Netted@70...

[Digger]

OK, I'll come on to the title later, which was fun (not), but first the first dive. I am somewhat surprised to have survived the weekend, as will become clear.

First day we get down to Falmouth, weather is lovely, the South West Mafia are out in force, and all good giggles and handshaking as per normal. Most of the faces were familiar ones, some new, we were soon chatting away like an old school reunion. Or at least I was

Dive one was the Renovia (sp?) in 60m of water. We kitted up and I was diving with Gary, our very own Warmwaterdiver. Well, it certainly was warm.

I left the surface after the shot had been tied in, and dropped down to 3m, where I look down to check the VR3 is on and working, only to realise it's on the boat. Sod it, I think, I know the tables for these dives, I'll use my dive timer. Which is broken. Nice. Sod it again I think, I'll use Gary, he's got enough instruments for the both of us.

Down we go, and the visibility was fantastic (well, the locals seemed to think it was crap, but hey get spoilt with good viz all the time) and Gary was ahead of me. I reach back to the torch canister and flick the switch. Nothing. Bloody hell. I flick it off, then on again. It has been known not to fire first time, but usually second or third it gets there. Nope. OK, so we're on to backup torches. No great shakes.

We hit the bottom of the shot and I'm already in a lovely mood, with no idea what depth we're at. Gary! There he is, quick squizz at the VR3 and I know we're on the wreck, and it's about 55m at the moment. Great, not too deep, I don't want to rack up a lot of deco without everything being 100%. And I was at about 50% by now. Nice.

We have a leisurely pootle about, there's some attempts at spidgery going on, and definitely some hammering and chiselling. I prefer the swim about and duck inside things to find decent spidge, preferably not attatched, method. I find a porthole (3rd in 3 dives I'll have you know!) and bring it back to the shot. It was corroded, so I assumed it was steel and left it there. It later disappeared, and later turned out that other portholes recovered were brass. Bugger. Just as I'm doing this, next failure kicks in.

I look down and cell 2 has dropped a lot. It's at 0.3, when it should be at 1.4 where I left it! I've not changed depth, and nto fired the ADV, so I'm presuming it's cell 2 that's knackered. I do a dil flush to check. I was right.

At this point it's pretty clear it's time for home, so a quick scout around and we're off. We come up the shotline to a crowd of divers doing them same. I chekc their computers, they're all in the same ballpark, and elect to sit it out with the last of them, and I'll be fine. I did, and I was. Rebreather deco on the fly is a wonderful thing, and it works like a dream. Total dive time quite long, maximum depth a fair bit, total deco quite a lot. I'll leave Gary to fill in the details, once he gets the details out of his many devices.

Went to the pub for a nice meal that evening, the Coal Scuttle I think, nice enough, sat outside and enjoyed the Falmouth experience.

Tents all packed the next morning and I've got work to do if I'm diving. I need to find out why the cell dropped out, Gary lends me a "spare" HID - I ask you, who has a spare HID, and a fancy CD one at that!? And I've decided to make sure I've got some means of measuring depth and time on this dive.

Issues resolved, new cell in the breather and it's playing ball again, VR3 on and working, everyone's a winner.

We're dropped on to what are known locally as the Kennedies, or Kennedy, no-one seemed to know why, because it wasn't the name of the ship. It was a liberty ship and was a big old jobbie, in 2 sections. We had elected to dive the higher one, as the seabed was at 70m and the plan for the trip was 60.

We drop down the shot and this is a cracking wreck. I offered to tie in and Gary had the onerous task of sending up the pellets to let the surface know we are tied in and on the wreck, and they can send divers down. This he duly did, as I tied in to a convenient hoop right next to the line.

We swam off, no need to lay a line, in this visibility if you can't find the shotline again you need help.

The wreck is large, with bits and bobs all over the place. We chill out swimming over the wreck, looking for significant spidge, as well as keeping an eye out for anything which could identify it, as no-one seemed to have a name in the pub, and it's always nice to do some wreck detectivery.

Bit of a fight with a lobster, it won because I was a girl about it, and back we come. I look in to a large open section, and see something round which tapers off - is that the bell? Can it be? On closer inspection, no, it isn't. I then decide to swim across and come up, we were right at the end of the bottom time - 28 minutes into the dive we had planned to get outselves off the bottom, and something's around my leg. There is also something against my head, which I don't like.

I decide to back up a bit, assuming that it's line or a net. This goes ok, and whatever was around my head has now gone. It is still around my leg. I move my right hand slowly, purposefully, and without moving anywhere, to reach for my shears. I feel the resistance and - got to love it - my arm is now wrapped in line. This is where I have my "get some help here Digger, dented pride is better than dead diver" and start to shout, and flash my light at Gary, who was above the structure, and Ash, who is across from me. I reach down my left side to get my shears from the other side. I manage to get these out just as Ash arrives to watch me free myself from the line. I cut one strand and my arm and leg are free. Lovely. Time to make like fat kids in dodgeball, and get out asap.

It is an enormous sense of relief to know you're out in the clear, and coming back up the shot. All you have to do is deco out and go home for cigars and medals. This we did, and thanks to a lsightly longer stay than we'd originally planned, by a minute, we came up and were out of the water after just shy of 2 hours.

I slept the way home, after thanking Ash for coming to help out, and finding no-one had found anything notable to be recovered, or any further clues to the identity of the wreck.

3 things I learnt this weekend - 1) once one major bit of kit is broken, go home. Get back up the shot and live to dive another day. 2) When netted, stay completely still. Any movement makes it a lot worse. Carry at least 2 sets of cutting device, and make sure both hands can get to at least one of them. 3) Know where your mates are. You never know when you might need them.

Digs.

PS - If anyone wants to have a go about dive one, don't bother. Shit performance, and gear was overhauled afterwards. That said, I did the dive and stuck to the plan every well for a guy with most of his gear trying to do him in. I share it so others can learn from it, and so they don't have to make the same mistakes.

[Scuby]

Ah, but its all the little problems that make diving interesting

David

[Digger]

And enjoyable Where's the challenge in everything working like it should? Some people use equipment to solve technique problems, I use technique to solve equipment problems. It did test my backup plans for most of my gear though, and I'm still here, so yardstick testing says to me it's all ok.

[ratcliffe]

Flipping heck Digger, glad you're here to tell us about it!

[Janos]

Originally Posted by Digger

3 things I learnt this weekend - 1) once one major bit of kit is broken, go home. Get back up the shot and live to dive another day. 2) When netted, stay completely still. Any movement makes it a lot worse. Carry at least 2 sets of cutting device, and make sure both hands can get to at least one of them. 3) Know where your mates are. You never know when you might need them.

Glad you kept cool and sorted yourself out. One of the great things about 'breathers is that they give you time. True, they will kill you in other ways but at least you could have stayed down there for another couple of hours and still deco'd out under your own steam.

It's funny, but since going CCR I've become a lot more anti-solo diving [1]. This is partly because of my instructor, but also because of the inherent dangerousness of CCR.

Clearly you were self-sufficient on this dive, and managed to sort yourself out, but it must have been reassuring to have mates you can trust around.

Janos


[1] - Anti for me - you can do what you want.

[Digger]

Nope, I'd agre entirely. All my arguments for solo diving are gone. If people want to do it then that's ok, I was part of a team approach, with some pairs, some solo, but everyone roughyl on the same hymnsheet, so they wouldn't have been far. Solo diving is not as safe as team/buddy diving. Having Ash and Gary there kept me cool and they would have been able to help in seconds if I'd got more netted or had further problems.

Self-sufficiency is great. Having others around to help is better. Gives you another pair of pants basically.

If I had been on OC I would have been a lot less cool about it. We plan for possible cock-ups, but by my reckoning I could have spent 20 minutes sorting that out and not needed to piss in my drysuit. After 3 hours it's obligatory.

Digs.

[milldog]

glad you had some good days i missed this one perhaps the next

[warmwaterdiver]

Originally Posted by Digger

OK, I'll come on to the title later, which was fun (not), but first the first dive. I am somewhat surprised to have survived the weekend, as will become clear.

Dive one was the Renovia (sp?) in 60m of water. We kitted up and I was diving with Gary, our very own Warmwaterdiver. Well, it certainly was warm.

not as surprised as some. Rinovia. 20 deg on the 6m stop

Originally Posted by Digger

I left the surface after the shot had been tied in, and dropped down to 3m, where I look down to check the VR3 is on and working, only to realise it's on the boat. Sod it, I think, I know the tables for these dives, I'll use my dive timer. Which is broken. Nice. Sod it again I think, I'll use Gary, he's got enough instruments for the both of us.

and I thought you were just being observant and keeping an eye out for me using the VR3 for the first time

Originally Posted by Digger

I look down and cell 2 has dropped a lot. It's at 0.3, when it should be at 1.4 where I left it! I've not changed depth, and nto fired the ADV, so I'm presuming it's cell 2 that's knackered. I do a dil flush to check. I was right.

yeah it did look funny, one cell unregistered, one cell 0.3, one cell 1.4, take your pick!

Originally Posted by Digger

At this point it's pretty clear it's time for home, so a quick scout around and we're off. We come up the shotline to a crowd of divers doing them same. I chekc their computers, they're all in the same ballpark, and elect to sit it out with the last of them, and I'll be fine. I did, and I was. Rebreather deco on the fly is a wonderful thing, and it works like a dream. Total dive time quite long, maximum depth a fair bit, total deco quite a lot.

you stayed a bit closer than normal!

Originally Posted by Digger

I'll leave Gary to fill in the details, once he gets the details out of his many devices.

still reading the manuals!

Originally Posted by Digger

Went to the pub for a nice meal that evening, the Coal Scuttle I think, nice enough, sat outside and enjoyed the Falmouth experience.

The Chainlocker with the nice barmaids

Originally Posted by Digger

Tents all packed the next morning and I've got work to do if I'm diving. I need to find out why the cell dropped out, Gary lends me a "spare" HID - I ask you, who has a spare HID, and a fancy CD one at that!?

doesn't everyone have a spare hid?

Originally Posted by Digger

Issues resolved, new cell in the breather and it's playing ball again, VR3 on and working, everyone's a winner.

weeeelllllllll, when you say "new"

Originally Posted by Digger

We're dropped on to what are known locally as the Kennedies, or Kennedy, no-one seemed to know why, because it wasn't the name of the ship. It was a liberty ship and was a big old jobbie, in 2 sections. We had elected to dive the higher one, as the seabed was at 70m and the plan for the trip was 60.

70m is f**king deep by the way

Originally Posted by Digger

We drop down the shot and this is a cracking wreck. I offered to tie in and Gary had the onerous task of sending up the pellets to let the surface know we are tied in and on the wreck, and they can send divers down. This he duly did, as I tied in to a convenient hoop right next to the line.

I had to take the pellets all the way down and let them go once you'd taken your time and tied in, I think you had the easier job

Originally Posted by Digger

Bit of a fight with a lobster, it won because I was a girl about it, and back we come. I look in to a large open section, and see something round which tapers off - is that the bell? Can it be? On closer inspection, no, it isn't.

bell? as Jim Royle would say "my arse"

Originally Posted by Digger

I then decide to swim across and come up, we were right at the end of the bottom time - 28 minutes into the dive we had planned to get outselves off the bottom, and something's around my leg. There is also something against my head, which I don't like.

I decide to back up a bit, assuming that it's line or a net. This goes ok, and whatever was around my head has now gone. It is still around my leg. I move my right hand slowly, purposefully, and without moving anywhere, to reach for my shears. I feel the resistance and - got to love it - my arm is now wrapped in line. This is where I have my "get some help here Digger, dented pride is better than dead diver" and start to shout, and flash my light at Gary, who was above the structure, and Ash, who is across from me. I reach down my left side to get my shears from the other side. I manage to get these out just as Ash arrives to watch me free myself from the line. I cut one strand and my arm and leg are free. Lovely.

I heard you, I was trying to ignore you

Originally Posted by Digger

It is an enormous sense of relief to know you're out in the clear, and coming back up the shot. All you have to do is deco out and go home for cigars and medals. This we did, and thanks to a lsightly longer stay than we'd originally planned, by a minute, we came up and were out of the water after just shy of 2 hours.

all 55 mins of deco

Originally Posted by Digger

3 things I learnt this weekend - 1) once one major bit of kit is broken, go home. Get back up the shot and live to dive another day. 2) When netted, stay completely still. Any movement makes it a lot worse. Carry at least 2 sets of cutting device, and make sure both hands can get to at least one of them. 3) Know where your mates are. You never know when you might need them.

4) never ask a cornish bloke if he wants a drink
5) don't take the pi** out of the skipper too much if he has to reshot the wreck (several times) to be absolutely positive he's pulled into it
6) don't believe the weather forecast
7) Gary really does need all those spares

Cheers Digs for buddying up (& talking bo**ocks most of the time) but as I said, I think you got the better deal out of it

Originally Posted by Digger

PS - If anyone wants to have a go about dive one, don't bother. Shit performance, and gear was overhauled afterwards. That said, I did the dive and stuck to the plan every well for a guy with most of his gear trying to do him in. I share it so others can learn from it, and so they don't have to make the same mistakes.

plan? we had a plan?

[divingniknaks]

Jack,

Glad to hear you're OK.

I'd have missed the regular "dips" in yer wallet.

Seriously though, like you say a "team approach" does seem to have it;s advantages.

Be careful out there !

Cheers

[Juz]

This is EXACTLY why I usually have to dive with this irresponsible fool!

He cannot be trusted alone, sorry you got landed with him this time Gary!

Juz