It’s finally happened. I’ve been able to kick start my 2023 dive season and get back into the water! I’ve also managed to get some diving that’s challenged me personally, which is what I’m wanting to achieve this year. So what actually happened? How did the day go?
Dive Objectives
One of our club members, Ollie, reached out to me a few weeks ago. He wanted to get the final couple of dives completed for his Dive Leader qualification. They were both dives to a depth of 25m; whilst this is still relatively deep, considering our first dives of the year, the conditions at Stoney Cove enable this to be achieved in a safer environment than open water!
We put together a plan for the day, which involved 2 dives. The first would be down to 28m for depth, then up onto Stoney’s 22m shelf. Here we would do a bit of navigation practice. The second dive would just be down to 26m, then another exploratory dive on the shelf. By just touching the depths and coming shallower, we are able to better manage our nitrogen uptake. Our gas consumption rate would also be reduced, which would give us more time to practice some skills and drills!
Stoney Cove
With our dives planned it was time to make our way to the dive site. We loaded our cars with the equipment needed; both 12L and 15L cylinders were taken, as well as a spare cylinder, our dive kit and qualification record books! I had to sign off the dives at the end after all.
On arriving at the site we parked up as close to the changing rooms as possible. We got changed into our drysuits, spoke through our dive plan, and kitted up. It was finally time to get back in the water!
First Dive
That first leap back into the water was refreshing. Not only the 6°C chill of the quarry water, but the anticipation of bobbing on the surface, breathing through the regulator and ready to get back underwater. We descended down to the 6m shelf below, before making our way down the long slope towards 28m. We stopped at 27m; it was getting darker, and the extra metre wasn’t critical. From here, we swam back on ourselves, up onto the 22m shelf.
Following the edge of the shelf where it drops off to 35m, we made our way around, searching for the Stanegarth. The visibility was okay (around 7m) but the dark and algae blooms made it difficult to navigate. We didn’t go off compass bearings, however we had a map to hand. Instead of heading on to the Stanegarth, we ended up stopping at the bus and deploying a DSMB.
This skill is a good one to practice, and I was certainly rusty! I was using my new reel from Kent Tooling, which is a fantastic ratchet system. However, where I was out of practice, I was struggling to hold the partially inflated DSMB and reel together, so used Ollie for support.
With the DSMB deployed, we made our way up towards the surface. We stopped for a minute at 9m, simulating a decompression stop. After a 3-minute safety stop at 6m, we surfaced and swam across the quarry back to the shore.
After de-kitting we grabbed a coffee and had a chat about the dive. We spoke over our plan for the second dive and noted down some compass bearings. The navigation wasn’t going to get away from us this time!
100th Dive
As well as being Ollie’s qualifying Dive Leader dive, this was also my 100th dive! Thankfully I didn’t realise this until later, otherwise I’d be doing something crazy like diving naked… For the record, I’m not (quite) stupid enough to strip off in a chilly Stoney Cove, but there are some wild things people do for their 100th dive!
The intention for this dive was to get our depth and complete a planned decompression. Using BSAC’s tables, we calculated our current tissue code on the surface and worked out how long we would need to be at 22m to enter decompression. With this information on a dive slate, we kitted back up and got back into the water.
Upon entry, we followed our first bearing from the entry point to find the Viscount cockpit. We swam through the old aircraft cockpit and continued our descent down to just over 25m. There wasn’t much need to go deeper, and with our 15L cylinders we would be afforded more time exploring the 22m shelf. We started off following the edge of the shelf again, but using our map and a compass, we made our way to the Stanegarth. This time we were successful, and spent some time swimming through the small boat, exploring some of the nooks and crannies.
From here, we followed the chain running from the Stanegarth to its anchor, spotting all the little signs and ‘artefacts’ left along the way. I won’t ruin the surprise for anyone wanting to explore this for themselves, but you’ll spot what I mean! On arriving at the anchor it was time to begin our ascent. We rose to 9m for a minute stop, then back up to the Viscount cockpit to see off the rest of our decompression. We swam into the bottom of the exit, then surfaced right where we wanted to get out, no long surface swim this time!
Wrap Up
Once we had put our kit back into our cars and got changed into some dry clothes, we headed into the on-site restaurant. We spoke about the dives, grabbed a drink, and worked our way through signing off Ollie’s qualification! With BSAC’s new instructor sign-off through the app, I was able to get everything signed from Ollie’s book onto the website and submit the application for his qualification card. It’s a great step from the paper forms of old!
Now that I’ve had the taste of it again, diving is definitely back towards the forefront of my thoughts. I’ve since completed a couple more Advanced Diver lessons and my next job is organising a weekend dive for the club somewhere new. Watch this space for that one!