My first Vobster trip today...

[ShinyD]

I received a pm earlier in the week from a member of YD, Sea-M, very kindly offering to meet me at Vobster on a weekend for my first dive(s) since passing the PADI OW just over a week ago.

Itching to get back in the water I responded and we subsequently arranged for a trip today - this is the report of that trip (sorry it's so long - I'm using this site as a supplementary log ).

The trip had to be early, as Sea-M (Carl) was due to pick his wife up from work at 13:30, and it is a 30 minute drive for him from Vobster, so...we arranged to meet at 8:30.

Vobster is a 2 hour drive for me, which meant leaving at 6:30, and therefore getting out of bed at 5:30. Well, let me tell you, and I don't care who argues the point, 5:30 to any normal person is the middle of the night. This diving must hold some magical charm, as news of free money at the end of our road wouldn't normally get me out of bed at that hour, never mind some new hobby...

So, 5:30 dawned and up I was, as bright as a button (ok, a brass button that's spent the last few years on the seabed, but as bright as I could be in the middle of the night). Showered, cats fed (why do cats ALWAYS need feeding, regardless of what time you get up?), coffee drunk, wife kissed and off I went.

The journey was quiet (middle of the night) and uneventful and I arrived at Vobster at 8:10, needing to relieve myself of the coffee drunk 2 hours or so earlier. It was not to be. I joined the queue of 3 cars waiting for the gates to open at 8:30 and was shortly followed by Carl, who pulled up just behind me. He told me the gates open sharp at 8:30 and you can enter after filling in a form and paying the £15 entry, so the coffee relief would just have to wait.

The gates did indeed open at exactly 8:30 and after filling in the form and being mugged (£15 plus £10 refundable deposit) on I went and parked near the marque beside the food van. Mmmm...bacon baps...

Toilet trip (at last!) followed by a trip to the food van for more coffee (coffee out makes more room for coffee in) and a bacon bap, as I'd had nothing to eat, being as I generally don't eat in the middle of the night.

A little later, fortified by the refreshments, it was time to get the gear together and try to get in the water before everyone else, and it was quite busy by this time.

Mistake number one. I'd purchased a Faber 15l cylinder from ebay a couple of weeks ago (and a 12l, but only took the 15l today) that had been hydrotested in February and had also been filled at the same time. I wasn't keen on using 5 month old air, so elected to vent the contents and have a refill. Do you know how long it takes to vent a 15l cylinder charged to 230 bar? I didn't, but I do now! One hour later my cylinder was ready...

Oops - sorry number 1 Carl. I was unprepared for the dive

Lesson number one for myself - in future vent any cylinder I need to at home down to 10-20 bar (not completely empty to ensure no moisture enters) before taking it to be refilled.

We'd elected to move away from the main area where the food van is and decided to follow the gravel path round to where the buoy for the aircraft cockpit is located. There's a concrete pad there and a couple of seats, to kit up on. Unfortunately I'm not good yet at organising just what I need into one big bag and taking just that to where I need to go. Lots of trips to and from the kitting up area to the car later I had everything in one place.

Lesson number 2 for myself - get the dive bags sorted out to save multiple trips to and from the car!

As we were kitting up another group arrived to do a shot recovery exercise, so we waited for them to complete and move on before we entered.

The kitting up part was ok. I remembered everything from the training - just missing the drysuit hose connecter, which Carl pointed out in the buddy check.

We planned for a 30 minutes dive and would start by descending the bouy line at the aircraft cockpit to 12 metres, followed by a general swim around at the same level.

Descent was fine and we ended up near the cockpit window where the line is tied to. I spent a minute or two looking inside with my torch and Carl signalled to move on.

This is where the problems started.

I have to digress for a moment here. All through the OW course (which included the PADI drysuit course for me) I was instructed to control buoyancy using the drysuit, leaving the BCD for surface buoyancy only. The PADI Dry Suit Diver manual, however, stipulates controlling buoyancy using the drysuit for membrane drysuits only, and use minimum air to eliminate suit squeeze for neoprene suits and the BCD for buoyancy. I have a neoprene suit - the same one I used through the OW course and used to control buoyancy.

I just couldn't get the bouyancy right using the drysuit, and the ankle weights (that the PADI instructor wouldn't let me remove) kept me in a vertical position, regardless of how much I struggled to get to near horizontal. I was up and down like a yo-yo, much to my embarrassment (thankfully visibility isn't that good underwater, so only Carl could see me!) and ended up back at the surface after a bottom time of only 12 minutes.

At one point, before surfacing, I felt my computer slip down my wrist too. I'd tightened it, but had forgot to take into account the neoprene compression, so I ended up kneeling on the bottom during one of my heavier moments retightening it. When I looked around I realised I couldn't see Carl. I carried on looking for a while before deciding to head up to the surface.

Sorry number 2 to Carl. I should have signalled my buddy of my intentions

Lesson number 3 for me - remember the water environment is a 3D one. Carl was above me, and I'd neglected to look up. He said afterwards that every time he'd attempt to move into my field of vision I'd have moved around facing another direction...

We elected to end the dive there and have a decent interval before attempting the next one.

I'd used 100 bar of a 15l tank in that 12 minutes. I think most of it went via the suit and straight into the water and also the constant struggle to get the right position in the water.

Following another cylinder refill, a coffee and much discussion (plus sorry number 3 to Carl for a short dive consisting of him staying still in the water and me rising and falling in front of him like a time-lapse barometer ), I decided to ignore the suit, other than minimum air to eliminate squeeze, and control buoyancy using the BCD. We also had a more ambitious dive plan, which involved descending at the cockpit, underwater nav to the fusalage, then back to the cockpit and on to a training platform beyond it on the same heading - providing of course, that I could travel in a straight line without burying myself in the bottom of the quarry or bobbing around on the surface...

So, off we went again for another 30 minute planned dive. The descent at the cockpit went well, and on arrival I started to try to get the buoyancy sorted ( I still haven't got the hang of sorting it during the descent). Well...one minute down and I realised I was heading for the surface - not particularly fast, but 29 minutes too early. I missed the safety stop at 5 metres and sure enough broke surface 60 seconds after descent.

Sorry number 4 to Carl, who at this point was registering a rather bemused look in his mask as I serenely passed him on my way to the top.

Lesson number 4 for myself. All I had to do, on reflection was reach up and use the BCD shoulder dump. I realise, looking back, that I hadn't elevated the BCD exhaust enough, and so thought the BCD was empty of air. The shoulder dump would have stopped the ascent...if I'd remembered...

Sigh. So here I was bobbing around with Carl circling like a shark a few metres below me looking like he wanted to bite my legs off for being so useless! He signalled whether he should come up, but thinking about it I realised I'd been down for 60 seconds, had made a reasonably normal ascent (a little faster than normal - the computer complained, but not too fast), and although I'd missed a safety stop it was probably of little importance, given the time on the bottom. I signalled that I'd try again, and so I descended again.

On reaching the bottom Carl indicated a training platform a few metres away that had a horizontal bar to hang onto. I hung on and spent a couple of minutes adjusting the air in the suit (minimum for squeeze only) and the BCD for bouyancy. During this I'd inflate/deflate a little then let go of the bar whilst taking and exhaling breaths to see if the bouyancy was right. Two minutes later it was sorted. Minimum air in the suit, neutral buoyancy via the BCD and control through breathing. At last

We then went for the navigation exercise, which went very well with all objectives being found with no searching around where we thought they should be.

Carl signalled for an ascent with a 3 minute stop at 5 metres and up we went, using one of the buoy lines as a guide. Three minutes at five metres with no problems and we surfaced 28 minutes after the descent - two minutes short of the planned time.

This time 120 bar of air had been used, some of which was through getting the buoyancy right, and more whilst dekitting, when my reg, still set on the dive setting, decided to free flow. I expected to be a heavy air user - hence the 15l tank. I hope it improves in time though...

A quick pack up, retrieval of the £10 from the muggers at the gate and back home.

I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to Sea-M (Carl) from these forums for volunteering to take me to Vobster in the first place, and then for being so patient with me when I was having the buoyancy issues.

I either amused him, or he felt sorry for me as we're going to do it again sometime

If anyone else fancies taking me along for amusement on a weekend dive to Vobster, then please feel free to PM me (although I realise the above isn't exactly selling myself at my best, maybe someone will take pity!)

Despite all the issues I learned a few lessons, and am keen to go back to Vobster to try again, so I guess there must be some attraction to this diving lark after all...

[onthetrain]

Dave,

You made I larf and brought back some memories. Don't worry mate most of cocked up our bouyancy at the beginning of our diving careers, especially when we moved to drysuits.


Mind you I know a few people with 100's of dives who think bouyancy control is an optional extra!!

[steveharriss]

good post. I was in vobster on thursday and the viz was crap. I think everyone struggles initially, not many of us admit it publicly! Admitting you have a problem is the first step to curing it .... Or is that alcoholism? On the basis of what you've written i'd be happy to buddy you if you ever come north of watford gap.

[Sea-M]

fantastic write up Dave... its got me smiling anyway!

i should point out to fellow YD'ers that im only PADI OW myself, today was dive 25 & 26.. i may have a little more experience but am nowhere near competent to safely lead a dive for a novice.

however - with that said - despite daves yoyo impressions underwater i have to say that for a new diver a week or so out of OW, he was cool, calm and collected once we had sorted his buoyancy - as i said ive not done Advanced or Rescue so was concerned about diving with another OW for a buddy that flapped, floundered and caused a both of us panic - but that was not the case at all - and it didnt go un-noticed... well done.

im happy to have met Dave and am planning future dives with him again - like i said mate - it wasnt perfect but 2 went down and 2 came up! safely!

its all experience - its a steep learning curve - but im happy to give you a shout when im off there again.

[The Duck]

Good post - I think most of us had moments like yours when we first started , I know I did

[hogen-deifar]

Great post. And Sea-M my hat goes off to you! We're at about the same level and I wouldn't brave what you did, going with a novice. Fair play to you for keeping your head and working through it!

Going to Vobster with my buddy on Saturday 30 June if you fancy going again, the pair of you!

And when you're ready you ought to give Swanage pier a go! It's FAB. Only 6 metres but a great introduction into the world of open sea diving! Then if you're up for it go off on the boat with Resting Rifleman and do the Fleur, followed by a nice drift. It's a lovely way to start your diving out in the sea! And Mike's a great skipper. Well I think so, but we both seem to have a little Mike/Julie fan club going!!!!

Safe diving!

[Sea-M]

yeah if youre goin for a vobster trip i might just join you - dunno bout dave its quite a journey for him but im sure he will read this...

email me if its a goer

[dry suit diver]

nice report, i remember my first dives at vobster. not sure why you needed to drain down the air in the cylinders though. a quick taste would tell you if the air is ok to breathe.

[Waskey]

Yeah, not sure why you drained the tank. I suppose if you bought the tank off Ebay, theres always the chance of something that's not quite air in it, do good call this time. However, not something to do every time. As said before, breathe off it for a bit and you'll know very soon if it's dodge!

Bouyancy is something that comes with time. Take your time, and practice, practice, practice! Personally I would stick with using your drysuit as inflation underwater.
It seems you have found out the problems with have two expanding pockets of gas. Makes it easier for us that try and stop ya! Two you can deal with. Three or four is a pain in the arse.

Just get in the water as much as you can. Keep on here and keep learning! I could be up for a dive with you if I'm up there during the summer. Just give me a PM if you feel like a dive and I'll see what I can do!

[SoggyFox]

wouldn't of worries about the 15l and old air, i found mine at the back of my cupboard when i went for a dive on open circuit and it must of been sat there for 2 years, tasted ok and did the job.

nice write up.