 |
|
The liveliest letters from the DIVER mailbag...
|
|
Inspired by your recent article on yoga (Year of the Lotus, April), I decided to give it a try in the hope of improving my diving. I attended a couple of classes, bought the mat, read lots of books and generally got misty-eyed at the thought of spending longer beneath the surface, just through breath control and visualisation exercises.
Sadly, it's never that simple, and a pitching, tossing RIB is probably not the place to test out newly discovered theories of diving nirvana.
I had visualised the dive, but my inner eye must have been looking elsewhere - the visibility was poor, the currents were strong, and no amount of tantric optimism would improve things!
Back on the boat, I slumped into a position that would horrify any decent yoga teacher, vowing to restrict my yoga to the living-room floor.
While waiting for others to surface, my mind drifted to thoughts of dives I had done, dives I wanted to do and things I'd seen under water.
"Are you all right?" my buddy asked, jolting me out of my reverie. "You look like you're in a trance!"
Perhaps diving and yoga aren't quite as dissimilar as I thoughtÉ if only I could bring my mat with me!
Richard Sewell, Oulton Broad, Suffolk
I learnt to dive in the Firth of Forth and have been diving for two years. I have done only 15 open-water dives, however, so am aware that I am at the beginning of a steep and complicated learning curve.
Earlier this year, I went to Komandoo in the Maldives to do my Advanced Open Water course. I decided that I would also do the Peak Performance Buoyancy course with Darren of Prodivers, took the theory seriously and then practised the various skills in the ocean.
On emerging I exclaimed: "Wow, I didn't realise this was so easy!" A couple of hours and a couple of practice dives had changed my whole understanding of this important issue and I had realised where I had been going wrong!
I have continued to practise those skills, now in my drysuit. We all hear stories of divers who have no idea about their buoyancy touching or landing on coral reefs to stabilise themselves.
So if proper buoyancy is a primary skill all scuba divers should possess, why is Peak Performance Buoyancy not classed and taught as a necessary skill to master during OWD training sessions?
David Marke, Edinburgh
HMS Scylla may have been sunk for divers, but I don't feel this gives people the right to scrawl their names all over it in black marker pen.
I was also very disappointed to see that Diver had given glory to one of these idiots by including a photograph that showed "Simon Jones 2004" written on the wreck. All Mr Jones should get is fines of crunchies and cracklies from Beachcomber.
He is not the only person to have decided that it is their right to deface or damage the wreck; many others have left their mark. Why can't these people see that this project was done to benefit them as well as the sea life?
It has cost the National Marine Aquarium a lot of money, and the stupid behaviour of these individuals will ruin it for other divers and jeopardise similar projects in the future. Who wants to finance a project for people to vandalise?
Clair Watts, Barking, Essex
Comment: You say that showing graffiti "glorifies" the person who put it there; we would argue that it serves only to highlight that diver's mindlessness - though it is certainly unfortunate for all those other divers named Simon Jones who have more sense.
A little goby has informed me that Eyemouth Council is going to increase the parking charges at St Abbs. A £5 a day fee is to go up to £10!
When parking fees were introduced at St Abbs, I was under the impression that these "indirect taxes" might be channelled back into the upkeep and upgrading of facilities for both divers and non-divers. One facility that needs upgrading (or better still, bombed and rebuilt) is the local toilets, known as the "black hole of Calcutta". The council should be ashamed.
Shore-diving facilities at St Abbs do not exist, which is a shame because some of the sites are outstanding, Cathedral Rock being the best known. Apart from the long walk around the harbour, your entry and exit point is down and over slippery rocks. Many a diver has returned to the car park with a torn suit, cracked regulator or bruised body part. Eventually there will be a serious accident, so let's avoid it. Can some of the money generated by fees and fines be put towards building steps or even a ramp?
St Abbs is a fantastic place for novice and experienced divers to spend the day, weekend or week. So come on, give it a chance to flourish. Either keep your parking fees down or let's see some of our money going back into where it counts - St Abbs.
S Geraghty, Edinburgh
Comment: Jim McQuillan, Traffic & Road Safety Officer of Scottish Borders Council, told us the proposal was still in the consultation stages and may not come into force this year. "Other people such as walkers need to use the car park, and often divers leave equipment strewn all over the place, making parking difficult for others. But there is no desire to drive out divers, only to help the community council redistribute car-park users through the week. The only charge that would double is the four-hour weekend charge to £10. Divers could still park for two hours for just 50p and the charge comes into force only at 10am - so if they arrive early enough it needn't cost so much."
Your article about the VR2 computer was, I felt, very accurate (Diver Tests, May). I have read many other tests of the VR2/VR3 and sometimes wonder if the testers are using the same computer with which I am familiar.
You're right to say that the computer locks out and "reverts to tables". I know many divers who feel they have to use two VR3s. Another friend who had one called it the most expensive bottom-timer he had ever bought, and sold it.
Your comment about the manual was slightly off the mark. What manual? When I asked Kevin Gurr at the dive show and on the phone some awkward questions regarding the dive profile and algorithm of the VR3, I was quickly pushed aside or cut short.
It must be hard to be constructively critical of a product sold by a "tekkie guru", and judging by his reply you hit a raw nerve.
Steve Price, Jersey
I believe John Bantin is the magazine version of that scourge of web forums - a troll. For someone with his experience and knowledge to make such ridiculous comments in response to Kevin Gurr's reply (June), he must have made them up to elicit a response. Well, I bit!
John states that "É.if you are looking through a camera you can miss the requirement to do a stop." I seem to recall that you plan the dive and dive the plan, and shouldn't deviate from the plan even if a tompot blenny does seem to be striking an attractive pose. Had he looked at the computer before setting himself up for the shot, he would have seen how much no-decompression time was left and planned accordingly.
Could the same be said for monitoring your gas supply, rebreather handsets, buddy? Taking photos is nice, but cannot be put above safety!
He also states: "If yours is not a pre-planned, disciplined dive what do you do?" I thought all dives should be pre-planned and disciplined, and just because more experienced divers get lazy doesn't make it the fault of the computer.
I question whether John would have had a spare watch/depth gauge or bottom timer with back-up tables in case of a computer failure. This comment seemed to be a dig at technical divers, who perhaps understand the risks better and plan dives accordingly.
Stewart Riley, Nottingham
Having just returned from an excellent week in Gozo, I feel that with reference to Craig Beaufort-Dysart's letter (Gozo Gloom, June) maybe there are lessons to be learnt about planning a diving holiday, paying a little more and leaving nothing to chance.
My husband and I chose Gozo as it was the first time we had taken our toddler son on a foreign diving holiday. Not only is the diving good, but the Maltese are extremely child-friendly. However, Gozo is a rural community and doesn't always have the sort of "standards" we might expect, so we made most of the travel arrangements ourselves so that there would be no nasty surprises.
We flew Air Malta as the times were more convenient and, as divers, we were granted an extra baggage allowance. The flights cost slightly more but we had only an hour to wait for the first Gozo ferry in the morning.
We arranged a hire car with a baby seat through our travel agent, which also confirmed that someone would meet us with the car at Luca airport. This was also slightly more expensive than going through the local operator, but a small price to pay to ensure a good start to our holiday.
Our chosen dive centre in Xewkija, which we knew, could not have been more helpful and provided everything we needed.
We had emailed a list of requests for both dives and baby equipment well in advance, and the centre confirmed it by return. Our room was large, airy, simply furnished (as is normal in Mediterranean countries) and perfect for our needs.
The cost of the holiday for each of us (excluding flights) was probably double that paid per person by the members of Craig's group. We also spent considerable time and effort and it paid off. I hope that when Craig's group returns later in the year things go better and they get the holiday they deserve.
Only one thing didn't go to plan during our week; Malta became a member of the EC shortly before our visit and, alas, my husband could no longer buy his bottle of duty free whisky to bring home!
Alison Fuller-Shapcott, Kelso, Scotland
Why is Craig Beaufort-Dysart not willing to name and shame the centre? Perhaps some of the problems were of his, or his group's, making?
I have dived Gozo numerous times, always with Gozo Aqua Sports, and have never had any problems. Gail and Patrick run a very organised centre, and I was so happy with it that I even took my wife there to learn to dive.
Nige Leigh, Weston-Super-Mare
In response to the allegations made by Craig Beaufort-Dysart, I assume that the dive centre referred to is Gozo Aqua Sports. Though not named in full, this is the only centre in Marsalforn with "aqua sports" in its name.
I have been organising dive holidays through Gozo Aqua Sports for six years and have always found it very helpful at all stages, from arranging accommodation and transfers through to advice on where to dive.
On our last holiday there in late March (at the same time as Craig), I had arranged return helicopter transfers, but was advised by Gozo Aqua Sports to travel from Malta to Gozo by ferry as the helicopters were still operating their winter timetable, and my group would have to wait for three hours in the airport.
It arranged for a minibus to meet us at the airport and transfer us to the ferry terminal. They met us there and transferred us to our accommodation, which was clean, comfortable and nicely furnished.
Gail, Patrick and their team always go out of their way to make us feel welcome. I have always found them courteous and helpful to everyone who enters the shop. Advice on dive sites is freely available. They provide areas for you to wash down and store equipment at no extra charge. I have no hesitation in recommending Gozo Aqua Sports to anyone looking for a good dive centre on Gozo.
Caroline Sampson, Anglesey Divers, Holyhead
Attacks by great white sharks have become increasingly common in False Bay in South Africa. To my certain knowledge there have been five in the past three years.
Sightings last year off Fish Hoek, a highly popular bathing beach where an estimated 5 metre great white was seen in hip-height water, caused much concern. The most recent attack, off Muizenberg, is disturbing as this has been a popular surfing beach for 70 years.
There is no positive proof, but my belief is that these attacks may be the result of commercial organised shark-feeding. Cage-diving and surface-viewing to see great whites around Seal Island in False Bay and Dyer Island further east has been a well-advertised activity for 10 years or so and seal-meat is regularly used to attract them.
Could some of these animals connect humans with being fed? If so, the consequences of not feeding them could well result in an increase in attacks on bathers and surfers.
Tony Aylmer, Stoke Fleming, Devon
The other year some diving friends and I took an English diver, who had just moved to Dublin, for an evening dive. His logbook showed hundreds of wreck-dives from Scapa to the Channel, with 40-50m the norm.
We brought him down along our harbour wall, max depth 6m but mostly 4m. "I've never seen so much wildlife ever before" was his first comment on surfacing.
We showed him the art of diving where the action is. No wrecks, no 50m depths, just an abundance of lobsters, crabs, conger eels, octopuses, anemones, dead men's fingers, you name it.
Not everybody can be blessed with living around Dublin, which offers roadside diving down to 20m among rocks and boulders, and in Dublin Bay alone there are five wrecks (not including the stag-party weekend visitors).
But reading Diver, you would think that there is nothing else to diving in Britain than wrecks, deep dives, long decompression stops and risking your life.
No matter which part of the world your articles describe, there is always the wreck. Photos of rusting metal of every shape cover the pages. Excited text underneath the pictures describes the odd living creature, as if it was unusual. It's only unusual because the deeper you go, the less there is to see!
May I suggest that you devote more space to diving above 20m? When more divers learn the pleasure of shallow diving for the beauty of flora and fauna, there will be fewer diving incidents to report and more space for beautiful pictures of life.
Richard T Burman, Delgany Ireland
Comment: While we take your point about the pleasures of staying shallow, we don't think you've been reading Diver thoroughly if you think we ignore scenic dives and shallow wrecks. And isn't the whole point about an established wreck that it can be a historic vessel and a marine life habitat all in one? Anyway, watch out for a feature on ultra-shallow UK diving coming soon!
In recent months there have been some letters about the training and safety aspects of deploying delayed SMBs. The advice I was given as a novice ties in with a system used in our club.
When training a novice, the instructor clips his reel to the handle of the novices' reel. Both are held with the ratchet released. Should the first reel snag, the novice can let go and the second reel automatically comes into play. On the ascent the first reel is recovered. The cover boat will not be chasing after a loose SMB.
I always use this technique as an added safety feature and hope it can help others!
Ian Gibson, Christchurch, Dorset
I well remember the cold day in February 1974 when I first dived Stoney Cove to 36m with my latest "high tech" equipment - a Fenzy Mark IV ABLJ - but no watch. Well, my buddy had one, but in any case we came up at the speed of the small bubbles.
Do I dive with a watch now? No, my computer has one built in. Do I still ascend at the speed of the small bubbles? Of course not!
What if my computer breaks? I use my back-up computer. Times change and so does the equipment.
Harry Cooper, Cobham, Surrey
On 15 May, I and a buddy from Bude dive club arrived at a local beach to do a shore dive. We found a large number of Ilfracombe Dive Club's members waiting for their boat, which had been delayed by a layer of fog hovering about a quarter-mile offshore.
After diving and back on the beach, we found Ilfracombe still waiting for their boat. However, instead of sitting in the sun they were walking up and down the beach with black bags. The north wind of the previous week had blown large amounts of rubbish, nets, containers etc onto the beach.
The Ilfracombe divers had gone to the local Co-op, bought 30 bin-liners and spent the next 50 minutes filling these bags full of rubbish and picking up all the containers and netting.
I visited the pub in the village during the week and overheard the following:
"Who cleared up the beach, then?"
"Them divers that are always here."
"Nice to see them put something back."
"Yeah, I suppose we should have done it earlier."
Well done Ilfracombe - not only did you clean up a very messy beach, but you've given divers, who often park in the wrong place down there, a huge public relations boost.
Andy Squirrell, Holsworthy, Devon
|
|
|
