What a Dive!

Mike Sciacca

The modern era of skindiving began in the 1930s and some 70 years

later memorabilia from those early years, as well as the modern day, is

now housed at the Museum of Skindiving History.

The museum itself consumes the west wall of the Huntington Beach

International Surfing Museum Downtown.

A grand opening celebration was held Saturday, and the many visitors

who stopped by included Mayor Pam Julien Houchen and Congressman Dana

Rohrabacher.

“Seeing them was a great surprise, and the turnout throughout the day

was much greater than we expected,” said Nate Baker, one of six museum

board members. “It was a great day and a great start to the launching of

this museum.”

Several volunteers have made the museum a reality, and Baker credits

the surf museum’s Natalie Kotsch for her efforts.

“She has been terrific,” Baker said. “Actually, there is a kinship

between surfers and skindivers. In many instances, a surfer has tried his

hand at skindiving and vice versa. We would like to be part of the surf

museum as long as they will have us.”

The museum was the brainchild of Ron Mullins of San Clemente and Vance

Carriere of Long Beach. Mullins and Carriere, with the help of fellow

board member Chuck Blakeslee, co-founder of Skindiver Magazine, and

several members of the California diving community, began working on the

project earlier this year.

“This sport has a very rich oral tradition and we wanted to record

firsthand accounts of people who dove without even the most basic

equipment that we take for granted, like masks and fins,” Mullins said.

The exhibit features vintage skindiving equipment, early still

photographs and video of the sport’s pioneers.

What drew the attention of most visitors on Saturday was a video loop

that played continuously throughout the afternoon.

Video footage included what divers have seen and discovered along the

California coast.

“People seemed riveted by this video,” Baker said. “They get to see

plenty of video and amazing artifacts, some [that are] very, very

primitive.”

Skindiving, Baker said, had its modern day birth with the San Diego

Bottom Scratchers in the early 1930s. The club was started up by three

men including pioneer Jack Prodanovich.

An instrumental force in the development of skindiving, Prodanovich,

now in his 80s, was active in the sport as recently as five years ago

when he was still building spear guns.

Prodanovich’s first diving mask included his taking a piece of glass

from an old speedometer and fitting it into an over piece of rubber.

His invention came in 1934 and served as the prototype for diving

masks.

“He was very innovative and is a very important figure in the sport of

skindiving,” Baker said. “To see how this sport began in the 1930s to

where it has come today is really amazing. The guys in those days had

very primitive equipment.”

It can all be seen at the Museum of Skindiving History. Soon, visitors

will be able to see and hear Prodanovich speak of his adventures as the

museum plans to add interviews with the sport’s pioneers to its video

collection.

“This is an exciting beginning for the skindiving museum,” Baker

added. “This will be an ongoing project and will continue to grow.”