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D.I.R.F The great debate
By Mark Chase on 9 October 2008 - comments
The big debate amongst divers who are planning to do a DIRF course is whether or not to practice your skills before receiving the training. My thoughts on this are heavily influenced by the comments of Richard and other GUE instructors and by the use of the Provisional Pass system.
It’s obvious that in this case the two divers who did skills and drills together before the course passed and the two that didn’t were referred for reassessment. This is surely a powerful argument for pre practice. However the instructors argument is don’t learn things incorrectly and build up the wrong muscle memory. Learn it properly on the course and then use the provisional pass as your tool to completing the assessment.
Let’s talk about… the S word
By Agnes Milowka on 18 September 2008 - comments
Solo diving – there I said it
If you mention the S word at a dive site more often than not folks get a little freaked out, give you a funny look and assume that you have a death wish. It is easy to see why, the first SCUBA course teaches us two things; never hold your breath and always dive with a buddy. Yet the idea that solo diving will automatically kill you is akin to the myth that doing it solo will make you go blind.
Day 2 – City of Mexico – Oh the Wildlife!
By Tim Ingmire on 11 September 2008 - comments
Plan:
- 48 metres for 30mins
- Back gas: air
- Deco with 70% switch at 12m
- TDT: 78mins
The Dive:
This started very much as the previous day arriving at the boat an hour before ropes-off to gear up and the briefing from Jack. This time however, our cylinders had appeared on the boat as if by magic, having been filled the previous evening – all we had to do was analyse the gas in the stages and adjust our plans accordingly. Nice and easy, just the way I like it. I just wished that all my diving started out like this.
Expedition with Deep Wreck Divers: Maldavia
By Tim Ingmire on 8 September 2008 - comments
Day 1 – HMS Moldavia – The shakedown!
Plan:
Bottom Time 50m for 25 mins
Twin 12’s with Air. Single 7L Deco gas: 80% switch at 9m
TDT: 69mins
The Dive:
This was it, my first deep dive in the UK briney. And not just any waters, oh no, this was doing it proper. This was the English Channel with big ships, potentially dreadful viz and strong currents. This was a dive that required support divers and accelerated staged decompression with a real deco trapeze – a dive that would use and need all the knowledge and experience that I had built up – one that had been carefully planned. Richard and I had been practicing this type of dive in Dorothea for this very trip but this was the real thing and potentially very different from diving in a quarry. Oh, and we were a long way from land – a very long way.
IDA 59 Russian Rebreather and the link to radioactive chip shops!
By Mark Ellyat on 7 September 2008 - comments
I bought this Russian made IDA59 rebreather a few weeks ago on the internet. It caught my eye because it was bundled together with the highly unusual and original submarine escape suit. After doing some homework I found that this rebreather was used on the deepest ever real life submarine escape in July of 1989.
Ocean Gladiator: A Deeper Interest
By Mark Ellyat on 5 September 2008 - comments
Work as diving instructor can be very seasonal. To stay busy you need to travel to other holiday destinations as the tourist seasons rotate. After a year in Barbados, I felt a return to the United Kingdom was on the cards. Arriving back in London gave me itchy feet almost immediately, and I phoned around for work in various holiday destinations around the British south coast even before my tan had faded. In 1995, I’d had my first laptop for over a year already, but the internet still resembled semaphore and websites where just glimmers in a ‘net-nurds’ eye.
Technical Ventures – The Return
By Mark Davies on 2 September 2008 - comments
Okay, the weather had improved – but only a little
On our second visit to Capernwray we at least didn’t have to contend with snow on the ground, but it was still mighty cold! There wasn’t the same thin film of ice over the water but it hadn’t warmed up any at all in the intervening week – still a very chilly 5c!
Technical Ventures
By Mark Davies on 29 August 2008 - comments
Mortality
When I was a young man still in my late teens, like everyone else of that age, I thought I was immortal. Life was going to last for ever and nothing I did I thought of as dangerous.
I was rock climbing in those days; testing myself and pushing the edges of the envelope. It was simply a personal challenge and I never considered it genuinely dangerous. But then someone I knew was killed in a climbing accident. Graham wasn’t a close friend to me; he was a school friend of my older brother. They had climbed together though Graham and I hadn’t. But he was a very dear friend to the young woman who today is my wife. She really felt his loss.
A dive to 313m...successfully
By Mark Ellyat on 27 August 2008 - comments [2]
I like to dive deep, I like a challenge and it’s rewarding to do something difficult and return safely. In February 2003, I almost dived my last dive, and this was my first major diving incident in almost 3000 dives. This deep dive was to 260m as a practice dive for a deeper one soon after.
The ascent plan was aggressive time wise, but I had built confidence in this particular decompression algorithm and had dived it “deep for long” many times. How mistaken could I have been? The decompression schedule proved woefully inadequate and the injuries I sustained will probably take a lifetime to fully recover from. During my rehabilitation I couldn’t do much but read books and try to make the best of it. I went over my dive plan again and again, It was not until after the dive that I discovered that although it was commercially available dive software, It was not tested in any way, and had no place suggesting it could provide an ascent solution from a depth well within its stated specifications.
Copper Mine Dive
By Mark Ellyat on 25 August 2008 - comments [1]
Saturday 26 Oct 2002, the date for my latest sortie into Coniston Copper Mine. This would be dive five in the mine, planned dive depth 237m. At this depth the original copper ore work face would join the main shaft, according to the mines original plans. The four previous dives were carried out to obtain video footage and feel more comfortable with the 309m deep, 2m square shaft with its 9’c water temp and pitch black darkness.
Ocean Gladiator: Part2
By Mark Ellyat on 25 August 2008 - comments
First Break In The Business
A diving centre in Barbados, called Shades of Blue, had agreed to employ me at exorbitant cost. For seven days work, with each day near sixteen hours duration, I could relax in the knowledge I would receive the princely sum of seventy U.S dollars. Still, my rent was cheap and we got free lunch when memory served the owners. My first day at work was my first chance to experience being underwater while unconscious. A tropical storm had lashed the west coast for a week or more.
Ocean Gladiator: Part1
By Mark Ellyat on 23 August 2008 - comments [1]
All At Sea
I thought scuba would be exciting, but drifting in the choppy seas midway between Cancun and Cozumel was more seasick and sunburn than adrenaline packed adventure. I started my diving course just one day earlier and already I was going to end up as a shark snack. Yesterday was spent mostly filling out forms and trying on equipment to fill time while we waited for the instructor to arrive. There were six others in the group – five from the States or Canada, I guessed from the accents, plus myself. When she did turn up, Instructor Karen introduced herself and made some excuses for the delay.
SS Sambut
By Brian Hennessy on 23 August 2008 - comments
18 August 1943: The SS Sambut (number 169803 – Signal: BKXP) was only awarded a Provisional Registration in the Lloyds Register of Masters. There, just23 periods of command are recorded – the first commenced in Glasgow on 26th June 1943 – the first commenced in San Francisco on 18 August 1943 and ended in Glasgow, arriving on 7th March 1944 – the second engagement commenced on 12 April 1944 – was never completed. The Register is annotated simply, “War loss. Sunk”.
Paddling in the Clyde
By Ron Mahoney on 7 August 2008 - comments
In 1789 the Scots steamboat pioneer William Symington began to experiment with engines suitable for propelling a small boat. He developed the first paddle-powered craft that was capable of 6 knots and was designed for ‘dragging vessels’. This ‘new technology’ was viewed with as much consternation as nuclear technology has been over the past four decades. By the 1830’s most sailing ships were being fitted with steam engines for extra power on ocean voyages, but the amount of coal they could carry was small and the engine would be used in conjunction with sail. The epitome of this style of ship was the huge Great Eastern. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Great Eastern was built to carry enough coal for voyages to India and Australia.
Cold water & mixed gas diving
By Ron Mahoney on 10 March 2007 - comments
It wasn’t so long ago that the onset of winter meant it was time for your diving equipment to undergo its ‘end of season maintenance’. At about the same time that Blue Peter presenter’s stuffed their tortoise into a cardboard box (remember children, leave holes for it to breathe), so too it was time to hang up your fins. Yes, there were winter dives, but on the whole these were 20-minute dips into sheer freezing hell. You didn’t need run times – you just used the symptoms of hypothermia to calculate your bottom time before bolting from the water and trying to control the shivering long enough for you to twist off the brass fastenings on your wetsuit top. Not for us were the numerous hours spent idly watching television.
This one was special
By Rick Ayrton on 11 January 2007 - comments
After finishing a week’s liveaboard, you often re-live that week, compare it with previous trips and subconsciously score it. Was it in the top 10, top 5 or did it displace the previous number one slot? This one blew them all away!
The trip was to Norway, land of fjords, mountains, Vikings and trolls, joining the ship in Bergen then travelling north to Sognefjord and diving along the way.
D.I.R.F. the training part 1
By Mark Chase on 21 February 2006 - comments
My instructor for the DIRF course was Richard Walker. By pure luck he turned out to be the ideal man to train someone like me who was not 100% sold on all the standards of DIR. Richards had been diving as long as I had and he had come through a BSAC and TDI background before deciding to follow the path of a DIR diver and instructor. Someone with this background would have experienced the same problems I had and would therefore understand my concerns.
Richard was assisted by David Martin. David was a GUE instructor in training and would be doing the video work and generally helping out. He was 26 and came from a BSAC university club background. The youth and his more limited diving experience set him apart from Richard and in conversation I got the impression that his loyalty to the DIR systems and practices was based more on faith in the work of others rather than personal experience. That said at the level of diving DIRF is preparing you for I have no doubt he could dive rings round me and his presentation skills were very good.
Return to the Shadows
By Mark Milburn on 1 February 2006 - comments
It was now a month since the quarry had been last dived. The poor conditions out at sea had left everyone desperate to get wet, even if it was a muddy puddle. I had been contacted by a few people from South West Mafia wanting to visit the quarry, even by certain people who have said they only dive salt water.
Once again we had arranged to meet at Sharkys’ house, not only for a cup of tea and a chat, but to get a plan together about the dive ahead, and to tell them of the problems we found last time. Whilst drinking our tea I did mention that due to the rain, the visibility may not be as good as before, little did I know that the rain would cause other changes to the days plan.
Inland Shadow Diving: Part2
By John Rudolf on 30 October 2005 - comments
Many thanks Mark for inviting me down! It was a really interesting, testing day and it was great to meet such a nice group of fellow divers for the first time. I met Mark via the website I help run, SouthWestMafia . I was intrigued when he mentioned a new “secret” quarry, and more so when I heard it could be 105m deep! After a few messages, he invited me to join his group exploring it for the first time. It hadn’t been dived by anyone before. Ever! How could I refuse?
Diving this quarry held a few challenges – the depth and the location. The unknown depth meant choosing a gas that would work for a range of depths and give me a really low END (Equivalent Narcotic Depth). The location meant carrying a lot of heavy gear up and down a slippery path. This was dangerous not only because of potential bubble-inducing strains pre-dive, but most importantly post-dive bubbles. The last thing you want to be doing after a deep dive is humping kit around. Come to think of it, I never like humping kit around…
Inland Shadow Diving: Part1
By Mark Milburn on 21 October 2005 - comments
A few years ago I was talking to a diving buddy, Sharky, about diving in quarries. I remember thinking the closest quarry to us was Vobster quay, a 2 hour drive away. Sharky mentioned there was a quarry a little closer. That afternoon we went for an investigation.
Sharky took me to an old slate quarry that closed well over 100 years ago, known only by the locals. Some locals use it for swimming, others use it to dispose of unwanted items such as barbed wire and even cars (one witness we spoke to said that he had even seen a car go into the quarry-but wanted to remain anonymous). It is even said that the quarry is haunted.
The depth of the quarry was unknown, local opinion ranged from rumours that it was bottomless to more factual accounts that it was some 330ft. The fact was no one knew for sure! The sheer lack of accurate information made us a little cautious about diving the quarry. Not only was the dive going to be hazardous but the access promised to be difficult – unless you wanted to do a 10m stride entry from the top edge!!
Rebreather Fever on the Inspiration
By Alan Edwards on 30 June 2005 - comments [1]
After my Advanced Nitrox Course and Decompressions procedures course (TDI), I was in 2 minds whether to carry on with open circuit or to move onto Rebreathers.
The mindset I had at the time was to go Open Cirucit (OC) for a couple of years and then to Rebreathers. This approach would have entailed shelling out thousands for a OC tech rig and then even more money for a Rebreather in the future. I would also be starting from fresh, since OC skills or not transferable to CCR-Closed Circuit Rebreathers (much to my annoyance). Also there was so much bad press from the likes of the usual Diver (Advert) mags I was hesitant to be honest!
Aaron at TekStreme advised me to move as quickly as possible to CCR since I would be basically starting from scratch and the move from OC to CCR became harder the more experienced you were in OC.
Getting into Tech Diving
By Alan Edwards on 10 June 2005 - comments
As divers become more experienced and more educated with training a natural progression occurs towards diving with Nitrox (defined below). This in itself is the first step towards becoming a technical diver. The advantages are clear, better bottom dives and less post diving affects associated with with usingair (nitrogen loading and fatigue is accepted by all to being reduced when using Nitrox), though this comes at a price. The diver is constrained to a Maximum Operating Depth (MOD) which reflects the Nitrox mix being used for the dive.
The additional dangers of diving with Nitrox than with air are made very clear on the PADI Nitrox course, the dreaded Oxygen Toxicity. This is generally fatal at depth due to the associated convulsions which cause the diver to drown (unless a full face mask is worn). What is worse there is very little indication something that might be wrong before the convulsions begin.
