Week 4, Day 20

Today we had our third theory exam on surface decompression. The exam only had 10 questions but they were quite tricky... luckily I managed to pass without a lot study. After this we made our way down to the barge and after getting set-up we did a wreck survey. This involved a 20 meter swim underwater (fully dressed) to a depth of 75 feet. It may sound easy but on the way some of the lead weights fell out of my belt and I became too buoyant. This made it very hard to me to get to the wreck as each time I pulled on my umbilical I began to float. After 10minutes I finally got there and was absolutely shattered. I also began to feel a bit dizzy so I opened by bailout to clear the mask of any C02. When we got back to the surface it was a quick undress, into the chamber, blown down to 40 feet and breathe oxygen for 7minutes. A very tiring dive but we finished early and I had time to go into town and sort out some tax and car papers.

Week 4, Day 19

Today we were back on the barge and quickly got on our way with the dives. Our first dive was a surface rescue. Up till now this has been my Achilles heel as there is a large pressure change in a short period of time which makes it hard for my ears to equalize. In simple terms:

1. Leaving the surface in a wet bell to a depth of 50 feet.
2. Swimming to the surface and removing your helmet.
3. 30 seconds later putting on your helmet and swimming down 50 feet.
4. Pulling the second diver into the wet bell.

During all of this, your ears are being put under pressure and you need to ‘pop’ them without holding your nose. After this dive we quickly got undressed and were put into the decompression chamber for 5 minutes.

Our second dive involved using a Hydraulic Impact Wrench and tightening blots on an underwater flange. Unlike the characteristic noise from hydraulic tools, in the water you can hardly hear them.

Band Mask

These are the Band Masks that we will be using for the Surface Supply and the Surface Supply Top-up Course. It is amazing to think that this mask can be used even at great depths in Saturation Diving.

A. Head Harness (Spider) keeps the mask in place on the divers head. The neoprene rubber spider has adjustment holes for varying the tension of the harness.
B. Hood/Face Seal provides the diver a comfortable thermal barrier around his head as well as pockets for earphones
C. Steady Flow Valve provides an additional flow of air into the mask for ventilation and defogging.
D. Auxiliary Valve supplies backup breathing gas to the diver.
E. Gas Supply Non-Return Valve prevents loss of gas pressure in the event of umbilical damage, preventing a "squeeze".
F. Communications Connections can be either bare wire posts or a waterproof connector. The waterproof type is recommended when a "round robin" or diver/tender both mics "on" communications system is used.
G. Tri-Valve™ Exhaust Whisker (Patents Pending), which retrofits to many previous Kirby Morgan Helmets and Band Masks®, has less breathing resistance than the older single valve exhaust while providing an extremely dry hat. The Tri-Valve™ Exhaust is made of a chemical resistant compound.
H. Water Exhaust automatically keeps water drained from the mask.
I. Demand Regulators The SuperFlow350® KMB 18 and KMB 28 regulator provides easy breathing for hard work.
J. Nose Block Device allows the diver to block the nose to equalize ears.
K. Silicone Oral Nasal Mask is made of a superior silicone material which is hypo-allergenic.
L. Mask Frame hand laid fiberglass for the KMB 18, injection molded plastic for the KMB 28

Week 4, Day 18

While today's weather was not as sunny as yesterday, it was still warm. After learning how to dismantle and set-up the KM18's we quickly set up all the equipment aboard the 'Red Baron' an were able to complete lots of dives.

Today I wore the KM18. Initially it does not look very sturdy but in fact it is quite comfortable. The biggest drawbacks are that it is more claustrophobic than the other helmets we have worn, your head gets wet, and after a while you can feel the cold.

We were lowered into the water using the Wet Bell and had a look around. It was fun and very easy. After arriving at the surface we had to quickly get undressed and put into the decompression chamber (in less than 4 minutes) where we stayed from approximately 10 minutes. Tomorrow we with be doing surface rescues down to 60 feet.

Week 4, Day 17

Today the weather was wonderful. I cannot remember a day like this in Scotland. The sea was dead calm and the sky was crystal clear… I think you get the picture.
In any case, I managed to make up the dive I missed a few weeks ago using the CR 9 pneumatic drill and then we mobilized all the necessary equipment to the barge ‘AKA’ The Red Baron.
As you can see by the photo it does not look great but it has all the equipment needed for a safe dive. Under the decks there are two HP Compressors that provide air for the divers and the Decompression Chamber.
At the same time there is a Moon Pool and a Wet Bell (which basically means a hole in the middle of the boat where winch lowers a large basket with two divers to the bottom of the sea).
Also, today we looked at using KM18 hats. These are different from our normal diving helmets because they are half masks. The front part is exactly the same but on the back of the mask there is a neoprene hat and special rubber bands to hold it on. It is very light and a lot easier to put on.

Tomorrow I will have a go into the water using one!
A. Head Harness (Spider) keeps the mask in place on the divers head. The neoprene rubber spider has adjustment holes for varying the tension of the harness.
B. Hood/Face Seal provides the diver a comfortable thermal barrier around his head as well as pockets for earphones
C. Steady Flow Valve provides an additional flow of air into the mask for ventilation and defogging.
D. Auxiliary Valve supplies backup breathing gas to the diver.
E. Gas Supply Non-Return Valve prevents loss of gas pressure in the event of umbilical damage, preventing a "squeeze".
F. Communications Connections can be either bare wire posts or a waterproof connector. The waterproof type is recommended when a "round robin" or diver/tender both mics "on" communications system is used.
G. Tri-Valve™ Exhaust Whisker (Patents Pending), which retrofits to many previous Kirby Morgan Helmets and Band Masks®, has less breathing resistance than the older single valve exhaust while providing an extremely dry hat. The Tri-Valve™ Exhaust is made of a chemical resistant compound.
H. Water Exhaust automatically keeps water drained from the mask.
I. Demand Regulators The SuperFlow350® KMB 18 and KMB 28 regulator provides easy breathing for hard work.
J. Nose Block Device allows the diver to block the nose to equalize ears.
K. Silicone Oral Nasal Mask is made of a superior silicone material which is hypo-allergenic.
L. Mask Frame hand laid fiberglass for the KMB 18, injection molded plastic for the KMB 28

Lochaber Highland Games

This morning I headed off into Fort William and came across a procession led by Jimmy Savile. I would think nobody outside the UK would have ever heard of him but as a child I remember watching him on a children’s TV program called Jim'll Fix It and later presenting Top of the Pops. On Jim’ll Fix It, children wrote in asking to meet somebody or even be like somebody for a day and he would arrange for this to happen. I used to love this and even remember writing in. Listening to the theme tune also reveals what the program was about. The procession was made up of a pipe band and banners urging people to go and see the Highland Games. Being Scottish, I had never seen them before and decided I should go and see it for myself.
I was amazed by the amount of children wearing full Highland dress and parents who were taking part in the activities offered. Walking amongst the many people there, I saw this stroller and though the pattern was funny. Now you see it... now you don't!
The Traditional Scottish Dancing was amazing to see as children of all ages took part. Up to 10 dances including the Pas de Basques, Highland Fling, Sword Dance and Hornpipe took place. It reminds me of pictures of Rachel when she was younger.
At the same time there was a stand called The Clann. They are a period authentic group of highlanders who are experts on the use of traditional weaponry. The Clann set up an encampment on the field to allow visitors to see how highlanders may have lived and to allow inspection of their armoury. Needless to say I avidly got in line behind a bunch of kids and took part in a small sword fight.

Time for a pose after battle!

Other sports taking place were the scots hammer, tossing the caber, weight over the bar and throwing the light stone. All of this was amazing to see, as both adults and children threw huge logs around.

Week 3, Day 16

Today we had a late morning due to our night dive that ended at 1 am. We started off in the classroom and looked at Hazardous Diving. It was interesting and somewhat scary. The biggest killer amongst divers is inshore diving and differential pressure. Diving in canals, dock gates, dams and pipelines are the most hazardous as you are dealing with two different water pressures. Other things to take into consideration are Tides, Currents and Bad Sea states. After looking at these in detail we moved on to diving under ships and things to look out for such as propellers, intakes and diving under the keel of the ships. Basically when you dive under a ship you need to inform the chief engineer and the captain, along with the harbour master. At the same time ensure that all the correct security measures are being followed such as displaying the Alpha Flag and if diving in the evening, having the correct colour light displayed on the side of the ship you are diving on. After class we went down to the pier. The weather was beautiful and we took in as much sun as we could.
At the same time we completed a dive moving an anchor using a lift bag. By adding air to the lift bag using our pneumo, we lifted and moved a heavy anchor down and up the sea bed. I was fun but given that it was Friday we all wanted to complete the dive as fast as possible.

Week 3, Day 15 - Evening Dive

Last night we had our evening dive and even though I was a bit wary about diving in pitch darkness it turned out to be one of our best dives. Instead of doing all the rescues we ended up surveying a sunken Tug Boat that was next to an Armored Car.

The dive took up to a depth of 70 feet and we had to light glow sticks to certain items all the way down.

Immediately I thought of my wife and the movie ‘White Chicks’ when the black guy called Latrell takes some ecstasy tablets by mistake and starts dancing with glow sticks in his hand. Very weird! Surprisingly there was a lot of life in the sea at night and the lights seemed to attract a lot of fishes and crabs.

Although there was very little visibility (in some cases not even my own hand) I felt very safe and because we had 20 minutes of survey time it felt more like a sports dive. Overall two thumbs up!!

International Market Day

Luckily after my tiring morning dive I though I would take a shower and head off into town for a walk. Lucky for me there was an international market.

These are one of the things I like the most about the UK. Markets are a very cool place to walk around and sometimes even laugh at some of the 'crap in a stall' they are selling. For instance... who in Scotland is going to buy any of these:

However one thing I know my Wife and Son would have liked was the french stall that makes fresh crepes with Nutella Choloclate. Being the generous and caring husband and father that I am, I made a huge sacrifice and had one in their honour.

P.S. Don't hate me too much

Week 3, Day 15 - Morning Dive

Hello Children!!! Today's blog will be divided into two halves because we are going to do an evening dive at 22:00 (or 10 pm).

After getting everything setup we got back into our usual rotation and I was first to go in. The biggest difference today was the fact that we had to wear fins. Having dived before with fins I thought it would be straight forward. Wrong!

Because of our weight we all struggled with buoyancy and had to add and take of lead weights until we were at zero buoyancy. This took between 10 and 15 minutes. After that we had to put on our fins. Again this is more complicated given the amount of stuff you are wearing, the lack of sight because of the helmet, and the awkwardness of doing it with a tight dry suit underwater. This took over 5 minutes.

Finally we headed down 50 feet and were asked to return and divided ourselves up. One diver on the Camera, one as the Victim and the third diver as the Rescuer. After each one of us completed all three tasks we did a controlled ascent to the surface. I have got to say that this was by far one of the most tiring dives I have had to do until now and the worst part is....

... we will be doing it tonight in pitch darkness.

The best thing about being a father

After diving today I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me.Now to some people this might simply be a card with some scribbles that a child did, but to me this is one of the best gifts I could ever get. Being a father is the best thing that has ever happened to me (as well as getting married of course) and receiving something like this can raise anybodies spirit and bring the hardest man to tears. Thank you Rachel and Noah for sending me this wonderful gift that is proudly standing on my bedside cabinet. Amo you to.

Week 3, Day 14

Today one half of our course had to catch up with the a chamber diver that they missed. A chamber dive basically means that they seal you up in a diving chamber on the surface and pressurise it. In this case to 150 feet. After they completed a quick task they were decompressed and let out. It seems quick but it took over an hour!

While the chamber divers were recuperating the other half, including myself, began diving again using the airlift. This was an assessment dive and I had the privilege of wearing an AH 5 Helmet.

The reason I am so serious is because I was doing my bail out and comms checks.

It does not look like much but if you are diving in sewage or something 'not pleasant' this is the hat for you. As you can see by the picture it has a large screen to look out and a smaller one on top. It is weird to put on as you need an extra harness and the actual mask is screwed on like a SLR camera lens. When you go in the water the first thing the mask does is pull you up by your neck so you have to pull the front strap down as much as possible. At the same time, because the helmet is so light you need extra weights. Going in the water was bad enough, but coming out wet makes you even heavier... I thought they were going to need a crane to pick me up from the sea bed. In any case I passed the assessment and would recommend other people try the helmet. It is quite good when you are in the water.

Week 3, Day 13

Today we worked with an airlift which has absolutely nothing to do with flying. Basically it is a vacuum that is used to dredge or clean the sea bed of sand and mud. Given my high level of cleanliness at home my wife would say I am in my element. Our task was to clean a concrete block that we had previously used to drill on. The Airlift was made up of a 12 foot long aluminum pipe connected to a pneumatic hose. As compressed air is injected into the pipe the resulting bubbles rise towards the output end of the pipe. The bubbles move water through the pipe sucking debris from the lower end and depositing it from the upper end of the pipe.

Underneath the water it can be quiet heavy but nowhere near it’s weight on the surface. It was a lot of fun and after taking turns, the day flew by.

After out dive we headed back to The Underwater Centre and completed our second theory assessment on diver tables. It was not very hard, however several questions had similar answers and some were phrased in a way that could confuse you. I attained a 85% which was good, however several students failed so anybody doing this course… make sure you know your diving tables well!

Week 3, Day 12

After given a quick health check I was back in the water trying to catch up on the two dives that I missed. My first dive involved working with the pneumatic drill (or a p9 as it is also known) and completing a diver rescue. The diver rescue involves one of the divers falling down and as one person films the action, the third diver takes the victim to the surface. These are the steps to follow:

1. Assess the situation and see if it is clear for the diver to approach.
2. Ensure that the umbilical is clear and not damaged.
3. See if the diver is conscious or unconscious.
4. Close the divers bail out and flush his helmet with the free-flow valve.
5. Pull the diver up and ask for assistance from the surface to bring the diver in.
6. As you bring the diver to the surface make sure someone is able to get his out safely.

Luckily all went well and my second assessment was good. After this I went back into the water with a second group and we did diver tendering and underwater inspection. This was a lot of fun as we had to walk under the pier and look around two sunken Battle Tanks. This reminded me a lot of the discovery channel when divers discover wrecks or old war relics.

Lazy Sunday

Today is the first day I have had the chance to have time to myself. It has been nice to relax and feel no pressure but still I greatly miss getting up early with my daughter, having her jump and smile at her crib when I walked in and her saying 'dada' when she sees me. Definitely some thing money cannot buy. I miss my morning father-son breakfast time with my son and him telling me his dreams with the 'animals'. I miss the smell of my wife and her smile in bed everyday when I woke up. Instead I am faced with two guys who fart and snore at night... not the ideal swap.

Later in the morning I went into Fort William for a few bits and pieces such as fruit, water and more sinex medication. Becoming a diver is not hard, but ,maintaining a clean bill of health is hard given the awful weather conditions at Fort William. This postcard should give you a good idea of what Scottish weather is really like:
I would suggest to anyone wanting to become a diver to take vitamin tablets, drink lots of water and bring lots of warm clothing, especially a warm woolly hat as the safety hat on its own does not shelter you from the cold wind on the pier.

Weekend Trip

Yesterday a group of us went to Inverness to get away from Fort William. Don’t get me wrong, Fort William is a quiet place with a small number of traditional Scottish shops and Pubs. The nightlife here is quite good (or so I’ve been told) but during they day unless you are planning to climbing a mountain you are pretty much stuffed so a day trip is ideal. The journey up to Inverness is breathtaking as you drive along the entire Loch Ness. To avoid wasting time we headed straight for Inverness. It is a small city with a large main street, two malls and a number of side streets.
It is split by the river Ness which feeds onto Loch Ness. This is the south View and on the left you can see Inverness Castle
After going for something to east we walked around the shops and found a little mall full of small shops. This was unique and straight away I saw a postcards which tell a undeniable truth about our journey.
Soon afterwards we headed to the cinema and saw Kung Fu Panda which was great except we were five fully grown adults surrounded by families with small kids. When the film finished we headed home and made lots of stops on the way. Our first stop was at Drumnadrochit which is 2 miles form Urquhart Castle and is full of ‘Nessie’ (or Loch Ness Monster) memorabilia.
The hotels, shops and restaurants all have a ‘Nessie’ logo and we even found a full scale model in a pond.
They even have a Loch Ness Exhibition Centre at the Drumnadrochit Hotel. I guess they must have a lot of tourists that forget which side to drive on! At the same time we found a William Wallace memorial.
Just outside the town south at Urquhart Bay is Castle Urquhart. It is one of Scotland's largest castles on the banks of Loch Ness where it has occupied a defensive position for over 500 years. It is believed that a Pictish fort or settlement once occupied the site and that the present castle was built in the 13th century. It is also the place that most sightings of the Loch Ness Monster have been reported.
As it was closed we decided to have a look around and to our dismay a whole bunch of people were walking around the site. Funnily enough they must have left the gates open and I managed to take to following pictures.

The scale is hard to imagine but I can tell you that it is big. On the fortress wall with Loch Ness in the background.A replica of a period catapult. They know one was here as they found several stone balls. Right behind the castle is Loch Ness
Any guesses…? Well this was a Corn Mill.
Some of the Celtic designs which are dotted around the entire area.

Our final stop was Fort Augustus which is situated at the mouth of Loch Ness and is renowned for its flight of five locks that separate Loch Ness and the Caledonian Canal.