Upping the Game - 18/04/2019

So I'm taking a soon to be newly qualified ScotSAC to dive at Kinlochbervie in the far north-west of Scotland. At the start of the night he required 2 dives and a rescue lift to be qualified. As it was just me and him I opted to just do a nice long dive with him just to build up water confidence at the A-Frames.

The night started badly, when an o-ring blue inside his regulator, that couldn't be fixed on site. Fortunately, there was another diver on site (Charlietron) whom I know and was prepared to lend his regulators. So, a little later than expected we headed in to the water.

We meandered around looking at stuff, staying at our maximum of of 20m for as long as we could.  We surfaced in the darkness, both of us knowing that he's ready for deeper, better, more exciting diving. 

Teaching Teachers - 13/04/2019

With a number of Eastwood Divers divers' undertaking the ScotSAC Instructor Course at the end of March, we have a number of trainee instructors all keen to get experimenting on students. Well, for Chairman G, today was that day. We were taking M-Dawg in for his every first dive. 

Now, I'm fully aware of how bad everyone is on their first dry suit dives, but experienced divers who are new to teaching totally forget!. Chairman G was a little surprised and later confessed how he'd been totally exhausted by the end of the day. It was tiring, but I think by the end of the second dive M-Dawg was starting to get it.

The Day's Divers

Blame It On The Weatherman - 16/03/2019

I'm not entirely Bewitched were correct when they decided to blame the weatherman, but I had set aside this day as day when I'd take students training months ago. Then when the forecast came out it was for bad weather.

We were valiant. I mean, fighting throw the snow storm to get there. Kitting up in high winds and blizzard. Entering the water with a surface current and waves. Going down in what seemed like zero visibility. 

However, we were then rewarded with a calm dive around the Frames. Malky saw his first shark. We surfaced and the rest of the gang all agreed that a trip to the Village Inn seemed like a better idea than a second dive.

Big Beryl - 05/03/2019

I was had convinced Jester and the Big Easy that Conger Alley would offer us a great location for a night dive. I can't explain why, I just felt it in my bones. The others were doubtful. 

We kitted up and headed in and down to 30m. There was little life about except for a large lobster that disappeared into the silt kicked up by one of my buddies. 

We had hit decompression after some time and started coming back up. It was then that we were joined by Beryl the resident seal. 

Now, I hadn't realised that the Big Easy was little phobic of seals. When he had mentioned it I genuinely thought he was joking. As such it came as surprise when one of my buddies became the tightest of buddies, no more than a couple of inches from me.

We continued up and Jester asked me using hand signals where were the nudibranchs I had promised him. Immediately we found them, all huddled on a rock - a variety of species too. I smugly took a snap and then followed Beryl on little fishing adventure.

As we returned to shore I was feeling satisfied and decided to briefly check for bio-luminescence. It was there. Genuinely, my luck was in. I should have bought a lottery ticket.

Heavy Lifting - 03/03/2019

Instructing when everything is brilliant is quite good fun and somewhat rewarding. However, it's when things are going wrong that you're actually earning you're money - metaphorically speaking. Today was one of those days.

Myself and the Barrman had a trainee each and were attempting 20m assisted ascents, with the two trainees. We had been down for a few minutes before we started the "ascent". I watched for a few minutes as they made no progress. Both Barrman and I had been about to call cut when the attempt naturally split and one trainee headed for the surface and another slumped into a vast cloud silt.

We had agreed which trainee we'd each go and help. I headed into the zero visibility silt found her and guided her back to clear water.

The second dive I took the less experienced person in for a potter about twin piers and found a couple of nice nudies. 

I wasn't a totally wasted day.

 

Growing Pains - 27/01/2019

A trip to Twin Piers is never the most inspiring dive, but as a ScotSAC Instructor I had agreed to help with club training. I had experienced some sinus pain while helping in the pool the night before, but thought nothing of it.

Today I was going to be doing some skills with Vadar. He's a pretty decent fellow and for a very new diver actually shows considerable promise. 

Our dive was to be unspectacular, down to 7m do some mask stuff, have a swim about and head out the water. We did it, but not before my sinuses screamed and Vadar had a suit leak. I couldn't get out the water fast enough.

These things are sent to try us.

Mind the Gap - 28/12/2018

The gap between Christmas and New Year is a sacred time when divers who:

a: wish to off gas excess turkey & trimmings
b: are full of festive cheer
c: climbing the walls with boredom

...can all get together and have a wee dive.

We had a fairly meaty group of six divers who all went in and out safely. There is little to say about it. Other than in his excitement to show me a pipefish, the trainee I took in unleashed a tsunami of silt that obscured half the loch. :)

Apeks RK3 Test Dive - 15/01/2019

Apeks RK3

Despite sounding a little like a droid from a Star Wars film and also being the actual name of a blaster used by the Galactic Empire, Apeks RK3 are the latest fin offering from Apeks. Designed for the rough and tumble of the US Military, they are based on the pretty standard vented rubber fins popular among military, professional and technical divers.

As a club, Eastwood Divers decided to spend some cash on new fins. We bought three pairs of Scubapro Seawing Novas and three pairs of RK3s (as a starter) to allow members to try different fins before they jump in and spend the best part of £100 on their own purchase. As I happened to be diving with Gusto Leo and the Barrman on the day when the Barrman picked up the fins from the local dive shop I opted to try out the RK3s fresh from the box at Conger Alley.

I'm a Scubapro Seawing Nova user, so this type of fin is a little different for me and I'm predominantly a frog kicker due the silty bottoms I dive in. On my dive I did helicopter turns, some reverse finning, took a few photos and tried frog kicking along with standard flutter kicking. So, here's what I liked and didn't like. 

PROS

• Helicopter turns were very easy, helped by a shorter blade length than I am used to 
• Reverse finning was super easy, which helped reduce silt after stopping to take a photograph 
• The short blade also meant that flutter kicks threw up less silt than a Scubapro Seawing Nova would 
• They seemed pretty robust, and the length was certainly more compact than my existing fins 

CONS

• Frog kicking lacked power compared to my Seawings 
• Seawings are super easy to put on, RK3s aren't bad, but they certainly aren't as easily donned and doffed. 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• We've bought the standard RK3. As a regular shore diver I was pleased to see they float. It means you can walk in wast deep, let go of a fin put one and then easily grab the other. If you want a heavier, negatively buoyant fin consider shelling out a little extra wedge and buying the RK3 HD. 
• Apeks also have a very generous instructor discount 

Am I going to buy a pair for myself? Well, mibbe but that doesn't mean I'm a convert, it just means I can see the advantages of them for different dives. Let's be honest every gentleman spy / scuba diver should have more than one tuxedo or pair of fins . :)

Oh, and as for the dive, it turned out to be thoroughly decent...

Carronella Pellucida 

Sepiola Atlantica 

Firework Anemone 

Facelina Bostoniensis 

Bloody Henry 

Deepest Night - 05/12/2018

I'm not depth junkie, although those who only ever dive to 20m say that I am. Meanwhile those who dive regularly below 50m just laugh at the absurdity that I might be. However, I do enjoy taking people deeper than they've gone before, especially at night. They seem to be thrilled at the end of the night. So when I took StewPatz and Freeflow Bob for a 31m night dive at the A-Frames I was quite tickled.

It almost never happened when one of our divers, I shan't say 'Stew', forgot fins and his weightbelt, but somehow we cobbled together enough weight and a spare pair of fins from nowhere.

We kitted up and headed spotting some cracking life:

• a snake blennie
• a cuttlefish
• deeplet anemones
• firework anemones
• nudibranchs

We emerged, delighted with out hall and two divers thrilled that they'd done more than 31m at night.

A Giant Stride for Mankind - 02/12/2018

OK, so it would be an exaggeration to say accomplishing a stride entry is a big deal, but when we noticed the tide was high enough at the Caves for a stride entry it was too good an opportunity for the Barrman and I to miss. We grabbed two trainees, who required to do the skill to complete ScotSAC's branch diver award and took a step into the relatively unknown for them.

I never took any pictures.

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.

The Learning Journey - 04/09/2018

I' had agreed to take a branch diver out for a wee dive post work. We headed to the almost proverbial A-Frames for our 20m bimble. My buddy was essentially exploring a whole load of new kit, so it was always going to be a little up and down. 

We swam about for a bit before realising that my buddy was running pretty low and headed out. All in all it wasn't very interesting for me, but my buddy seemed fairly excited by everything.  Apparently, someone has been doodling in the area too.

Dude, What Do You Bench? - 19/08/2018

Recovery

So after our last epic failure lifting the anchor Jester and I returned to have another go. This time we were joined by the Wylie Fox & the Wee Barra.

We were working on a two dive strategy:

Dive 1 - Locate and buoy anchor, survey

Dive 2 - Controlled Lift

This time we had two LOMO 70lb lift bags with dump valves and a further 25kg bag borrowed from a friend.

We planned to fill one bag at the top of the anchor and partially fill the second at the same place until the anchor was neutrally buoyant. Then we'd control the lift by dumping air from the full bag. Meanwhile we'd attach the second bag to the chain attached to anchor. It would all be attached using a 23kn screw gate carabiner. The Wee Barra would be charged with reeling in the marker SMB. 

We began and to our surprise it worked perfectly. Our only problem was at the shore where the lift bags no longer shared the combined 100kg weight.

Up, Up and Away - 12/08/2018

When I was asked about doing a seabed survey for the Long Long Jetty Association I immediately hatched a plan. My plan involved getting ScotSAC Master Diver trainees to do sweep searches, noting anything they could see.

They did a sterling job, and I managed to create a map that puts the Jetty Association's mind at rest as to any potential problems they might encounter in their quest to reintroduce boat visitors to Arrochar.

However, someone had also mentioned that there was lost 50kg boat mooring that had been accidentally dropped in water that was a little too deep. We were asked if we could find it and potentially recover it. This appealed to Jester and I. We haven't enjoyed a good adventure like this in a while. So armed with a lift bag, we left the trainees to enjoy a dive by themselves as we then attempted to lift the anchor.

The anchor had been located by Jester on a previous dive and marked with an SMB. We then headed over to the anchor with a my £5 lift bag from ebay. We connected it up and started filling. The bag worryingly had no dump and as it began to lift we had no way to slow it. Our only choice was to swim away from the danger of anything coming back down. 

I looked aup and saw the bag hit the surface with a jar and our lifting rig broke lose of the anchor causing the anchor to fall back down. thankfully we had exercised the no one underneath rule.

I came to the surface only to see my lifting bag floating away down the loch. I never recovered it, but I did see it in the middle of the loch a few miles down the loch.

We returned to shore a little wiser with a plan....

Our Map

Floating Away

Deep & Done - 30/06/2018

When Chairman G asked me to take him deep, I decided to return to the site of my own Scotsac Deep Diving course. We kitted up and headed down to 37m and generally speaking had a pretty pleasant dive.

We chatted, had some bants with some other divers on the site then after a couple of hours we did our buddy check and headed back in. As we entered the water, the explosion happened as Chairman G's HP hose blew. We took it as a sign to abort the dive!

Basic Instruction - 10/03/2018

I had mentioned in a previous post that onlt two moths ago I undertook my first Assistant Instructoring and my major take away had been the SEEDS acronym. Well today I took the plunge and had my final assessments. They included:

• Instructor session (Wanton was putting up an SMB and leading a dive)
• A rescue lift (Wanton would die underwater and I'd bravely swim up and rescue him)

As ScotSAC club we had our Regional Instructor and Branch Diving Officer Present on a day when, to be honest, none of us would really like to be there.

As such, we kitted up quickly, briefed quickly and jumped in the water. In the dive brief, I remembered my SEEDS (Safety, Exercise, Equipment, Discipline, Signals), I remembered to tell the 'trainee' to behave. That's easier said than done with Wanton.

We went in, and he led a really unspectacular dive but stuck to all the disciplines he was required to stick to. At the end of the dive he successfully inflated his 'sausage' and we exited safely. Easy, so now onto dive two - rescue lift.

Now, I'd practised this the day before and it was alright but a reg knocked out the mouth and a freeflow made it a little tricky. I was hoping for an easier time of it today. As it was, it went swimmingly and I'd nailed it.

Just like that they let me be an instructor. My first new diving qualification of the year. Now I can get back to some fun diving. ;)

Down With The Deep - 27/01/2018

As part of the Barrman's drive to get ready for diving Scapa Flow he's looking to get his Landlady up to ScotSAC Master Diver. As such, we headed to Hangman's Reef where he and the Landlady would clock up another plus 30m dive while Walker Texas Ranger and I took the opportunity to explore the site.

The guide suggests going to the left, however, I'd heard that if you dive to the right you can reach the southern tip of the Caves. To me it seemed worth the effort of exploration given that I'd only been here once before when doing my 50m qualification. 

The weather was pretty horrid. So we kitted up and headed to equally horrific visibility. In the early stages it was less than a metre, but we persisted and were rewarded as it grew to around 4m. More than adequate for our needs.

We swam along to the right passing dogfish and firework anemones eventually reaching rock formations that certainly resembled the Caves. We turned and headed back using the complete lack of visibility to assure us we were almost home. We were right.

The Landlady reckoned that was enough for the day, given the weather and left the three of us to dive the suggested guide route. In all honesty, it was pretty similar but the rock formations were a little closer than those to the right. and as we ascended we found the old anchor. It was pretty impressive.

I found myself liking the site and will definitely explore deeper (40m) on my next dive there.

Hello Goodbye - 22/01/2018

A Kell's Eye View

After a recurrence of an ear infection had kept me out of the water for another too weeks. However, when Hell's Kells says she want to squeeze in a check dive before she boards a plane to Belize with a one ticket it's kinda hard to stay out of the water.

We met up at our usual haunt and headed (due to time constraints) to the A-Frames in Loch Long for a blisteringly cold dive.

Unusually, there was quite a lot of boat traffic. I suspect as a  result of a recent tragedy in a nearby loch. A timely reminder, if it was needed, that our loch's are safe, but danger is never too far away.

As it was, our dive plan was simple:

• Kit up & buddy check
• Go down
• Check the kit
• Swim about until one of us felt cold 
• Surface safely

We stuck to it rigidly, stopping only to enjoy the odd nudibranch,, an anemone and for me to be me and write rude things in the silt. :)

We surfaced with Hell's Kell's reckoning that was the best and coldest she'd ever seen in the loch. At less than 2c in the water it was certainly cold.

With that we headed back to Glasgow where Hell's Kells waited 48 hours and then caught a flight to Belize. Very much a case of Hello, Goodbye.

The Start of the Cold - 27/11/2017

Each year there is one dive when you really start to notice the cold in the Scottish sea lochs. That dive was tonight. Myself , Jester and Edgar headed to the A-Frames. It was to be Edgar's first dive of the year at a time when most people would be clocking out.

A weekend of snow, followed by a gentle thawing meant that we knew that the ebbing tide would be drawing snow melt from the head of the loch. Our expectations were correct.

It was instantly cold as we entered into the darkness and, as we descended, you could feel a warming of the water. We passed anemones, cuttlefish, catsharks and many of the usual suspects. When we got to the end of the dive the thermocline was sitting at 5.5m so we began our safety stop at 6m and sat there for a little but admiring the haze above our head. Then, we made a dash for it. 2.8c it was chilly.

All pictures courtesy of Jester.

Snout

Anemone

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.