Horsea 7th March

[Mark Chase]

<font color='#000F22'>OK so four of the Pilot Divers got wet at Horsea today. I rang on Tuesday to get us booked in and they were shut so I left my number thinking fat lot of good that will do and blow me down I got a call first thing Wednesday. Got us booked in and got a £2.50 discount per diver (£7.50 total)

Top Marks Horsea

For those that dont know its a navel training facility and not that well sign posted. Just head for the Marina and look for the KEEP OUT MOD PROPERTY signs.

Dive centre were a bit subdued but efficient and I let them off coz it was a miserable day. We signed in, showed our cert cards (a must) and got our temporary dog tags.

We were allowed to dive Zone 3 which is 6m deep in the middle. Viz was very good at the edges but there was a layer of murk in the middle possibly due to previous activity.

Kitting up area is not too bad (Similar to Stony) and there is a covered section if it rains. You can drop kit adjacent to the entry point then drive car to car park adjacent.

http://www.pilotdivers.com/Gallery/h...s/DSCF0089.htm

Entry is via sit and role into about 1.5m of water or giant stride into about 4m.

On the day there was Andy and I with new 03 dry suits. Me with 5mm neoprene and Andy with 2mm crushed Neoprene. Dan had his, just been repaired AGAIN Otter membrane (Or sieve as we call it) Dan also had a new one-piece harness to check out. So we all had an excuse to be there. We were testing new kit.  KGB was there too in his 5mm 03 but he was just there to dive???? We all knew of course that NO ONE dives in 7deg c strip of 6m deep salt water FOR FUN so he was obviously there to spy on the top secrete MOD facility.

http://www.pilotdivers.com/Gallery/h...s/DSCF0083.htm

Pic of  Mark Chase   KGB   &amp;  Dan

Kitting up was carried out watching the locals doing abandon ship drill up the way a bit and laughing at the very silly arm flap swimming technique they use to reach the life boats.

http://www.pilotdivers.com/Gallery/h...s/DSCF0088.htm

OK so comments on the 03.

Great suit but a bugger to get on with those neoprene wrist seals. KY jelly might be a good idea. I use Atrixo hand cream to ease the pain but I dont know if that will damage the neoprene. Andys had an integrated hood design. My one was a conventional hood.

Off I go with two stages canister torch et cet (yes I know, in 6m)  and I have added 2kg for the neoprene suit.

I plummet to the deck like a brick wearing a weight belt.

OK so a bit heavy then.

Set wing to take the strain and go for some hovering. New rig has canister torch mounted at rear between cylinders, 3ltr travel gas inverted and on pony clamp on the right rear cylinder and the 7ltr stage clipped off at the rear to the left cylinder on a D ring clamp and on the normal nipple D ring.

Reason for the pony set up is to clear access to right hip D ring and allow better retrieval of reels etc. 3ltr has clips left on in case I have to remove it under water and then I can stow it in the normal way or give it away to another diver.

So weighting sorted and we are off. Several stage removal drills and gas shut downs follow then it's on to inversion drills and somersaults with stages and full rig.

Fortunately we were the only divers in so occasionally crashing into the silt during these was not so bad.

Out we get after 35mins of drills and its big smiles all round. Andy is over the moon with his 03 and is stunned that the attached hood kept his head nearly dry. I love the 03 in the water and it was a dry dive despite some excessive arm movements and wiggling about. New rig works a treat and balance is spot on. Dan had a dry dive in his sieve so he was happy and KGB got some good pictures of the bottom of the MOD's premier training facility with his thigh mounted camera designed to look like a pee valve.

Dive two was hunt for the helicopter time. This was done with me in just a twin set and Dan trying my 7ltr stage for size. Off we go on to the training platforms and away. Loads of jellyfish from 15mm to 150mm dia and very very pretty. They are apparently a non-stinging variety. Mussels everywhere thousands of them and quite big too. Lots of little brown mud fish and loads of interesting algae growth in mauve orange and white. I actually enjoyed the dive a lot. It made a change from the usual fresh water training dives.

We found the helicopter by accident and it was just like the one at Stony but totally encrusted with mussels.

Back to the slip and out to be greeted by torrential rain.

Thank god for the covered area we all rushed under the giant carport to get changed.

Other facilities on site were a bit limited we couldnt find food or hot drinks easily and the toilet was in the main training building but all in all I liked Horsea and would go there again for kit tests. It is a shame they dont have a deep section open to divers. There is a 9m section and past that is Zone 1, which is marked up as Advanced Diving area but your not allowed to dive it. Shame as if it had a 20 -30m section open to the public it would be much better than stony.

OK so it wasnt the Anglesey trip but at least we managed to get a couple in this week.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Seadart Bob]

<font color='#333399'>Hi Mark

Cheers for the report, made interesting reading.
Horsea eh that place still on the map?.
Did part of my SAR course there back in the mid 60’s.
Had a high diving board over a lake and used it to simulate jumping from a chopper with full kit.
I think we were there for two or three weeks.
Then moved on to Portland to do the real thing.

I’ve got an old 03 and I had trouble with the neoprene seals like you.
I put up with it until I needed to have a major repair job done on my suit.
Then had the other type of seal fitted. They cut off the neoprene seals and had two plastic rings inserted.
Now I use the rubber seals and it is held on with a rubber grommet
Much more comfortable and cheap to replace when they wear out.
I have to call at the workshop in the morning, that's where my suit is.
So I will take a few pics and put them on the boards for you to see.
They say a picture tells a thousand words.
Cheers
Bob.

[Seadart Bob]

<font color='#333399'>.                
Mark
Got some pics for you.

click here

Found these to be much better than those neoprene ones.
Cheers
Bob.          

[Mark Chase]

<font color='#000F22'>Chears for that Bob.

Did O3 do the mod?

Also: Horsea do you know if &nbsp;Zone 1 a deep bit ?

just &nbsp;curious it seems daft having a navel training facility thats max depth 9m?

By the by the blokes jumping in I have been told were doing abandon ship drill. They were in orange suits jumping like lemings from a ramp that extended into the water about 3-4m high.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Seadart Bob]

<font color='#333399'>Hi Mark
Horsea as I recall it. It was always a shallow water dive site, divers in those days using UBA sets [rebreathers on O2] were limited to 28ft and the rest of us on comp air sets only used Horsea to get our diving time in per quarter if there was no ship diving to do. We had to get a certain amount of dive time per quarter to qualify for our diving pay.
Other than that the SAR crews used it to do their training.
They needed height out of the water not depth.
There was no need for deep diving sites cos if it was needed they just took a boat and went and found a deep bit of sea.

O3 did the modification on my suit and been well pleased with it.
I don’t know why they don’t give the option when people order there suits they give options on pockets, zips and like.
Cheers for the pics it has changed a lot since I was there in fact I can hardly recognise the place. Covered area with hard standing never had them sort of luxuries.

Cheers. M8

[Jay]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Mark Chase @ Mar. 07 2003,19:58)]Kitting up was carried out watching the locals doing abandon ship drill up the way a bit and laughing at the very silly arm flap swimming technique they use to reach the life boats.

http://www.pilotdivers.com/Gallery/h...s/DSCF0088.htm

TOP photo mate - love it!