Apnea - 19/11/2017

My recent search history has convinced Google Ad Words that I have a thing for snoring. In actual fact I've been looking at www.learn2freedive.com. In part, it's because I'm fascinated by the videos of French freediver Guillaume Nery. The films make holding your breath seem very cool. Moreover, I like the underwater world and thought I'd like to have a crack at that! Of course, as much as I'm a romantic, I'm a realist. I know I'm not going to be the next Nery.

I therefore decided to sign up to do AIDA ** . 

Before going to the course I got my breath hold up to 2m 13s, read the book and got set to do the course.

It was a pretty full on day with loads to take in. I got my static breath hold up to 2m 53s before moving onto dynamic stuff.

Worth a try? Sure, why not?

This guy actually explains why it's a decent thing to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6MunbuTWVc

Breath Damn It, Breathe! - 12/11/2017

One of the best thing about ScotSAC, and I assume club diving with BSAC, is that they train you for free. There are some exceptions to this, of course, such as 50m diving and nitrox courses. However, when it comes to safety it's pretty much always free.

• Rescue training for Sport Divers? Free
• Deep rescue training from 30m? Free
• Diver First Aid and O2? Free

It's for that reason that I'm critical of some of the commercial agencies charging for first responder courses. They aren't concerned about the safety of the dive community.

Today myself and a few others did the Diver First Aid course, most of us had first aid training, but it's always good to have a refresher. In all about 17 divers took part, a free benefit to all wider dive community.

CPR

The Hunt Nudi November - 11/11/2017

After camping out in the van overnight at Firkin Point, Loch Lomond overnight, Gill.I.Am and I headed over to Loch Long where we knew the Barrman and Leigh were diving. We arrived to find them 'chilling' on their surface interval.

We chatted, and I seriously considered kitting up to join them for a quick dive with what was left in my 15l tank from last night. Naturally, the lure of the warmth and a role and bacon kept me out the water for a little longer, but we chatted and had a laugh before heading to the day's main event Anchor Point, Loch Fyne, where the Announcer and Jim were toddling up later in the morning.

In the interim, Gill.I.Am and sat in the van watching John Wick.

Once there we kitted up and headed in for a couple of dives. I was keen see Trichesia Caerulea and spent much of the first dive looking for them, but it was the Announcer who spotted them on our very first safety stop just casually hanging out on some seaweed in the shallows. there were a few of them too.

We also spotted Polycera faeroensis, a huge red gurnard, conger eels, bloody henrys and a few other of my favorites. It was a good day diving.

Charitable Outreach - 10/11/2017

It is a well known (or ken't if you're from Falkirk) fact that beneath my gruff exterior I'm a charitable chap. As members of my club know ,I've taken the step of introducing as many people as possible to diving at night. People appreciate it, not everyone enjoys the dark as I do. On this occasion I took Walker Texas Ranger and Andy G out to Finnart for another dive in the dark. 

We were running late. A phenomenon that happens a lot with diving. We quickly kitted up and got into the water for a potter around.

The viz was decent as we plodded from frame to frame. We passed a nice pipefish, a few cuttlefish and a number of the usual suspects.

It was another success, and pleasantly uneventful!

Back on the surface Gill.I.Am loaded up the trailer and headed to Firkin Point, Loch Lomond to camp overnight.

The Dive Whisperer - 05/11/2017

With the Barrman finalising his instructor training he had asked me if I'd come out with the guys from the club to buddy his Landlady for a couple if dives. Now the poor Landlady has spent much of the last year or so unable to dive, while the Barrman has had the diving time of his life. This was therefore a chance for the Landlady to skill up while diving with one of the greatest dive ninjas in a very small geographical area.

With that we had a chat about what we'd do. I explained how the A-Frames works. We set some limits and off we went. On the first dive I could tell she was a bit nervous - being a little unsure of the site and not a fan of poor visibility. However, decent training always kicks in even throughout the dive her breathing rate slowed.

We came out chatted about and then set off to dive the same route again. This time she was calmer, smoother in the water. The presence of the mighty Frewbowski was making a difference.

In fact, in-depth scientific analysis* proved that her air consumption fell by 15% throughout the day. I should really call myself the Dive Whisperer.

We saw some cool stuff too:

• Highland dancers
• Lobster
• Conger

......And the Barrman passed his instructor training.

The dive crew for the day

* I calculated her SAC rate

The Rush to Africa - 17/11/2017

When a buddy asked me to do a couple of dives on a Friday night so he could get to 96 dives, to enable his 100th dive in South Africa I greed. However, he wasn't an experienced night diver. so I asked around and found a third buddy to join us. I'd never met the guy but he had some PADI training and also GUE training. That was good enough for me to know that he was at least competent in the water with the right kit!

We met up....late and with new time constraints headed to the A-Frames. We did the first the dive which Gooey Ryan declared was the best he'd ever had at the site, Apparently, despite diving here with numerous instructors he'd never explored much further than the big frame.

I chuckled internally when he asked me what heading I'd taken to get to each of the frames. I haven't used a compass at that site in about four years. :)

We spotted a conger, sea lemon, cuttlefish, deeplet anemone - there was some good stuff on show.

I emerged and my left ear was gubbed, but Gooey Ryan was good enough to take Michael in for a quick second. Everyone was happy.

96 en route to Africa