Thia article appeared in The Link, the college newsletter on  May 6, 2005. Link no. 79

Diving for the Underwater Turbine Project at Race Rocks was amazing. Our task wasn’t simple and the time was limited. To implement the project they need to know what is the best location to install the tidal power generator, so I went diving with Chris and Angie to Race Rocks on a beautiful and sunny Wednesday morning and an ADCP (Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler) was deployed there. The ADCP will collect current regime information for a month.

It was so deep and (Angie said) cold down there but a really interesting experience for both of us. I was filming while Angie and Chris would “drag” the heavy weights (25 kg underwater – that’s 40 kg on surface! – each!!) and position them to secure the device on the sea floor.

It was hard work in very strong current but also very satisfying. It’s awesome to go diving but it’s even nicer when you get to do something important underwater. And on our way back we happened to stop by the boat with the EnCana diver (who was extracting samples of sea floor rocks) and have a long chat with him, who explained to Angie and me many things about being a commercial diver and also about the wetsuit he was wearing. For those that saw the movie “Man of Honor” these pictures may be familiar… Angie and I got really amazed by the huge helmet the diver had and he let us try it. It even has a microphone on it (to communicate with the boat)!!! The benefits of diving….

Rita Santos (year 30)