Photo Gallery
Getting ready for the dive
Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest
Not sure if this one is big enough
After the carvin is done
This one did not escape!
Super Pumpkin
Best In Show . . . the pumpkin that is.
Project Aware volunteers helping keep Lake Rawlings looking great!
Selecting Thank You Gifts.
Trying To Decide.
Thank You gifts and prizes.
Top prizes, most trash and most unusual collected.
DUI weekend at Lake Rawlings
The Cook
Test Divers getting instructions.
Helpers
Packing up. See ya next year!
Poseidon staff doing a great job providing the instruction and assistance to dive the MK VI recreationa; rebreather. The changing face of diving.
The Lake
The People
Things to see
Winter dive
The Support Team Monitoring Jeff & Support Equipment
The Dive Shop Richmond celebrates 30 yeard with a 30 hour dive
Poseidon Demo & Tour at Lake Rawlings in case you missed it :-)
Diving is serious business and fun recreation.
Stop in at Lake Rawlings and let our staff answer your questions about rebreather diving. . . . . . if we are not underwater :-)
SCUBAJAM at Lake Rawlings
Some of the hard workers behind Scuba Jam.
Discussing the logistics.
Getting divers ready for the upcoming dives.
Camping and assembly areas.
Buddy team getting ready.
After the dive the fun continues.
DIVEFEST
Divers testing their skills on the token challange or the treasure hunt.
Buddy team Receiving instructions.
Top Prize Winners. Note a few winners this was their first dive after certification!
Just a few of the other happy winners.
Ecstatic may better describe a few of them.
Blackhawk Down
New attraction arriving.
Adding the artwork.
Getting ready for the lift.
A gentle placement in the lake.
Videos
Interview with Errol, Diversity in Aquatics
Segment shot for WTVR TV Virginia This Morning
Segment shot for TV show Virginia Currents during Divefest
Lake Rawlings Fan Videos on YouTube
2011 Scuba Jam Video on YouTube
2010 Scuba Jam Video on YouTube
Lion Fish in Lake Rawlings?
Remember its both the pumpkin and costume that wins the prize.
Checking In
Public Safety Divers trying decontamination equipment.
Lunch Time!
Lunch Time!
Havin Fun!!
Dry Suit Rodeo. REMATCH next year!
Instruction before the dive.
At its new home.
Yellow Duckey Marks Jeff's Position
Jeff surfaces to congradulations after 30 hours.
Jim welcomes Jeff back to the surface with his congradulations
FOOD and celebration with the support team
30 HOUR UNDERWATER MARATHON AT LAKE RAWLINGS
By Errol Duplessis
Jeff Knapp, the Assistant Manager of the Dive Shop in Richmond, Virginia, succeeded in his effort to do a 30 hour marathon scuba dive at Lake Rawlings. Jeff entered the water at approximately 9:03 a.m. Saturday morning on July 28th, and remained underwater for 30 hours until 3:08 p.m. Sunday afternoon, July 29, 2012.
Jeff has been with The Dive Shop since 2008 where he began his career in diving. Since then, Jeff has conducted over 700 scuba dives at Lake Rawlings, the Caribbean and as far north as Lake Superior.
Jeff was supported by his team of safety divers, John Lyerly and Jason Swenson, and a surface team who monitored Jeff's every breath, and who supplied water and a pate and liquid diet throughout the marathon every one or two hours. Jeff wore a full-face mask, and was able to communicate his needs and safety information by microphone to his surface team.
Jeff played dominoes and cards underwater with friends who just wanted to come hang out with him. He was stationed at a depth of 22' to 25' underwater, and he was never bored. This writer visited with Jeff from 10:00-11:00 p.m. on Saturday night. We played dominoes, and I got a chance to see Jeff feed himself from his food pouch. The food is sucked from a hard straw into his mouth underwater. But first, he removed his full-face mask, and substituted it for a standard dive mask in order to see, eat and drink. Once done, Jeff removed the standard mask and switched back to the full-face mask underwater. It was a marvel to watch him clear the full-face mask and not waste one bubble of precious air.
This was an event for the record books of Virginia. For sure, Jeff performed the longest underwater scuba dive in open water at Lake Rawlings, and the longest scuba dive in a lake in the state of Virginia. He may have performed the longest underwater scuba dive in a lake in all of the United States north of Florida. The longest saltwater scuba dive on record was performed by Will Goodman of the United Kingdom for 48 hours in Indonesia on January 13, 2010. The longest freshwater scuba dive was performed by Allen Sherrod of Groveland, Florida on September 27, 2010, and it lasted 120 hours.
This underwater marathon was the culmination activity to honor 30 years of continuous service to the diving community by The Dive Shop of Richmond, the oldest dive shop in the state of Virginia. Jeff gave one hour of bottom time for every year of existence to his employer. Jim McNeal and his lovely wife, Lynne, are the owners of the Dive Shop. Following Jeff's marathon and epic scuba dive, the Dive Shop hosted a delicious banquet at Lake Rawlings for friends and supporters to celebrate and honor the shop's successes over the years.
Errol Duplessis is the President and CEO of Lake Rawlings, and located in Brunswick County, Virginia.
ScubaJam day and night divers, Mermaid sighting during the night dive?
Introducing divers to the Full Face Masks.
for more ScubaJam photos
Prize Winnwes
Can you identify the cartoon characters?
