Northwest Dive News Magazine Published Our Story: "Ghostly Depths - Exploring Alaska's S.S. Princess Sophia Shipwreck."

 

Our story, "Ghostly Depths - Exploring Alaska's SS Princess Sophia Shipwreck" appears in the August issue of Northwest Dive News. One of my pictures was selected for the magazine's cover and I'm thrilled to add that this issue also marks Kathryn's official mention as a Travel Writer on the magazine's masthead!

The link to the online edition is: http://www.divenewsnetwork.com​/home/northwest-dive-news/nw-d​igital-editions.html

INXS ~ The Original Sin Tour July 16, 2011.

 

July 16, 2011 -  River Rock Casino, Richmond, BC: “Ahhhhhhhh, elegantly wasted.”  Today was just another rainy day on Canada’s wet coast. Dropped off some dry cleaning, got some scuba tanks filled and picked up my new Liquivision Xeo dive computer.  Afterwards, we enjoyed an intimate dinner for two at a French bistro in Vancouver that garners great reviews with a beautiful wife whom I’m engaged in a torrid inter-marital affair, Then we rocked away the evening at the River Rock Casino with, INXS, one of Australia’s most successful rock exports.

INXS continues to perform to sold-out audiences worldwide. With the release of their latest album, Original Sin, the band reinvented their biggest hits with guest vocalists. However, J.D. Fortune was again front and center as their lead singer for this tour. 

While I never saw INXS perform with their founding lead singer, Michael Hutchence, I have seen them twice now with J.D. who does a wonderful job fronting the band.. Seeing INXS in a venue that seats approximately 1,000 is pure joy. This band ROCKS live! My wife, Kathryn, was all smiles. Thanks boys, that was a great gig!

Here are some images I shot along with a You Tube video that someone else shot during the show:

Say No To Shark Fin Soup: We Will Never Dine Again At Wah WIng Restaurant In Port Coquitlam, BC.

I’ve been fighting a flu bug the past few days and Kathryn got home late from work tonight, so we decided to go out for a bite. She was craving something with noodles so we decided on Szechuan at a local dining spot we had dined at before. Usually, we just order without looking at the menu. However, tonight Kathryn perused the menu and was disgusted to find various shark dishes on the menu.  “We’re outta here,” she said. As soon as she said that, I thought, “That’s my girl!”

Reducing demand for shark fin soup is the most important thing we can do to protect sharks from being driven to extinction.  For more Information go to: www.sharksavers.org

DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER on WAR.

April 16, 1953: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron."

Underwater Photographer At Work.

August 1993: During an overseas diving editorial assignment for Canada's DIVER Magazine, another underwater photographer made this picture of me as I was composing an image of this lionfish.  If you look closely in the diver picture, you can make out the lionfish against the reef. Good times!

The First Time Ever I Saw Her Face.

My wife is such a hard worker and one who always gives unselfishly to others. A day never passes without me thinking how blessed I am to seize the day knowing I am married to this marvelous woman. When I was driving home today, I heard Roberta Flack singing, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." A simply lovely song that made me instantly think of Kathryn. I will always remember... the first time ever I saw her face.

Folk singer, Ewan MacColl, wrote this song in 1957 for Peggy Seeger, who was later to become his wife. She was in a play and phoned him for suggestions on a song for a romantic scene. MacColl wrote this on the spot in less than an hour, playing it over the phone for his future wife to use in her play.

The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the empty skies, my love,
To the dark and the empty skies.

The first time ever I kissed your mouth
And felt your heart beat close to mine
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command, my love
That was there at my command.

And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last till the end of time my love
It would last till the end of time my love.

The Great White Shark: Our Ford Edge Gets Us There.

As a scuba diving duo / underwater photographer / underwater model team, I needed a vehicle that had enough cargo space to transport all our dive gear and underwater photography equipment. In the past, I owned a Ford Explorer, but the gas guzzler got to be too expensive. In 2007, I switched to a black Ford Edge. Loved it!

Three months ago, it was time to upgrade. I chose to go with another Ford Edge, only this time a white model. I named it the Great White Shark. Kathryn said, "Get it, loaded!", so we went for the digital dashboard, leather seats, sunroof, etc. The car's ride continues to impress and the interior is roomier than the previous model. Luv'in it, even more!

Hendrick's Gin – Certainly Not Your Average Gin.

Wow!, we recently tried Hendrick’s Gin – a Scottish small-batch spirit made by William Grant and Sons distillery, a Scottish company world-renowned for its acclaimed Glenfiddich and Balvenie single malt scotch.

What makes Hendrick's Gin unique are hints of coriander and citrus and a very pronounced cucumber taste. Some of Hendrick’s unique flavour is owed to its vapour-infusion process. The distillers revived a 19th century gin-making process using an antique 19th century Carterhead still that has been restored. Rather than boiling the raw botanicals – elderflower, orange and lemon peel and juniper, to name a few – “bathes ” the raw botanical in vapours. Bulgarian hand-picked rose petals and Dutch cucumbers are distilled and added after the bath. The gin’s dark bottle is modeled after a Victorian medicine bottle. From first glance you have some notion this isn’t your average gin.

Hendrick’s Gin is a fine spirit and one that my lovely wife now prefers over that ole stalwart standby, Bombay Sapphire Gin.

Northwest Dive News Published Our Story - Splendor In The Pass: Queen Charlotte Strait's Seven Tree Island

Northwest Dive News Magazine, July 2011, Editorial Comments nicely said:

"We will also take you out to Queen Charlotte Strait’s Seven Tree Island as Jett and Kathryn Britnell explore it. Harboring a rich assortment of marine invertebrates, Seven Tree’s bountiful feast of undersea shapes, textures and colors provide a visually stunning backdrop for underwater photographers and videographers; the Britnell’s do a great job painting a picture of the area for our readers."

Rick Stratton, Editor / Publisher, Dive News Network