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The liveliest letters from the DIVER mailbag...
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With the number of deaths at Dorothea Quarry in north Wales and the possibility of the site being permanently closed, some local divers took the initiative, time and effort to try to do something about divers being inadequately trained and equipped for the depth/environment, and unable to cope with equipment malfunction at depth.
One diver made a sign highlighting some of the more important procedures to be adopted. It was prominently placed on the side of a building at the quarry.
Arriving on 5 October, I noticed with dismay that the sign had been pulled from its fixings and thrown onto the car park. No diver already there had bothered to pick it up, so I put it at the side of the car park.
It had been defaced, with the word "puffs" written below "Use trimix below 55m". Whoever wrote this obviously thinks they are immune to an oxygen spike brought on early by the cold waters.
Later that day I saw a group of divers with Inspiration CCR rigs parked at the top of the ramp. After their dive they took the sign down the ramp, while one of them videoed proceedings. I assumed at the time that this was a bit of fun for the camera, but later found that the sign had been thrown into the quarry.
While obviously very competent divers, it seems these morons feel that divers new to the sport or site should not have the benefit of reading the information on the sign. If the selfish attitudes of the few cause or contribute to closure of the site, where will they go to train/maintain their deep-dive skill levels? More seriously, they may have contributed to a very serious diving accident in the future.
I am trained to use trimix for dives beyond 55m, but before those responsible brand me as one of the "puffs", think of this. Keep diving the way you do, and one day you will convulse and spit the regulator from your mouth. Your thought processes will still be functioning normally, and you will be trying desperately to co-ordinate your hands to replace your reg, but due to the muscle spasms this will not happen.
Then, as blind panic sets in, you will start to lose consciousness, feeling a numbness around your face. Just before the lights go out you will be wishing you had taken up trimix-diving or stuck to the advice on the sign.
Later, one of us "puffs" will have to recover your body, and some other poor sod will have to break the news of your avoidable death to your loved ones.
Jon Stobbs, Chester
Concerning recent free-diving record bids and the subsequent inevitable tragedy, the death of Audrey Mestre: I strongly uphold the right of individuals to risk their lives as they see fit. However, I am against recognition and ratification of records where the limiting factor seems to be death.
A free-diver has the option to bail out and accept air from a support diver, but how often does this happen?
I suspect that the reality for these highly motivated individuals in the middle of a world-record attempt is that they usually pass out before making this considered decision. And can you actually take a breath at more than 100m when your lungs are the size of peanuts?
Every time a record of this sort is set, it's like playing Russian roulette with one fewer bullet. What real "advance" has been made?
I held/hold my fair share of world records (as a cyclist) but never did I have to consider the strong possibility of my own death should I fail.
Chris Boardman, Meols, Wirral
I read with interest Maggie Cainen's article My Little Pony (Deep Breath, October). However, I was concerned that she ditched any further thought of carrying an alternative air supply along with her discarded pony.
I did likewise, for the same reason of feeling unbalanced, but moved to a twinset approach. However, the solution to our problem is blindingly simple and obvious. It was explained to me by one of our new trainees - strap an equivalent lead weight on the opposite side of your primary cylinder from your pony!
Andy Moll, Taunton
What an interesting Deep Breath, and what a classic case of the Incident Pit! This wasn't about the pony cylinder we have come to love, but about the stupidity of divers challenging themselves unnecessarily and putting their buddies at risk. I concur that a completely independent air supply is required, and with a 2m hose for further safety, as octopus rigs leave much to be desired when divers are short on air and long on panic. But I have never been unbalanced with my 15 litre and little pony, and I'm a man of only average height.
I am convinced that women make more flexible divers and rarely come second to male divers, so why this lady should dive to 40m when viz was nil leaves me aghast. Don't blame events on your little ponies when you shouldn't have been there at all.
Mike Firth, Aireborough
My letter Talking of Buddies From Hell in September seems to have sparked off quite a correspondence, though it was really about attitudes rather than agencies. However it is evident that PADI and BSAC divers have misgivings about each other.
PADI attracts different types of diver, infrequent and frequent UK divers and occasional holiday divers. At the end of the Open Water course, well-trained, enthusiastic divers generally emerge. Many intend only to dive on holiday and so appear less skilled to other divers, though this is due to inexperience rather than training. The fact that they can dive to a competent level with only a few dives a year demonstrates the quality of their training.
BSAC by the nature and length of course probably attracts those who wish to dive mainly in the UK, and experience and training progress equally together.
What might be PADI's weakness and BSAC's strength is the club structure. After gaining a qualification, a diver gains experience only by diving regularly with more experienced divers.
With BSAC this goes without saying, but I don't know whether it's true of PADI throughout the UK. I belong to two good clubs in the South-west, one of which is unaffiliated and has an equal split of PADI/BSAC divers (united by IANTD). Without them I could not have built up my experience.
Then there is the qualifications debate. BSAC Advanced Diver is a prestigious qualification and hard to attain; PADI Advanced Open Water Diver is merely an advancement from entry level. Everyone knows the considerable difference in skill and expertise between the two, so BSAC Advanced Divers should not feel that the AOWD diminishes their accomplishment.
But isn't it more important to judge a diver by experience than title? On a holiday dive, don't presume skill based on training agency but ask about experience. Holiday divers will let you know - accept and enjoy the dive. But if it's an experienced diver, nothing will wind them up more than talking down to them based on their training agency.
By the way these are my opinions, and I don't want anyone apologising on my behalf!
Dave Ireland, Exeter
Diver readers may care to know that the Smalls (Welsh Adventure, October) have historical importance and that there may be a Viking shipwreck there. In 1991 a member of Milton Keynes SAC found an ornate brass Viking sword guard which is now in the care of the National Museum of Wales. Searches of the seabed have been carried out but no other evidence of a wreck has been found. However, archaeologists live in hope!
The Smalls has been known as a navigational hazard for many centuries. It lay on the sea route between Viking Denmark and the great Viking settlement at Dublin and is mentioned in a rare medieval pilotage manual. It would be remarkable if a ship had not come to grief there.
To protect the site of this rare find, it has been designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, and diving within 100m of 51 43.18N, 05 40.29W is prohibited without a licence.
Graham Scott, Stroud
I read with equal amusement and concern Mark Hayford's article of his training experiences at "Porto Heli's dive island" in Greece (Advancing Under Fire, October).
The words PADI and Advanced Open Water appeared, but I believe were used erroneously. I can find no requirements for practising out-of-air situations by switching cylinders off!
I too was confused while diving with Dimitri Kallianos this summer when, unplanned, he started a buddy-breathing exercise with an "advanced student" of 10 dives' experience during an "Underwater Naturalist" dive. Then it hit me. The course is now known as Adventures in Diving, and we must applaud this interpretation at Porto Heli! Nick Laskaris, Guildford
Once in a while, someone comes along who reminds us that we divers can still have a laugh in the face of adversity. I refer to Mark Hayford's account of his PADI Advanced course.
Mark is to be congratulated for managing to portray the seriousness of his trials and tribulations under pseudo-kamikaze instructor Dimitri in a humorous, light-hearted manner, while keeping his focus on successful completion of his course.
Dave North, Winsford, Cheshire
I read your news item Bends Victim Wins Out-Of-Court Settlement (October) and find your reporting of events to be ill-researched, one-sided and disingenuous. Rory Budds, Mary Brown and Stuart Wallace have always been shining examples of good, caring diving and diving practices.
The protestations of unhappy individuals that result in legal cases and the proliferation of no-win, no-fee solicitors have created a need for out-of-court settlements, as the insurance companies have very little chance of recovering any expenditure, even if they win the case. No admission of guilt or failure can be interpreted from an out-of-court settlement.
I have dived on literally hundreds of occasions with the named individuals and would trust my life to them without hesitation. They retain my confidence and that of the branch.
Jonathon Lewis, Clidive BSAC, London
I do not know the full facts of the case but it appears that Ann Kruyer continued to dive both in Cornwall and Ireland despite experiencing headaches and nausea. There is a clear duty of care involved here and that is to oneself. It is up to the experienced and trained diver to decide if he or she is fit to dive.
If we had to call the Coastguard every time a diver experienced sea-sickness, sunburn or headache, all of which can be symptoms of mild DCS, we would have no diving and the Coastguard would be inundated.
I hope Ms Kruyer has made a full recovery from her ordeal, but to turn on the very people that freely gave their time to train her and organise her diving is reprehensible.
Graham Lundegaard, Gloucester
Comment: Graham, you seem to have missed the point outlined in the news item, that in the case of a cerebral bend the victim may be rendered unable to make a rational judgment, in which case fellow-divers may need to make a decision on his or her behalf.
On a recent diving holiday to Malta, four divers and our guide left our vehicle in the designated parking area at a popular dive site. It was broken into while we were enjoying our dive and everything was stolen.
Fortunately, none of us had anything of real value with us, as the dive centre had warned us that vehicle break-ins were common. Thieves know they have at least 40 minutes to do the job while divers are in the water.
We reported the break-in at the local police station still dressed in our wetsuits, and initially were not allowed to enter in case we dripped water on the bare concrete floor. We were obviously disturbing the duty officer's reading of the local rag. Then he accused us of falsifying the claim for insurance purposes. For a pair of shorts, sandals and a T-shirt? Get real, Malta!
Back at the dive shop we learnt that during that one week in September several vehicles from various centres had been turned over at different dive sites. Apparently, other divers had lost far more than us.
So be warned, the authorities are not interested and the police ineffective. I would go elsewhere for a diving holiday.
Tim Greaves, Otterburn, Northumbria
In response to Terry's letter What Price Air? (November), as a retail and training manager I often hear the comment: "Ooh, that's expensive, air should be free"!
Yes, air is free to all who do not wish to filter it two or three times, pump it into air banks and then decant it in a controlled manner to a high-pressure cylinder. All stages in this operation incur costs, not only in set-up charges but also maintenance to keep the air to the high standards we require.
The time it takes to fill a cylinder also adds to the final price. Honestly, many operators do not make money from air fills. They just cover costs and offer the facility to keep divers coming back.
Curly, The Scuba Shop, Basingstoke
Thank you for Bernard Eaton's excellent Mary Rose article (The Resurrection of the Mary Rose, October). However I must point out a couple of historical facts.
The late Alan Blake, founder of Southsea BSAC, formed a group in the mid-'50s that we grandly called the "Scientific Group". One listed project was a possible search and dive on the Mary Rose. This was some years before Alexander McKee joined the club.
I would never wish to take away the credit for the incredible enthusiasm and tenacity show by Alex, known to us as "Mac", without whom the project may never have happened. However, following our initial dive in 1965, when we failed to locate the wreck near the Royal George site, there was a year of considerable activity on and under the water as well as on land.
This culminated in a visit to the Hydrographic Office in London. Cdr Alan Bax RN, who had arranged the visit, was called away to an Admiralty meeting at the last minute but Mac and I went on to find that the staff had prepared a magnificent array of documents and charts.
A civilian officer had laid out a large hand-drawn chart from 1841 and was delighted to point out the buoy marking the site of the Mary Rose wreck. So much credit for discovering the charted site must go to both Alan Bax and the Hydrographic Office staff.
Mac could hardly contain himself. While I borrowed instruments to transfer the exact position to the then-modern chart by triangulation, he prowled round the table like a caged lion.
Mac and I did the first dive at the next available tide, 14 May 1966, to find nil visibility and deep, soft mud! As you stated, it was another four years or so before the wreck was positively identified. I still have the chart I used at the Hydrographic Office and it is signed by Mac and the other four of us with whom he dived in 1965 on the Royal George site.
John Towse, Fareham, Hants
I read with interest Alan Thorn's sensitive letter about the American Confederate submarine Hunley and the terrible fate that befell her crew (Why Bother To Raise The Hunley?, September). Most archaeologists would support his concerns.
There seems to have been little academic justification for raising the hull and no moral reason for disturbing the remains of those who perished in her. Whether a wreck is a war grave or not, human remains should always be treated with the greatest sensitivity and respect.
There may sometimes be good reasons for raising and studying them, such as with the Mary Rose, but their subsequent disposal must be appropriate and conducted with due reverence.
I did not see the TV programme but believe it may have been the Archaeological Diving Unit's Martin Dean who made the statements Alan felt were an attempt to give the Hunley project "a modicum of respectability for viewers this side of the pond". It was not me, as Alan asserts, and I think he must have confused the names.
On that subject, I should point out that I'm not the Colin Martin involved in the salvage of the Hanover and other wrecks in the south of England but the one who lives in Scotland, keeps his archaeological nose clean and agrees wholeheartedly with Professor George Bass (and Alan Thorn) that "commerce and archaeology have no place with each other".
Dr Colin Martin, St Andrews University
After reading all about the South Coast dolphin George, it was interesting to see a comment about most boats not having propeller guards. I am DO for my local club, and have been looking to find such guards following a near-incident with one of our divers. It resulted in only bruising but could have been a lot worse.
Unfortunately I seem to be coming up against a brick wall. There seem to be many types of prop guard in the USA, but all the makers I have asked say they don't have retail outlets in the UK. Can you help?
John Hare
Comment: BHG Marine distributes the polypropylene Prop Guard, which is claimed to enhance performance. Cost is from £115 (0845 1188181).
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