Setting the Hook

[Joshua Smith]

So, let me start off with a little background: I wanted to dive deep shipwrecks from day 1. And dive deep in general. I was completely fascinated with the idea before I even walked into the dive shop and signed up for my OW class. I had read a little bit about it- the Outside magazine article about Dave Shaw, and the book “Shadow Divers” pretty much sealed my fate. I had no idea what I was getting into, or how to get there, but…..somehow I just *knew* this was for me. And I read voraciously, in my typical obsessive manner. One thing that came up a lot was the wreck of the Andrea Doria on the East Coast. Much of what we now call “technical diving” was born in two places- the Florida caves and the East Coast wrecks- in particular, the Doria. Back in the ‘80’s, Divers were learning lessons about what worked, and what didn’t the hard way, and many of them paid the price with their lives. People started to call the Doria the “Mount Everest” of wreck diving. And for a while, that was basically true. A huge, intact luxury liner lying on its side in 240’ of cold, dark water, packed full of china and goodies free for the taking, for anyone with the guts and skill to bring them back…..I’m pretty sure I would have been all over that, had I found myself nearby at that time……

In any case, quite a few of the books about diving that I read were about diving the Doria, either totally or partially. Some are excellent- Shadow Divers and The Last Dive come to mind. Some were just OK- Deep Descent, Fatal Depth, and a few others I don’t recall. All worth reading, in their own way, but they got a bit repetitive……..

Fast forward a few years, and I found myself diving deep wrecks just like I dreamed of doing. And participating in online diving forums. The way I went about training rubbed a lot of the old school divers the wrong way- I moved fast, I skipped open circuit trimix in favor of rebreather training….anyway, one thing I heard a lot was “back when I was learning to do this stuff on the Doria, we didn’t blah blah blah….” And I just tuned a lot of it out. Why wouldn’t I? Hell, I had a couple of dives on the Governor under my belt at that point- every bit as deep and treacherous as the Doria, but a much smaller list of people who had successfully dived it….. ( not an apples-to-apples comparison, to be honest- in the 80’s, there was no trimix, no rebreathers, no can lights, or lots of the stuff we both take for granted and consider mandatory for deep diving today. Plus, the penetrations these guys were puling off were astounding. It’s amazing that many more people didn’t perish on that wreck back then). These days, the wreck has largely collapsed, and the epic penetrations of the past are no longer possible.
At any rate, more than a few of us West Coast wreck divers roll our eyes and sigh when we hear some crusty old barnacle start talking about the Doria….even though we all know what happened there back in the day.

So, when some guy from Whidbey Island showed up on this forum talking about giving a presentation about the Andrea Doria, I thought "yawn. Some joker read the same books I did, went out and got a trimix card, dived the wreck a few times, and wrote a book. Big deal." Oh, how wrong I was.

A few weeks ago, I was up at my friend Ron's dive shop- Adventures Down Under, in Bellingham, messing with gear and talking about......needlepoint? No, wait- we were talking about diving that day. I remember, because that's unusual for us. Anyway, I noticed a copy of "Setting the Hook" by Peter M Hunt sitting on the counter. "Oh, have you read this?" I asked, slightly surprised. Ron smiled, picked the book up, and flipped to the chapter that talks about diving "with Ron Akeson, of Adventures Down Under..." "Yeah, I did his tech training!" Said Ron. "He's a good guy. Dived the Doria on air, back in the day." "Oh." I said. "Well, that's not how I thought things were."

So, anyway, wandering through the Dive Expo last Sunday, I stopped by the Whidbey Island Dive booth to say hi to Jan, and Jan turned around and introduced me to Peter, the author. We talked for a few minutes, and I bought a copy of his book. "I hope you enjoy it!" he said. "I'm sure I will, I've read most of the Doria books!" I said. Peter smiled and said "this one's a little different."

He was right. Well, no- he was wrong. It's a LOT different. It's far superior to any book I've read about the Doria. I read it in 3 sittings. It would have been 2, but life got in the way. I won't give anything away, but I will say that it's a very personal narrative about his experiences diving the wreck in the early 80s as a broke college kid, his later life here in the Northwest,
and contrasting old school wreck diving with modern techniques- with some history and background that all weaves together quite seamlessly to form a compelling read. I enjoyed it immensely. Buy this book, you won't be sorry.

http://www.settingthehook.org/

[Mateo1147]

Thanks for the book list tip! I just finished Shadow Divers night before last and can't wait to pick up another great read about wreck diving.

[doublesunder]

Great post Josh

[spatman]

Just signed up to see his presentation here in Portland next week. I'll be sure to pick up his book while I'm there.

[selkie]

Just signed up to see his presentation here in Portland next week. I'll be sure to pick up his book while I'm there.

The presentation in Portland is open to the public. It is at 7pm May 3rd at the Lucky Lab on Quimby in NW Portland. There is a $10.00 all you can eat pizza and salad buffet which is not optional. The Buffet is part of the cost of the room. This is a regular meeting of the Oregon Scuba Club but everyone is welcome. The event is being co sponsored by Seven Seas Scuba of Vancouver. Peter will have books to sell and will be signing books.

I didn't bring this up before but now that Matt mentioned the presentation I hope it is okay.

[Joshua Smith]

Just signed up to see his presentation here in Portland next week. I'll be sure to pick up his book while I'm there.

The presentation in Portland is open to the public. It is at 7pm May 3rd at the Lucky Lab on Quimby in NW Portland. There is a $10.00 all you can eat pizza and salad buffet which is not optional. The Buffet is part of the cost of the room. This is a regular meeting of the Oregon Scuba Club but everyone is welcome. The event is being co sponsored by Seven Seas Scuba of Vancouver. Peter will have books to sell and will be signing books.

I didn't bring this up before but now that Matt mentioned the presentation I hope it is okay.

Totally ok. Thanks for the info.

[Rockfish]

My dive buddy sent me a link about a review in the Everett Herald about this book.
I read the article and thought here's another book about diving the Doria and I didn't give it much thought until I needed to increase my Amazon order to get free shipping.
I bought the book and once I started reading it I could not put it down and over the course of an evening and the next day I immersed myself in the book. I especially liked the "local" angle.
Fast Forward a couple of months and I see that the author is giving a presentation in Oak Harbor. My buddy and I go and listen to his presentation. This guy is very down to earth and makes a great presentation. He even brought some of the things that he salvaged which was really cool since I will never get this close to any Doria artifacts again.
I highly recommend reading this book and if you get a chance to see the presentation and meet Peter in person you will not be disappointed.

Mike

[Furnari]

Semi-hikack: Peter Hunt will be in Eugene on May 1st at the Vet's Club at 7pm. A whole bunch of us ae really looking forward to this.

[LCF]

He will also be speaking to the Moss Bay Dive Club the first Tuesday evening in June.

I loved the book, but although a lot of it talks about diving, that's not really what the book is about. For those of us who have reached a certain age, it is a very wistful story, and very human. I met Peter at the Expo, too, and I am really looking forward to hearing him speak.

[Joshua Smith]

He will also be speaking to the Moss Bay Dive Club the first Tuesday evening in June.

I loved the book, but although a lot of it talks about diving, that's not really what the book is about. For those of us who have reached a certain age, it is a very wistful story, and very human. I met Peter at the Expo, too, and I am really looking forward to hearing him speak.

I'm going to see if I can make that one. I like what you wrote about the book, too. Well put. It is wistful. One thing I felt from reading it was that you can discover as much about yourself as you can discover about the wreck, or cave, or whatever you're diving.....there is a huge internal component to exploration that people rarely talk about. And the author manages to get that point across without addressing it directly.

[PapaZ]

For those of you that are 'inland', the Yakima Dive Club will have Peter Hunt presenting on June 12th.
Open to all to attend at El Porton's, 6:30 P.M..
More details will be added to our web page: https://sites.google.com/site/yakimadiveclub/

[guitarmaker]

Thanks for the write up Josh. Peter will be presenting at our dive club meeting in Salem next week - very much looking forward to the presentation and the book!

[ArcticDiver]

Just in case someone thinks these discussions are without effect; I just received notice my copy of the book is enroute. Looking forward to it.

[Tom Nic]

Have the book on my Amazon WishList!

[diverden]

Josh,

Thanks a lot for posting this. I too have read "all the books" and would have felt the same way about another Doria book as well as the rest of what you said. Looking forward to the read. On a related note, I keep thinking... do I NEED to get out to the Doria to feel complete? Seems like such a PITA to get out there and and do that dive. I guess I'll worry about it after the Governor

[Joshua Smith]

Josh,

Thanks a lot for posting this. I too have read "all the books" and would have felt the same way about another Doria book as well as the rest of what you said. Looking forward to the read. On a related note, I keep thinking... do I NEED to get out to the Doria to feel complete? Seems like such a PITA to get out there and and do that dive. I guess I'll worry about it after the Governor

You're welcome- hope you enjoy it as much as I did! As for the Doria- eh, I don't know. There are lots of wrecks I'd rather dive, to be honest. If an opportunity came up, I would do it, but.....well, it's just not high on my list.

[NWBoiler]

Josh,

Great read so far! Thank you for the post!

[spatman]

I haven't started the book, but went to Peter's talk the other night. Really fun and informative. Highly recommended if you can make it to one. Peter's a nice guy and happy to chat after the presentation, too.

[Seaslave]

Just got my copy in the mail today. Can't wait to get started. Thanks for the post Josh!


-Mathue

[ArcticDiver]

Was a rainy day here so after my morning Physcial Therapy session I Finally opened the the Barnes&Noble box, took out the book and read it. Of course when a person reads a book, just like eating at a restaurant, they have to render a critique; and so shall I.

I'm not going to critique his writing style. One does not read books like this for style. This kind of book is like a good meal. It is consumed for its' flavors and the emotions it elicits.

The predominant emotion I felt both at the book's beginning and end was sorrow for those who go through life without passion. Passion to the extent that they are not willing to accept what is but press for what can be. Passion for accepting that the ultimate responsibility for their lives lies within themselves. Not disobeying the hard rules of nature but not willing to be part of the herd or to accept the dictates of others either. The author is obviously a person of passion. In so being he clearly elicits sorrow for those who have not ventured on their own personal quest.

I'll not spoil the read by saying more. Except to say that it was time and money well spent.

[Joshua Smith]

Good review! I've found the range of reactions to this book fascinating. Lots of different impressions from people.

Note to Arctic Diver: if we were all passionate explorers, wouldn't we all be "average?" Sorry, I can't help but play Devil's advocate sometimes.....:mrgreen:

[ArcticDiver]

Good review! I've found the range of reactions to this book fascinating. Lots of different impressions from people.

Note to Arctic Diver: if we were all passionate explorers, wouldn't we all be "average?" Sorry, I can't help but play Devil's advocate sometimes.....:mrgreen:

You ought to be sorry If we were all above average we'd be Garrison Keeler's neighbors, eh?

[Joshua Smith]

Peter Hunt will be giving a "Setting the Hook" presentation and book signing at the Wilde Rover Irish Bar and Restaurant at 111 Central Way, Kirkland, WA, at 6:30 pm tomorrow (Tues. June 5). It's for the Moss Bay dive club, but open to all.

[selkie]

I just finished Peter's book.

This is the very best of the east coast wreck diver books. I have to admit as an experienced diver I am not a fan of the east coast wreck diver books prior to this. This book did help me understand the prior books and attitudes in them a little better and may have softened my view of them. This book is akin to “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer and “Addicted to Danger a Memoir” by Jim Wickwire. What makes this book great for my age group at least is the middle age introspection on were the author has been and where he is going with an examination of life’s priorities. Another book that is similar is “Neutral Buoyancy” by Tim Ecott. However, this book is more compact and less meandering than Ecott’s book. I am looking forward to reading Peter’s Book “Angles of Attack”.