Mythical Ithaca has long been the symbolic image for the end of a long journey. Australian Aquanaut Lloyd Godson will soon commence his own grand voyage to Ithaca. Beginning from the island of Corfu, the last stop on the adventurous journey of Odysseus, he plans to “pedal” the 100 nautical mile distance in a custom-made, human-powered submarine featuring a 'non-propeller' design as the means of propulsion.
A fit ultra-marathon athlete and Australian Geographic’s 2007 Adventurer of the Year, Lloyd has just returned from the first phase of the expedition where he tested the Omer 6 "wet", free-flooding submarine in clear Greek seas. He was accompanied by his wife, Caroline Sarassitis, and engineers from the Omer submarine team at the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Quebec Canada.
The submarine was fitted with some exceptional new SCUBAPRO and Uwatec equipment, including the MK25 / A700 system and the Galileo LUNA. Given the small size and experimental nature of the underwater vehicle I was piloting, I needed equipment that was not only extremely reliable and rugged but compact as well.
The Galileo LUNA was mounted on my front window with the full-tilt digital compass acting as my navigational system. The extra large screen and hoseless gas integration allowed me to keep track of my tank pressure without having to remove my hands from the submarines steering mechanism to try and read a gauge. I never once lost the connection between the radio transmitter mounted on the MK25 first stage and the wrist unit. At times, when I was pedalling quite hard, the Galileo Luna warned me with an audible alarm and displayed in clear text “WORK OVERLOAD!”
I have since upgraded my Luna with the Heart Rate Monitor, so will use this to monitor my performance during the next phase of the expedition. The MK25 / A700 system worked flawlessly together. The swiveling turret on the MK25 allowed me to position the hose leading to the A700 exactly where I wanted it. There was barely a centimeter to spare inside the submarine, so the ability to personalize my gear like that was very important to me. Everything had a very precise fit. Even when pedaling at speeds of up to 4.5 knots per hour (8km/hr), I never had a problem with inhalation resistance or exhalation effort thanks to the personalized breathing effort control knob.
To top it all off, the EverFlex neoprene steamer was the most comfortable wetsuit I have ever worn without a doubt. Lying face down and pedaling for 1.5hrs at a time, I needed a wetsuit that stretched naturally with my body during the cycling motion. Back on the support boat, my safety divers were fighting over who got to wear my Seawing Nova fins!
Keep up-to-date with all “Life Amphibious” events here http://www.lifeamphibious.com/
