[Freeflow]

Finally it’s Stoney when I planned to be there. After the ‘plan B’ instead of Cheppy, I had arranged with Geoff from BSAC 955 to meet him for some rebreather diving. Geoff and his daughter Emma are Ray owners, and Emma’s other half has just taken delivery of an Azimuth, so semi closed runs in the family.

First dive was off to the pit. This would be the deepest dive I had done on the Dolph so I was using 40% through the 60% jet. From yesterdays figures this should yield a loop O2 of 30% ish, which is acceptable for 36m. Geoff was diving 36% through the 32% jet on his Ray. The Ray doesn’t have a combined dosing and bypass valve, but dosage valves that are swapped out depending on the mix. There are only two jets available, 32 & 50%, which restricts the choice of gasses more than the Dolphin. I was diving 50% as a deco mix again, mainly to get used to the extra gear. Geoff had his computer set to 25% O2, I had mine on 21 and 50 for deco. We went down the road to the pit, around the wall clockwise and up onto the Cessna ledge for a quick peep at the Cessna and then back to the step to get out.

I only had time to get two pO2 readings as I had to fin my legs off to keep up with Geoff. I don’t know if I am lazy from multi tank diving, diving with Martyn and his little legs, or from teaching and not wanting to fin too fast. The dive was a bit of a blur, but more from the effects of speeding through the water than narcosis. The readings suggest that I should try 38-39% for 36m, still through the 60% jet. Geoff demonstrated the flow rate of the 32% jet by using all his gas up on a dive where I got through 50 bar. The 7L I was using as a deco gas tank seemed fine yesterday whichever side I wore it, but today I felt lop sided if I wore it on the right, so I may be wearing it on the left and I’ll have to get my left hand deco regs O2 cleaned. I’ll give it another dive or two first though.

The surface interval was marred by Chris, Geoff’s non diving wife, taking the mickey out of me, and a sausage sarnie. It’s nice to see Stoney toughening up visiting divers by going back to the good old days of sausages that have been re heated so many times it is lke eating a burnt stick. Thankfully mustard, gallons of, iffy food for the disguising of, was available.

For dive two we, or rather Geoff, tackled the nav course. Thankfully the compass use slowed him down and I hardly had to use the DPV I had hired. Geoff owes me a new set of batteries for the oxygauge I lent him as it was alarming all the way through the dive. I think that there may be something wrong with it at higher O2 percentages as the readings he got suggested a negative vO2, and I don’t think he is a plant, and if he is I don’t think he would photosynthesise too well at 20m in a drysuit. I did feel a bit under dressed without a pO2 meter, but as I was on the same mix as I was in the pit I was not worried about high pO2.

All in all a good days diving with a fellow SCR user.

Dive 1

34.4m
48 min

SI 1h 47 min

Dive 2

21.3m
46 min