The Instructor's Instruction - 06/01/2017

It's my first dive day of the year and I am resolved. Resolved to do more dives in more countries and more new places here in Scotland. I am also resolved to continue where I let off last year and work towards becoming a ScotSAC Branch Instructor, finish my Freediving course and do a Tri-Mix course.

So, as it happened, my first two dives of the year were as a trainee instructor at Loch Fyne's Seal Reef with my club. It was a funny arrangement working with a diver who has been described as our clubs "Scuba Diving Dark Horse", largely because of his pretty humble manner. Our first instruction dive was to be a dive lead and also a rescue skill. It  meant that we had to curiously do three dive briefings for one dive. We all chuckled at the anomaly. It seemed like overkill, but it what is.

My major take away was the SEEDS acronym.

• Safety - what do you need to know to keep you safe?
• Exercise - what is the skill we're looking to do?
• Equipment - do we need any specific equipment for this drill?
• Discipline - what's the plan and behaviours required?
• Signals - what signals are required?

We had mixed success with the actual passing of skills but we did find a lovely little nudibranch and a very pretty macropodia rostrata. So all was not lost on the pleasure front either.

The Annual 100 - 29/12/2017

It's not every year I make it to 100 dives in a calendar year. To do so, I probably have to do a dedicated dive trip to rack up a few to complement my weekly activities. I hadn't even checked my log book when Jester and I decided to brave the snow and head over to Loch Fyne.

As a precaution we took the Jeep - not one of my usual diving vehicles, but as a 4x4 ideally suited to snow covered roads. In the end it probably didn't matter. The roads were pretty clear, and to get the dramatic snow shot to the right I had to take it off the main road and into a little car park at the top of the Rest & Be Thankful.

The dive site and the water temperature were slightly warmer than they were the day before, which made for a more conducive environment for kitting up.

As it was just the two of us we went deeper and explored for a little longer. We surfaced having enjoyed some nice life and an hour or so underwater. I got home, and filled out my logbook and there it was, dive 455 was my 100th and last dive of 2017.

Once again, I'll leave you with the underwater photography of Jester.

Catshark

Nudibranch

Me

The road we came

The beach

An All Time Low - 27/12/2017

When people talk about coldwater diving they have varying degrees (if you pardon the pun) of measurement. However, for me, proximity to the -2c freezing temperature of seawater is pretty much the defining measure.

So as myself, Jester, the Walkman and Freeflow Bob headed out for a couple of dives at St Catherine's it was with interest that I noted the lowest water temperature ever recorded by my computer, 0.6c. Thankfully it was only this cold for a few metres before it warmed up to a balmy 8c. 

We kitted up buddy checked and headed in for what were to be two pretty straight forward fluffy dives to a maximum of 30m. 

I'll share some of Jester's pictures, but for me the interesting thing was the cold.

Nudi

Feeling the cold

The Cold Light of Day - 02/12/2017

After Monday's chilly 2.8c, I was keen to avoid Loch Long when Captain Al, Freeflow Bob, Fast Eddie and myself went diving on a frosty Saturday morning. The experience had taught me that it was worth taking the mobile food kitchen for half time bacon rolls.So when we trundled up to St Catherine's, Loch Fyne we were at least prepared for the cold.

It was Fast Ed's first dive back since he dived with me at Triple Reef in June, so an easy site was required and Seal Reef seemed ideal.

We weren't the only ones there, South Queensferry BSAC were across from the East Coast for some training. They seemed friendly enough despite being BSAC divers. ;)

We kitted up and split into buddy pairs of Captain Al and Fast Ed and Ol' Freeflow and me.

It was pretty uneventful but for a large school of pollack, a cushion star and some bloody Henry's. We swam back to the sure after the 35 minute announcement that Captain Al was feeling the cold. If he was feeling it then, it was about to get a whole lot worse. We swam back to the exit point. As the person leading the dive I noticed the thermocline at 4m and sat beneath it for 3 minutes. Then when the three minutes was up and everyone was clear, I turned and swam hard through the cold.

I could feel it biting at my exposed skin. We got out and I checked my computer... 2.2c!  Not the coldest I've ever experienced but getting down pretty low.

Still the promise of a roll and bacon was enough to get me back to the van. I had ear problems so I sat the second dive out and watched as my friends came back looking a little chilly. 

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

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