Entry Level Trimix with Frank Bruce - Part Three

[Mal Bridgeman]

This weekend I spent down at the NADC with Frank where we planned to do the deeper experience dives of the course and also complete the remaining part of the lectures.

The challenge was set to plan two dives ....one to 48 metres and one to 57 metres. Sounds easy enough....just bung it in vPlanner and you are away! However, my buddies for the dives were to be Clare (Gledders) and Al (Al_Star) and diving the plan I was proposing would be, for them, like starting your car off in 5th gear then working back to first!!

So a couple of hours of discussion last weekend, and a further couple of hours in the week and we had plans we were happy with. I learned an awful lot from those discussions about the approach and philosophy that Clare and Al use when dive planning. I also got a very quick taster of how their battlefield calculations can be applied to %CNS and OTUs and in about 20secs they have it worked out with only the smallest of difference (0.5%) to the long hand version I then used.

The plans were submitted to Frank but he was not happy with them. We needed plans with providence ... so another 3.5 hour conference call on Thursday evening created a new set.

For the first dive we agreed I would run the plan, Al would send up the bag and Clare would be responsible for position. Al would lead the dive, I would go #2 and Clare #3.

Friday came and a very busy day at work, was followed with a frantic packing of the car in order to get away in time to miss the traffic around the M25/M4 junction. I failed in that so arrived at the B&B for about 8:15pm. After a pleasant evening meal in the local pub we returned to the B&B where Clare and I rehearsed the dive in real time with signals, gas switches etc.

So to the morning of the dive and I was feeling a little apprehensive about it. It was to be my first Trimix and, through my choice, I was to be running the dive. I had learned the main plan off by heart and even though I had 7 different plans written up in my wetnotes, I knew the main plan and it was only if things went wrong that I would need to refer to them.

On the morning, after a most fabulous breakfast we made our way to the NADC. Frank gave us a briefing and site orientation. Then we analysed gas, got our kit ready and steadily got the kit down to the water's edge. Everyone was very hot from lugging the kit about so we took a few minutes to settle ourselves. Everyone looked fairly relaxed which helped because I was feeling a little anxious still.

We clipped our stages off in the water and began dressing. We went through the buddy checks and all was well. We jumped in the water then attached our stages. As I was doing this I thought how much easier I was finding it to clip the stages on compared to just a few weeks previously where I struggled to find the D-rings. When we were all ready we moved over to the shotline and commenced the descent. We paused at 6m to do a bubble check and only miniscule bubbles were found so we set off.

As we descended and lost virtually all natural light I became aware of just how good the powerful lights are, both to illuminate the area but also for signalling either actively for direction and attention type signals as well as passively..."I can see your light and it's steady so that means you are ok".

As we reached our planned bottom time I thumbed the dive and we all ascended in a pretty good formation to the first stop depth. Lights were clipped off as we ascended and the ascent slowed as we reached the first stop till we steadied at the planned depth. We followed the planned slow ascent to the first gas switch which went smoothly enough and I held my depth reasonably ok. The others switched too and after we had all completed a few breaths I began the timing....Al sent the bag up and so began the accelerated decompression. Approaching the 6m stop we switched back to back gas, stowed the 50% bottle and got the O2 reg ready. At 6M we switched to O2 and began the longer period of decompression. Although the water was only 6degC it was only at this point I became aware of the cold so pumped a little more Argon in the suit. It didn't warm me but did help keep the cold further away!

After the 6m stop was completed we began a slow ascent to the surface and that was it...my first dive on Trimix was completed. I felt happy that I had run it to schedule though there were a couple of areas especially around the 6M gas switch which needed some more polishing.

After some very welcome chips and hot chocolate we went for another skills dive. Down the line, a 6m bubble check then off along the wall with me in the lead position Clare #2 and Al #3. Al had a light failure so stopped and re-ordered then blow me if Claire didn't have a light failure then OOG and from there it got progressively worse. Further incidents occurred....some manufactured and some natural.... and at the end of the dive we were all pretty reflective.

One of the “natural” failures was my primary reg which as Clare handed it back to me after the OOG, started to stream bubbles in an ever increasing torrent. I closed down the right post to save further wastage but this did make the rest of the dive difficult for me…..since I had no power inflator. The lesson from this is not to learn to dive from the internet….I read a long while ago to only do your regs up finger tight in case you need to swap the regs underwater. It seemed sensible at the time but is not the current thinking. If you are doing a dive where you may need to undo the reg to swap to another hose then the advice is to take a spanner with you! All regs should be attached and tightened with a spanner.

In the debrief Frank replayed the dive pointing out the learning opportunities and I found that very useful. It was one of those lightbulb moments for me. Frank had introduced himself to me a few months earlier (via email) saying that the course was a "performance based" course and I had that in my mind throughout. It is still a course though, and one where one is meant to learn something, so the course is structured in a way to offer learning regardless of one's current knowledge.

This debrief was very enlightening and whilst, I didn't die from the scenarios, there was valuable coaching for me on how to deal with the situations better….and how to prevent them too!!

Over to the pub for dinner and Frank decided our 57m plan was not what he wanted so suggested we replan it. Back to the B&B for another couple of hours of planning .... interspersed with a lot of chatter and laughter (especially at the recreated "GI3 in Speedos homage" moment) ... oh yeah and a load of bollox that only divers appreciate

The morning came round soon enough and after another hearty breakfast we presented the plan to Frank, who still was not happy with it so replanning commenced. We went through the final lecture session too then set off to the NADC.

We got there at about 11 or so and began going through the same routine as the previous day, to find that Clare's fill was not correct and so began a lengthy delay whilst the mix was overcorrected and undercorrected in an endless cycle.

Since I had briefed the dive yesterday it was Al's turn today. As well as all the serious technical stuff, Al promised us we would see wither a wonderful pristine wreck or perhaps undiscovered chests of Gold, which made me chuckle. Frank advised that if we did find any of that to let him know cos it was likely the dive would be cut short !!!

Eventually after we resigned to more food and chocolate, Clare's fill analysed ok. So all the kit was transported down to the water's edge and we began the dive preparations in the same calm manner as before. This was to be my deepest dive ever so I had some apprehension but, strangely, felt less anxious than the previous day.

The dive started, down to 6M, bubble check, descend to 50m flow check and settle, say hi to the gnomes, descend to 57M, flow checks and Gas consumption checks along the way and soon enough Minimum Gas meant it was time to thumb the dive and so began the long ascent to the surface. Apart from a delay on the 21m switch due to a misbehaving stage tank the dive went to time and after 55mins in the water we reached the surface and calmly returned to the pontoon and exited the water.

We transported the kit up to the carpark, repacked the cars and because the centre was about to close, headed off to Tesco's for our final debrief.

The good news is we all passed. Frank also offered that he and I go for another dive together to cement a lot of the learning ... I am a blend of both Active and Reflective Learning. This means I like to try things for myself but also think about things that happened and work out how I could do better. Another dive with Frank suits me down to the ground and I hope to arrange to do that soon although I will also plan some more shallower things for myself.

Passing the course is very pleasing for me because I had signed up for the course "cold", wanting to learn whilst on the course rather than learn everything beforehand and go on the course simply to get the card ( I haven’t forgotten about the exam btw!!)...and learn a lot I did. Not just from Frank, but Al and especially Clare. She spent hours on the phone with me, introducing and explaining things to me about dive planning and the way she does it. Many will know that Al and Clare dive together as part of a team and have a really really good understanding of each other in the water and whilst it was hard for me at times to understand all that was being "said", by adopting the "Brit in a foreign land" approach of shouting louder, I did get the message....well most of the time. I have often said “you don’t know what you don’t know” and what this course reinforced was that you also “don’t know what your buddies don’t know, that you do”. We make assumptions about our buddies to an extent and the wider adoption of standardised approaches to some things can cause difficulties of their own, where one has the standardised appearance without the same training behind it. On reflection, though, I was extremely pleased to do the course with them because of the added learning they gave me.

As for Frank, I am looking forward to go diving with him, because although he has the pathological exterior of the Technical Diving Instructor, underneath, there is a nice guy trying to get out Well ...maybe…… you judge for yourself ....

Rgrds
Mal

[Clare Gledhill]

It was a pleasure (well most of the time ) to dive with you Mal

As you said, Al and I found it difficult on several occasions during the weekend to remember that we could not 'expect' people to know what we meant by various signals or commands in water - just because we had trained to react to a specific situation in a certain way would not cover us if the person we were diving with spoke 'a different language'.

But good humour and flexibility got us all through the course. And we built a team - albeit a multi-lingual one

Even if my fingers have not as yet recovered from the cold.

[Ding Dang Doo]

Excellent report Mal,

I've met Frank a few times at Wittering Divers, and know he has an incredible knowledge in this field of diving - but he also has a way of passing a sort of calming reassurance about him.

Best of luck with the next few dives... if only I had the time.... big sigh...

3D