SeilerBird
Well-known member
I spent most of the 70s and 80s underwater scuba diving. I was gung ho. In the early 80s I joined the Ventura County (Calif) Underwater Search and Rescue team. We had a practice session on the first Sunday of every month, usually something new and exciting. Like the time we went looking for a gun that was thrown into Lake Sherwood. Lake Sherwood was basically a dead pond amongst a lot of very expensive homes surrounding it. Britney Spears, Paul Anka and Wayne Gretzsky are among the famous people who live there. It is a small community 40 miles north or LA near Thousand Oaks. The lake smelled like sulphur and the visibility was 0. Holding my gauges up to my mask I could barely make out where the needles were pointing.
The February meeting was always at Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Point Mugu had both navy and air force facilities there.
we would attend a meeting with the Point Mugu Naval Underwater S&R team where they would explain the ins and outs of scuba diving from a helicopter. If there was ever an airplane ditched into the water they would need all the help they could get. Mugu is right under the flight line from San Francisco to LAX. We never did have an emergency but we enjoyed the practice session immensely. After the class room we went over to the runway and put on our scuba gear and took four of us at a time we flew out to the backside of Anacapa Island. Anacapa is the closest of the Channel Islands National Park to the coast, about 10 or 15 miles offshore. We loaded into the chopper and in 5 minutes we were at the diving location (by boat it took an hour to get there). The chopper would hover about ten feet above the water and open it's back door/loading platform. We would then get up and remove the protective headphones (the inside of the chopper was really loud), Walk to the back and jump into the water. This part was really easy.
We had a full tank of air and the chopper would hover in the area waiting to pick us up as soon as we surfaced. Getting back into the chopper was the difficult part and hence the reason for the practice session. When we surfaced the chopper would hover above us and drop a winch line as close as possible to us. We were not to touch the line until it had hit the water and the static electricity charge was spent. Then we would remove our stabiliser jacket which contained our tank, regulator and gauges and secure it to the winch and give a thumbs up to the crew and they would haul the jacket up to the chopper and set it inside. Then they would drop the line back down to us and you were to wrap the line around you and give another thumbs up. We were told that on the ride up (about 30 feet) we would probably start to slowly spin and to halt the spinning we were suppose to use our fins like rudders to stop the spin. Heck with that, the spinning was the best part. You would get hauled into the chopper the then we would find the other three divers and return to Mugu. The ride up to the chopper beats any theme park ride I have been on. We would be lobster hunting while underwater and we always gave most of them to the crew. Then it was back to Mugu.
The last time I went we were accompanied by a reporter from the Camarillo Daily News who photographed us a wrote a story about the session. I have always wondered what type of helicopter this was. I am sure Bill will know. The most bizarre thing about the trip was that on June 7 1963 JFK gave a speech on that very runway. I got to go since my mom was a secretary at Mugu and I got to shake his hand.
I was walking around the runway when I noticed a star embedded into the runway marked the spot JFK gave his speech. He flew in on a chopper and gave a short speech. Then he went into the crowd and started shaking hands and signing autographs. I got to shake his hand, get an autograph and take a picture of him.
At 5:53 in the video he signs my autograph and the back of my head is visible for a second. I took the photo and autograph to school and someone stole them from me. But I still have my memories. Air Force One was on the tarmac right behind him while he was speaking which he left on.
The difficulty of getting back into the chopper was the fact that my air supply was gone and I was wearing a 25 pound weight belt and the blades of the chopper made the water really choppy and I had to tread water for about two minutes. Maybe the longest two minutes of my life.
The February meeting was always at Point Mugu Naval Air Station. Point Mugu had both navy and air force facilities there.
we would attend a meeting with the Point Mugu Naval Underwater S&R team where they would explain the ins and outs of scuba diving from a helicopter. If there was ever an airplane ditched into the water they would need all the help they could get. Mugu is right under the flight line from San Francisco to LAX. We never did have an emergency but we enjoyed the practice session immensely. After the class room we went over to the runway and put on our scuba gear and took four of us at a time we flew out to the backside of Anacapa Island. Anacapa is the closest of the Channel Islands National Park to the coast, about 10 or 15 miles offshore. We loaded into the chopper and in 5 minutes we were at the diving location (by boat it took an hour to get there). The chopper would hover about ten feet above the water and open it's back door/loading platform. We would then get up and remove the protective headphones (the inside of the chopper was really loud), Walk to the back and jump into the water. This part was really easy.
We had a full tank of air and the chopper would hover in the area waiting to pick us up as soon as we surfaced. Getting back into the chopper was the difficult part and hence the reason for the practice session. When we surfaced the chopper would hover above us and drop a winch line as close as possible to us. We were not to touch the line until it had hit the water and the static electricity charge was spent. Then we would remove our stabiliser jacket which contained our tank, regulator and gauges and secure it to the winch and give a thumbs up to the crew and they would haul the jacket up to the chopper and set it inside. Then they would drop the line back down to us and you were to wrap the line around you and give another thumbs up. We were told that on the ride up (about 30 feet) we would probably start to slowly spin and to halt the spinning we were suppose to use our fins like rudders to stop the spin. Heck with that, the spinning was the best part. You would get hauled into the chopper the then we would find the other three divers and return to Mugu. The ride up to the chopper beats any theme park ride I have been on. We would be lobster hunting while underwater and we always gave most of them to the crew. Then it was back to Mugu.
The last time I went we were accompanied by a reporter from the Camarillo Daily News who photographed us a wrote a story about the session. I have always wondered what type of helicopter this was. I am sure Bill will know. The most bizarre thing about the trip was that on June 7 1963 JFK gave a speech on that very runway. I got to go since my mom was a secretary at Mugu and I got to shake his hand.
I was walking around the runway when I noticed a star embedded into the runway marked the spot JFK gave his speech. He flew in on a chopper and gave a short speech. Then he went into the crowd and started shaking hands and signing autographs. I got to shake his hand, get an autograph and take a picture of him.
At 5:53 in the video he signs my autograph and the back of my head is visible for a second. I took the photo and autograph to school and someone stole them from me. But I still have my memories. Air Force One was on the tarmac right behind him while he was speaking which he left on.
The difficulty of getting back into the chopper was the fact that my air supply was gone and I was wearing a 25 pound weight belt and the blades of the chopper made the water really choppy and I had to tread water for about two minutes. Maybe the longest two minutes of my life.
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