Who am I and what diving do I do?

[RogerViking]

Name
Roger

Location
Dublin

First Qualified
First Dived 2004 CMAS


Club Member
Yes YDr and viking SAC

Highest Diving Qualification
CMAS (cft) 2* Adv Eanx

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
ext range and rescue

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

Where do you usually Dive
Dublin bay and around ireland

Number of Dives
150+

Deepest Dive
60M

Longest Dive
1 hour 30 min

Favourite Dive
Toranto croatia

Worst Dive
coming up and drifting away from the cover boat with two others only to be picked up by the lifeboat after fireing off a few flares....well x 1,000,000

What dive/trip would you most like to do
laurentic

What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you?
carry a few flares. dive as if you were solo.

[Gav]

Name
Gavin

Location
Newhaven in East Sussex

First Qualified
09/2005 - PADI OW

Club Member
Yes, Sussex Divers BSAC 1016

Highest Diving Qualification
TDI Advanced Nitrox

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
BSAC Practical Rescue Management course; Mark Powell's Advanced Buoyancy Control course and some informal training (no it wasn't "An Experience"!) with Garf.

What’s your standard Kit
Twin 12s, recently changed to DIR configuration.

Where do you usually Dive
Brighton, plus Stoney, Wrayspuddle and Vobster with some of the good people on YD.

Number of Dives
65

Deepest Dive
39m in Sharm, 35m in UK.

Longest Dive
69 minutes

Favourite Dive
At the moment, any dive where it all comes together!

Worst Dive
All the others!

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Blue Hole at Dahab

What ONE other question should I have included?


What's the most useful tip ever passed on to you
Just relax and enjoy diving.

[Stesh]

Name
Stesh

Location
Gateshead

First Qualified
1/8/04 - PADI OW

Club Member
Known to hang around in Aquanorth(PADI) which is quite a clubby-like shop.

Highest Diving Qualification
PADI Rescue

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
PADI Rescue

What’s your standard Kit
Single dumpy 10 for shore, 12 for boat.

Where do you usually Dive
Northeast coast and Scotland

Number of Dives
149

Deepest Dive
39.9m

Longest Dive
72 mins

Favourite Dive
Diving the Karwela and the Comino Land wrecks two days after watching them sink in Gozo.

Worst Dive
Night dive on the Barrier Reef completely spoilt by some Americans.

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Truk Lagoon.

What ONE other question should I have included?

What's your grand total of kit lost whilst diving?

Three:- Reel, DSMB and fin.

[TerryH]

Name
TerryH

Location
Hampshire

First Qualified
1/10/92 - PADI OW

Club Member
SUCS BSAC 1624 - Southampton Solent Uni Sub-Aqua

Highest Diving Qualification
BSAC Advanced

Instructor Yes/No
Yes - BSAC Advanced Instructor + a few other PADI certs :-)

What other training have you found most rewarding
PADI Rescue

What’s your standard Kit
Twin 12's - Indies

Where do you usually Dive
South Coast - Solent > Weymouth

Number of Dives
1400+ > I've lost count

Deepest Dive
57m

Longest Dive
85 mins

Favourite Dive
The Cathedral, 35m on a night dive > mind blowing.

Worst Dive
Dorothea at 50+, almost didnt come back.

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Truk, Pilau, Sipidan .

What ONE other question should I have included?
Have you ever attacked anybody underwater?

What's your grand total of kit lost whilst diving?
1 SL6 caused by someone who said he was a BSAC Advanced, but was
more like a Ocean Diver.

[dave archer]

Name
Dave Archer

Location
North London

First Qualified
Oct 2001 - PADI OW - in Thailand

Club Member
urbanFish (RIP) & YD

Highest Diving Qualification
PADI Assistant Instructor

Instructor Yes/No
Assistant

What other training have you found most rewarding
PADI DM course - theory and dealing with trainee divers

What’s your standard Kit
Twin 12s

Where do you usually Dive
Southcoast, but also do Pembrokeshire, Farne, Abbs, Plymouth most years

Number of Dives
410

Deepest Dive
57m Egypt Shark reef

Longest Dive
90 mins - Swanage pier with a camera

Favourite Dive
HMS Prince Leopold YD3 gig, Dresden and James Barrie in Scapa

Worst Dive
Thinking I'd lost a buddy inside Dakotian in Pembrokeshire, after I led the way in, unplanned
Surfacing to hear "Mike's missed 15mins of stops" after James Barrie in Scapa

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Too many. Intact UK wrecks in great viz (yeah I know!)

What ONE other question should I have included?

What are your top three "Wow!" moments underwater?
3rd - Hammerhead up close at 42m on Elphinstone.
2nd - First time I dived with seals, in Pembrokeshire.
1st - Enveloped in vortex of several hundred barracuda on Sipadan - magic

[Digger]

Name
Digger

Location
Hemel. Well, actually Birmingham because my feckin car's knackered. Bastard citroen.

First Qualified
Aug 2004. I think. Maybe it was 2006. I celebrated my ten year anniversary not long ago by getting blown out, so maybe it was 2006.

Club Member
Nottingham Uni, dived with a few others but not found any I'd actually pay to be a part of.

Highest Diving Qualification
PADI DM
IANTD Trimix

Instructor Yes/No
Kind of. BSAC AOWI or something.

What other training have you found most rewarding
TDI Deco Proc. You learn a lot more when things go wrong than when they go right

What’s your standard Kit
KISS, Twin 12s, singles. All depends on the dive.

Where do you usually Dive
Stoney Bloody Cove.

Number of Dives
1000 and something. Maybe 1500. Maybe 1001.

Deepest Dive
102m. Dorothea.

Longest Dive
180 min. Plymouth, the Afric. Overcooked deep stops

Favourite Dive
Zenobia, many years ago. Because to everyone around me it was the best dive in the world. And it nearly killed me

Worst Dive
Just about every dive with Juz. He breaks things. And I have to keep rescuing him. In reality, I don't know. I remember a lot of mediocre dives, but there haven't been many really bad ones. I hate dives when I put in a shit performance, they don't happen often but when they do I just want to chuck the gear in the sea and take up professional wanking.

What dive/trip would you most like to do
I kind of can't wait to go to the Red Sea. Very sad. Other than that it's probably the Doria. I know, it's shit, but I still want to dive it while it's still there.

What ONE other question should I have included?

What size sheath do you use with your P-valve? Grower/Shower?
Definite grower. Medium in the warm.

Oh, and how many dives have you survived with Juz? Another tester for all divers out there. He's really difficult to lift once his loop floods, what with all that lead he's carrying...

Digs.

[pieater]

Name
Martin

Location
Wigan, cultural centre of the Universe

First Qualified
PADI OW 2003, or could have been 2002.

Club Member
MidLancs BSAC, YD, and keeping Brett in cigars and caviar at Divelife.

Highest Diving Qualification
BSAC Adv. Nitrox (such as it is) and halfway through DL

Instructor Yes/No
No chance

What other training have you found most rewarding
Driving license and Advanced Intense Bitterness for City fans (Goat instructed)

What’s your standard Kit
Twin 12s

Where do you usually Dive
North Wales, Capernwray

Number of Dives
somewhere between 150 and 200 (probably)

Deepest Dive
47M in Wastwater with Up4it (top bloke)

Longest Dive
Between 60 and 70 mins

Favourite Dive
Anywhere off Cozumel,

Worst Dive
Unable to see my hand in front of my face diving a wreck near the outfall of the power station on Angelsey / swimming face-first into the biggest wreck in Eccy delph 'cos the vis was that bad.

What dive/trip would you most like to do
Scapa. Like allllllllll of it.

What ONE other question should I have included?

[Sixsquid]

Originally Posted by Digger

Name
Digger

First Qualified
Aug 2004. I think. Maybe it was 2006. I celebrated my ten year anniversary not long ago by getting blown out, so maybe it was 2006.

Mmmmm, more than 10 years diving and qualified in 2006
Can this be why you appear 10 years older than you say you are or are you a Time Lord, in which case I think you'll find the answer to the 2nd question is Galafray

[johnkendall]

Name
John

Location
Cambridge

First Qualified
1993, BSAC Novice

Club Member
DO of CUUEG (BSAC52), DIR-UK (if you can call it a club) and on the support team for WKPP

Highest Diving Qualification
GUE Tech2/Cave2

Instructor Yes/No
Yes, GUE and BSAC

What other training have you found most rewarding

What’s your standard Kit
GUE Standard kit

Where do you usually Dive
All Over

Number of Dives
800+

Deepest Dive
70m

Longest Dive
Approx 120mins

Favourite Dive
Justicia

Worst Dive
6am dumped off the boat somewhere possibly in the vacinity of the Sidon, in 2kt current with 2" vis


What dive/trip would you most like to do
Britanic
Also, Wakulla in better circumstances than last time.

What ONE other question should I have included?

[Alex]

Name
Alex

Location
Nottingham, moving to York soon

First Qualified
2001

Club Member
Octagon Divers, Nottingham

Highest Diving Qualification
TDI Adv. Tx, IANTD Inspiration MOD 1

Instructor Yes/No
No

What other training have you found most rewarding
GUE fundamentals

What’s your standard Kit
Inspo Vision

Where do you usually Dive
All Over

Number of Dives
400+

Deepest Dive
84m, Agness Blakie, Crimea

Longest Dive
Approx 120mins

Favourite Dive
Difficult question- I have many, among them Justicia and Agness Blakie

Worst Dive
Those which took a lot of preparation and never happened for stupid reasons


What dive/trip would you most like to do
Flying Enterprise

What ONE other question should I have include?

Why do you dive?
My answer- I like to be in the places where not so many people can get to. Being underwater is like being on another planet....

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