Prima Seal - 26/03/2019

There is something enormously satisfying when a training dive with a trainee you give a brief and it all goes to plan, even down to the last detail. Tonight was one such night.

I briefed about the site (Conger Alley), the activities (an assisted ascent), and what we'd be likely to see. Now, I mentioned a seal, not because I thought it would happen but because I wanted him to be prepared if it did.

We entered the water, went down and undertook the drill exactly as planned. Then, once we had reset and checked our air, headed for a wee paddle round the reef.

I was showing him nudibranchs when I felt it - the gentle push and pull of a large animal swimming by. I stopped taking pictures and waited. Then she passed again. I could see my trainee was excited and delighted rather than fearful. However, from then on in I watched him like a hawk to make sure he never went rapidly to the surface.

He emerged buzzing and happy.

Nudi

Firework Anemone

It's Going Down, I'm Yelling Timber! - 17/03/2019

When Pitbull penned his little ditty, I'm not entirely sure he knew it would be used on the shore of Gare Loch as a pre-dive anthem. However, it was.

"We're diving down, we're diving Clynder,

You gotta move, you gotta dive"

Repeat ad nauseum.

It was an entirely unspectacular dive where I taught someone how to do a circular sweep search.

I'll say no more. :)

The Only Way Is Up - 03/11/2018

So there are two guys in my club, I like them both and I'm desperate to get both of them through their ScotSAC Master Diver Award. We had managed to secure a date when they both could have a go at rescue lifts and also perhaps a 30m ascent.

The weather forecast had predicted that we'd be battered by the tail end of a hurricane that had caused havoc on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. However, by the time it came to us it was just a bit cold an miserable - miserable enough to deter most others from diving.

We headed to Conger Alley where aside from two other club members we had the place to ourselves. We kitted up and headed down for 30m assisted ascent. It never went well. In the first instance we struggled to get the depth, then when we did the area was super silty. We began only for one person to start suffering from a dark narc. It wasn't worth it so we simply headed back. I'm glad I took a compass heading as I led them back through the flat silt.

Our second dive was going to be two 15m rescue lifts. We had time for one go each. Both of them succeeded in delivering an excellent lifts but failed to stop for the required safety stop.

Afterwards we chatted about the computer data. I tried to put a positive spin on it for the guys but I was disappointed for them, because I know they can do it.

Deep Learning - 22/07/2018

I like taking people down to where they've never been before. So after the wedding of two divers at Cairndow myself and the Chairman headed to Seal Reef to do a couple of 31m+ dives and attempt to sign off a couple of skills.

To help with the first skill a member of the Glasgow South Branch had agreed to be my victim. He was an unknown quantity and it didn't work out. So we abandoned that plan and just went for a nice dive to 34m.

At the surface interval we chatted, ate rolls and bacon before heading in again to complete the famous ScotSAC Master Diver Striptease or aqualung removal, swim and refit as it is more commonly called. Once that was nailed we headed down to 31m, u-turned and came back up.

That meant the Chairman had another few tasks ticked off on his journey to Master Diver.