First Commercial Dive & Update...

A quick update, I'm currently waiting on the dockyard making a decision on funding regarding training new divers. They have issues with spending a heap of cash then someone leaving sharpish. That's understandable I suppose.

Anyway a few week's ago I did my first commercial dive at The Underwater Centre in Fort William. I paid £75 for a familiarisation day, in essence a day to see if the equipment and training suited me and it does! I really enjoyed my time there, the people were friendly and the facilities looked good. We joined in with classes running currently, even learned a bit about decompression of the saturation divers while in the chamber. All in it was a great day, TUC even took some great photos...

The Plan

Firstly life Is going well and I'm getting more and more experience with the Kelpies, I haven't been out as much as I could have but none the less I have Improved despite a leaky suit.

After over a year of research I've come up with the plan of how I'm going to accomplish my goal; become a commercial diver. In some kind of order...

• Get my eye fixed. My damn catarcht has to go, should be done this year. A big thanks to the twat who punched me all those year's ago.
• Complete my apprenticship. I've just entered my third year, not long to go now before I'm a time served welder. It's dragging In but hey!
  
• Get into the dockyard diving team. I've contacted the relevant people, I'm going to see the diving gaffer next week. If you don't ask you don't get. This would be a major coup for me as It would give me valuable experience In the commercial diving environment. This can't be stressed enough; experience of using the tools and equipment will set me apart and give me a better chance of getting off-shore.
• Failing that, go to a dive school. I had settled with the PDA In Dunoon but seeing as the Norsk Yrkesdykkerskole Is a good school too and half the price I'm going there. If this venture fails It won't sting too much that way. Also seeing a bit of the world won't hurt. Even adding the living expenses on It's still way cheaper.

The Norsk Yrkesdykkerskole(Norwegian Diving School) website...

http://www.nyd.org/cgi-bin/nyd/imaker?id=1

My First Open Water Dives...

Well that's me completed my elementary diver training, I'll even have a sticker In my dive log to prove it. I like stickers :)

We headed to Loch Long on the west coast, a spot close to the Finnart Oil Terminal was chosen for two reasons. Firstly access to the water was very easy and that the seabed had a gradual slope meaning we could reach my maximum depth of 10 meters. This was the divesite.


I rented a BCD, drysuit, fins & weightbelt from Dunfermline Sub-Aqua Club for £30, Neil sorted me out with a undersuit, hood, gloves and a mask. After Neil ran through what we were going to do I was good to go. Kit on, buddy check then wet.

My first dive was fine, Initially I was bugged with the cold around my DV and suit but after a little while I warmed up. I had too much air In my drysuit though and had trouble with my bouyancy, I kept on ascending which was a nuisance. Neil tried to help by putting rocks in my stab jacket pockets to add weight! We were down to 10.9 meters for 20 mins when we began to surface for our 1 min decompression stop.

My second dive was so much better and more comfortable. My cylinder was changed from a 12l to a 15l to add a bit more weight which would aid my bouyancy. It really helped. My earlier problems where gone and I enjoyed myself a tad more. Again we where at 10 meters for 30 mins before ascending.

I saw a few bit's and pieces while down there, mostly crabs, starfish and sea urchins and loads of different types of anemones. The fish where really small apart from one pollok. I've never seen them In the water before so It was cool. The site was a old pier which had fallen Into the loch, It was a little hang out for all that marine life. These pictures are from the divesite.

Sea urchin and anemones.

Hermit crab.

This link Is to a Youtube video of the site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV7jWKUUozo

Elementary Diver Training & Pool Session's...

I've started my club training, last Friday I met up with our dive officer Neil to start the theory work which will ultimately lead to me being a elementary diver. This means I'll be pool & theory trained and looking to do my first open water dive. A earlier post contains a list of what I'm learning, this phase takes 4 week's and should be no problem.

Also at the moment I'm Investigating dry suit's and which one I should get. They are more expensive than I realised and there Is a vast selection out there. It seem's that around £400 will get a good one for a beginner like me, four hundred notes is alot so I have to be careful I don't buy one thats a bit rubbish.

Two Diving Related Books...

Just finished both. Excellent reading for divers and non-divers alike. Well worth the money which wasn't alot anyway.



The first is 'Diver' by Tony Groom. It spell's out his life as a royal navy mine clearence diver, the role the unit played In the Falklands War and his time as a saturation diver In the north sea. This book was very funny, full of black military humour, a alltogether excellent read.

The book came with a DVD of the author reading and commenting on a few of the books chapter's too. Also contained on the DVD is a segment about life as a saturation diver on the north sea oilrig's. This was very Interesting to me as that's my goal. It showed you life Inside the saturation chamber, conditions In the bell and how the 28 day dive worked. This is the authors website.

http://www.deep-sea-diving.com/



The second book was 'North Sea Divers - A Requiem' by Jim Limbrick. This was a sobering book detailing the death's of all deep sea divers In the north sea during our countries search for oil and gas. The book is Intended as a tribute to these men who died between 1971 till 2000. The authors website.

http://www.jim.limbrick.btinternet.co.uk/

First Ever Dive...

**Fanfare**

Performed my first ever SCUBA dive on Saturday at a local pool and it was fantastic. I enjoyed every minute of it, I even surprised myself just how comfortable I was. First step in this journey of mine very much taken then.

I contacted a local dive group called the Fife Kelpies, they setup a try dive to see If I was comfortable In the water, could swim and that I generally wasn't a complete plank. I also learned how the SCUBA gear worked, how to find neutral bouyancy, clear my regulator, clear a flooded mask, water entry, safe ascent and removal of diving equipment and putting it back on under water. Lot's then.

This is the club training guide taken from the Kelpies website.

http://www.fifekelpies.co.uk/index.htm

Elementary Diver Course Overview

	Pool Training		Theory		Open Water Assessment
	Basic Fitness Assessment		Introduction to diving		Buddy Check
	Mobility & Confidence		Air filled spaces ascent & descent		Safe entry and buoyancy check
	SAA Ascent procedure		Principles of SCUBA		Controlled descent
	Buoyancy skills		Physics & the diver		Neutral Buoyancy
	Out of Air Diver recovery		Buoyancy management and BCDs		Follow dive plan
	Basic Diver Rescue		Metabolism, Respiration and Circulation		Mouthpiece drill X 3
	Simulated Dive		Decompression part 1		Clear Mask X 3
			Accident Avoidance		Correct hand signals
			Protective clothing		Follow SAA ascent procedure
			Open water diving		Complete safety stop at agreed depth
					Monitor buddy during ascent
					Inflate BCD at surface
					Check Buddy
					Exchange signals with shore
					Safe exit from water

A Little About Me And This Blog Of Mine...

I don't have a romantic or Interesting story attached to my ambition to become a commercial diver, I just find it fascinating. I guess it was triggered when as a young lad my uncle took me to the north of Scotland while he and a mate went diving. I sat on the shore playing with all the spare gear thinking it was all jolly good and exciting. "Definitley something I wanted to do" I thought to myself.

I've wanted to learn to dive for a such long time that it's a joke I haven't done so by now, I'll put that right very soon though. Tomorrow in fact.

This blog is going to join me on my journey from complete novice to accomplished deep sea diver. Let's see where I end up.