He looks like he’s just stepped back in time. Jeff Maynard, of the Historical Diving Society, is one of five deep-sea divers who will take the plunge at Williamstown for the Seaworks Maritime Festival this weekend.
The Australia Day event commemorates 150 years since the Confederate raider CSS Shenandoah docked in Melbourne in 1865.
Four or five divers will take turns gearing up and trudging along the sea bed near Workshop Pier each day from Saturday until Monday, between 11am and 3pm.
Mr Maynard said diving with helmets and air hoses was developed in England in the 1830s and still practised today.
“The US Navy had a helmet designed to its specifications in 1917 and a Milwaukee manufacturer still produces them to those same details nearly 100 years later,” he said.
“It’s still a practical, simple way to dive.”
Mr Maynard, a Yarraville resident, said a new helmet could be bought for a few thousand dollars, while a rare antique helmet with a bit of history could be worth $50,000.
“Many scuba divers with an interest in history have branched into diving with the original helmets, suits and lead weights, but they are using scuba tanks to supply the air rather than traditional pumps.
“Interest in the sport has grown tremendously in the past 20 years. In Australia, it’s mostly recreational diving in the same sense that people will collect old cars and restore them … it’s a little bit of nostalgia in a lot of ways.”
More information at www.seaworks.com.au
