MARINA DEL REY, July 4 2001) —DIVEBOARDS Celebrate Second Birthday:
Diveboards, the newest and best invention for flying underwater, were born two years ago today in the warm clear waters of Baja California. And tomorrow, you will be able to point and click your cursor at www.diveboard.org and have two new production molded plastic Diveboard models delivered to your front door.
Underwater “flying” has been going on for a long time in one form or another. Whether towed by an electric underwater scooter or just holding the end of a rope from a boat, it has always been fun to get a free ride as you maneuver underwater.
The Diveboard is the last in a long line of patented devices. Diveboards give unmatched ease and power to underwater exploration and sight seeing.
The patented principal that makes Diveboards work so well was discovered and perfected by a retired lighting and special effects designer named Tim Tunks, who retired ten years ago to sail around Mexico in his 37’ sloop, “Scallywag”. Using a scrap of plywood and a 75’ anchor line, Tunks was towed around the picnic anchorage by an inflatable dinghy to scout some fresh seafood for the clambake. Underwater towing was both effective and a lot of fun!
However, clinging with both hands to a chunk of wood as you were dragged about was still a lot of work and intimidated the less adventurous swimmers. Tunks set his goal: to make it easy to have complete control with no effort -- for effortless control makes greatly extended diving times with reduced oxygen consumption. Two weeks later the first drawing was finished and the next week Tim took the first Diveboard out for a test ride.Then followed six weeks of great fun as the community of retired cruisers in Mexico became the willing test subjects for each new generation of Diveboard evolution. Tunks tells of the “focus groups” where a dozen or so families would all try the various Diveboards, and give the inventor their feed back as all were feeding at the potluck dinners that followed. With the help and support of a couple of best friends and a bunch of other wonderful cruising folks, Diveboards were perfected and Tim returned to California to do his patent search and then file his application.
Since then, the patent office has approved all Diveboard’s broad claims and RMI, a large plastic manufacturer, is now molding two different models of Diveboard on their Gardena, CA production lines.
Diveboards are currently being used in scientific research from Florida to Pudget Sound to Baja California, and they are under evaluation by the Los Angeles County Lifeguards and Fire Departments. Several spear fishing champions use Diveboards for their pre tournament scouting, and we are now seeing them out in Catalina Island’s waters in the hands of recreational divers and boaters.
