1993 - During a joint military exersize with Canadian Special Forces, I found an old ships compass about 3 miles off the coast of Victoria, B.C.
I was diving using the US Navy EOD MK-16 closed circuit UBA breathing a mix of HeO2. I decended through the dark, chilly waters and at about 60' started getting pinged on by a pod of Orcas. I got scared and made a beeline to the bottom. I was using a handheld underwater sonar to find objects we placed on the sea floor. During my rapid decent to 210', I trained my sonar on the bottom and started hearing the familiar 'ping' of a metalic object. As I landed on the sea floor i could still hear the Orcas pinging me, so i spread eagle on the bottom. Doing this, i felt the object my sonar picked up as i decended...using the light from my LED display on my mask, I made out the face of the compass. Immediatly, I grabbed hold of it and it quickly broke out of what I could only tell was a shellfish encrusted blob. I completed my dive mission with the compass in tow. Upon surfacing, my Lt. offered me $500 for it. I decided to keep it as a momento of our deep sea adventure.
I've spent over 10-years restoring it to its original condition. It was old, lit by an oil lamp which is still in great condition. The picture is on my profile. The compass sits on my mantel today. Great conversation piece.
eggman
I was diving using the US Navy EOD MK-16 closed circuit UBA breathing a mix of HeO2. I decended through the dark, chilly waters and at about 60' started getting pinged on by a pod of Orcas. I got scared and made a beeline to the bottom. I was using a handheld underwater sonar to find objects we placed on the sea floor. During my rapid decent to 210', I trained my sonar on the bottom and started hearing the familiar 'ping' of a metalic object. As I landed on the sea floor i could still hear the Orcas pinging me, so i spread eagle on the bottom. Doing this, i felt the object my sonar picked up as i decended...using the light from my LED display on my mask, I made out the face of the compass. Immediatly, I grabbed hold of it and it quickly broke out of what I could only tell was a shellfish encrusted blob. I completed my dive mission with the compass in tow. Upon surfacing, my Lt. offered me $500 for it. I decided to keep it as a momento of our deep sea adventure.
I've spent over 10-years restoring it to its original condition. It was old, lit by an oil lamp which is still in great condition. The picture is on my profile. The compass sits on my mantel today. Great conversation piece.
eggman
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