I dont beleive it. Total muppit, hide in a closit, shoot your self dive and it was part of my Trimix course.
OK so heres how it starts:
Moldavia 50m planned for Sat 8th Feb. Wether forcast says 15mph wind SW so its not going to be on. BUT Just in case I drop my stage in to my M8 for a 50% fill for travel gas.
8.30 Friday night and the phone finaly pics up on re-dial AND ITS ON?
?
?
PANIC I havent picked up my stage coz I was convinced the dive was off. So ring 'P' and say bring it with on the dive I havent got time to pic it up.
Rush out to garage and asemble kit. Load car and its 10.45pm and I have to be up at 4.30am.
Do check list at 4.45 go to meet 'P' and off to Littlehampton.
Arive at 6.30 boat leavs 6.45 GO FOR IT
OK two hours to kill out to the dive site, meet and say hello to TDI Trimix instructor Paul and kit up. All goes well till we get to the stage cylinder. All my regs are din except the travel gas which is still my old trusty K clamp Alpher 7. But Pete has removed the K insert on filling the tank and forgoten to bring it with him. Whoops
A lot of embaresment later I have scrounged an insert and an A key to sort kit but instructor is not impressed. I have Analox so can test mix and it is spot on 50%.
Arrive at dive site and dont kit up streight away as there is 30mins to slack. Then get unexpectedly told Slack is NOW so kit up.
Mad rush to kit up is hampered by masive Irish bloke on my bench taking up whole bench. Bugger!
Dive instructor shouts 'Are you ready' and I hevent got my fins on yet. Bugger!
Fins on and in and down for the 6m bubble check. Check CCR instructor, No Problems. He checks me and my Travel gas which is also suit inflaton is leaking from a high presure port. Bugger!
Switch to redundant inflator hose for suit which is helium back gas (not good burrrrr) and switch off valve to travel gas.
And decend to 50m
OK we at 50 on the bottom and he asks me to do a stage removal and re fit. No Problem. Then he askes or a gas shut down. So look down and the Slob Knob is MISSING. Sudden realisation that in my rush to kit up I forgot to put the slob knob in the rubber O ring on my bottom D ring. Bugger, Bugger, Bugger. I have NEVER done this before. Imagin the sceen as I spend the next 15 seconds wasting time trying to retreve my slob knob. (PRAT springs to mind) I then gave up and did a manual shut down which is what I should have done streight away. BUGGER I hate my self
On we go to the dive and our 10min's at 50m is over due to the delays on the shot line and the time wasted on the skills (ha ha) test and we ascend to 45m for the remaining 15mins of the dive. Just to rub salt into the wound I spot a big Lobster on the deck back down at 50m and my computer is showing well below planned deco due to fafing on the shot but I dairn't go chasing after it as my instructor will probably confiscate my fins and ban me from diving.
I SMB'd spot on time and did my ascent but my first stop was at 21 and my instructor was on a first stop of 30 due to CCR and VR3 so thats the last I saw of him. I honistly did perfict stops and even a 4 min ascent from 6m but I was all allown with no witneses. Bugger.
So I sheepishley got back on the boat and my instructor said. 'Never mind, Its a good lesson in what can go wrong.'
SHOOT ME NOW
My excuse (yes I have one) is the rapid kitting up which I hate. Yes Yes I know it's no excuse but it's the truth in my panic I forgot to put my slob knob hose in it's proper place. Also failure to pick up the stage the night before had resulted in me not presure testing the rig prior to the dive. It made me realise I am no where near diciplined enough to do CCR diving.
Ho Hum
Wish me luck on the 15th. (last dive of the course and I suspect I will be doing shutdown drills again)
Mark Chase