WE ARE TAKING YOU 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA.
♪ SEAN: IF YOU WERE TRAINING TO DIVE IN 1943, THIS WAS THE EQUIPMENT YOU WERE USING.
>> HE HAS TO USE COMMON SENSE, TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, AND HIS DRESS TO HELP HIM.
SEAN: THIS NAVY VIDEO SHOWS THE CLASSIC DIVING SUIT.
>> 190 POUNDS.
SEAN: YOU WOULD THINK VINTAGE SCENES LIKE THIS HAVE LONG SINCE DISAPPEARED.
BUT IF YOU LOOK UNDERNEATH THE WATERS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, YOU CAN STILL FIND CREATURES FROM THE DEEP STRAIGHT FROM A JEWELS FERN -- JULES VERNE NOVEL.
♪ >> GRANITE LAKE HAS A MONSTER, AND THE MONSTER’S NAME IS GRANNY.
SEAN: IT SEEMS EVERY LAKE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE HAS A LEGENDARY CREATURE.
AT THE GRANITE LAKE IN NELSON, IT IS GRANNY.
>> GRANNY USUALLY LIVES BY THE ISLAND.
WHEN YOU SEE SOME WAVES, WE SAW SOME EARLIER AND THERE WAS NO BOAT.
WE SUSPECT IT IS GRANNY.
♪ SEAN: BUT WHAT IS MAKING WAVES IN THE LIKE THIS DAY -- THE LAKE THIS DAY, ANOTHER UNUSUAL SITE ON THE LAKE BOTTOM.
♪ SEAN: TURNS OUT THAT SAME DIVE GEAR FROM THE 1940’S IS STILL USED TODAY THANKS TO THIS GUY.
IS IT SAFE TO DO THIS?
>> PERFECTLY SAFE, YES.
SEAN: EVEN THOUGH THE TECHNOLOGY IS 100 YEARS OLD?
>> THAT’S WHY IT IS STILL BEING USED TODAY.
SEAN: THIS TRANSPLANT FROM ENGLAND IS KEEPING VINTAGE DIVING ALIVE.
THIS IS A FAMILY TRADITION.
>> MY FATHER GOT ME INTO IT AND I HAVE BEEN DOING IT EVER SINCE.
I THINK I HAVE PROBABLY SPENT MORE TIME UNDERWATER THAN ON TOP OF THE WATER.
SEAN: HIS DAY JOB IS USING MODERN DIVING EQUIPMENT, SALVAGING SOMETHING -- SUNKEN BOATS OR REPAIRING UTILITIES OF THE SEACOAST.
SEVERAL YEARS AGO WHEN HE STARTED DOING VINTAGE DIVING IN HIS FREE TIME.
>> A COPPER HELMET, A SUIT THAT IS SEALED.
A PAIR OF LEAD BOOTS.
THERE ARE SOME GUYS ON THE SURFACE CRANKING.
YOU GO TO WORK.
SEAN: YOU NEED EASY TO ACCESS WATER ENTRY AROUND NEW HAMPSHIRE LIKE GRANITE LAKE AND A SUPPORT TEAM, INCLUDING HIS WIFE, DEBBIE.
>> I SAID, YOU ARE CRAZY.
THAT’S USUALLY THE FIRST RESPONSE.
THAT IS COOL, BUT I WOULD NEVER DO IT.
THAT’S NORMALLY THE SECOND RESPONSE.
♪ SEAN: IT TAKES THE TEAM ABOUT 20 MINUTES TO GET EACH DIVER SUITED UP WITH 18 POUND BOOTS, A MASSIVE WEIGHT BELT AND A METAL SHOULDER FRAME.
>> THIS IS THE HARD PART, GETTING THE BREASTPLATE FIELD.
SEAN: THE HELMET IS EVENTUALLY TWISTED ON AND THE AIR HOSE ATTACHED.
>> ARE YOU READY?
DIVER IS READY.
TO CAPS ON THE HELMET.
-- TWO TAPS ON THE HELMET.
SEAN: YOU SIMPLY WALK INTO THE ABYSS.
AIR IS PUMPED FROM A COMPRESSOR INTO THE ENTIRE SUIT, ALLOWING DEBBIE TO BREATHE.
A SMALL RELIEF VALVE KEEPS IT FROM OVER INFLATING.
IT CAN HAPPEN, I REFER YOU TO THE TRAINING FILM.
>> PRESSURE ABOVE TWO POUNDS WOULD CAUSE THE SUIT TO BLOW UP LIKE A BALLOON.
IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO REACH HIS HAND WHEEL HE MIGHT BE BLOWN TO THE SURFACE.
SEAN: BY THE TIME DEBBIE WALKS OUT OF THE WATER, A CROWD HAD GATHERED TO WATCH THIS UNUSUAL SITE.
WHILE THIS MIGHT LOOK LIKE IT DID 80 YEARS AGO, MOST OF THE GEAR IS NEW.
>> PEOPLE KIND OF THINK IT IS AN OLD HELMET, PROBABLY 100 YEARS OLD, BUT IT IS ONLY FOUR YEARS OLD, FOUR YEARS AGO BY A COMPANY IN BOSTON.
♪ SEAN: NOT ONLY DO THEY STILL MAKE VINTAGE DIVE HELMETS, YOU CAN ALSO BUY VINTAGE SUITS WITH MODERN MATERIALS.
BUT THE BRASS AND COPPER FITTINGS ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME.
SO IS WALKING AROUND IN NEARLY 200 POUNDS OF EQUIPMENT.
>> I FIRST PUT IT ON AND I THOUGHT, THIS IS REALLY HEAVY, HOW WILL I GET TO THE WATER?
BUT IN THE WATER, IT WAS AMAZING HOW 200 POUNDS CAN BE LIGHT AS A FEATHER.
SEAN: TO FIND OUT FOR MYSELF, THE TEAM SUITED ME UP NEXT.
JUST LIKE THEY USED TO.
♪ SEAN: FEELING KIND OF LIKE AN ASININE, I MADE THOSE FIRST HEAVY STRIDES -- KIND OF LIKE AN ASTRONAUT, I MADE THOSE FIRST HEAVY STRIDES INTO THE WATER.
UNLIKE SCUBA DIVING, YOU DON’T FLOAT, YOU SIMPLY WALK ON THE BOTTOM.
>> THERE ARE A LOT OF GOOD SIZED ROCKS OUT HERE.
SEAN: THE ATTACHED AIR HOSE ALSO HAS A RADIO LINE ALLOWING ME TO TALK WITH THE SURFACE.
>> DOES ANYONE EVER GET TANGLED IN THE HOSE?
>> KNOW, WE HAVE TWO PEOPLE BACK HERE GUIDING THE HOSE.
♪ SEAN: AFTER A SHORT TIME ON THE LAKE BOTTOM, MY TRIP WAS OVER.
I TOOK A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.
[APPLAUSE] SEAN: WOW.
IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH HEAVIER IT IS WHEN YOU GET OUT.
>> IN THE WATER, LIGHT AS A FEATHER.
SEAN: ROB HOPES SOMEDAY HIS DAY JOB WILL REQUIRE USING THIS VINTAGE GEAR.
FOR NOW, HE IS HOPING OTHERS WILL WANT TO GO FOR A WALK, TOO, 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA.
>> ARE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO TRY IT OUT AND HELP OUT, AND ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS THIS AGREEMENT, THEY ARE WELCOME TO GIVE US A CALL AND WE WILL GO DIVING.