Down To The Depths

It's a long way down to the bottom in the deep end of the baths, and that's about as far down as most swimmers ever get. But out in the bay one morning last month a member of the Gisborne Skin-Diving Club went down about eight times that depth—to 48ft, to be exact, which is surely a local if not a national record for a "free" dive.

The diver was Ian Kerr, a member of the Transport Department staff here, who took up skin-diving two and a half years ago, gets a big thrill out of exploring the depths and fishing with a spear-gun.

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Diver, equipped with flippers, and flanked by emergency swimmer, starts trip down towards ocean floor. Empty drum acts as a marker.

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Before dive, Ian checks weighted depth rope, marked every two feet with a numbered tag. Diver pulls off tag at greatest depth.

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Up again, with burst eardrums, diver is helped aboard.

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Ian and his emergency man John Pitcher study ocean. Yes it looks mighty deep.

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Equipment includes snorkel and depth gauge on arm