called a diving miracle? What can we learn from all this as divers and as humans? Whatever the answers are, if it involves a double rainbow of dolphins, it's got to be cool! Have a listen and find out!

It's said that sharing is caring, but is that enough to make it through an out of gas situation at 170'? Listen as the boys discuss a lessons For Life article about a couple of "technical divers" that suffered an out of gas situation at 170 feet.

This week the boys finish up their 3-part series on The Octopus Alternative and round out a few more claw hammer metaphor jokes. Is the best piece of equipment any good if how to use it isn’t practiced?

The boys continue their discussion on the Ghastly Gas Share that turned tragic. They continue with the article that addresses the need for an alternate air source to donate and breathe from. But is the problem an equipment issue or is it something that will always be there unless the training is corrected?