{"id":24822,"date":"2023-06-13T12:39:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T16:39:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.dan.org\/?post_type=dan_alert_diver&p=24822"},"modified":"2023-07-27T17:00:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T21:00:43","slug":"member-profile-breathing-gas-giant-jess-stark","status":"publish","type":"dan_alert_diver","link":"https:\/\/world.dan.org\/id\/alert-diver\/article\/member-profile-breathing-gas-giant-jess-stark\/","title":{"rendered":"Profil Anggota: Raksasa Gas Pernapasan Jess Stark"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DARI LINGKARAN ARKTIK KE ANTARTIKA<\/strong>, if you\u2019ve ever taken a breath from a scuba cylinder, there\u2019s a good chance that cylinder was filled using a Stark Industries breathing-air compressor. For half a century dive operators and fill stations around the world have been using Stark compressors to fill divers\u2019 tanks, trusting their quality to meet daily demands. It\u2019s no surprise to find the same level of toughness and dependability in the compressors\u2019 namesake: Jess Loren Stark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sebagai penduduk Texas seumur hidup, Stark mulai menyelam pada tahun 1954 dengan regulator selang ganda dan tanpa pengukur tekanan atau kompensator daya apung. Saat belajar hukum di Wharton, dia mendaftar di Korps Marinir AS pada tahun 1955 dan bertugas dengan terhormat selama enam tahun. Setelah keluar, ia kembali ke rumah dan memulai bisnis kecil-kecilan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 1962 I bought a small gun shop in Houston called Shooter\u2019s Supply and eventually turned it into a machine shop since I had acquired a lathe and milling machine,\u201d Stark said. \u201cIn 1968 the dive shop I frequented mentioned they needed an air compressor, so I figured I could make one for them and did. It seemed more lucrative than machining parts, so I kept at it. Word got out, I started hiring employees to handle additional sales, and the business began to grow.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Stark wasn\u2019t building compressors, he was diving offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. After his first trip on the liveaboard Aqua Safari,<\/em> he immediately began working on ways to get free dive trips \u2014 an approach familiar to many passionate dive professionals. First working as an unpaid deckhand and then offering repair and maintenance on the boat\u2019s compressor, he eventually earned his U.S. Coast Guard Charter Boat Captain license and became the Aqua Safari<\/em>\u2019s assistant captain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1972 Stark\u2019s dive experience expanded into commercial diving, and he worked jobs in dangerous conditions that took him all over the United States. Stark recalls wearing an Advanced 2000 air helmet mated to a Viking drysuit with 70 pounds of lead, working in the intense heat of a South Carolina nuclear power station\u2019s spent fuel pool as he was lowered into the 116\u00b0F liquid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter about 29 minutes I realized I was close to losing consciousness and radioed the tender to get me out,\u201d he said. \u201cI learned then that the backup diver on the surface had fainted while I was working.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stark masih memiliki helm Kirby Morgan SuperLite 17 dengan nomor seri #003, yang dibelinya pada tahun 1975 langsung dari Bob Kirby dan Bev Morgan. Dia memuji desainnya yang kokoh karena telah menyelamatkan nyawanya dalam beberapa kesempatan, salah satunya saat pusar selamnya terlilit poros baling-baling di laut yang deras. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe umbilical became a tightly packed 2-foot-diameter ball around the prop shaft, and I gradually unwound it while rotating the massive prop blade,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe more wraps I got off, the easier the prop was to turn. But the stern was rising 6 to 8 feet out of the water with each wave, and every time it crashed down it caused a complete foam whiteout. On one of the downward crashes the force jerked the prop blade out of my hand, and the next blade below me rotated up and crushed my head between the blade and the ship\u2019s hull. The helmet was so strong that my head was totally uninjured, and the only damage to the helmet was the destruction of the regulator, which caused it to free-flow uncontrollably.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Stark found fulfillment in his dive career and in the global distribution of his compressors, he is most proud of his years in law enforcement serving his community in Houston. Before he built his first compressor, Stark joined the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office as a diver in 1965. The work was informal at first; deputies used privately owned boats, and the divers\u2019 only responsibility was to remain available to work dive scenes day or night whenever called. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe recovered everything you can imagine from the murky waters, rivers, and ponds of Harris County, where visibility was often zero,\u201d Stark said, \u201cincluding murder weapons, drowning victims, cars, counterfeiting equipment for the Secret Service, and a safe for the FBI, just to name a few.\u201d After 35 years in the Marine Division, Stark transferred to the Sheriff\u2019s Academy as a firearms instructor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A diver can\u2019t stay away from the water for long though; after years of training new recruits, Stark returned to the Marine Division to dramatic changes. \u201cThe county had purchased boats for the Sheriff\u2019s Office, and we were assigned harbor patrols in the Port of Houston for the Department of Homeland Security,\u201d Stark said. \u201cOur duties included preventing unauthorized boats from entering security zones, and we carried personal radiation detectors to alert us to the presence of any nuclear devices while on patrol.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 56 years of service with the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office and Reserve Command, Stark retired to spend more time with family and help his team run Stark Industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Close calls for Stark extended beyond his days as a diver and in law enforcement. Throughout his life Stark has been fortunate to survive countless brushes with death, some of which read like a Dos Equis \u201cmost interesting man in the world\u201d beer commercial, yet he has the scars and newspaper clippings to prove them. He was shot in the hand by a derringer, shafted in the shoulder by a spear gun, charged by an elephant in Kenya, mauled by a lion in Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), and chased out of the water by hungry 12-foot bull sharks. He survived a plane crash in a pineapple field in Honduras and plugged the holes in a 65-foot steel- hull ship as it sank 80 miles off the Gulf Coast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn every calamitous event, I am grateful that God watched over and delivered me from disaster and my feckless nature,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter years of experiences kept to myself, I have been hounded by friends and family to share them. At their request I\u2019m putting them together in a book to reflect on the importance of faith, family, and living a fulfilling life. My niece Desiree has already decided on a title for it: Nine Lives \u2013 And Then Some<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 AD<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Jess
On patrol in the Port of Houston, Stark served with the Harris County Sheriff\u2019s Office for 56 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kampung halaman: <\/strong>Houston, Texas
Usia: <\/strong>86
Bertahun-tahun Menyelam: <\/strong>69
Penyelaman Paling Berkesan: <\/strong>Melakukan lebih dari 400 kali penyelaman di bangkai kapal V.A. Fogg tak lama setelah kapal tersebut tenggelam pada tahun 1972
Anggota DAN Sejak: 1995
Mengapa saya menjadi Anggota DAN: <\/strong>Pertama kali saya menemukan DAN, saya langsung terpikir oleh saya. Mengapa tidak memiliki dukungan evakuasi darurat dan asuransi kecelakaan penyelaman saat melakukan olahraga favorit saya, terutama dengan jumlah penyelaman dekompresi yang saya lakukan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Stark
Kompresor gas pernapasan Stark Industries telah menyediakan pengisian tangki bagi para penyelam di seluruh dunia selama setengah abad.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Stark
Stark dengan helm Kirby Morgan SuperLite 17, nomor seri #003, dalam sebuah foto surat kabar tahun 1978 setelah pemulihan di Danau Amistad, Texas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Stark
Stark di Cusco, Peru, pada tahun 1954<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"kapal
Kapal selam liveaboard Aqua Safari menjalankan perjalanan menyelam pertamanya pada awal 1972<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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JELAJAH LEBIH LANJUT<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Perjalanan kembali ke tahun 1972 dan menyelam di atas bangkai kapal SS V.A. Fogg <\/em>dengan Aqua Safari<\/em> liveaboard. Rekaman luar biasa dan menakjubkan yang diambil oleh juru kamera yang berkarier, Rick Armstrong, melestarikan sejarah bangkai kapal yang sekarang tidak dapat dikenali oleh mereka yang menyelaminya dalam beberapa bulan pertama setelah tenggelam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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