TDI courses at Wraysbury

[swisschris]

I am thinking of doing Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures. Wraysbury is super-convenient for me, and they do both courses on site. Has anyone done these courses there, and is it possible to teach them satisfactorily somewhere like Wraysbury with a max depth of 10ish metres?

[Juz]

I think you're best bet might be to talk to Mark Powell on here. I think he uses Wraysbury, he'll give you an honest opinion if 10m is appropriate for teh entire course or just part of it.

Juz

[Fathoms Down]

I did part of my courses there and its fine for the shutdown and gas switching excercises. However, when you go on the later dives of the course you will probably have to move on to the NDC or the sea to get the required depth.

[John Touhig]

Originally Posted by Juz

I think you're best bet might be to talk to Mark Powell on here. I think he uses Wraysbury, he'll give you an honest opinion if 10m is appropriate for teh entire course or just part of it.

Juz

Have a chat with Mark. Top Instructor.

John

[Alan]

Originally Posted by swisschris

I am thinking of doing Advanced Nitrox and Deco Procedures. Wraysbury is super-convenient for me, and they do both courses on site. Has anyone done these courses there, and is it possible to teach them satisfactorily somewhere like Wraysbury with a max depth of 10ish metres?

No way mate, its 10 metres there, and advanced Nitrox has a 40 metre dive requirements and Deco 45 metres. If you wanna talk about ideal locations I recommend doing it in Thomas Canyon in the Red Sea.

Its awesome place, and I had a great time diving it on my course.

Alan

[Tricky]

Originally Posted by FishFinger

advanced Nitrox has a 40 metre dive requirements and Deco 45 metres

If it's a requirement to do dives to these depths, then I shouldn't hold these qualifications. Actually, I did reach 45m during one of the dives on my course, but that was an accident - the dive was supposed to only be to 35m with simulated deco. I think the deco plan was from a 40m dive.

40m and 45m are the depths to which these quals qualify you to dive.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Tricky

If it's a requirement to do dives to these depths, then I shouldn't hold these qualifications. Actually, I did reach 45m during one of the dives on my course, but that was an accident - the dive was supposed to only be to 35m with simulated deco. I think the deco plan was from a 40m dive.

40m and 45m are the depths to which these quals qualify you to dive.

Before I start, I am not having a go, or disappearing up my own arse, but doing these qualifications for deep diving, means doing the deep diving to the qualification limit. There is no point having been qualified to 45 metres and only diving to 35 metres surely.

And simulating DECO and not doing actual DECO is poor training for the real thing. When I completed the course, I dived to the max depths and had real deco (not simulated). I thought that was the point.

[Tricky]

Originally Posted by FishFinger

Before I start, I am not having a go, or disappearing up my own arse, but doing these qualifications for deep diving, means doing the deep diving to the qualification limit. There is no point having been qualified to 45 metres and only diving to 35 metres surely.

And simulating DECO and not doing actual DECO is poor training for the real thing. When I completed the course, I dived to the max depths and had real deco (not simulated). I thought that was the point.

I see your point, but while I was doing the course, I was only qualified to dive to 35m (as a BSAC Sports Diver). I suppose it depends on how you look at it, and how the quals were awarded. I did dive deeper than I was qualified to while doing my PADI AOW, but with the BSAC stuff, you only dive deeper after qualifying, and even then you build up (down?) slowly. If the Adv. Nitrox was awarded before the end of the course, then I could have done training dives to 40m for the Deco Procs I suppose.

How is simulated deco any different to real deco, apart from that if you get it wrong, you won't do yourself any harm. By only diving to 35m instead of the 40m that the dive was planned against, we were building in a safety margin. We had to act as if the stops we'd planned were necessary and we couldn't blow off the last few minutes because we were cold, or becuse the instructor suggested we could surface. It wasn't a case of showing we could hold stops, we also had to prove that we could dive to a schedule, and stick to it regardless.

It's also important to bear in mind that, although now qualified to 45m, I've only dived to 35m since passing 6/7 months ago. I may dive deeper in Scapa next month, but I won't go straight to 45m, I'll try to get a few 40m dives in before. I'm a great believer in BSAC's approach to going deeper after gaining a new qual. Just because it says on the c-card that I can go to a certain depth, I'm only going to that depth if I'm happy to do so.

[kevFISH]

Originally Posted by FishFinger

And simulating DECO and not doing actual DECO is poor training for the real thing.

Surely you can't really believe this? On those occassions when your computer/buddy/small voice tells you that you don't have to stick to your schedule you think back to the simulated deco and think - well, I may as well stick to the plan as it's going to be extra conservative.

Most of the course is about planning and executing the deco stops and when everyone is comfortable I agree that doing some deco is a good way to finish.

I do believe, however, that some experience of the depth your qualified to is a good idea - or at least reasonably close. So, Wraysbury is good for the shallow water drills and practicing holding stops, which is what most people need.

NB to ADMIN - maybe we need a '2 pence' icon!?

[Tricky]

Originally Posted by FishFinger

...but doing these qualifications for deep diving, means doing the deep diving to the qualification limit. There is no point having been qualified to 45 metres and only diving to 35 metres surely...

Missed this in my reply, but this is something else I disagree with. What's deep exactly? I'd say 35m is deep, and I think I'd also say 20m is deep. Surely Adv Nitrox is a qualification for using nitrox up to 100%, selecting the right mix for your dive, and having the skills to not exceed the MOD of your selected mix. In a similar vein, Deco Procs is a qualification for using rich nitrox mixes to accelerate deco, having the skills to ensure you can plan a dive properly, and ensuring you can maintain stops for as long as necessary so you can surface without getting bent.

Ok, so this simplifies it just a little , but I don't see qualifications as a ticket to dive deep, even if they say you can. I will reach the depth limits on my quals, but I'm not ready to yet.