Who am I and what diving do I do?

[divegyrl]

Name
Blanaid

Location
Bucks

First Qualified
July 1999 started PADI OW on my birthday, 8 days later I was AOW

Club Member
SAA Kinky Divers

Highest Diving Qualification
PSAI CCR Expedition Diver (Trimix MOD 2, qualified to 75m)

Instructor Yes/No
YES
OWI SAA

What other training have you found most rewarding
PADI RD & SAA Deep lifts

What’s your standard Kit
Classic CCR with bailout AL 80's

Where do you usually Dive
With Juz, South Coast & anywhere warm

Number of Dives
almost 600 I think

Deepest Dive
75m

Longest Dive
Fricking ages! 50 mins more than planned due to staying with a buddy with spidge to get; had to stay with him to hand over my gas! 140mins

Favourite Dive
Audacious Malin Head
Dive 3 Turkey~saw sea horses

Worst Dive
Day 1 on CCR course....... I wanted to go home & cry ....... glad I stuck it out
3 mins on the shot on a dive out of Brighton in 0000000 viz (couldn't see my handsets)

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Lusitania

What ONE other question should I have included?
My favourite buddy....... Juz!

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?

Breathe

[Wet & Broke]

Name
Doug

Location
Somerset

First Qualified
Sept 2005 PADI OW

Club Member
No apart from YD that is, but have been thinking about crossing to BSAC

Highest Diving Qualification
AOW with deep and nitrox specs

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
so far the AOW course, but planning to do rescue soon

What’s your standard Kit
Single 15 with pony

Where do you usually Dive
Usually in southwest Babbacombe, Plymouth, and the Vobster puddle

Number of Dives
57

Deepest Dive
29m El Mina, Hugarda harbor
32 NDAC

Longest Dive
62 mins

Favourite Dive
El Aruk Gigi, hard work in a strong current but worth it because of the fantastic sealife.

Worst Dive
Thurlstone was the worst dive I've ever done, not because of the sight but because it was my first open water dive and I felt like a real F*** up, thought I'd developed asthma because I was gasping for air so much. Happily I stuck with diving thanks to a very patient DM, (thanks Les) and have not looked back. Been back to Thurlstone since it's a great dive site.

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Far too many to mention

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
Relax

[John Touhig]

Name
John

Location
Hampshire

First Qualified
Sept 2000 PADI OW

Club Member
YD Massive & 1 half of team SNAFU

Highest Diving Qualification
TDI Trimix

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
AN&DP with Mark Powell. Taught me that I new bugger all about diving.

What’s your standard Kit
Twins + Stages

Where do you usually Dive
South Coast, Weymouth mostly

Number of Dives
320+

Deepest Dive
65m

Longest Dive
90 Minutes

Favourite Dive
Moldavia,Zenobia,Mark Graf & Salsette


Worst Dive
Salsette Feb this year, no viz, no light and no wreck and narked silly



What dive/trip would you most like to do
Britannic, HMS Victoria, Jutland

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
Dont leave your spare mask on the boat

[Juz]

Originally Posted by Garf

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
From Mark Powell. Something along the lines of "When you are stressed you can't handle everything at once so don't try. Breathe, Relax, Prioritise, and then sort everything out one by one". I remain convinced that that tip has saved my life and told Mark so on the day!

Good one!

Juz

[uwila]

Name
Chris - also answer to 'O1, W4nker!"

Location
New Malden, s/w London

First Qualified
Jan 1991

Club Member
YD Massive

Highest Diving Qualification
TDI Adv Nitrox

Instructor Yes/No
PADI MSDT

What other training have you found most rewarding
One day photography seminar with Martin Edge
9 day course to become a gliding instructor

What’s your standard Kit
Single 12 or twin 10s

Where do you usually Dive
Warm places or South coast

Number of Dives
850+

Deepest Dive
55m, air, on a single 12 when I was young and stupid. At least I'm not young anymore

Longest Dive
92 mins

Favourite Dive
It was in the Barents Sea with 100,000+ crabs all moulting. Awesome!


Worst Dive
Don't think I've had it yet...


What dive/trip would you most like to do
Galapagos

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
You're not as good as you think you are, so take it easy.

[Juz]

Originally Posted by uwila

Favourite Dive
It was in the Barents Sea with 100,000+ crabs all moulting. Awesome!

WOW! Love to hear more about that!

Juz

[Clare Gledhill]

Name
Clare Gledhill

Location
Hampshire

First Qualified
2004

Club Member
DIR UK if that counts, now member of the WKPP support team so looking forward to getting involved there too.

Highest Diving Qualification
Tech 2/Cave 2 RB80

Instructor Yes/No
Yes - Fundamentals

What other training have you found most rewarding
Weekend hot house candidate training with the Conservative Party Media Unit. Ripped to bits then built up again.

What’s your standard Kit
Twin 12s/RB80

Where do you usually Dive
During the last six months I've done 100 plus cave dives yet I'm only barely out of single figures on the sea dives so I guess I'm a confirmed freshwater diver now South coast UK is fun - when not blown out - hoping that the season will improve from now on.

Number of Dives
1000+

Deepest Dive
70 metres vertical - various wrecks in Ireland and off south coast
1200 metres horizontal

Longest Dive
3 hours 20 minutes - Ressel deep circuit

Favourite Dive
Hole in the Wall - Marianna County FL

Worst Dive
First dive YD Pembrokeshire gig 2005

What dive/trip would you most like to do
The next one.

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
Work out who you respect and listen to them above all others.


What ONE other question should I have included?
What is the wierdest thing you have ever seen underwater?

[big_si]

Name
Simon Owen

Location
'Arlow, Essex, UK

First Qualified
PADI Open Water - October 2005

Club Member
YD and various little gangs... Some ex-MDC members... and Team Dwarf

Highest Diving Qualification
TDI Adv Nitrox and Deco Procedures

Instructor Yes/No
Nope... Too selfish at present. Maybe one day?

What other training have you found most rewarding
Any course with Mark Powell! (Tech rescue, AN and DP)

What’s your standard Kit
Twin Indie 12's and 7L steel stage

Where do you usually Dive
South coast (Brighton, Swanage.... Hopefully much more in Portland / Weymouth! and I'm still to get out of Dover without being blown out!)

Number of Dives
116

Deepest Dive
41.5m - Unknown wreck out of Brighton. Excellent vis, lots of massive crabs to grab, and narcosis a plenty!

Longest Dive
About 70 mins

Favourite Dives
1st UK sea dive - The Kyarra - Realising that puddle jumping had been useful to develop skills but this salty stuff was what it was all really about! A really great trip with great friends!

All dives of my TDI AN and DP course. Yep.... I'm a masochist!

Worst Dive
Stoney Cove - mixture of buddies, murkiness, deep, narcosis, shoddy buoyancy, scary yoyo ascent, sharing my air with buddy for safety stop... Not fun!

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Truk, And lots more UK diving! Scapa in August!!!

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
On holiday in Corfu with my other half when she said "If you're enjoying snorkelling you'll LOVE diving!" The rest, as they say, is history!

[SilvaFish]

B]Name[/b]
Louisa (Lou, The Other)

Location
Nottingham

First Qualified
August 2004

Club Member
YD!!! And looking for a BSAC club near me (hint hint!)


Highest Diving Qualification
PADI RD

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
Rescue Diver and EFR as a week after I did my RD, was walking into work and came across a cyclist who was knocked over. The driver was already there and had called the ambulance, but I felt confident enough that I could help if required.

What’s your standard Kit
Single 12 or 10 and pony

Where do you usually Dive
Stoney, Capernwray and Farnes were my usual haunts.

Number of Dives
200 ish

Deepest Dive
44.5m on air. Thomas reef canyon went under the first archway. Narced to the eyeballs, looked up from deepest point and thought 'that's a long way'...

Longest Dive
72 minutes around the 'Cove.

Favourite Dive
Top of Rosalie Muller, parting of the glassfish curtain as descended towards mast at 17m. Trully magical.

Worst Dive
Stoney Cove on way down to BOP. Freefall down, started ox-tox had narcosis, and learnt never to do that again!

What dive/trip would you most like to do
At the moment, any. Getting into the pool is an achievement in itself, although 'drug number 4' seems to be doing something.

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
Have air, don't panic, can sort anything if have air.

What ONE other question should I have included?
Which BSAC club to join? Decisions, decisions.....

[Richie]

Name
Richard

Location
Shropshire

First Qualified
First Dived 1967 self taught
Got a SSI card 2001 because fed up having to prove to dive centres that I knew what I was doing

Club Member
No

Highest Diving Qualification
Adv Eanx

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
N/a.

What’s your standard Kit
Twin 12s + stages as needed

Where do you usually Dive
Living a long way from good sea; all the usual inland sites plus south coast. Red Sea. Historically lots out of Oban.

Number of Dives
2300+

Deepest Dive
62M

Longest Dive
10 hours in water fixing a mooring system in 9m max.

Favourite Dive
Shark and Yolanda reefs in mating season (fish not mine)

Worst Dive
Getting caught in a salmon cage tangle net in black water. Solo

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Galapagos

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
Don't think that you have nothing more to learn.