Shadow Diver | John Chatterton Blog

John Chatterton's view of 911 tower 1 after hit From the trailer

Remembering 911: First Person

It was only months since I had finished treatment for cancer, and after all the surgery, chemo and radiation, I had not only survived, but I was starting to feel sort of like my old pre-cancer self. I was working as the diving supervisor on a job under the World...

A Grate Day on the Andrea Doria

For me in 1988, the summer was Doria Season. I was a Mate on Bill Nagle's dive boat, the Seeker, and for a good part of the summer, we were either in Montauk, NY, waiting for good weather, or anchored above the wreck of the Andrea Doria. It was a...

Send Lawyers Guns & Money

A few years ago, my friend Richie organized a trip to the Andrea Doria. This infamous Northeast wreck is a challenging dive by any standard you might apply, and the number of accumulated diving fatalities are in the double digits. It is not for everyone.

Diving with Stevie Wonder

My friend Nick called me up the other day and told me about how he was out diving on the Hydro, and had a serious issue with narcosis? The Hydro Atlantic is a beautiful local wreck, 180′ to the sand, but only about 130′ to the main deck.

Titanic

It was the evening of April 14th, 1912, when the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg, and sank shortly thereafter with unbelievable loss of life. The public has been absolutely fascinated with Titanic since news of the sinking first reached land the next day. The incredible degree of coincidence, the scope...

The Unearned Bullhit

I was talking to Dr. Nick, and he starts to talk about something serious, an unnamed diver who suffered an “unearned hit”. An “unearned hit” is one of those politically correct terms now used to describe a decompression sickness (DCS) event where the diver has supposedly followed all the rules, and done absolutely nothing wrong, but still ends up bent for reasons that remain a total mystery???

The Politically Incorrect Blade

Once upon a time, I was working as a commercial diver on a job in Newark Bay, in New Jersey. The company I was working for was an established heavy construction company, but this was their first marine construction project.

Accomplished Bad Divers

Years ago, when I was crewing on the Seeker, I had the opportunity to dive with some really skilled and talented wreck divers. Much of what I now know, I learned from them. On the other hand, I would occasionally come across divers like Ed, who was an extremely Accomplished Bad Diver.

Tiny Doubles

Nothing makes me cringe more than watching a diver enter a wreck utilizing a single tank with a K-valve and a single regulator. With this configuration, in the event of a regulator failure, it may be possible to go to an octopus, but you do not have a redundant first...

Our Diving Heros

I was talking to my friend Captain Rick a few weeks ago, and he tells me about a group of college students from FAU that he took out diving. They went out on the reefs to collect trash, and get it out of the ocean.

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