:Gledder\’s diving blog…

Hmmm… today was the first time I used option 1 (Don’t dive).

I turned up at Wittering to do two pool sessions and Jan mentioned that there was a dive in between which I could go on. The plan was a 32 plus meter dive with a short deco requirement and I was asked to dive with Tim. Tim has done only a handful of dives in England and none to 30 meters, dives a single tank, had a new undived wetsuit and newly serviced regs. He is only certified to 30 meters, has no deco qualification, and is not nitrox certified.

I refused. Which made me feel bad as he is a nice guy and I’m sure that the dive would have been uneventful. Luckily I was able to go to the pub with him and explain. He’s a sensible guy who said that he hadn’t looked at the dive in the same way I had and - once he did - he was pleased that I called it.

I was then told that Jan would find me a buddy on the boat - or let me dive with his buddy and dive solo himself. To be honest, I didn’t rate that as a plan either so sat it out.

Tough one.

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I have had real problems starting off my back kick - especially on ascents. This was a right pits on Tech 1. It was partly caused by my position in the water but even when I sorted this my back kick was still very ineffective. Once I am travelling backwards - after pushing myself off something - I’m OK and can make good progress but starting the process was proving impossible.

Did you notice the “was” there. At the weekend I borrowed some XL Jetfins from UE in Portland as Andy Kerslake suggested that I might get on with them a bit better and, hey presto, back kicking MUCH improved. So another kit order to www.Divingniknaks.co.uk and an even lighter credit card. My existing fins will be kept for wetsuit diving where the smaller blade size is OK with less kit to create drag.

They are huge though - and I whacked Fraser in the face with them a couple of times on the dives as I was not comfortable with how long they were… well frankly… if he was a better diver he’d have kept out of the way!

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We booked a team weekend at Portland and had our fingers crossed all week last week that the weather would permit us to get some diving done.

We arrived at in Portland late on Friday night and met up with Andy Carroll and Bob Cooper, who were diving off Wey Chieftain this weekend. Bob suggested that the way that the weather was looking we might end up shooting pool rather than diving which was not the most positive news. But on Saturday morning I opened the curtains to find a more positive sight, calm (ish) waters and even a bit of sun - unheard of on a bank holiday weekend

The team

Off for our first dive which as my last 20 hours in the water were in warm tropical seas diving a single cylinder (*sigh*) we had arranged to be a shallow bimble on the countess (on Maverick) before heading a bit deeper. What a good job we did as the problems I had with my wing inflator prior to going abroad resurfaced during the dive (despite careful cleaning) and I found myself having to dump air every two or three minutes all through the dive.

A quick trip to UE when we got back to Breakwater sorted this out with a new inflator and after a fortifying fish finger sandwich and a chat to Frank and Justin (e-aquanauts) we headed out to the Frognor on Goose. I haven;t been on Goose before but it’s a quick boat and made short work of the longish journey out.

The Frognor was a 1,476 ton Norwegian Steamship measuring 260ft long and with a 37ft beam. She was built in 1907 and sank on the 29th April 1918 after being hit by a torpedo. She lies in about 38 metres of water, lying North to South and has been extensively salvaged. Vis was not great and there was not much in the way of life either so it was not the most memorable of dives. Keeping the team together on the descent was challenging due to the vis and the current but we made it to the bottom together and did a quick tour around.

Al

Two ribs turned up as the skipper was shotting the wreck and they asked whether they could shot it as well. Given that it is a smallish wreck this made for quite a crowded dive and I was mugged by an inspiration diver about ten minutes in (two fins full in the face as he swam right through the team -straight over my head). On 40 mins Al thumbed the dive as agreed and I ran the ascent which went according to plan. A good return to UK diving

We met up with Andy and Bob again for dinner, and were joined by Greg Roach (he of suba aqua UK). It was a fun evening which was only brought to an end when Fraser and Al could no longer stay awake - they blamed it on my deco - rather than the fact that we had all been up to 2:30 am nattering before getting up at 7:00 to get fills.

Day two saw us heading to the Alisa Craig. This 600 ton British steamship was sunk by a torpedo in 1918 while carrying a cargo of coal. Measuring 200′ in length it was partly salvaged but is remarkably intact and made for a fun dive - absolutely covered in fish. I was bit concerned when I saw a trawler complete with nets out a few hundred meters from the wreck - being trawled up from a dive doesn’t sound that much fun to me!

Fraser

I led the dive around the wreck but to be honest I’m absolutely useless at working out where I am and so Fraser took over to do a ‘wreck tour’. He found the boilers, the anchor, the prop etc. and then started signalling me to look at the base of the boiler. I’ve never actually seen a conger eel properly. I’ve missed loads, when everyone else has seen them and Fraser was intent on pointing one out to me on this dive.

He pointed and I looked - nothing.
He pointed again - I couldn’t see a thing - apart from a huge beam along the base of the boiler.
He went in closer and shone his light along this huge beam - and then it wriggled and turned and looked at me
I squealed through my regulator - very high pitched too due to the helium - I had no idea they were so big - I had been looking for something the size of a moray eel - this was more like a dinosaur

I had to keep my light on it as we swam off as I was a bit worried that it might be following Needless to say Al and Frase found this very funny.

Al thumbed it a couple of minutes early which suited me fine as we had been slightly over our planned average depth for a good portion of the dive and this way we could vary the deco and still be within the 60 minutes we had told the skipper. Al ran deco on this ascent which again went according to plan - and the gauges clicked over to 60 minutes as we broke the surface. Another great dive - and my 250th.

250 dives - and I celebate with a nosebleed

A quick surface interval and then off for a drift on the bow of the Black Hawk. It was a rush getting ready and getting gas and turned in to a bit of an anticlimax after the last dive and as a team we said we could start to see why one dive a day is more attractive when dives get longer and a bit deeper. There was very little to see (apart from a small cuttlefish) and the drift was just dull so we thumbed it very early - about 40 minutes was enough.

I got horrible cramp in my foot on the ascent and limped back to the boat. We were the first team back on the boat which just never happens with us and so I got to see the skipper warding off other vessels from the divers - which I have never seen before. Well, all I can say is there are some complete tossers out there - a huge gin palace came on a direct course towards divers in the water, and Graham the skipper had to go on a direct collision course to ward it off :angry:

We joined the boys for dinner again, this time joined by Howard Radcliffe. They had been diving with scooters and had a great dive on the Everston - Greg had got a plate from the wreck - not that special but intact and it has been under 50 meters of water for forty years so fun to see. This time I was starting to flag (Al’s deco to blame then ) so we made our excuses and set off on the journey home.

From left - Me, Greg, And, Bob, Howard, Al and Fraser

All in all a great weekend - good diving and good company. What more can we ask for - apart from the chance to do it all again sometime soon

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Day 2 of the course found us at Horsea Island.

Jan, Tim and I were joined by Hayleigh and Glen, sister and brother aged 16 and 13 both AOW divers. They would act as students for the day.

I was asked to lead the first dive, taking the group to the helicopter. Given that I don’t really know the site and compasses don’t work there I was concerned about whether I would get us there but with a quick steer from Jan I was relieved to find it come into view.

The next dive was led by Tim, and I was quite surprised how much less air I used compared with when I was out front. Tim had a few weighting issues with his borrowed wetsuit but led well and I think we were both pleased with how things went.

Next we did an Open Water lesson and Jan insisted I wore a snorkel!!! Hmmm… did a quick check to see if anyone had a camera. Folding snorkel in pocket on next dive methinks :o) He also asked me to kneel on the platform but
to be honest the minimal amount of weight I wear in twins meant that every time I breathed in I floated up again so I quickly gave that up as a lost cause - good job too really as it was most uncomfortable.

A 100 yard push/tow was next - against the clock. I managed a disappointing 3minutes and 19 seconds - I don’t know what that scores but I was shattered - flutter kicking is the best for speed but my leg muscles are not used to it anymore and I started to cramp up very quickly.

Tim had enough by this time so packed up his gear and I took Hayleigh and Glen back in for a fun dive this time. We saw a free swimming eel and mooched around until Glen hit 50 bar and signaled to end the dive as agreed.

Back to Wittering where I sat the equipment exam and then was taught how to use teh PADI wheel - harder than Tech 1 Deco on the Fly ;o)

Went off to Chichester to meet up with Frank for a drink and to find out how he got on in France…

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One pre-requisite of entering training as a technical DM is to be a sports DM so I’ve signed up to do the PADI divemaster course - I’m sure Frank only wants me to do it so all and sundry get to laugh at me in a snorkel ;o)

So, as the swimming pool used by Wittering Divers is out of action due to a chemical imbalance, I found myself in the classroom all day.

Tim, the other DM candidate is a nice guy although as the majority of his diving has been warm water, recreational, single tank we could not be more different.

As a PADI Course Director, with 10,000 plus dives, from various sites round the world, Jan was able to illustrate the theory with experience which helps explain why things are taught the way they are. There will clearly be clashes with this course and my normal diving and I wil have to see how best to work things through.

I sat the physics and physiology exams and passed them. Two down.. loads to go!

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Well I’m back after two weeks in Meedhupparu in the Maldives and before the rosy glow wears off thought I’d do a trip report to assist anyone thinking of going (and to make you all jealous of course).

I booked the island last minute on the advice of some YDers after our planned family holiday to Mexico was cancelled due to Hurricane Emily. The island is a 40 minute sea plane ride from Mali, the hotel is all inclusive - although not to carribean standards and is quite big compared to other Maldive resorts (150 bungalows) The diving is run by Crab diving who also operate in Egypt and Zanzibar. I went with my husband, and three children - 14, 6 and 3.

This is the island

I did a few dives in January with Sandals in St Lucia (when I had only done 20 odd dives in total) but have not used a dive centre like this before and was pleasantly surprised on several counts.

First, but most impressive as far as I am concerned, all diving was done in small groups matched on ability - if there were lots of divers on the boat then more guides were used to keep the groups small - 5 was the maximum number I dived with. Certification levels were followed strictly - with groups limited to 12 metres (scuba diver), 18 meters (OW) and 30 meters (AOW - but also the legal maximum diving depth in the islands). Computers are required for all divers - another Maldives rule.

All divers were asked to perform basic skills (mask clear etc.) on their first dive but this was on a proper dive rather than limited to the house reef which I understand can happen elsewhere. The standard of diving I witnessed was also (with a few notable exceptions ) pretty good and the newly qualified divers trained on the resort were of a good standard which would lead me to recommend the island if you or a family member are looking to learn to dive (PADI).

There is no nitrox available which is a shame as the sort of diving done here is ideal nitrox territory (60 minutes to max 30 meters) and I was running close to deco many times due to the repetitive diving. The only other negative as far as I was concerned was the timetabling of the diving. If you wanted to do two dives a day you left at 9:30 to be back at about 12 noon for dive one and again at 3:00 to be back at 5ish for dive two. If you have non diving relatives on the island this means that you will be away most of the day. If, on the other hand, you are a party of divers only then you get a relaxed surface interval over lunch The staff have tried to get two tank boat trips going out but have found that people are not prepared to go out early enough.

I did 22 dives each of around an hour. The dives were mixed - some great vis as I had been led to expect from warm water diving, others on the other side of the atoll in vis of less than 5 metres due to a plankton bloom which attracted the manta rays. If you saw a manta on the dive then it made up for the poor vis - but if not the dive could be quite dull.

Manta ray on dive 4.

Seeing my first manta was impressive - I saw my first shark too After 22 dives though I became a bit fish immune and started to hanker for a bit of rusty metal. I learned the meaning of a drift dive on this holiday - whee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Must have been moving at 20 mph - which gets you thinking how you would cope if you or your buddy had a problem.

Me!

Snorkelling was a bit disappointing compared with the diving but my husband and son thought it was fun. The house reef is not great but there is another reef about 100 yards from shore which makes a great dive. I did it the first time with Ed, an English instructor, who was doing his 800th dive that day. It was just the two of us so we did a bit of a deeper profile and some deep swim throughs with some really impressive free swimming lionfish which I had been trying to get a picture of all week. Needless to say that this was the dive I left my camera behind I pestered them to let me do the reef again as a shore dive but they refused Boat diving only on Meedhupparu as the sea plane landings need you to be covered

My elusive lionfish

We have no complaints at all about the resort, the food was at best excellent and even at worst still fine and after two weeks monotony was still not setting in (not bad considering that there is only one all inclusive restaurant on the island). Other facilities and service were comparable to other hotels of similar class - although the evening entertainment was absolutely dreadful - I’m sure the singer was only hired to ensure that people did not make too much use of the all inclusive bar

Overall - would I recommend the resort and the diving… well yes, if you are happy to do one dive a day or spend a lot of time out of the resort doing two dives.

Would I go back… well no - but I never would - the world is too big to go to the same place twice. If you want a family holiday destination in the Maldives give Meedhupparu a try - and give my regards to Ed, Sasha, Oliver, Janet and Stoney if you do

PS - I found nemo - he’s got a bird

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