Chris Sohl

1/? I’ve been waiting a long time to tell this story. Last August, while I was in Panama City Beach with world’s-best-dive-buddy @tim.edlin , our pal JR (the Cold War legend whom you may remember from a previous post) clued us into an upcoming historic Mk V helmet dive in October, an hour north of PCB at Vortex Springs. With diving the Mk V absolutely on the bucket list, our dear loving wives gave us the green light. To be continued… [📸 by @tim.edlin ]

Putting social media back on the shelf for a season or two. Text me sometime. Let’s hang out.

Throwback to a little B-roll of my @ships.log brethren from Windup in a Lake ‘25 for your Friday viewing pleasure. I dunno if the world can handle this much handsome man, but we’ll give it a shot.

Windup in a Lake 2025 was a rad one, partnering again with @wornandwound and @citizenwatchus to throw it back to 1985 for the 40th anniversary of Aqualand. Beyond the cool factor of spotting them on old timers in dive shops, it’s a watch I’ll admit I didn’t fully understand for a long time… but now I’ve got it, bad. Photos here by so many talented individuals, including @watchcowsdive , @deepsea.edc , @lattmudvigson @brickro , @kyality and others I’m probably missing. Big thanks to @kyality , @kaito.d_ , @brickro , @devinpennypacker , and of course my @ships.log brethren for making another unforgettable adventure possible. Not to mention the beautiful @easohl for putting up with all the time and energy I put into these nerd odysseys. Love you, babe. 😘

One year later. What an incredibly special day. It had to be enshrined on the caseback. If you see me, ask for the story. Stay tuned for this weekend…

Thanks for the TGN shoutout, fellas. The Defy Revival Diver isn’t leaving my wrist anytime soon.

Spot the wood sprite… 🧚 Happy birthday, my darling love. Your smile is the sun breaking through my dark branches. Nowhere I’d rather be than wherever you are.

Windup in a Bay 2025 is in the books. An unforgettable adventure on the majestic California coast with friends old and new. Thank you to @marathonwatch and @prometheusdesignwerx for making this possible, and to my partner in crime, @kyality with @wornandwound , as ever The Man Who Makes Things Happen. Check out Worn&Wound and this week’s @thegreynato podcast for the recap and more incredible moments. 📸’s by @gavin_too_much_fun , @deepsea.edc , and @originaloaktowndivers

—2024— 60 bold years of Man in the Sea 3 celebrations down in emerald PCB 200 dives make an auspicious start, as do 15 yrs wed to Elizabeth, my heart The first of those 3 celebrations was technically last September, 2023, when this model, the @tudorwatch Pelagos FXD in black, was released at the @maninseamuseum in tribute to Tudor’s history with the US Navy. I was incredibly humbled to attend. I set my sights on the watch then. But as 2024 unfolded, there was so much more to celebrate and remember: in June I hit 200 dives total, off the coast of NJ where I first splashed in 2016. Then in July we attended SEALAB’s 60th anniversary Heroes Banquet (celebration #2) and toured the Navy Experimental Diving Unit. And most important of all, @easohl and I celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss with a week together that we’ll never forget. Special thanks to @kyality and the @windupwatchshop for their help in sourcing this (now discontinued) Oris, and to @shopdavisjewelers here in Louisville for putting up with me. To my @ships.log mates, for every adventure. And of course, to the incomparable @cole_pennington for igniting the fuse. #alwaysreadthecaseback

Steve Mulholland, legend. Spending a full and highly accomplished career as a Navy Diver and retiring on top (Master Diver, Command Master Chief), I know Steve has more than a few stories that would make your head spin. But the thing is, I’ve yet to hear any of them because he’s so busy telling and caretaking the stories of the trailblazers who came before him. That’s real humility, and honor. I count myself very fortunate to call him a friend. Thanks for everything you do, @manintheseamuseum , and for always making us NERDS feel welcome. Also huuuuge shout out to his partners in crime, Brian, Steve G, and every other Navy Master Diver Son of a Gun that gives generously of their time to keep this history vividly alive. Thank you for the incredible work you are doing!

The Navy Experimental Diving Unit. What phrase could be more evocative? The George F. Bond Ocean Simulation Facility is named for the visionary Navy doctor who became the father of saturation diving. Taking what he saw as a literally Biblical mandate for “Man’s dominion over the sea,” he did not give up until humans really were living and working hundreds of feet down on the ocean floor. It was our second, simultaneous, inner Space Race in the late 60s, and it produced the technology that arguably won the Cold War. Yet few have ever heard of it (a tragedy), and far fewer have ever had the chance to see this immense facility from the inside. When the Experimental Dive Unit moved to Panama City Beach in the 1970s, engineer Jim McCarthy designed this massive, three-story system of 5 interlocking dry pressure chambers above one 55,000 gallon wet chamber, all capable of pressing aquanauts and equipment down to 2,250 feet of sea water (a pressure equivalent to 1000 pounds per square inch), where they must breathe helium (with a pinch of O2) instead of air to survive. To this day, the men and women who staff it continue the work of Dr. Bond’s Project Genesis and Sealab I, II, and III, plunging ever deeper through the true final frontier. Huge thanks to Master Diver Kraft for the OSF tour, and of course to @maninseamuseum for making this once-in-a-lifetime privilege possible.

Headed for the deep end. The pools at the NDSTC where the real training starts. “Stress and drown-proofing,” as they call it, including “pool hits” (check the video, a clip from an awesome recruiting video we were shown to kick off the tour). These are also used for various work projects, especially the deeper of the two, at 40 feet! The big crane picks up those projects from behind the pool 🏗️ and lowers them down into the blue for the divers to train and work on. What do you think? Are you drown-proof?