I wasn't sure where to put this, so if one of the mods wants to move it, feel free.
I have beent trying to do my trimix course for ages, but work, children and diving seemed to prevent it from happening for ages. A slot finally appeared in the diary in January, which worked for me - 4 days with the instructor I wanted, and work, ex's etc were all co-operating. However, the weather wasn't. Combining the revolting wet weather and the road building project at Chepstow we had to rethink the plan.
Rethinking meant moving to Stoney to do the skills & drills, theory etc, and rescheduling the mix dives for when Chepstow was better. Two days in Stoney Cove, much of it sitting at 6m going through shutdowns, reg replacement, stage drills and goodness knows what else was not exactly thrilling, but improved my diving skills no end.
Chepstow was better this week, so off we went. Yesterday, we plannned and ran a 50m dive. Diving 19/30 meant I should have a clear head - the sort of head i would expect to have at around 28m. Kitting up, checking everything, my buddy and i comparing how terrified we were, then we were ready. Jumped in, and started down the line, 49.9m didn't seem as highly amusing as it has done before (I am a laughing narcotic). The gnome sits in the boat - nothing funny about that so why did I find it hysterically funny when i had done that dive on air? Helium is lovely. Helium is my friend. Everything was so clear, logical, and simple. the planned ascent went like clockwork. Ascent rates spot on, timings perfect, and after the precise declared run time, we were on the surface, dekitting and getting out.
We had a spot of lunch, went to the B&B, finished the odd bits of theory we hadn't completed a few weeks before, and did the exam (stuff the maths!) I passed.
We returned to Chepstow this morning, and planned our final dive. We decided that as 50m was OK, lets try 60. We had plenty of gas from yesterday (I had only used 50 bar
) so we didn't need to do anything with it. We included a second deco gas, which meant taking a second stage - the hardest part of that excersise was getting from where i had kitted up to the water. Aluminium stages may be neutral in the water, but they are bloody heavy on land! We dropped down the line, following our path from the day before and found the gnome and the boat. Dropping a bit further, i checked guages, happy, and decended slowly ish to 59.4m. This is the bit that had worried me. What if, when i got to the depth, reality hit me and made me realise just how deep I was. Until today, the deepest I have been is about 52m on air - which means i was in that nice comfy narked zone. Today, the helium lifted the fog, and well... it is a long way down, but I didn't freak out, and was concerned and apprehensive, but not terrified.
We turned the dive, headed back to the shot and started our ascent 2 minutes early. No problem - we just had to spend an extra 2 mins at our first stop - 36m. Again, we completed the deco schedule smack on the button, and surfaced at exactly the right time.
So... there we are. I have now completed my trimix course. I have been really scared about doing it, but actually, provided you understand what helium is and how it affects the body, the deco schedule, and think about all the other safety considerations, it really doesn't deserve to be called devil gas.
Thanks to everyone at Chepstow, and, of course, the lovely Jack who gave me the skills and knowledge and Carl for convincing me that trimix was not going to be as bad as I thought. Of course, diving is no fun without a partner in crime, so thanks Tony for being a great buddy.
And, of course, a huge thank you to Buoyant Babe for lending me her lucky vest - toasty warm i was at 6 degrees
Helium is my friend (but most certainly is not a cheap date!)