An inside look at the first solo trip to the deepest point of the Atlantic
To reach the bottom of all five oceans, this Texas businessman commissioned “the most significant vehicle since Apollo 11.â€
By Josh Dean December 21, 2018
One down!†Those were Victor Vescovo’s first words after climbing out of the hatch of the DSV Limiting Factor. He had just dove 27,480 feet down to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench, making him the first person to reach the absolute nadir of the Atlantic Ocean. Or at least those were the first intelligible words, over the waves, and the motor of the nearby Zodiac raft, and the low hum of the support vessel DSSV Pressure Drop, which was idling nearby.
The sun had just set, creating a ridiculous backdrop of orange sky and translucent blue Caribbean water. It would have seemed stage-directed, had I not been on the Pressure Drop for a week by then, observing three failed tests that put the whole dive in jeopardy. The Pressure Drop needed to leave its post at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 19 in order to reach its port call in the Dominican Republic the next morning. Vescovo surfaced from his six-hour, 55,000-foot round-trip journey to the ocean floor and back at approximately 5:45 p.m.—just over an hour to spare. Next year, provided there are no major setbacks, he plans to take the Limiting Factor around the planet in an attempt to become the first person to reach the lowest point in all five oceans. Hence those first words: one down, four to go.
https://www.popsci.com/victor-vescovo-five-deeps-submarine
