Editorial

Welcometo the fifth edition of the Argonaut BuddyLine Newsletter. As usual,  I encourage you all to provide articles that can be published. These should include reports on planned and completed diving trips, diving courses and general news and views, and comments on the new format of BuddyLine. I would especially welcome articles from new members of the club as new opinions, ideas, suggestions and comments are most welcome. There are details on how to provide articles for publication on the back page. So get your thinking caps on and start writing and drawing...........

Thanks to everyone who’s contributed to BuddyLine - without you, BuddyLine will not be in existence.

Helen Johnstone

 

 

 

How do you get two whales in a mini?

Up the M4!

 

 

 

 

What’s Bubbling?

Editorial.....................................................................................

Club Talk....................................................................................

May The Force Be With You..............................................

Drinking & Diving..................................................................

I just wanna be…....................................................................

High-Low High-Low and off to Portland’s Tides we go ....               

Annual IANTD Conference................................................

Alternative Diving glossary.........................................

So What Would You Do?....................................................

LittleHampton, 1996..............................................................

Dive Signs...................................................................................

Argonauts Dive Diary.......................................................

Testox™ Gas Now Available.........................................

Diving With The Bill............................................................

Argonauts Xmas Lunch...................................................

Dive Dry......................................................................................

Well, Well, Well....................................................................

Hogarthian Gear Configuration..............................

Argosaa.....................................................................................

Who said business trips are boring?......................

Brewery Trip...........................................................................

Notes from A Novice.........................................................

A few collections..............................................................

Training Talk.........................................................................

Club Information...............................................................

BuddyLine articles.............................................................

Our Deepest Sympathy’s..................................................

Club Talk

New qualifications:

Since the last edition of the BuddyLine, the following qualifications have been achieved:

National Instructor (highest grade of Instructor):	Jeff Errington
Dive Supervisor:	John Franklin
Dive Leader	John Franklin, Helen Johnstone, Phil Clarke
Club Instructor	Helen Johnstone, Phil Clarke
Assistant Club Instructor	James Murray, James Fulcher, Rob Devonshire
Club Diver	Keith Jennings, David Hall, Rita Callen, Rob Devonshire
Novice Diver	Brian Fitton, Pierre Johnstone
Elementary Diver	Mick & Sharon, Brian Fitton
Boat Handler	Pierre Johnstone, Phil Clarke
Oxygen Administrator	Pierre Johnstone
Nitrox	André Besson

                                                                              

Congratulations to you all. For those interested in additional qualifications, see the training section of this BuddyLine.

As a quick reminder, the following are required for Diving Qualifications:

Dive Supervisor:

·       Be a Dive Leader - then do the following after DL gained

·       Hold SAA Diver Rescue Certificate

·       Demonstrate knowledge of chartwork

·       Be fully conversant with SAA accident management routines

·       Plan & lead 5 diving expeditions (with at least 5 other divers in the party)

·       Plan & execute a 5m min roped diver search as both diver and tender

·       Plan and execute 2 simulated decompression dives with stops, one using a DSMB, the other using no shot / line.

·       Tie 5 specified knots whilst blindfolded and wearing diving gloves

·       A written exam

·       25 dives in a variety of conditions and sites

·       6 advanced diving lectures

 

Dive Leader:

·       Be a Club Diver - then do the following after Club Diver gained

·       A written exam

·       Dive Leader Lectures

·       20 m Alternate Air Sharing ascent as donor & receiver

·       15m lift

·       knowledge of tides & charts

·       lead 6 4-person dives: 2 boat, 2 20m 

·       Rope search, one as tender and one as diver

·       Knowledge of first aid

·       10m free ascent

·       15 dives

 

Club Diver:

·       Be a Novice Diver - then do the following after Novice Diver gained

·       A written exam

·       Club Diver Lectures

·       Dive Planning

·       Safe Entry from boat, shore, platform

·       Demo all signals above + below water

·       3 x remove + replace / clear mask at 6m

·       3 x remove + replace / clear DV at 6m

·       Dive to 20m, gain + maintain buoyancy at 10m for 1 minute

·       During dive, achieve + maintain neutral buoyancy using exhaled air into BCD for 5 mins

·       Recovery of unconscious diver from 5m, 50m surface tow using EAR, land diver. Demo EAR, explain C.C.C.M.

·       Ascent from 15m, whilst using alternative air source (donor and receiver)

·       Surface snorkel (fully kitted) in open water for 250m

·       At surface, remove gear and pass it up into a boat

·       Diagnose DCS problem

·       Demo 2 methods for recovering unconscious diver from depth

·       Demo use of Alternative Air source.

·       10 dives, not less than 15 mins duration, min depth 6m, max. depth 20m, no more than 2 dives at any one site, at least 2 of these dives from a boat, at least 5 in sea.

 

Elementary Diver:

      In pool:

·       Remove and replace / clear mask 3 times

·       Remove and replace / clear mouthpiece 3 times

·       In full kit, fin 50m with a blacked out mask

·       In full kit, fin 50m using a snorkel without a mask

·       Present dive plan & simulate dive

·       Ditch & retrieve dive gear

·       Fin 50m while AAS

 

In Open Water:

·       Dive between 6 & 10m, 15 mins +,

·       Remove and replace / clear mask  3  times (at 3-5m depth).

·       Remove and replace / clear mouthpiece 3 times (at 3-5m depth)

Club BBQ:

A hastily-arranged club BBQ was held at Nacton Shores on 27th of July, following the first Diver Rescue exam. As well as many club members, we also had Harry Beddows, the National Diving Officer (who was examining on our Diver Rescue course), as well as several members of the new SAA Newmarket branch.  Great time was had by all…

SAA National AGM

Is taking place in Blackpool this year on the 9^th and 10^th November. Its over 2 days - we have a minibus going up on the 8^th, if you are interested. See Betty ASAP. Accommodation needs to be booked earliest.

Argonaut Divers AGM

Our AGM is taking place on the 24th November at the Kesgrave Community Centre, Ipswich.. If you have any points that you wish to raise, please get them to the Secretary (Betty), in good time.

SAA Club Fees Due Soon…

Please remember that your SAA Registration and Insurance fees are due on the 1^st December. This will allow us to send them to the SAA in time. The exact cost is not yet known as it will be finalised at the SAA National A.G.M. in November.

A Note from our Training Officer

BuddyLine, Edition 5, and yet another year slipping away almost unnoticed.

But it has been a good year so far, for diving as a club.  Hurghada (Egyptian side of the Red Sea) and Malta (The Med.), spring to mind, both of which were the most excellent of venues for those of us who were fortunate enough to go. We must give thanks to Steve Gill who instigated both of these breaks, and took overall responsibility for Divers and Diving. Not forgetting, of course, both the fairy godmothers, Sarah W. and Betty F., who waived their magic wands and so ably put the holiday packages together.

There were other weekends organised by both Helen J. and Rod B., which resulted in some excellent diving and rather jolly social occasions to follow.

I will not dwell on the training and achievement of members, as these and all other relevant factors will be discussed at our A.G.M. in November. Suffice to say at present “well done to you all”.

I did mention to those who attended our first meeting after the summer recess that I had been proposed and had accepted the nomination for the post of Eastern Region Rep. for the SAA. Bearing in mind the commitment that will be involved with the post, I have decided not to stand for re-election as Training Officer this year, as I feel I would be unable to give the position my full commitment.

I would like to thank all of the Instructors and all members for the support and help you have given me whilst in this post. Success to the new Training Officer (TO), and please continue to give them the support you gave me.

John Franklin

 

The Wrinkly asks:

 

1.     Have you noticed that Middle Age is when your broad mind and narrow waist begin to change places?

2.     After you’ve heard two eyewitness accounts of any accident, it makes you wonder about history!!!!

Hope it doesn’t apply to us!!

May The Force Be With You..

So who knows the Beaufort scale, Huh? The scale was devised in 1805 by the British naval Commander, later Admiral, Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1875). A further set of numbers (13-17) for very strong winds were added by the US Weather Bureau in 1955.

 

F	Desc	Wind Speed	Wave Height	Diveable?	Notes
0	Calm	< 1 Knot	None	Definitely	Calm, boring, boring, boring. Fun in a RIB though.
1	Light Air	1-3	5 - 10 Cm	Yup	Ripples, no foam. Smoke drifts slowly.
2	Light Breeze	4-6	10-15 Cm	Yup	Small wavelets, crests do not break, no foam. Can feel wind on face.
3	Gentle Breeze	7-10		Mmm	Large wavelets crests begin to break; some foam; perhaps the odd white horse; flags start moving; leaves blown around. RIB taking it in its stride.
4	Moderate Breeze	11-16	1 M	Just	Small waves, becoming longer; fairly frequent white horses; raises dust and loose paper; small branches are moved. Good working breeze for yachts;
5	Fresh Breeze	17-21	2 M	Could Be Difficult	Moderate waves taking a more pronounced long form; many white horses are formed; chance of some spray. Small trees in leaf begin to sway; crested wavelets form on inland waters. You’d get wet in a RIB, gear starts to fly.
6	Strong Breeze	22 -27	3 M	Nope	Large waves begin to form; the white foam crests are more extensive everywhere; probably some spray; large branches in motion; whistling heard in telegraph wires; umbrellas used with difficulty. RIB driving with care.
7	Moderate Gale	28-33	4 M	Not A Hope (probably be feeding fish)	Sea heaps up and white foam from the breaking waves begins to be blown in streaks along the direction of the wind; whole trees in motion; inconvenience felt when walking against wind; yachts remain in harbour, those at sea lie to. Challenging in a RIB.
8	Gale	34-40	5.5 M	Hah!	Moderately high waves of greater length; edges crests begin to break into spindrift; the foam is blown in well-marked streaks along the direction of the wind; breaks twigs off trees; generally impedes progress; all yachts make for harbour if possible. Very challenging in a RIB - you’ve lost non-secured gear.
9	Strong Gale	41 - 47	7 M	No Comment	High waves; dense streaks of foam along the direction of wind; crests of waves begin to topple, tumble and roll over; spray may affect visibility; slight structural damage occurs (chimney post and slates removed). Time to come into harbour.
10	Storm	48 - 55	9 M	You Must Be Mad!	Very high waves with long overhanging crests; resulting foam in great patches is blown in dense white streaks along the direction of the wind; on the whole, the surface of the sea takes a white appearance; tumbling of the sea becomes heavy and shock-like; visibility affected; seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage occurs.
11	Violent Storm	56 - 63	11 M	--	Exceptionally high waves (small and medium size ships might be for a time lost from view behind waves); sea is completely covered with long white patches of foam lying along the direction of wind; everywhere the edges are blown into froth; visibility affected; very rarely experienced; accompanied by widespread damage
12	Hurricane	64 +	11 +  M	--	The air is filled with foam and spray; sea completely white with driving spray; visibility very seriously affected; very rarely experienced; accompanied by widespread damage

                Helen

Drinking & Diving...

One area of diving medicine that all the official diving organisations have ignored to a greater or lesser degree is the important subject of diving and drinking.  Since this is a life-or-death issue for most divers, this article summarises the pros and cons.

All dives are decompression dives.  Based on the immersion time and depth, various estimates about the amount of nitrogen which has been absorbed into the body tissues can be made, and decompression calculated.  Although the various available algorithms stress the importance of this decompression, none address the issue of location for decompression once on the surface.  This has now been corrected, and it has been revealed that the most effective way to allow excess nitrogen to be released on the surface is in the pub.  There are several reasons for this, the main being the consumption of beer.  It is the presence of bubbles in beer which encourages nitrogen release.  Unfortunately, the exact mechanism causing this is not yet fully understood, but the effects can be clearly seen.  If the beer intake is not carefully regulated during decompression, the diver begins to suffer from nitrogen narcosis which is obviously caused by the nitrogen being liberated in too large quantities.  If the intake continues unregulated, the effects worsen resulting in extreme euphoria followed by unconsciousness and feeling like death the following morning.

The quality of the liquid plays an important part in the decompression process.  For example, fizzy lagers do not liberate sufficient nitrogen to be useful. It is simply the wrong quality of beverage.  Fruit juices have similar non-effects.  Worse still are the new 'nitrokeg' beers which are being introduced.  These are dangerous to decompressing divers since they use nitrogen for carbonation, and so increase the nitrogen load of the tissues.  Fortunately, real ale seems to contain exactly the right amount of dissolved gas and natural chemicals to allow the diver to decompress in comfort.  Extended tests carried out by volunteers show that decompression times often seem much shorter when using real ale to decompress, although there is some debate about the correct mix to use for decompression.

Tests have also shown that certain mixes have added advantages.  In some cases, there is a noticeable release of gas the day after consumption which can be used to reduce the breathing air wasted on dry suit inflation.  However, there is often some reticence on the part of the boat crew to undo the suit of any diver decompressing in this manner, and so it is not recommended at this time.

 I just wanna be…

 

 (To the tune of ‘The Lumberjack Song’)

  I never wanted to be a mere member of the club.

      I wanted to be - an Argonaut instructor!

 

 

 

Leaping from wave to wave

as Argosaa floats down

the mighty rivers of east Suffolk

The Felixstowe ferry, the Shipwash,

the plucky little Juliana,

the flatulent HMS Arethusa of Culter buoy,

And with my best buddy by my side

I'd sing, sing, Sing,

 

I’m an Argonaut and I’m OK

I sleep most nights

and I work some days

 

(he's an Argonaut and he's OK

He sleeps most nights

and he works some days)

 

 

I write emails, I go to the club,

I work on the bloody boat

Some weekends I go diving

But most weekends I don’t

 

(he writes emails, he goes to the club,

he works on the bloody boat

Some weekends he goes diving

But most weekends he don’t)

 

(he's an Argonaut and he's OK

He sleeps most nights

and he works some days)

 

I write emails, I go to the club,

I like to press wild flowers,

I put on women's clothing

And hang around in bars!

(he write emails, he goes to the club,

he likes to press wild flowers

he puts on women's clothing

And hangs around in bars .....?)

 

(he's an Argonaut and he's OK

He sleeps most nights

and he works some days)

 

I write emails, I wear high heels,

Suspendies and a bra

I wish I'd been a girlie

Just like my dear papa

 

(he write emails, he wears high heels,

Suspendies and a bra ......

…… ??? (sod this!))

 

High-Low High-Low and off to Portland’s Tides we go ....

I had the pleasure of spending my weekend (and my first UK dive in open water (not counting Alton Water!)) with the Argonauts diving off Portland.  The event was properly organised by Rod Burrell (Thanks Rod!). However, the planned 5 dives turned out to be only 2 due to adverse weather conditions.

We left Ipswich about 17:00, all pilling into the Suffolk Collage’s minibus, and arrived in Portland just in time to have a drink. Then, off to bed. We stayed in the old Portland Naval Dockyards, with a company called Fathom And Blues. Accommodation was bunk-house style - it was nothing special, but was ok.

HMS Hood, just outside the harbour entrance, was our first dive on the Saturday afternoon. Whilst waiting for the RIBs to pick us up from the harbour - just 40m from our accommodation, some of us took the opportunity to turn into Lobsters. At this point in time, the sun was shining, but the wind was picking up from the South East. Unfortunately, it is possible to dive in most weathers at Portland…except if the winds come from the SE!

So, we all (10 of us) kitted up on the harbour side, got into their HUGE 7+m RIB, then motored round to the Hood.  When we stopped over the wreck, the combined weight of us with the weight of the monstrous outboard motor caused the RIB to start sinking. By the time we rolled over the side, the water was above the transom, the skipper was standing on the bow sponsons, and he was pleading with us to get off his boat! Note that we hit the water almost immediately we stopped! So down we went…

The visibility on the wreck was good and the water temp was 17C. The sea itself was choppy and the surge was moderate. The swell on the surface resulted in a buddy pair to abandon the dive as they got separated from each other and couldn’t re-establish the buddy pair.  A second buddy pair could not get onto the shot line and were unable to find the wreck. The rest of the divers luckily got onto the wreck to explore it. The Hood was a cruiser that was deliberately sunk. Unfortunately, it turned turtle and is hull-up.  So, for those not equipped or trained to go inside wrecks, it meant a swim down one side of it. Fortunately, there is a lot of debris along side the wreck to occupy the mind.  There was a fair amount of marine life, including wrasse, crabs, sponges, etc.  There was a very noticeable current running over the wreck, however. We were shielded from it as long as we stayed alongside the hull, but it was flag-impersonation time when going up the shot!  Helen and I couldn’t get back to the shot, so we were forced to surface near the bow. As we neared the top of the wreck, the current picked us both up, and we were off…..doing the fastest horizontal drift I have ever done! By the time we hit the surface, we had been swept off the wreck, through the Harbour entrance, under the hulls of about 4 other boats, and were accelerating towards the other side of the inner harbour wall. And all this in 2 minutes!  We managed to alert the RIBs attention easily, so didn’t need to inflate Helens Safety Sausage Gizmo.

The average dive time was 35 minutes and depth about 16 meters. As this was the only available dive site for that day it was a bit like the M25 as all the different diving organisations dived the wreck.

The second dive of the day as well as the night dive were cancelled due to bad weather so we were forced to spend our afternoon in a pub in Weymouth. The food and company was exceptional and everybody enjoyed it.

Sunday was not good. It was howling a gale (from the South-East!). However, we could dive on one or two wrecks inside the harbour itself. So we decided it was the turn of the "Countessa". The day itself did not start off good as we discovered that two DV's disappeared during the night.  These had been stolen, despite the fact that we were on a secure naval base, and everything had been packed away. This took a toll on our moral. But being Argonauts, six of us went to dive. The wreck of the "Countessa" lies just inside the harbour wall. The wreck is broken up so there is apparently not much to see of this old steam ship. I don't think any of us actually found the wreck as much of our time was spent exploring the harbour wall. Various species of crab life between the massive cement blocks were seen, some of them were really massive. It was quite surprising to me how aggressive some of them could be. The visibility was not too bad and the water was a bit colder than the day before. The average dive time were about 30 minutes with a depth of 15 meters.

After a late breakfast we packed and left for Ipswich in the pouring rain.

Despite the fact that this were not an ideal diving weekend, all of us enjoyed it and I think that we will return to dive of Portland again.

I want to thank the Argonauts for the weekend and hope that there will be a lot more opportunities for me to dive with SAA 43.

Annual IANTD Conference

 

On June 22^nd/23^rd , several members of the club went to Swindon to the Annual IANTD Conference. The SAA has linked up with IANTD to provide Nitrox training. 

The Conference was dominated by the launch of the new A.P.Valves (Makers of the Buddy stabs) Closed Circuit mixed gas rebreather., the Inspiration.  It should go on sale in November 1996 to suitable qualified divers. Training will be by IANTD.  The startling thing is its price - if about £2,000. While this does seem expensive, all other rebreathers on sale are far more expensive.  Re-breather technology is going to make huge in-roads into recreational diving, so we should keep an eye on it. (I have more in-depth details on the rebreather, if anyone is interested).

We went to a very dry & amusing (but serious) talk, given by Dr McNicoll on a variety of ear, nose & throat problems that might affect divers. Dr McNicoll is an ex-Navy consultant with a long track record of specialising in diving problems & I made sure that I had a contact telephone number written down before he had finished. During the talk, he volunteered his telephone number for any diver who has any ear problems following a dive. He will give over-the-phone help willingly, but is obviously limited in what he can do without a real face-to-face consultation. If you want this number, contact me.

The day was finished by a very informative talk on diving the 'Minnihaha' wreck at 90m-100m off the coast of Ireland. The Minnihaha was a twin engined ocean going liner torpedoed during the war. This wreck is owned and presently being actively worked by two divers who were understandably reluctant to give details & photographs of what they had lifted and what was still down there to an audience of technical divers (!) Nevertheless, the talk was extremely interesting & focused upon the history of the wreck and the techniques used to dive her. A picture was given of what must be the most comfortable 2-man deco station I have ever seen. It folded out to give 2 'bar-stools' for the divers to sit on, with footrests and a chest restraint, together with a secure location for the deco bottles to be stowed. I could easily imagine lying back & going to sleep on a set-up like this. The station was supported by a 'sausage' of buoys that completely damped out any snatch from a choppy Atlantic sea and maintained a steady depth of 6m. The whole rig could be folded up & put into the back of a car on top of the rest of the dive gear.

A few companies were at the show, showing their wares. They included A.P. Valves, Custom Divers, Immersed Magazine, Phoenix Diver Training (Nitrox, Trimix, rebreathers etc.), Uwatec, U.W.I Circle, Northern Diver.

The talks were:

Wreck Research	Richard Larn - Shipwreck researcher / author
Wrecks and the Law	Anthony Firth - Wessex Archaeology Project Manager
Operational Safety	Billy Deans - IANTD World Vice President
The Gender Difference	Marguerite St Ledger-Dowes (Again - she gets everywhere!)
The Minnihaha	A Kitson & J MayoEvans - BSAC advanced divers, owners of Minnihaha
South Coast Projects	Dave Thompson - Phoenix Training + designer of  Inspiration rebreather
Psychology of Deep Diving	Tom Mount  - President of IANTD
Equipment and the traveller	Lamar Hires - Dive Rite Vice President
Diving & Health	Dr William McNicholl - ENT Consultant

 

 A number of workshops were also organised on :

Fitness evaluation

Equipment Rigging

Rebreather set up

full face masks

O2 and Compatibility

Scooters

Dräger Rebreather

Rebreathers

Cis-Lunar rebreather

 

The Argonauts who went: Jeff Errington, Ray Wrather, Helen Johnstone, Phil Clarke.

Alternative Diving glossary

 

A-Clamp	A-device that stops you driving a-car away
Air Shares	The investments you will be able to buy when the government privatises the atmosphere
Backward Roll	Sandwich with the filling on the outside and the bread in the middle
Boat Cover	Tarpaulin for the RIB
Bottom Timer	A device for measuring how bad the habdabs have got on your Egyptian diving holiday.
Buddy Checks	How your diving partner pays you for the petrol
Buddy Line	"If you knew Peggy Sue then you'd know why I feel blue"
Buoyant Lift	An elevator that feels really upbeat about life
Club Diver	What you do to your buddy if he finds the porthole first
Constant Volume Law	If your neighbours are under 21, their Hi-fi will always be played at maximum sound level'
Decompression	De ting dat give you de hurtin' ears
DIN Fitting	The noise inflicted while a tailored kitchen is being installed
Distress Flare	A knack for being upset
Dive Supervisor	The bouncer at a sleazy disco
Dump Valve	Loo cistern ballcock
Embolism	The adjective used to describe the ethos and characteristics of Embols
Foot Fins	Very, very short people from Eastern Scandinavia
Free Ascent	Slogan of the movement to liberate a perfume
Groundswell	Minced toff
High Pressure Port	Fortified wine being sold by someone on a large commission
Hyperventilation	Leaving the window wide open on a windy day
Lifting Bag	A shop-thief's haul
Macro Photography	Taking snaps of the local trade discount store
Mask Clearance	Diver's eye-protection-equipment sale
Mini Cylinder	One of the four combustion chambers of a small-car's  engine
Narco-sis	Irritable female sibling
Neck Entry	Dracula's preferred dining method
Neutral Buoyancy	Buoyancy that refuses to take sides in a war
Oral Inflation	The spiralling price of a blow job
Pony Bottle	Bravery in a small horse
Pool Training	Learning how to screw back into balk off the five spot
Pot Dive	Tatty establishment where people smoke marijuana
Reciprocal Bearing	A device for helping reciprocals rotate on a shaft
Self Donning	Characteristic of senior university academics who get there without being nominated.
Semi-dry suit	the one that feels fairly dry because you expect it to feel a lot wetter than it ever gets.
Dry suit	the one that feels wet because it normally leaks and you sweat a lot.
Wet suit	the one that feels bone dry because nobody in their right mind would use one any more.
Short Fill	Nickname for a vertically challenged person called Philip
Shot Line	Useless BT connection
Silicone Seals	Marine mammals with surgical implants
Stride Entry	An Australian getting into trousers
Suit Squeeze	The effect you feel when dressing for work after the Christmas blow outs
Surface Marker Buoy	Young male graffiti artist

 

So What Would You Do?

 

Here are some diving scenarios that could easily happen to you during the course of your diving.  Think about how you would react to each of these problems. Grab an instructor or experienced diver and discuss it.  Many of these scenarios have already happened to people in the club so don’t think it couldn’t happen to you!

1)    You come up from a dive on the Arethusa, and you find that the club RIB from which you were diving, is no longer in sight. You are now 3 miles off the Felixstowe coast and are drifting away fast. What do you and your buddy do?

2)    You are diving on a wreck when your fins and feet become tangled in fishing line.  What do you do?

3)    You are diving at 20m in Gildenburg, when you notice that your buddy is having problems. They are breathing more and more heavily, and are agitated. It seems to be getting worse.  What do you do?

4)    You surface from a shore dive to find that you are much further from land than you thought. Now what?

5)    You are diving with your buddy on the Ludlow wreck off Felixstowe. Viz. is good, at about 3m, although there is some algae in the water.  You stop to check your gauges, and suddenly find that you are in zero viz. as the silt and mud has enveloped you. What do you do now?

6)    You are diving at 30m when bubbles start coming from your stab jacket by the front pocket. What now?

7)    You are doing a drift dive at 20m over rocks, when you suddenly get bad leg cramps. What do you do?

8)     You are diving the aircraft at Stoney Cove (20m) when you notice that you have to continually dump air from your stab. You realise that your stab jacket is inflating itself due to a free-flow from your stab inflator hose. What now?

9)    You and your buddy are at 35m on a wreck when your main DV starts free-flowing.

10)  You are on a wreck dive with your buddy, when you stop to look into a porthole at the fish inside. You look back to your buddy, and realise that you can’t see them anymore.  Viz. is 3m, depth is 30m.

LittleHampton, 1996

Argonaut Divers spent the first May Bank Holiday weekend camping at Littlehampton, diving from the M.V.F. Adelaide, skippered by Cyril Gubby.

Saturday: Wind approx. Force 3, water temp 7 Celsius, nice sunny day.

Saturday morning, we dived the Ore wreck. Vis to begin with was a challenging 30 cm with torches. It opened up to about 1m for a few minutes before closing down again. Still, saw some fish and various bugs, found the boilers, and gave my 'almost-qualified' club diver buddy (Keith Jennings) an interesting (his words!) dive (although I kept a tight hold of his hand at all times!).

Saturday afternoon, did a fast drift dive over some stones and weed nearer to shore. Vis was about 3 - 4 m. A great improvement.

Sunday: Wind virtually non-existent, water temp 7 Celsius, very nice sunny day.

Sunday morning, we dived the orange wreck off Worthing. 'Twas carrying a cargo of oranges and lemons when it sunk - hence the name. Viz. was in the region of 3 to 4 m. Wreck was totally flattened - just plates piled on top of each other with the odd spar sticking up 2m or so. Found two bollards upside-down on a plate, some strange flanged box object (about 30 cm square), and some large chain links. Loads of fish though, pollack etc. under the plates. We were followed around by an interested Ballan Wrasse who kept a close eye on us - very much as Napoleon Wrasse do.

When we surfaced, my buddy (James Murray) said "OK, so where's the wreck?" ! He thought the plates were natural rock formation, even though I pointed out the bollards, odd objects, etc. and we had both spent ages peering at the creepy-crawlies under the metal plates! I guess he was spoilt by diving his first wreck a few weeks ago in the Red Sea - a complete upright cargo boat - and was expecting something similar!

Sunday afternoon, another fast drift dive (damn those Bank holiday tides!). Vis was closing down, it was now about 2 m. Again, lots of stones and weed. However, managed to spot a few Brill and Plaice hidden under the weed.

So there I was, at that point drifting feet first with my buddy (Keith Jennings) facing me when he suddenly points behind me. At that point, I crash into an abandoned / lost trawl that was sitting upright on the sea-bed. Mmm. So we grab each end of the trawl and tilt it (as one does!) - loads of crayfish come storming out from under it. Spend a while playing with them.  Then drifted on for a while before being picked up by boat.

Monday: Wind Force 4 +, overcast, cool, loads of white horses, just on the edge of diving conditions.

Didn't see any other dive boats out today - can't imagine why! ;-}  I took the sea-sickness pills, put on the Sea-Bands, and went to play.

Monday morning, we dove the Indiana. This was captured by a U-boat in 1914 and dynamited. No novices or newly-qualified Clubs allowed on this dive as it was deep. Unfortunately, that left us with 2 teams of 2 divers, and a team of 3. Bad news. I took the team of 3 down - 1 dive leader (Chris Pitts) and 2 almost-dive leaders (Myself and Phil Clarke). Dropped down the shot, at 10m started getting dark, at 20m, definitely dark, at 30m, black ink. Landed feet first on something - stuck torch close to it and saw it was some plating. Well, we'd found the wreck! So now, facing the wreck, we choose to move right (50 - 50 choice!). Went gingerly forward a while - trying to keep tabs on Chris in front and Phil behind. I find a 30 cm hole in the side of the wreck - stuck my torch through it and saw great masses of netting. Not good. Turned to stop Chris who was in front of me, swung my torch round and saw great masses of netting in front of us. Chris stopped. Glanced down, we were floating 5 cms from another great sheet of the damned stuff. Now, I start to think we shouldn't be here. Turned behind to check out other diver, dropped down a tiny bit, got my foot caught in the netting. Definitely things not going as planned. So, both buddies were facing me, all had torches, both were max. of 2 feet away and they can't see my trapped foot. I inflated my stab a little to tension the netting and rose a foot or so (I didn't want to fin with my other foot as that would have probably got caught as well). Felt a hand round my ankle - so the tangle got sorted. At that point, I thought about the nice cup of coffee waiting for us on the boat, and decided to abort the dive.  Getting back into the boat in these windy conditions was also interesting!

Of the other teams, one team of 2 got separated on the wreck - they were close together and suddenly they couldn't see each other any more. Following normal procedures in this situation, they both headed up and simultaneously surfaced a few meters from each other. The other team came up pretty sharpish as well.

Hope I don't encounter too many of these types of dives this season! It appears as if the worlds supply of lost netting has been dumped onto this wreck, so much in fact that they block out all light penetration to this day! Not a good wreck to dive in low vis.

Monday afternoon, I was going to take in James Murray for the fast drift dive - he had borrowed a dry-suit from someone and wanted to try it out. But, looking at his white face (with a hint of green!) as well as his general behaviour (slow, taking ages to kit up, very hesitant), I cancelled the dive, despite him saying he was really OK several times - well he thought he was OK, just, as he slumped to the floor of the boat holding onto his stomach! So no dive for me. Everyone else thought the drift dive was boring although they did bring up some small shells (of the brass variety).

All in all, a good weekends diving.

Dive Signs

So what signs do you use? Here are some to consider:

 

·       Right hand held vertically against forehead  =  Shark

·       Fists held either side of head touching temples  = Hammerhead shark

·       Right hand touches left chest twice, followed by slap to right buttock = Left it behind

·       Right hand touches right chest twice, followed by fist with thumb extended vertically downward. =  Write it down

·       OK sign held against forehead and moved in and out  = Diver not of your training organisation

·       Hand clenched but with index finger pointed up and making a circular motion = it's time to turn around and head back to the entry point on a dive.

·       First two fingers extended in the "V" sign and placed above the head while wiggling the fingers = There's a bug / critter  in here

·       Single hand making snapping signals with thumb underneath and fingers above = conger eel, other big mouthed fish

·       2 hands making snapping signals in front = crab

·       2 hands making snapping signals above head - lobbie

·       Both hands making a T = 100-bar left in tank

·       Clenched fist held at shoulder = 50-bar left in tank

·       Point to contents gauge / computer, then hold up a number of fingers = gas left (each digit = 10 bar)

·       Pair of fins waggling up and down quickly, fading into the distance = there’s a damned big shark behind you

 

Anyone got any others that they want to share? I’ll add them into later BuddyLines…

Helen

 

Argonauts Dive Diary

In the next issue of the BuddyLine (early next year), I will be publishing a Dive Diary for 1997. In here, I hope to be able to add arranged dives, or dives that are being planned - with provisional dates and the persons to contact. This will give people some tangible dates / options that they can sort out well in advance. So, if you have, or are planning, to arrange diving for next year, PLEASE PLEASE let me know provisional dates (they don’t have to be set in concrete!) and details - i.e. where and who to contact. It would be nice if we could get at least one weekend diving in per month, as well as regular training trips to Gildenburg, Stoney or even Alton Water! This diary will only work if YOU put something into it. The Diary will be published as a separate item every month, I hope, so it will be kept up-to-date.

 

Date	Where	Organiser	Details
All year	Nitrox Course	Jeff Errington	Courses always available
?	Chartwork & Navigation	John F	Available to any club member
?	Dry-suit course	John F.
?	SAA Instructors Course	John F	Available for all club divers
2 Feb	Alton Water	Phil Clarke	New gear try-out
11 Feb	Waldringfield Reservoir	Helen J	Ice dive.
2 Mar	Kings Head, Stutton	Sarah Williams	Pre-Egypt trip planning session
15 Mar	Diver Rescue course	Jeff Errington	Start of course - at DiveLine, 7-00pm.
17 Mar	Diving Officers Conf.	Ray Wrather	Diving Officers conference - to discuss SAA Approach to diving