Diving Officers Report
For a fairly small club, we have some very active divers,
and the list of places that an NSDC t-shirt might have been seen over the past
couple of years is like a who’s who (or should that be a where’s where?) of the
World’s top dive spots. Often these trips are either club organised or for a
small group of club members, so that you know before you leave home who you
will be diving with. However, that is not always the case and a number of trips
involve one of you disappearing off to some foreign location to dive – with a
complete stranger.
I seem to be using the It Happened to Me section in the
back of Dive magazine as a regular source of inspiration for these articles. In
the latest issue a father and son agreed to dive with a complete novice who had
convinced them that he was both experienced and knew the dive site, when in
fact neither was true. So, I thought I’d offer a few thoughts on selecting a
good buddy (or more importantly avoiding a bad one) when diving in a group of
strangers.
First off, it is likely that the dive school will have
provided a guide, who will lead the group, so that the allocation of buddy
pairs is a way to simplify procedures once the group gets underwater – 8 divers
in four groups of two behind the guide, rather than a single undisciplined mass
of 8 – at least in theory. Once in the water the reality is often that the
buddy pairs see very little of one another and the group reverts to either a
single group of 8, or eight groups of 1.
If you get chance to watch everyone kitting up before the
pairings are made, you should soon be able to spot the experienced ones from
the novices. Someone who spends 20 minutes wondering which way up his (rented
from the shop) reg valve fits onto the top of the cylinder is unlikely to be
Jacques Cousteau. This can be something of a double edged sword for experienced
divers, if the guide knows he has novice divers in the group. They will often
pair the experienced divers with the novices, to make their job easier. However,
if you get the chance, and want to dive with someone who looks as though they
know what they’re doing, now’s your chance.
I’ve said this next one before, but it still holds true.
If there is an unattached female in the group (especially if she looks as
though she knows what she is about) choose her. She will generally use much
less air than an equivalent man (useful if you might need a bit extra), she
will not suffer from the male need to go all macho and show everyone how brave
(i.e. stupid) she is, and she will generally make for a better buddy.
Overseas diving in warmer, clearer water does not need
buddies to stick together like limpets, in the way that is necessary in Stoney.
If you try to dive an arm’s length from your buddy all through the dive – when
they clearly would be happy to have a bit more space, you run the risk of being
labelled as a bit weird, a dangerous psychopath, or worse (having chosen the
unattached female!).
Similarly, asking your buddy every two minutes how much
air they have left, is unlikely to endear you to them. It is usual for the dive
guide to have requested an air check of 100 bar (i.e. using a pre-arranged
signal – often forming your hands into a T (for ton) - to let him know when you
have 100 bar, so that he can plan for the return to the surface safely. It’s
not really necessary to do anything beyond that, unless you think you may be in
danger of running out, in which case it’s probably best to get near to the
guide, because he’ll have plenty left – they have gills fitted as part of PADI
instructor qualification.
However, after all of the above, the best advice that I
can give you is that while you should be prepared to be a helpful buddy if
required, especially during kitting up and de-kitting, you should be happy to look
after yourself and be able to be completely self-sufficient, while on the dive.
Do not expect to have access to a buddy who will want to look out for you. They
won’t.
Keep bubblin’
Dave
TRAINING OFFICERS REPORT
Well, that’s my holidays over for this year! Dahab was
lovely, with the hotel situated in a very picturesque bay, edged with
mountains, which continued all down the coastline. We had shore dives, some
with very difficult entry and exit points and boat dives, again quite
challenging entry and exit, due to wind and current. The company was great and
we all had a lot of fun. I believe Paul McDonald is writing about the trip for
the magazine, so I will leave the rest up to him. Just one thing though, we now
have a windsurfer in the club. John Hayes took a windsurfing lesson. This was
the main water sport available on the beach. I am told that there are actually
photographs of him upright on the board!!
The club dive on Saturday was very busy and we need to
congratulate Elliott Hay, who is now an Ocean Diver. Jayne went in the water
for the first time and did well. I think she even surprised herself. Thanks to
everyone who helped out last Saturday, taking students in the water just for
experience dives, which after doing a training dive, helps them to relax and
enjoy their diving, and put into practice what they have learnt. Craig, who is
now an Assistant Club Instructor, after attending the course the previous
weekend, helped out on Saturday and from what I can gather, he thoroughly
enjoyed it. Thanks Craig.
We are off to
Dave B held his first Nitrox workshop, and the second is
on 1st November. Everyone dived on Nitrox in
Stoney Cove is the venue for a photography group on
Tuesday 16th October. Digital cameras have now become basic
accessories for divers, so this group will meet on a regular basis, to learn
new techniques. If you are interested, the information is on the club board.
See Ron or Dick, who I know are going along. It is being held downstairs in the
pub at Stoney.
Steve Benson is doing his Search and Recovery course this
month. I can remember doing mine a few years ago. It was tremendous fun finding
pill bottles in a brick quarry, and learning to move a cannon with lifting
bags. Have a good time Steve. Then in early November he is off to do Advanced
Nitrox, so that he can then apply to do the
Rescue skills, 11th
October, at the pool. Come along and play with ropes, resuscitate Annie and
learn how to use the club Oxygen kit. Everyone welcome whatever qualification.
Thursday 25th October is half term. There will
be no club that night.
Suexxx
CLUB
Sandra asked me to write a brief resume of the dives we
did on this holiday. I was on my first overseas dive with the club and had only
dived previously in the sea in
John Hayes and I dived for five days having the Monday off
and Sue, Ron and Keith dived for six. John and I did two days of boat diving
and three of shore dive days whereas the others did three days of boat diving.
I must say that I much preferred the boat diving, it was much easier to get in
and out of the water for me and added up to a much pleasanter day. I found the
shore dives very difficult with my “footballer’s knee” and after day two was
thinking of advertising my kit on e-bay. However, with a great deal of help
from Sue (mum) and the others I stuck at it and felt a lot better after the
boat dives.
Dive 1 (21st Sept) Three pools. Our
first shore dive down to 19m through successively deeper pools, I had trouble
getting my fins on and off and also had to have my weights altered but
eventually survived the experience. I think this dive was mainly to see how we
performed which in my case was not very well.
Dive 2 (22nd Sept) the Canyon. The
second shore dive took us to the famous canyon a crack in the sea bed at about
twenty meters. We entered and descended to 29 meters before making our
leisurely way back to shore where I promptly fell over on the way out! A more
confident dive with lots to see spoilt a bit by the tumble at the end.
Dive 3(22nd Sept) the Blue Hole The famous blue hole involved a drop through a gap in the rocks at the adjacent site of the bells and then out onto the reef. A further drop through a funnel in the rock takes you out at 26 meters but on this occasion I did not go down that far. The rest of the dive follows the reef exiting over the 110meter deep blue hole itself.
Dive
4 (23rd Sept.) Gabr el Bint North My first boat dive onto a
lovely reef down to a maximum depth of 28 meters. I found the entry and exit
from the boat much easier and as the conditions were calm this was a pleasant
experience. The boat trip was about an hour in either direction.
Dive 5 (23rd Sept) Gabr el Bint South Similar to the northern dive along the same
reef but in the other direction down to a maximum depth of 21meters. Again a
calm entry and exit with plenty to see, I felt more confident on these two
dives and found the whole day a relaxing one.
Dive 6 Gabr el Bint and Dive 7 El Shugurat Ron, Sue and Keith went on this further
boat dive where they reported superb fan coral at Shugurat.
Dive
8 (25th Sept) Sha ab Said A
further boat dive and my first drift dive. The conditions were very choppy and
the entrance and exit to say the least were adventurous. On this dive we were
able to swim in and out of free standing coral which was an amazing experience.
This was the most exacting of the boat dives.
Dive 9 (25th Sept) El Shugurat Our final
boat dive under much calmer conditions, a pleasanter experience as far as exit
and entry were concerned. Maximum depth 28 meters. We saw the superb fan coral
which the others had seen on Monday and also saw a turtle and a ray
Dive 10 (26th Sept) The Canyon Our return to the canyon and with considerable assistance from Keith I managed the exit and entry much better. Keith and I did not go into the canyon on this occasion but waited for the others at the entrance. There seemed to be more divers than fish!
Dive 11(26th Sept) Blue Hole Our second
visit here. This time I did go down to the 26m level onto the reef and enjoyed
the dive better then the first time around.
I would love to tell you about all the different species
of sea life I saw but unfortunately I did not recognize most of them. I did
see, or have been told I saw, turtle (which I did recognize), ray, puffer fish,
lion fish, stone fish and crocodile fish and a whole host of coral. I thought
the fan coral was the most spectacular and the swim through the free standing
coral at Sha ab Said was great. I also spent a lot of time looking at my
contents gauge and my BCD inflator as I gaily seesawed up and down around the various
reefs.
I found the whole experience bewildering at times, especially the first couple of days at the dive centre where pandemonium seemed to ensue and where everyone except me seemed to know exactly what they were doing. Ultimately the week was enjoyable, especially because of the help I received from the rest of the group and the dive guides. Would I go again? I think the jury is still out on that although I must say it beats Stoney Cove!
Paul MacDonald
“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity
on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth, but man has only to sink beneath the
surface and he is free” – Jacques Ives Cousteau
LINE LAYING
Choose the right line
Whether you are exploring cave or penetrating the gloomy
confines of a wreck, you absolutely must have a continuous guideline to the
surface, or at the very least back to open water. In the event of a ‘silt-out’
[where disturbed silt reduces visibility to zero], the diver can simply place
his hand on the line and exit along a known route.
Other than beneath ice - where a sturdy floating line such as polypropylene
offers a distinct advantage - the recommended line is nylon and preferably of
braided construction, which makes it easier to handle. Nylon is strong,
resistant to abrasion and sinks in the water. Depending on the environment, it
will normally vary between 2mm and 6mm in thickness. Where the water is warm
and clear, and the current is not an influencing factor, thinner line is
suitable for use. In temperate areas where visibility is limited, thicker line
is the preferred choice. Even if you cannot see the line, you must be able to
feel it, even while wearing thick neoprene gloves. While the golden rule of
line-following is never to pull on the line, a thicker construction does at
least give that option in an emergency, and thicker lines will obviously
withstand the rigours of current flow, sharp rocks and routine wear. In poor
visibility, thicker line definitely gives you a certain psychological
reassurance.
In general, you should avoid using floating line, certainly until you have
mastered the skills of line laying. If too much nylon line is accidentally
unspooled from your reel, it tends to settle harmlessly on the floor until you
are able to reel it back in, or wrap it around an object. If too much floating
line escapes from a reel, it spreads and tangles, becoming a hazard rather than
a safety aid.
Use your reel correctly
Your line should be laid from a specialised reel, which will vary in size and
type according to the thickness of line it holds and the markings, which may be
required on the line itself. Reels come in two basic types, namely closed frame
and open frame. With the former type, the entire drum is encased, with a small
opening through which the line is deployed. The open frame is a simpler design,
and if not handled with care can accidentally shed line over the side, thereby
creating a risk of entanglement. Ideally, a reel should have some form of
locking mechanism, which prevents the line from shedding when not in use, and a
simple method of attachment to the diver when being carried. Another type of
reel, popular in warmer-water cave environments, is a finger spool. This
accessory allows the diver to make a brief assessment of a side lead (a short
passage running off the main cave for example), by simply running a short line
(less than 20m) from a small spool after tying it off from the main line.
No matter what type or size of reel you use, don’t be tempted to cram it full
of line. If you overload the spool, you are risking spillage or a jam that
could occur while reeling in. As a rule, your reel should not be more than two
thirds full.
Mark your direction and distance
No matter how much line you have on your reel, you should place distance and
directional markers along the line. Cave lines can be labelled in a variety of
ways, with distance markers consisting either of cable ties, or perhaps a wrap
of insulation tape at set intervals, depending on the environment (every 10m is
a popular option). In popular caves in
In extreme environments, some divers may also incorporate a directional colour
and/or tactile coding sequence on the line (knots or cable ties). If you become
disorientated, your urgent priority must be to establish the outward direction.
If you have numbered tags on a fixed or permanent line, then you will have to
continue for least two tags (perhaps 20m) before you can confirm, or change the
direction of travel. Remember, you are likely to be already stressed due to
being disorientated and perhaps from an earlier problem. Your breathing supply
may well be low. If there is any element of doubt regarding your direction of
travel, it’s a cause of more stress. Directional markings give a great deal of
reassurance in such situations.
In most caves and mines (and in some wrecks) there are permanently installed
lines. These will eventually degrade due to wear and tear, so my advice is to
treat them as uniformly unreliable. Lay your own line.
Lay your line appropriately
While it is possible for line to be paid out by someone on the surface while
ice diving, or from a diver to his buddy who is tentatively probing the inside
of a wreck, this technique (I call it ‘base feeding’) is very limiting. In the
absence of verbal or sight communication, maintaining the essential degree of
line tension between the two the diver and the surface is extremely difficult.
Confusion can easily arise when the tender misinterprets a signal, or an
accidental pull, and pays out line instead of taking it in. With the exception
of ice diving, the divers should lay line from their own reel and recover it
themselves on exit. When installing a guideline, the line should be kept
reasonably taut and should follow a route which will be easily to negotiate on
the exit. As a rule, you should never lay the line deliberately along a
ceiling. If you become caught or entangled, the source of the problem is above
and behind you, which makes it all the more difficult to remedy. What’s more,
it is difficult to look up when the natural way for most divers to look is
downwards. Keep things as possible simple, and if possible avoid zigzagging the
line from one side of a passageway to the other.
Lines should be anchored at regular intervals, certainly at points of
significant depth or directional change. A technique routinely employed by cave
divers is that of using ‘snoopy loops’. These are large elastic bands fashioned
from old car inner tubes to form neatly cut loops approximately 1-2 cm wide. To
belay the line, you simply pass half of the snoopy around the line, and then
pull it back through the other part of the loop. With the rubber loop fixed and
hanging from the line, the diver simply stretches the loop around a suitable
object or projection. Snoopy loops are extremely effective at holding the line
in position, but may be prone to detachment if the line is pulled. The
environment, visibility and the type of line will determine how often it should
be belayed. Preferred belay points are close to a wall at floor level. In caves
and mines, divers often encounter T-junctions. Inexperienced penetration divers
should be extremely mindful of such junctions, where it is easy to get
confused.
Stay with the line!
A diver should always remain close to the line, all the while maintaining a
slight distance to ensure that he is not accidentally caught. Pulling or
displacing an installed line can be hazardous. At the very least, slack line is
a potential entanglement threat, but worse still, it might be pulled into a
line trap that may be impossible to pass on exit. Slack rope has an unnerving
ability to lead a diver into impossible situations - the line might be able to
squeeze through a 10cm gap - but you certainly will not be able to Good
buoyancy control, a steady position in the water and appropriate propulsion are
all-important in following your line. These are the techniques adopted to
prevent the dreaded ‘silt-out’. Finally, no matter how much redundancy you are
carrying, a similarly equipped and trained buddy will enhance the safety and
enjoyment of your dive.
Care should be taken to mark the way out of every junction with a
personalised marker such as a plastic triangular-shaped ‘arrow’ or perhaps a
clothes peg. This lessens the chance of disorientation when visibility falls.
To avoid a proliferation of markers, potential confusion and unsightly litter,
it is important that personalised ones are removed on the outward journey.
Removal of markers confirms the dive order and informs the last person in the
team that his buddies are all safely accounted for.
THE RULES OF
·
Always lay a continuous line in any overhead
environment.
·
Always stay close to the line; if visibility is
poor maintain finger contact.
·
Never pull on any line, unless the line in
question has been designated for that purpose.
·
Use line appropriate to the environment. Avoid
floating line wherever possible.
·
Incorporate directional markings and colour code
the line as appropriate.
·
Always lay/install line with care and mindful of
the outward journey.
·
Mark junctions with a personalised ‘out’ arrows
or clothes pegs
·
Always carry the right reel for the right
environment
· Always carry at least two knives or cutting tools
I thought
I would just put a together a few lines (sorry about the pun) together about
Line laying seeing as this is now in the sports course. Hope this helps, Steve B.
.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
URGENT – AGM – ALL MEMBERS AND PARTNERS
WELCOME
The
A buffet with wine will
be provided and it is going to be more of a social event than the usual agenda.
You also get the opportunity to replace the Committee.
The Annual Awards will
be made so come and find out if you are the Newcomer of the Year, the Club
Diver, the person who has given best Service to the Club or even our Clownfish.
Bring your partner and
enjoy the night.
Please let me know ASAP if you are or are not able to come as I need to
order the food
at Richard@dryder.fsbusiness.co.uk
CLUB HOLIDAY SPECIAL GALLERY
This year the club, well eight of us went to Dahab in
Sinai, Egypt for a week’s diving, below are some of our holiday pix for your
enjoyment
The group of eight
at the Iberotel, Dahabeya View of Hotel from the sea
Majority of scenery
was like this, mountains, sand and sea Lunch in Bedouin restaurant
at the Blue Hole
The Infamous Blue
Hole (Easy access HA HA) Do your diving
from a camel safari, oh what fun
Sue jumping from the boat
No matter how hard she tried,
she couldn’t leave him down there
The Pictures below courtesy of Ron and Sue McNally
Both at the entrance
to Sinai Divers shop at the Hilton Dhahab = The Large one says: “From birth,
man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth, but
man has only to sink beneath the surface
and he is free” –Jacques Ives Cousteau
And finally:
Don’t forget to check out the website www.newmansportsdivers.co.uk
And Steve Benson would welcome anything relevant for inclusion on the site, We desperately need some good photos for the web gallery and to illustrate the various pages. Send them to Steve please
If you are off on a diving holiday, then please send in a report for this YOUR club mag, articles, photos, funny stories, jokes and cartoons, Your For Sale and Wanted (for anything) Either hand over to me at the club or email me at witter-hancock@ntlworld.com
Club fleeces are still available, I can’t
believe that so few of you have ordered your club fleece, they are wonderfully
warm, and show your allegiance to all and sundry. Just the thing for these cold
autumn winds at Club dives. Good quality, thick and warm, Navy Blue, with club
logo to left chest and BSAC membership to right chest. Available in S,M.L,XL
Order yours from Craig now for only £22
See you all at the AGM, promises to be a good night, and it is COMPULSORY for all members to attend
(only joking) See what the club has done, is going to do, and enjoy a social evening with like-minded people
See you there