42. Regulator Pressure Discussion, Learn about the Coral Restoration Foundation, and another pioneer of the underwater world – Ed Link

Regulator pressure is a critical component of your regulator maintenance. Every year you should have your regulator's pressures checked and adjusted whether you are having an inspection or overhaul. The intermediate pressure (IP) of the first stage should be within manufacturer specification which is normally between 125 and 150 PSI. If you have an unbalanced first stage, the intermediate pressure should be checked for high and low tank pressure. A balanced first stage should have a consistent intermediate pressure for a full or low tank. For the second stage, a magnahelic gage is used for measuring the cracking pressure. Cracking pressure is the minimal amount of inhalation effort required to begin airflow. This measurement is in inches of water versus pounds per square inches. This fine tuned adjustment is extremely important to avoid free flow or difficulty breathing. The Coral Restoration Foundation was founded by Ken Nedimyer in 2007. Ken at the time was a commercial fish collector and live rock farmer who noticed staghorn coral starting to grow on his underwater farm. Ken saw the potential of replanting coral. Over the years the Coral Restoration Foundation has grow. They invented Coral Trees for use in the nurseries. Their nursery off of Tavernier, FL covers 1.5 acres. They return tens of thousands corals back into the wild every year. Coral Restoration Foundation in partnership with NOAA and others are involved in Mission Iconic Reefs where they plan to restore 7 reef sites in FL comprising 93,000 square meters. Coral Restoration Foundation is committed to survival of this critical ecosystem. Ed Link was born in 1904 and as a young man he had a passion for flying. As an inventor, he developed the Link Trainer for training pilots. His trainer was used to train half a million airmen during World War II. By 1951, Link developed a new passion - for scuba diving. His new passion was for underwater archeology and research. He wanted to dive deeper, longer and more securely. In the early 1960s, Ed developed a project in concert with the National Geographic Society called Man-in-Sea. By 1964, Ed's project progressed to complete a dive in a small habitat that went down to 432 feet where two divers stayed for 49 hours. Ed Link also created a mini-submarine called Deep Diver that took two divers down to 700 feet. He then created another underwater vehicle called Johnson-Sea-Link. Tragedy - the loss of his son in 1973 turned Ed Link's attention to a rescue vehicle called the Cabled Observation and Rescue Device (CORD). Ed Link died in 1981.