Wednesday 30 July 2008

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.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

yikes. Sounds kinda awful. I hope it went well.