After a short (relatively) drive up to the Sunshine Coast (and a quick turnaround as one nameless person realized they had left some of their gear behind) on a wet Saturday morning we made our way to SunReef dive shop to get ready for what promised to be a great dive.  There were six of us in total and we were all keen to get in and have some fun.

As we busied ourselves getting our gear together and waiting for the boat to return from the morning trip we all looked expectantly to the sky hoping it would clear, but as we boarded the boat we realized this was not to be.

The trip out to the wreck took a little longer than normal due to the choppy conditions but the excitement was building as we got the dive brief and before long we were tied up at one of the permanent mooring points attached to the wreck, gearing up and jumping in (Lewis showing off in his sidemount setup…ok, maybe a touch of jealousy there as he sat in the water having his tanks handed to him to be clipped on instead of lugging them on his back and jumping in).

Dive 1 consisted of a tour of the outside of the wreck.  I have to admit the enormity of the ship hadn’t really dawned on me until we approached it after descending down the line.  But it was a very special sight (and for me my first wreck dive).  The large numbers and array of fish were also breathtaking.  Whilst it was a much stirred up ocean, visibility wasn’t bad, and it was hard to imagine the second dive being better then the first.

We tucked into biscuits and warm drinks on the surface interval, a bad move on my part as the rocking of the boat took its toll and I fed the fish, closely followed by Scott who swears he was just going out in sympathy.  I think he was just waiting for someone else to go first though…haha.

With the conditions holding steady dive 2 promised to be a set of dual firsts for me.  Firstly, my first penetration of a wreck, secondly a chance to try out my torch.  Going inside a wreck for the first time was an amazing experience once I discovered it was much better to risk scraping my belly then hitting my head (twice…bring on the PPB course).  Touring through the Brisbane was a truly breathtaking experience and one I am very keen to do again.   Visibility had really dropped off by the time we exited, so we finished at the right time, and after a short surface swim back to the boat we were on our way home.

It was a long day, but ranks as my best day diving thus far (ok, not a big effort given I’m only up to 20, but it’s dives like this that make me want to so many more). 

Massive thanks to the Dive Club and BDA for organizing it and providing such a great group of guys to dive with.

Adam

On our first dive one of the students became quite frustrated by it all, wearing a pony bottle, using an SMB on a finger spool while maintaining neutral buoyancy but by the end of the third dive it was all becoming second nature.

Doing a course like this is not so much about becoming a "Solo diver" as it is about becoming Self Reliant diver, what that means is that instead of relying solely on a buddy as your backup you are relying on yourself and your buddy is your backup backup! By the end of a course like the Self Reliant diver you are starting to think about things like how much air should I use on this dive? not I will just swim around until I reach 50 bar and then pop to the surface.

Interesting though during the knowledge development for the Instructor level course our discussions led us into some interesting territory with the new Sidemount diving course out we concluded that Sidemount and Self Reliant diving actually are two courses that go hand in hand, if you are diving 2 tank sidemount then you already have the redundant air supply and additional skills that will certainly make your Self Reliant dives much easier to do but also additional knowledge from the Sidemount course which will help you plan your dives.

Moral to this story is to continue your diving education and keep on learning new stuff and become a better and more competent diver.

Until next time Safe Bubbles

Mick

What a great days diving we had on Sunday. The conditions were near perfect. The sun was biting even at 6:30 in the morning. The boat was packed and everyone's gear on board, and we got away just after 7:00. Conditions on the bay were good, and it was smooth sailing to the South Passage bar. The bar itself was a little choppy, and there was a small swell outside, but after waiting so long to make this dive, the day was finally here.

We pulled up at Shark Alley, just next to Flat Rock, a small plateau with steep sided gully's. The recreational divers got off first, and we helped them into the water before gearing up. Head to toe checks done we couldn't wait to be in the water to cool us down and feel the weight lift off our backs.

The dive plan was 45m for 27 minutes, followed by staged decompression from 24m, switching to 50% Oxygen at the 21m stop. We jumped into the water a little off the mark and missed the drop off to 45m, and in the end did a 34m dive for 27 minutes (look that one up on the RDP !!), then followed the original decompression schedule.

As we started our descent the water was looking a little murky, but viz cleared out to about 20m as we dropped below the 6m mark. The main feature of the dive was a couple of Potato Cod, the larger being about my size, and the other only a little smaller, as we passed through 21m at the start of the dive. For the rest of the dive we checked equipment set ups, monitored our deco status and had a nice leisurely swim around. When we realised we had missed the drop off we turned the dive a little early so we wouldn't be too far from the boat during our deco hang. Mick blew a bag to let Giddo know where we were, and as we came back up we noticed a very distinct thermocline at 21m. The temp below it was 22C, in the middle of it was 24C, and above it was 25C... a three degree change.

As we got to our final deco stop at 6m, a 23 minute stop, I popped a bag to let Dave know we were all together. 23 minutes actually flew past, monitoring my deco status and trying to maintain a constant depth, not dropping below the 6m level as practice for when we start the Tec 50 Open Water dives next month.

What a blast, what a great dive, and with a total run time of 71 minutes, it is definitely my longest deep dive by a long shot.

With that much nitrogen in our systems we had to sit out the second dive, but Mick, Mike and I were just glad to be Tec diving again with the hoodoo lifted.

I must admit to going into this weeks Sidemount Essentials course from Steve Martin a little under prepared. I have seen some of the sidemount systems on offer, and seen some of the video on YouTube, and I assumed that it was just another equipment configuration option. The training I received, though, just blew me away. When Mick asked if I was interested in doing Steve's sidemount course, I naturally said yes. I like trying new things, and I thought that eventually it would be good to be able to teach sidemount, particularly combined with Tec.

Day 1... Introductions over and we have a general discussion of what sidemount is, and importantly what it isn't. It is interesting to note that sidemount has been around in one form or another since the 1960's, but recently there have been some major advances in both technology and design. With the basic theory out of the way we get measured up for a customised Razor sidemount rig. This is comparable to spending an afternoon with the Marquis de Sade. The harness is tighter than a french corset, but damn it looks good. It is so streamlined against an off the rack BCD that you just can't compare the two. It takes about 30 minutes for each diver to be fitted, and while this is going on we do a regulator workshop to prepare the regs we'll be using and also set up the cylinders. Equipment setup is very important because you want everything to be streamlined and to fit just right.

With that done we are off to Langlands pool for some "Essentials Training". The fist thing I notice is how comfortable the sidemount system is under water. You have complete freedom to move and twist and turn. We work on buoyancy, trim and movement first, before doing some basic drills. A lot of emphasis is placed on the basics, because they have to be spot on before continuing. We spend a lot of time practicing hovering, completely motionless, and swimming in different orientations - left side, right side, even on our backs. Hanging inverted (head down) is a lot of fun, as are doing forward rolls and back flips. I was exhausted at the end of the pool session, but I had learned a lot.

Day 2... The whole day today will be spent in the pool. We rig a few stage cylinders and head down to Southport pool where we can take full advantage of the 5m diving pool to practice our new craft. Today, in addition to practicing the "essentials" we perform drills such as gas shutdown, free-flowing regulators, free-flowing inflators, and lost equipment. Seeing 4 instructors swimming around a 5m pool with only 1 fin each was a real sight !! We also practiced more advanced skills like partial removals, staging and recovering cylinders and air sharing. we also had time to practice fining techniques like helicopter turns and reverse finning (a lot more practice is needed on that one !!)

Day 3... With all the practical skills covered it is time for the theory, but it isn't dry and boring. It isn't a struggle to stay awake. It is a back and forth discussion of what we have learned, and how we can apply it to our own diving. There is time to look at alternate equipment configurations, mounting accessories such as canister lights, looking at alternate sidemount rigs, and how to apply sidemount diving to every day situations as well as TecRec and Trimix diving. We also take the measurements of the harnesses we have been using for future reference.

So what did I learn from this course and how will it apply to my future diving. Well the most important thing I learned was control. My buoyancy control is pretty good. I teach buoyancy as part of Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses. I am a Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty Instructor. I am a TecRec diver so my buoyancy has to be spot on. But this course took my buoyancy and trim (position in the water) to a much higher level. Being able to hover at 3m without moving up or down by more than 10cm is real control. Being perfectly flat in the water absolutely essential not only to be able to dive well, but to dive safely. What I learned on this course will make me not only a better diver, but a better teacher. The other thing I learned is that EVERY diver can benefit from reinforcing the essential skills. Buoyancy, trim and movement. Get them right and every dive you do will be far more enjoyable. You'll have more time to enjoy the dive because you'll spend less time trying to get your buoyancy and trim right.

To recap, I would have to say that the Sidemount Essentials course is the best specialty I have done to date in terms of improving my diving knowledge, improving my skills and sheer enjoyment. The sidemount rig is so comfortable in the water that you almost don't notice it. The skills I learned are invaluable. Keep an eye out in 2012 for our "Essential Skills" workshops. Now that Lewis, Mick and myself have the skills and the knowledge, and we have seen what it brings to our own diving, we will be running workshops through the year so you can improve your own skills in the water too. And look out for the Sidemount Specialty too which will be added to our course offering early in 2012.

Have a safe and Merry Christmas.

Happy bubbles, Craig.

What an experience and a must do for any diver. The beauty of it is you get to experience what it feels like to dive down to 50m and have a chat and a laugh (thanks to our good friend narcosis) while you're doing it.

The night starts out arriving at the Wesley Centre for Hyperbaric Medicine where you fill out the obligatory paperwork and get changed into some provided 100% cotton clothes. After a briefing on the dive plan and also what to expect during the dive you make your way into the 1st of 3 chambers. Inside the chamber you sit yourself down on the floor and place your dive computer in a bucket of water in the middle of the chamber. This proved to be a great 1st dive for my shiny new Suunto HelO2 courtesy of Brisbane Dive Academy! 

Once everyone is settled, we grab a couple of rubber gloves and blow them up so we can see the effects that pressure has on our lungs and why it is critical to follow the 1st rule of scuba diving. NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!!! We are asked to keep silent until we are at 50m so that there is nice clear communication between the chamber and operator outside, then the door is closed and we start to make our way down. 

The sensation from there is quite a lot different to diving in the water. Firstly, there is no water but what I found interesting is that you have to equalise a hell of a lot more often. The instructions we were given before we went in regarding equalising were little and often so for pretty much the entire 6 mins it took us to reach 50m I was rotating my jaw, which after doing for 6 mins straight kinda gets a bit tired. Another thing to note was that, you know how when your tank gets filled and you pick it up and it's hot. That's pretty much what it feels like during the descent. The chamber is the tank and it's getting filled with compressed air which makes the air temp rise to about 40 degrees!!!

Once we hit 50m we stood up and someone made a small noise and the chamber cracked up laughing. One of the effects of that much compressed air passing over your vocal chords is that you sound like a cross between Mickey Mouse and the Godfather. Add to this a bit of narcosis and it's pretty amusing. The rubber glove that was blown up had now shrunk down and our attendant pulled out a couple of ping pong balls. Asking us what we thought would happen when he dropped one there were a few different opinions but none right so we were all a bit shocked when he dropped it and it imploded with a loud bang when it hit the floor. At this point I blew up a rubber glove so we could watch it grow for our ascent.

After 8 mins at 50m we start to make our ascent up to our first deco stop taking 7 mins to bring us back to 15m where they equalise all 3 chambers so we can move to the much more comfortable 3rd chamber with the nice comfy chairs. Our next deco stops consist of 3mins at 15m, 5mins at 12m, 6mins at 9m, 9mins at 6m before finally arriving at 3m where we spent the next 33mins. This is the best stop of all though because it is here where they deliver the pizza into the chamber and as we all know you get pretty hungry after a dive. Doing a chamber dive isn't any different there!! I'll point out at this stage that the rubber glove that I blew up at 50m was now about the size of a beach ball!!!

NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH!!!!!

If you get the chance to do it, definitely go for it. It's a great experience.

Safe Diving,

Ben Hamilton

It was a real treat for Sarah who was completing her Open water course to come face to face with Manta's, Turtles, Bull rays and heaps more.

The second dive was at Shag Rock, visibility wasnt as good but the guys explored the swim through, that is always a great dive and on the way back to the boat they were treated to a shoal of about 20 Pigmy manta's.

The boat diving generally around the moreton bay area is amazing, if you have not experienced it join us for a dive.

Until next time

Mick

Guess what we did! Check out the footage.

Until next time

Mick

The IDC started on the 19^th of September, I wasn’t there for the first two days because of a few exams for my university degree, but it was just paperwork, lots and lots of paperwork as well as a few presentations and of course, the skill circuit and 800 metre swim with mask, fins, snorkel. Mick, a PADI Course Director lead the instructional team with Craig and Michael backing him up, both IDC Staff Instructors, giving hints and tips to help us through the final test – the PADI IE.

With each presentation, we - Ben, Tim and I, were required to put the skills and knowledge to use, either presenting skills, organising marketing plans, or writing management and teaching outlines.

The pool that we used throughout the entire IDC progressively got clearer as we got better at presenting our confined water presentations. At first, the water was very hazy, you couldn’t see the person next to you! But by the end of the IDC our presentations and the pool were crystal clear.

Ben and Tim did the watermanship test on the first day and due to some counting errors ended up swimming 1.2km instead of the 800m required. As the 800m snorkel is by far the most mind numbing test, the boys chose not to join me in completing the set task a few days after theirs, rather they were nice and dry and rather forgetful in their counting of the laps. Luckily, they weren’t to bad, only making me swim 1km.

The day of the IE was fast approaching, we all set our alarms early, it was an 8am start and being tardy to a PADI IE is not the best start! The examiner, Tim Marshall, was unfortunately stranded at Sydney Airport the night before, pushing the start time two hours back. We all arrived about one and a half hours earlier regardless. As we waited for the examiner to arrive, we commandeered some coffee from outside, for the engineers’ events. We helped ourselves to some very delicious cookies and Earl Grey tea that were provided by the Hotel Grand Chancellor. 

“Please Relax”, they were the first words the examiner said, and it was great to find out that Tim was really relaxed and cool; he even let us choose our presentations... from a set of three. As always we filled out the necessary paperwork and were briefed by Tim about the passing grade as well as what he expected from us throughout the IE; and before we knew it, I was doing the General Standards Exam and, Ben and Tim were completing the Dive Theory Exams. We all passed both of the exams.  Ben, however, had a secret weapon! A handkerchief with lavender oil, and the results were amazing! He absolutely smashed the exams, missing only a handful of questions!

Next up, knowledge development. Tim had it easy – the very first presentation that he did for the IDC – ‘What are the four advantages of a pocket mask?’ and Mick gave him a 4.7 out of 5.0 for it. Ben had it easier – “What is the most important consideration when purchasing a regulator?” I had Project AWARE - Coral Conservation, we never thought that the Tim, the examiner, would throw Project AWARE in. Luckily, Ben had his iPhone and we managed to get the instructor’s guide off the internet. We all passed with no score less than a 4.5, with Tim getting a 4.7 for his, exactly what Mick gave him!

Confined water presentations and skill circuit was up next, but first we had to pack everything up and get down to Southport Pools. It was about 4pm when we all got down to the pool, we knew that our skills needed to be performed in shallow water, so we asked Tim to ‘bless the pool’.  Our skill circuit consisted of regulator recovery, free-flow regulator, stationary out-of-air, neutral buoyancy and the dreaded CESA. We all passed with 5.0 on the skill circuit! The confined water presentation were great, we all picked up on the errors that Tim made us do, passing with no less than a 4.7. Day 1 of the IE finished and we were all pumped for the 2^nd day.

Meeting at Manly Marina for day 2 of the PADI IE, the three Instructor candidates went through the open water presentations that we had to present. With positive encouragement from the guys, we all geared up and headed out to Shark Spit. But due to some strong westerly winds, Shark Spit, a nice calm flat sandy bottom was no longer calm! We all made a decision to try Amity Point. We had two things on the agenda, open water presentations and Rescue Exercise 7.  The lowest score that we achieved from the day was a 4.6.

I can’t thank the instructional team at Brisbane Dive Academy for guiding us through to PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors, especially Mick, Craig and Michael, as well as all of the instructors that mentored and allowed us to assist on their courses.

And to quote Ben, “For anyone reading this, thinking about going pro or even just trying Scuba Diving for the first time..... What’s stopping you?”

So welcome to the underwater world, from Ben Hugheston-Roberts OWSI #296209, Tim Parry OWSI #296208 and I.

Phuong Nguyen OWSI#296207

It never ceases to amaze me how many people come and try Scuba Diving and think that they will learn to dive and that is all it takes – wanting to do it! What most don’t expect is that they will find courage within in themselves- courage that they never knew they had in most cases!

And this was true yet again this weekend when three guys – Eduardo Lemos, Chris Wright and Jason Hadland all took their first breaths underwater.

If the e-Learning had prepared them mentally to understand a bit about Scuba; the risks versus rewards, the complexity of the gear versus the serenity of being able to dive and establishing the need for working as a buddy pair. Then the reality of putting it all in to practice was going task load them a bit further and stretch their capabilities beyond what they thought they could do.

As guys we always think we are pretty tough and can do most things, most guys are like this..........that is until you ask them to take a mask off underwater or descend into a pool to 5m whilst equalizing their ears or establish neutral buoyancy etc. All these are normal things to experienced divers and recently qualified ones – but to brand new students some of these small things make the experience a real challenge.

The weekend was full of little challenges for all the students but as Saturday progressed I began to see the Fear being replaced by Courage and the motivation to learn more and be better really took hold.

So much so, that when we entered the water for the first Open water dive - once we established some basic buoyancy control and covered a couple of skills – we did a dive that for me was like diving with 3 guys who had been diving for a few months. They had control and were not panicked, they were able to self correct any issues like water in the mask etc – as their instructor  this was so rewarding.

By the time we arrived to the Tweed River on the Sunday the team were on to it and we wasted no time  getting the three dives done and covered off all the skills required by PADI, the guys all had mentally grown overnight and approached the day with confidence and ability. Three brand new shiny PADI Open water divers with an appreciation of what is possible and hopefully an awareness of what a privilege it is to share the oceans with those that live in it!

Happy Bubbles

Alistair Keenan OWSI#274998