Clare Gledhill(Offline)

I entered Tech 2 not really knowing what to expect as so little has been written before about the courses (apart from Mozi’s excellent piece on DIRX). So having read this over, I apologise if it is a little long – but hope that it will be valuable to those considering this move in their training.

After a weekend spent running instructors around London (the best bit was when a diver called me to ask a question abotu Fundies....I didn't say "hang on a bit, I'll put you on to someone else" but I was severely tempted )
the Tech 2 circus arrived in Frome on Sunday night for a lengthy introduction and theory session.

My first impression of the lectures was that the emphasis on this course would be “the thinking diver” – and Jarrod and Richard were both there to mentor us in the process of becoming more capable of making choices in the water. Few hard and fast rules here – guiding principles, experiences to learn from and informed decision making using all available sources were the basis for debate.

Day 1 at Vobster was to be stage work after a review of our Tech 1 skills. The usual S drills, Valve drills, OOAs, valve failures, blind diver yadda yadda yadda. Jarrod was happy – with a few hints on how we could all polish our performance to get to the higher standard of the course. We did three dives, spending just under three hours in the water and concentrated at the end of each on a rehearsal of the Tech 2 stage drill – more of that later.



The resident dog at Vobster has learned to fetch buoys in the water - JJ throws one and hangs on - not quite as fast as a Gavin

Descending for dive 2, I put some gas in my wing and had bubbles come out from under my arm. Must have hit one of the two stage regs there I figured – so did it again. Bubbles again. I looked down and the whole inflator had come off the corrugated hose – bugger.

So this is time to test the balanced rig then. Twin 12s with 150 bar, Pro 14 and three stage bottles – all full. I was OK actually as I made my way back to the surface horizontal until I went vertical – which was a big mistake as the water pressure vented the wing – despite my attempts to prevent this by folding the top of the hose over. I sank down a meter or so but with Al, Frase, Jarrod and Andy Kerslake around there was no big deal. Before any time at all had past, all my stages had been handed off to Al, Jarrod and Andy got me over to the side and out of the water and the wing was fixed.

Back to the hotel for exams, dive planning and sessions on deco and gas management. Learning about deco from guys who have do deco for up to 20 hours is fascinating and the wealth of experience that they bring is priceless.
They discuss various strategies - from conservative to agressive, giving us the information which will help us on our way to makign our own cost benefit analysis of the issues we will face.

Day 2 was a private day at Vobster where the staff served us well. This was to be the day of deep ascents and more drills. We were asked to shoot a bag at 24 metres, ascent to 21 and gas switch. Bring O2 bottle around from the leash and pass the bottom stage back and ascend to 9 metres where we would switch to back gas. At 6 metres we would switch to O2 and ascend where all bottles would have to be returned to their original positions ready to go again.

The last dive proved interesting – for me at least. We were on the bottom when I had a right post failure, shortly followed by my going out of gas completely. I ascended on Fraser’s long hose to the gas switch and switched to 50 per cent – struggling slightly to get going as I had of course lost the supply of gas to my wing as well. After a few minutes I realised that with all the gas sharing and diving that day my 50 per cent bottle was nearing empty. I thought about telling Fraser that I was low on gas but to avoid any confusion I just went OOG and on to his stage. I now have no back gas, no stage and can’t switch at 9 metres but we manage. I get to 6 metres and relax – I can now deploy my O2 bottle and settle down for three minutes. Which is exactly when Jarrod asks for my mask. If I ever have a real dive like that I quit but it does make you feel good that with a well trained team all of this is possible.

After more lectures on dive planning and emergency proceedures, we enjoy a very pleasant dinner with Howard and Dawn. We rise early the next day to the NADC. The logistics of getting 9 divers, 9 twinsets, 27 stages to the deep section of this quarry was made easier by David’s help – he took the pictures too.



Do GUE instructors have to travel in threes

We meet Phil Short and Jarrod, Richard and he greet each other warmly – they have been involved in projects together in the past and meet up regularly around the world on their travels. Jack Ingle is there too – whilst I say hi to Jack who I’ve met several times before, he doesn’t seem so keen to come over

A dive to 30 metres had Al run out of gas completely – most careless. The ascent went well although the deco station appeared to chase us all over the quarry. A second dive to 40 meters after a brief chat on the surface went the same way – although this time it was me out of gas again – and several deco gas failures. We were mostly running to time – a few minutes over which were lost when failures occurred but Jarrod was mostly happy with the time and asked us to concentrate on maintaining buoyancy within a tight window on each stop.



I'm surrounded by blue gloves - and we are not saying "cheese" - another phrase was substituted all week - but you had to be there - didn't you Richard

A long but enjoyable day became longer when we had to pack up 18 twinsets and 56 stage bottles and head down to Plymouth. Exhaustion was starting to set in big time. The kit was dropped off a Deep Blue where Richie and Shaun were waiting to get filling in time for the following day.

Day 4 was to be the Medoc which we would dive twice. In we go to find sea bed, a lobster and a lone jetfin which we wonder is the only thing left of the other team. I am concerned that we may have pulled the shot off the wreck but on surfacing find that the first team in found sand too.

After the most expensive sea bed dive I have ever done we ascend and wait for Jarrod to start to play again. He’s been busy on the dive, stages have been depressurised and loosened so that they fizz when deployed and Fraser goes out of gas so has to be helped through back gas switches. Starting to become familiar territory really and the debrief tells us that we do well as a team.




Brian has enough stage bottles....

Dive 2 and the Skipper is determined to get us on to the wreck – and he does. I have a horrible descent – I feel fuzzy headed and consider thumbing it but find myself OK to continue once I have signalled Al and Fraser to slow down a bit. We come across a conger which is caught in fishing line. Now I am frightened of congers but can’t stand the idea of this poor creature stuck there so get out my knife and cut it free. Course or no course, at least it can go die in its hole.

I keep kicking Jarrod and get really rattled and uncomfortable – which no doubt adds to my getting through my gas at an amazing rate. I switch off the bottom stage. Al switches a little later, followed by Fraser. As Fraser switches I check my gas and pop my gauge back on my D ring – to immediately realise that I have snapped it right over my leash. I ask Al to check this out just as Jarrod pulls a right post failure on him so the dive gets thumbed.

After the gas switch I realise that with my gauge and leash still firmly stuck together I can’t juggle the bottles around. I get Al to have another look but they are firmly stuck and I have no option but to find another way of moving the bottles. I take of my 80 and send it up the bag line – always enjoy doing that – which leave me free to deploy my O2 bottle. The ascent is interrupted by the most painful cramp I’ve ever had underwater at the 6 metre stop – but with Fraser’s assistance I manage to switch and maintain depth. Issues on this dive have made the ascent messy. We did OK but know that we can do much better and get out in poor spirits. Everyone is exhausted and opts for a quick take out dinner and early bed.

Day 5 is to be the East Point in about 67 meters. An early start should allow us time to finish up and do the swim test and the remaining lectures.




Me and Al

Jarrod will leave us alone on this dive and we can take the chance to show him how we can perform as a team… or at least that was the plan.

Unfortunately, at the bottom of the shot line I do a flow check and realise that my O2 stage has become disconnected from the leash halfway down the shot line. It was there on the boat, it was there after the bubble check at 6 but it is not there now. Bugger.

My deepest dive to date over with less than 2 minutes bottom time. Had it not been a course I would have been happy to look around for a bit for the stage but don’t feel that entering decompression knowing that I don’t have the planned gas is the correct thing to do – despite knowing that we have contingencies for such events. I run a minimum deco ascent we head back to the surface. We see a minky whale on the surface checking out the other team – but it doesn’t raise our mood too much.

Swim tests are a little longer than we expected – turns out that Jarrod is considering a new Tech 2 standard of 650 metres – which is hard going but achievable with a dose of extreme bloody mindedness after a hard week. Then back to Aquanauts for exams, final theory sessions on O2 use and the experimental work that GUE has done to look at the effects of O2 use in deco. Then finally dinner and debriefs.

Jarrod is satisfied with our safety, planning and problem solving ability and believes that the best way forward is more diving with three stages in this depth range – with an eye to maintaining sensible levels of deco whilst experience is accumulated. Each of us is given an idea of how to progress from this point and asked how we feel about the result.

I can only speak for myself.

Whilst I am obviously disappointed not to get the full pass that I wanted I cannot fault Jarrod’s decision based on the time that we spent with him.

If I am to support GUE in its view that certification is earned by consistent and reliable skills, then how can I possibly cry foul when this same measure is applied to my diving. Tech 2 is perhaps a bigger cert than I realised when I went forward for it and the level of polish required by Jarrod to give this certification is, without doubt, a worthy goal to aim for. His additional demands are not that great a burden on any of us and if pursuing the road map he has given me makes me a safer, more capable diver who can enjoy challenging dives safely then it is a route worth following indeed.

Richard and Jarrod were so generous with their time, encouragement and advice this week that I sit here now – very tired – but more passionate about my diving than ever before. Roll on Donegal in two weeks time – it’s going to be a blast.

Thanks to all that helped organise the course especially David, Howard, Dianne, Paul Harris, Martin Burnard, Little Pete, Mark Emery and Iain.

But my most heartfelt thanks go to Al and Frase - it's been a long journey my friends - and one which has had its ups and downs. One constant thing in it though has been the pleasure of diving with two capable divers who have become two of my closest friends. It is an honour to dive with you and I look forward to many more.

Going to bed now – it’s been a long, long week.

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GLOC (Online)

A nice report Clare and I am sorry that the team didn't get a full pass, but I am sure you learned lots and will do well on the next dives.

Did you ever find out what happened to the O2 bottle or are you trying to join Gary (WWD) in having a reputation as someone who drops tanks

Get some sleep and I am sure you will have a ball in Donegal...

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JohnKendall(Offline)

Team 2's Perspective:

I can't really add much to what Clare has written. We had Richard as our in-water instructor, and had a fairly similar time to the other Team. Day 1 was pretty much a Tech1 refresher, with the only differences being we were carrying a stage bottle and 2 deco bottles, and the ascent drill. We had a bit of a slow start, but got our heads in gear and improved a load.

Day 2 was much the same, but with the addition of the 24 m ascents

Day 3 at the NDAC, was interesting, especially when one of my team mates dropped his 66m bottle when we were on the surface, luckily it slightly dislodged the reg when it hit the bottom, so we followed the bubble trail down to retreive it. This was a really good reminder and lesson on how important it is to check and double check every time you unclip anything.

Day 4 and we were off on the boat. We were quite dissapointed to hit HMS seabed in 56m, but we did see a 4" shell casing, which was quite cool. That's pretty much all we saw, so called the dive after 10mins of searching. The ascent went OK, if a little rough around the edges, not helped by my feeling really quite Seasick at 4m (to the extent that I increased the deco time a little so we could make a slightly quicker final ascent) We had had a couple of "failures" on this ascent, all of which we managed.

Dive 2 was much the same, except there was actually a wreck at the bottom of the shot. Again things started "failing" on the ascent, and the 6m stop was obviously looking too good, as Richard decided to have our masks off us in turn.
When It was my turn, I deployed my backup which instantly fogged up. No amount of flooding and clearing solved this, so I went back to touch contact for the last 2 or 3 mins at 6 and the ascent. Again I was feeling quite ill as we ascended so this was probably the worst bit of the whole course for me. Made much much better though by having a strong team, who I could trust to help me get out of it.

Day 5 was the last dive of the course, On the "East Point". We got down to the wreck and swam around looking at it, then I called a switch to back gas when my stage was down to 30bar. It looked like quite an interesting wreck and I'd love to go back and dive it when not stressed about a course.

Once we'd switched, David started moving his bottles around, but had a minor snag on his left hip, once we'd sorted that we were pretty much at the end of our planned bottom time, so I thumbed the dive and we headed upwards. Deco all went exactly to plan, and we had no failures. Once we had completed our 6m stop Richard came and shook each of our hands, which was nice. Once we got to 1m though Brian Decided to extract some Revenge, and had off with Richard's Mask. I reckon this might prove to be a bad move later

So back on the boat, and Richard tells us that all we need to do is complete the academics and the Exams, and the Swimtest.

It seems that everytime I do a swim test with JJ around the distance or time changes, this time was no different.

Once the exams were all completed, it was off to the Mexican restaurant for dinner and final debriefings. Our team had passed, although there were moments during the 1st day when we wondered if that was possible, we had shown steady improvement through the course, and had managed the last ascent with our buoyancy control nailed to about a 30cm range (on the 6m stop)

A great course, a wonderful learning experience, but bloody knackering. Massive thanks to Richard and JJ for coming over. I also want to thank David for coming and helping us with moving tanks, clipping our O2 bottles on as we got ready to jump of the boat and helping us off with stuff once back on the boat.

Also thanks to the rest of "Team Cool", Brian and David, and to "Team Chocolate", Clare, Frase and Al. I can't wait until the Donnegal trip in 2 weeks, but I reckon I can probably fill the time in with some Cave diving.

J

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Richard Lundgren(Offline)

Hi guys and girls,

I'm at Heathrow right now waiting to fly home and then to new adventures. I would like to express both mine and Jarrod's gratitude to all our students for making this event happen. The showed tremendous amount of both passion and commitment during these rather long and stressful days. Also Kudos to Richard Stevenson and crew at Deep Blue and David. You all are wonderful individuals and great divers.

We are happy to come again and hope that you will have many wonderful dives in the future.

Until we meet again,
Richard & Jarrod

Brian Allen(Offline)

YAY!!!! I passed! but OMG how hard was that course. I can't help but smile and have a huge sense of achievement now that i got through all that. Hopefully i'll be off to mexico for the winter and JJ has said he'll put in a good word for me with the GUE lads out there that might need a bit of help around the place. ITC course in October and the skies the limit now, can't wait

Here's some photees...

Back row: Me, Kerslake, JK, Fraze, Al, JJ, Richard
Front row: David, David and of course our lovelly eclair


Team Chocolate


Fraze - too cool for school



Hard day at work AK?



JJ and Richard dream of escape...

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Andrew Bryson(Offline)

Great reports guys, thanks very much. It must have been an amazing time with everyone that was there.

So is Mr Kerslake qualified to teach tech 2 now?

Cheers
andy

Richard Lundgren(Offline)

Quick reply as my flight is being called, Mr Kerslake did a great intern and I'm confident that we will be able to help him finalize his T2 rating in a near future. (Norway Andy?)

Martin Burnard(Offline)

Good report folks.

On Friday JJ and Richard looked bouyant, bubbly, exhuberant, and full of the joys of spring, the rest of you looked F####d! Why was that then?

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Mark Chase(Offline)

Great report's thanks

Congratulations to all of you for getting this of the ground and getting it done. I am truley gutted for Clair All and Frazer, having dived with Clair and All I find it unbeleivable that they didnt walk it but that just demonstrates how hard it must be.

It made me exausted just reading it I cant begin to imagin how tired you must have been doing it especialy the logistics team.

A monumentel acheivement i think well done.

ATB

Mark Chase

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Seydlitz(Offline)

Well done to everybody concerned..great effort

Andy