International Training is pleased to announce the appointment of Michal Piskula as a member of the Training Advisory Panel. A well respected, veteran TDI/SDI/ERDI Instructor-Trainer with vast experience in all aspects of SCUBA diving, Michal operates the Eastern Europe Regional Office of our organization in addition to running his own successful diving school.
He was instrumental in establishing TDI and SDI programs in the region and recently certified the Czech Police Diving Team under ERDI standards, helping grow the increasingly popular range of public safety diving programs internationally.
His contributions to reviewing training standards and materials are noteworthy and he has provided invaluable input to the development of new programs, including the professional rating of IT Staff Instructor, which was successfully trialed in the Czech Republic under Michal’s expert guidance prior to general release.
An extremely skilled wreck and cave diver who is also a renowned underwater photographer (see photo below), Michal brings a wealth of diving knowledge to the Training Advisory Panel. Welcome, Michal!
The Training Advisory Panel (TAP) is charged with the responsibility of helping to develop, maintain, and enforce the training standards and educational materials used by divers and instructors teaching for and recieving training through, SDI, TDI and ERDI. The members of TAP are dive industry professional who have widely recognized experience as divers, dive educators, explorers, authors and photographers.
Big Blue Tech completed a TDI Intro to Tech course today for Andy Cavell and Mark Slinn who began the first level in water skill development for their technical diver internship.
The TDI Intro to Tech course is the perfect course for divers who have heard about technical diving and want to find out more about this exciting branch of advanced recreational diving. This course walks students through the special techniques, planning procedures and skills that set technical diving apart from traditional sport diving. It will show them how to improve their dive planning methods, in-water skills and streamline their existing gear configuration, in a non-threatening and fun learning environment. The specific skills this course will highlight are: Advanced Buoyancy Control, Gas Management, Situational Awareness, Trim, Gear Configuration and Selection and Many More!
TDI’s Intro to Tech course is a useful stand-alone course for the diver who wants to become a more skilled, more proficient diver regardless of if he intends to move on to technical diving. The course may also be used as an introduction to the TDI Advanced Nitrox course and the TDI Decompression Procedures course. And finally, it is also a good refresher for certified technical divers who may want to refresh their skills or have them re-evaluated by a TDI technical instructor.
Although the students did not need this course to start their official technical diving series it was offered to them to have 4 additional training dives to enhance their overall skills and start with a solid foundation of buoyancy and trim before moving deeper through different challenges in the future.
The course was also completed with the assistance of Ash Dunn who is working towards his technical divemaster certification which requires assisting a variety of technical diving courses.
The students progress on to the TDI Advanced Nitros and TDI Decompression procedures this week along with TDI Gas Blender and TDI Advanced Gas Blender with the use of helium for trimix.
YouTube have released a parody of Hitler complaining about his treatment by DIR divers for not being an advanced diver.
This video clip is actor Bruno Ganz playing Adolf Hitler during the end of world war II in the movie “Der Untergan (Downfall)” 2004 Constatin Films.
The premise of this parody is Hitlers highest command having the job of delivering the bad news to Hitler that his reservation to go diving on a charter boat in California won’t work because he isn’t an advanced open water diver. Hitler then starts to rant about split fins, snorkels and even making the mistake of wearing his mask on his forehead when not in trouble. The best quote in the movie is when the character says “I’m virtually a tech diver, i’ve put the gallileo into deco and traded my bcd for a transpac”
The film is very clever and many who are divers themselves will find this funny. Thanks to Kaare from the GUE Members mailing (Quest @ gue.com) list for sending us the link.
Today Big Blue Tech started a Full Face Mask course on Koh Tao. The Full Face Mask course from TDI is designed to get divers comfortable using a full face mask and understanding the benefits and advantages. The divers who joined the course was Ash Dunn (staff) and Mark Slinn (Intern). Andy Cavell was supposed to join us but instead took his girlfriend fun diving in the afternoon and then he’s leaving to take her back to Bangkok.
The full face mask we use for training is the AGA Divator mask. These masks are the most popular choice of full face mask for public safety divers around the world. One of them came from a dive in the Canadian navy who was kind enough to bring it to Thailand for us.
These masks are perfect for cold water, television or film work, low visibility or chemically sensitive water. The mask covers your entire face allowing you to breathe through your nose or mouth, additionally it helps people who have a cold or any kind of dental, nose or eye problems.
While we were working in shallow water getting used to the skill of removing and replacing the mask other staff were busy loading up for the afternoon of diving and even Emily (big blue staff) came by to give the mask a try.
In the afternoon the staff and interns were busy cleaning the Apeks regulators (xtx 200 series with environmental series) and assembling new equipment recently purchased for the upcoming busy season.
Although today is Thursday, we’ll be closing for a long weekend as Andy Cavell is away in Bangkok, Mark moves into a new flat and Ash is celebrating his Divemaster Graduation (pictures coming).
Big Blue Tech starts again on Monday with the TDI Intro To Tech and Advanced Nitrox Course followed by a trip to Khao Sok National Park for a TDI Cavern Course just before Christmas break.
Today Big Blue Tech conducted the first TDI Compressor Operator Course ever. This course was attended by Ash Dunn, Andy Cavell and Mark Slinn and conducted on Koh Tao island in the south east of Thailand. Big Blue Tech authored and submitted this course as a custom written certification and received authorization from TDI HQ to start teaching. We have been told that TDI plan to develop their own Compressor Operator course based on our outline.
The TDI Compressor Operator course is designed to introduce the safe operation and handling of scuba diving compressors and air bank systems. The students learned the proper checks, safety and hazards, minor maintenance and operation of 2 different compressors including the combination of a large air bank system. On our next Khao Sok expedition later this month they will also be operating a portable petrol powered compressor in the jungle.
Big Blue own over 10 compressors around thailand, on Koh Tao alone we have 2 Coltri Sub MCH16’s, 2 Bauer Mariner 1, 2 Bauer 250, 1 LW 450 and 1 Bauer Junior (for cave and remote diving). In Khao Lak we have 2 Bauer Mariner 250 and 1 Coltri Sub MCH16, which gives our students a lot different compressors to practice with and become familiar.
After our time in the shop and on the boat we filled all the twin sets and air systems in the shop giving the students ample time to practice and learn using a compressor un-aided. The students will later evolve their diving skills with future TDI Nitrox Gas blender and TDI Advanced Gas blender courses.
The certification earned will give the students the recognized ticket to operate scuba diving compressors in government controlled diving areas.
For those TDI instructors interested in teaching this course, feel free to contact us for authorization to teach this distinctive specialty course.
Christos Kardana, former tech crew member of Big Blue Tech has put his photo’s online on Flickr for everyone to see.
The majority of his work was composed during diving trips with us to Khao Sok and other diving destinations we ventured over the past 6 months.
On his website he describes his method by saying:
“Utilising multiple cylinders and mixed gas blends, technical diving allows you to dive beyond the standard recreational range. Characterised by extensive equipment requirements, added redundancy and decompression procedures; technical diving allows for exploration of deep water environments, wrecks and caverns.”
Today Big Blue Tech visited Dave of Aquatech Scuba Service and Repair to complete the TDI Visual Inspection Procedures (VIP) course for the Technical Diving Interns Andy and Mark.
We visited Dave because he has all the expensive precise tools needed including the “go no-go guage” and the hydrostatic testing station. We also needed to hydro static two scuba cylinders that had expired and thought this would be a great chance to show the interns how the whole process works.
Dave showed the interns how to use the several different tools, hydro static test, cleaning the cylinder and marking the exterior to show the valid new test stamp.
After we left Aquatech we returned to the shop to complete the exam for the visual inspection procedures. And not a moment too soon as the rain started. Although the interns are quite eager to finally get in the water they realized they were lucky to be doing all this service work when they saw the cold and miserable people ouside in the rain. So with the kettle on and some music we sat and relaxed through the afternoon as the rain passed.
The interns enjoy a few days off and then spend sunday doing their DAN 02 provider course. The phylosophy behind that decision was to ensure all members of the dive team could help each other rather then just relying on the staff for help. Hopefully we’ll get a member of staff to come in on the weekend to get some pictures.
Big Blue Tech opens it’s doors today to start the new season after closing during the annual monsoon that hit’s the east side of Koh Tao, however the monsoon never happened. Despite diving destinations on the east coast of Thailand like Pattaya being effected by consistent rain and flash flooding; koh tao was sunny and dry.
The many wise locals of koh tao who have been on the island before beer swear that monsoon is coming and that we shouldn’t be opening just yet. So against better judgment we opened the doors of Big Blue Tech and welcomed all the new activity.
One of the more regretful events is the departure of Christos Kardana who’s leaving Thailand to go to England to delve into the plentiful job market there. Regardless we hope he’ll find nothing but misery and come back in the new year.
Today isn’t without celebration as it’s also the first day for Ash Dunn who has been training to become the new Facilities Manager for this past month and walked right into work this morning ready to get to go.
Today is also the first day for our new technical diving interns who have a very long list of courses and goals to complete over the next 3 months on their way up to becoming a technical diving instructor. You can read more about them tomorrow.
A good diving equipment configuration should allow for the addition of items necessary to perform a specific dive without interfering with or changing the existing configuration. Diving with the same configuration not only helps solve problems, it prevents them.
Following is a list of equipment as that is of prime consideration:
1. Mask: Low Volume mask reduces drag and requires less effort to clear it of water.
2. Primary Regulator: Quality regulator that will be passed to an out-of-air diver.
3. Short Hose: Should be long enough to breathe comfortably, but not long enough to bow and create drag.
4. Back-Up Regulator: Quality regulator that a diver will use as a reserve either in the event of a failure or in an air-sharing episode.
5. Long Hose: Optional in shallow, open water diving, but mandatory in deeper or overhead diving; the long hose simplifies air sharing. When used, the long hose, along with the primary regulator, should ALWAYS be placed on the diver’s right post.
6. Back-Up Lights: Tucked away to reduce drag but still allow for easy one-hand removal.
7. Goodman Handle Light Head: Allows for hands-free diving while allowing the diver to easily direct the focused light beam.
8. Thermal Suit: Appropriate to keep diver alert and comfortable.
9. Crotch Strap: Allows for custom fit, and supports two D-rings: one works as a scooter attachment point; (divers should not hang equipment here as it would hang too low); and one further up, closer to the back plate, which works for towing additional gear. The crotch strap also holds the BC in position and prevents the BC from floating up away from the body.
10. Hood: Where necessary to keep diver alert and comfortable.
11. Mask Strap: Strong strap that will resist breaking.
12. Necklace: Designed to hold the back-up regulator within easy access.
13. Corrugated Hose: Should be just long enough to allow for ear clearing and potential dry suit inflation while actuating inflator, but not so long that it drags or entangles easily.
14. Power Inflation Hose: Should be long enough for a diver to easily use his/her corrugated hose, but not long enough for it to bow or otherwise create excess drag.
15. D-rings: No more than two on the chest, positioned to reduce the drag of attached items; one hip D-ring to hold the pressure gauge.
16. Pressure Gauge Hose: Custom hose allows a diver to easily read the gauge after unclipping, but does not bow or dangle, thus avoiding excess drag.
17. Pressure Gauge: Quality brass gauge should be easy to read and reliable.
18. Knife: Waist-mounted in front, near the center of the diver’s body, for easy access.
19. Pockets: Hip-mounted to reduce drag.
20. Knobs: Soft knobs (to limit risk of breakage) should be opened completely.
21. Valve: Contingent on environment and diving activity. Dual orifice valves (H or Manifold) are an excellent way to increase safety and redundancy.
22. Burst Disks: Use of double disks prevents accidental burst failure.
23. Buoyancy Compensator: Adjusted based upon needed lift whether one is diving single or double tanks. Buoyancy should be sufficient to float equipment by itself while at the surface.
24. Cylinders: Contingent on environment and diving activity.
25. Harness and Backplate: Designed to hold the diver snugly to their rig while reducing drag and increasing control.
26. Primary Light: Hip-mounted, canister-style light; this is optional in some environments, but valuable in nearly all.
27. Alternate Lift Device: Lift bag, diver alert marker, or surface life raft, for open water diving. Halcyon’s MC system allows for storage in backplate pack for increased streamlining.
28. Overboard Discharge: Also known as a P-Valve; used with a condom catheter by male divers to allow for urination during long dives with a dry suit.
29. Bottom Timer: Wrist mounted to eliminate drag and entanglement.
30. Watch: Wrist-mounted, with a functional stopwatch to allow for timing safety or decompression stops.
31. Compass: Wrist mounted to eliminate drag and entanglement.
32. Fins: These should have no attachment buckles that can break. Replace with a more robust connection.
33. Guideline Reel: Use is contingent on the diving environment; it is usually mounted on the rear crotch strap D-ring for streamlining and to reduce clutter. Spools and other guideline devices are usually kept in the diver’s hip-mounted pocket.
Breathing the wrong gas at the wrong depth will kill you
This is a simple procedure yet it can cause big problems for those trying to do it fast and mess
it up. Remember, slow and deliberate is always fast. Also keep in mind that all deco and stage
tanks are turned off when not in use. That prevents us from loosing gas without knowing it
and is also an additional safety step preventing us from breathing the wrong gas.
Common mistakes
These are the most common mistakes for those relatively new to this:
- It’s easy to float up or down while changing regs. The solution is to check the depth
between each step of the procedure.
- It’s easy to get the hoses wrong. Make sure you have a clear mental picture of where
everything goes and what is behind or crosses when you switch.
Switch to stage or deco tank
1. Wait until you reach the switching depth.
2. Hang up you primary light (turned on, pointing down).
3. Choose the proper tank by looking at the MOD label and show it to your buddy who
verifies it with an OK (depth and gas is correct).
4. Grab the second stage with your right hand and route the hose around your neck.
5. Open the valve and purge the second stage.
6. Remove the long hose (with left hand) and put the stage/deco reg in your mouth and breath.
7. Clip the long hose on the right chest D-ring.
8. Unclip your light and signal you buddy that you are ready with an OK.
Switch back to the long hose
1. Hang up you primary light (turned on, pointing down).
2. Unclip the long hose and hold it in your right hand.
3. Remove the reg from your mouth with your left and pull the hose over your head.
4. Put the long hose in your mouth and start breathing.5. Close the valve on the tank you were breathing.
5. Close the valve on the tank you were breathing.
6. Lift the inner tube with your left hand (thumb) and push the hose in there.
7. Pull on the hose and make sure the second stage is secured under the inner tube.
8. Unclip your light.
Switching between multiple tanks
If you need to switch from one stage to another, from a deco tank to another or any
combination, you go to the long hose first. Like this:
1. Switch back to the long hose and stow the tank you are breathing.
2. Move tanks around if it makes things smoother.
3. Switch to the new stage or deco tank.
And you can have the light clipped off until you have completed the whole process.
If you are switching deco gases, let’s say from 50% to Oxygen, you switch to back-gas (long
hose) at 9m/30ft for the last couple of minutes. That gives you time to stow the 50% and
move things around. Then ascend to 6m/20ft and deploy the oxygen. This is the cleanest and
safest way to do it.
Gas breaks
When doing more than 20 minutes on oxygen you have to do a gas break to keep the gas
exchange effective. When you go to breathe the long hose you can stow the reg on the oxygen
tank just by clipping the second stage to one of the bolt snaps or the handle. Anyway you
chose to stow it, you NEVER let regs hang around your neck. Why? Because when something
happens you will not know what you are breathing or even if it is turned on. Team switching
When you switch deco gases it’s best to do it one at a time, especially if you’re not very
experienced. The chance of something going wrong is always bigger at the gas switches so it’s
a good idea to supervise each other. I have stopped people from breathing oxygen at the
wrong depth or choosing the wrong tank several times. Also it’s easy to get something into the
second stage, like small sticks, sand, clay and if you breathe that you may need some help to
recover. By the way that’s why you need to purge the second stage before breathing it. But we
all make mistakes, right?
Stage diving
When you are using stages in the ocean you often suck them dry or almost dry. Then you
switch to the back-gas (unless you have several stages which is uncommon). If you want to,
you can signal your buddies, show them the switch sign and everybody can do the switch.
Nice if you have similar gas consumption since everybody’s stages should be getting close to
empty. If you are experienced you can switch on the fly though.
On the 19th of September 2009 a team of British, German, Dutch and Lebanese technical divers set out on the quest to dive the HMS Victoria off the coast of Lebanon.
The re-named HMS Victoria was the flagship of the British fleet in the Mediterranean during that late part of the 19th century. Just off the coat of Lebanon, Admiral Tyron, at the helm of the Victoria, ordered a maneuver in coordination with the HMS Camperdown a few kilometers off the coast of Tripoli (Lebanon).Tragically, admiral Tyron had miscalculated the safe distance between the two mammoth battleships and a collision occurred. On June 22nd 1893 the HMS Camperdown struck the starboard side of the HMS Victoria, around the coal bunker area causing catastrophic damage, leading to the sinking of the Victoria approximately 5 kilometers off the shore of Tripoli, North from Beirut. Over 350 hands went down including the Admiral with the ship, in the short time it took HMS Victoriato sink. The propellers of the Victoria were still running as the ship plunged into the deep blue, ramming the ship vertically into the sea bed, where she lies today.
All logistics technical or otherwise for the expedition were provided and handled by Alain Sassine and Walid Noshie of The National Institute for Scuba Diving (NISD), Beirut, Lebanon. I led a team of eight divers who conducted six dives over six days. The initial dives were spent on the SS Lesbian, the Torpedo wreck and a very large Russian freighter. Depths varied between 45-67 meters over the initial dives, the team conducted bottom times ranging between 25 – 45 minutes with 90 -150 minute dive times, using trimix and EAN. Back gases used twin 12 and 15 litre manifolded steel cylinders with Trimix 18/35, EANx32, EANx80, EANx50 and O2 in 12 liter single aluminum cylinders.Bell
The most impressive wreck dive aside from the Victoria was the SS Lesbian. This large freighter was scuttled outside Beirut harbor in 67 meters of water. Five minutes from the Jetty and the NISD diving centre.
The Victoria itself was absolutely amazing! This is one of a few wrecks to be resting bow down, at a 90 degree angle. The bottom mix for the Victoria was Trimix 10/60, the intermediate mix was Trimix 18/35, with EANx32 and EANx80 for deco.
At approximately 55 meters the stern section with huge propellers and rudder come into view. This section was being constantly circled by a large school of Jacks. Neil Black, my buddy and I, continued down the middle of the deck to 112 meters. After passing the huge stern gun we continued to a lower level and saw stacks of intact crockery inside the wreck through holes in the deck. Due to respect for the dead and the Victoria being a military grave, we took nothing apart from some video footage. The wreck proved to be one of the greatest dives of my life. However, the depth of the wreck therefore requires precise planning and logistical support.
Many thanks to Alain and the dive trek team and all expedition members involved. We look forward to further exploration on the Victoria next year.
The underwater world is a challenging one: both physiologically and psychologically. As a complex organism, all of our body’s vital biochemical processes have evolved over millions of years to a narrow set of pressures and temperatures that exist on the surface of the earth: where the human body has been designed to exist. As a technical diver, the moment you leave the surface and descend to depth, you are exposing your body to an environment so alien that the dramatic changes in ambient oxygen pressure and temperature can have a delirious effect on the body. The main centre of your focus suddenly becomes the application and execution of the pre-set methodology and techniques that have been drilled into you as part of your training, in order to conduct safely and efficiently the purpose of your dive – whether mission based or simply for fun.
This extreme type of diving is characterised by more equipment, more planning, more task loading, more methods and more risks. Many technical divers choose to include the addition of a camera rig to this extensive list. This may be a video or photography unit, in many cases encompassing a complex lightning system and battery pack. Underwater camerawork is difficult and frustrating as it is, even in perfect conditions within the recreational diving range (above 40m). So why add this burden to a complex technical dive? For the same reasons any individual takes photos or video: for documentation, surveying, scientific purposes or simply satisfying the artistic vein. The fact remains; for the segment of divers that crave deeper and darker environments; there are camera opportunities with deep coral reefs, beautiful wrecks, inspiring caves and sea creatures simply not present within the shallower depth ranges of diving.
Using a camera on a deep technical or cave dive can be challenging and difficult, but of course not impossible. Renowned technical diving photographer Leigh Bishop and videographer Evan Kovacs have proven this on many occasion. In a physically demanding environment, the key to successful deep diving camerawork is equipment, psychology and the correct handling and execution of the camera itself. At these depths, standard recreational housings are of no use, with most allowing a maximum depth rating of 40m. The drastic reduction of light means you have to pay even more consideration to shutter speeds, focus, filters and lighting than at shallower depths, were the sunny crystal clear water and auto function work hand-in-hand to produce a ‘more than decent’ shot.
At this level of diving, with regards to equipment, the planned dive in question will require extra cylinders (travel gas or decompression tanks) usually attached via a dog clip system to the divers harness. As a self-sufficient diver you will also have the availability of redundancy equipment, checked for function and efficiency ready to be used in any emergency or back up situation. Adding to this a deep camera system with lights, one has to consider its presence on the rig as a whole. Will it be clipped onto a D-ring to allow for a quick ‘ditch’?. Will the camera interfere with gauge reading, gas switching, team gas sharing (if the necessity arises) and the general function of the personal dive rig itself? The housings utilised on deep dives are designed with excessive pressure in mind and are big and bulky allowing for a full set of manual controls to be accessed and in many cases have to be operated using both hands. If the use of a reel, either for a back up buoyancy or surface marker purpose becomes necessary, it is imperative that the presence of the camera doesn’t pose an entanglement risk or even divert the divers attention away from the correct use of the reel itself. The most dramatic example being whilst in a cave diving situation, where the quick shot of a stalagtite formation diverts your focus so wholly that the line you were sure was but a few inches away from you has now suddenly disappeared from torch view and you have no access whatsoever to the cave exit!
The booster rocket used in the Ares I-X test flight was found to be badly dented when divers located it in the Atlantic Ocean.
One of the three 150-foot-wide parachutes designed to gently lower NASA’s Ares 1-X first stage booster to the Atlantic Ocean after a dramatic six-minute test flight Wednesday deflated after deployment, officials said Thursday, resulting in a harder splashdown than expected.
Photographs taken by the recovery crew show the four-segment shuttle booster floating upright in the Atlantic Ocean shortly after splashdown. An initial inspection, sources said, revealed the sort of paint blistering that is typically found on shuttle boosters, along with an area of apparent buckling in the lower segment.
The test of the new parachute system was one of several major objectives of the Ares 1-X test flight, intended to generate data needed to perfect the design of NASA’s planned shuttle replacement, the more-powerful Ares 1 rocket.
While the 1-X test version featured a less powerful first stage booster and a dummy upper stage, it weighed roughly the same as an Ares 1. The full-scale parachute system used for its first flight test was designed to handle the heavier weight of the Ares 1 and its fall from a higher altitude.
A NASA spokeswoman said late Thursday the test rocket’s drogue parachute, used to slow and stabilize the vehicle before the main parachutes are released, deployed normally. All three main chutes then released and began inflating as planned in a two-step procedure. Two of the mains apparently inflated fully, but the third collapsed.
A source said the deflated parachute contacted one of the others as it whipped about in the wind, causing a partial deflation. That could not be immediately confirmed, although a splashdown in that condition might explain the buckling seen in the lower segment of the rocket’s case.
Shuttle boosters, which are lowered to the ocean by two 130-foot-wide parachutes, can be damaged depending on the impact angle and sea state, engineers say. But it’s not yet known what caused the problem with the Ares 1-X booster.
The 327-foot-tall Ares 1-X was launched Wednesday from complex 39B at the Kennedy Space Center. The major goals of the unmanned test flight were to collect engineering data on how the tall, slender rocket flew through the dense lower atmosphere, how the structure responded to aerodynamic and acoustic forces and how the new parachute system, scaled for the planned Ares 1 rocket, performed.
The first stage boosted Ares 1-X to an altitude of about 25 miles and a velocity of 4.5 times the speed of sound in two minutes of powered flight. Explosive charges then fired to separate the spent first stage from the dummy second stage and small upward-facing rockets fired to pull the first stage away.
In a surprise, the upper stage went into a slow, flat spin instead of continuing upward on a nose-forward trajectory as expected. A moment after separation, another set of small rockets fired as planned to put the first stage into a similar spin to prevent a nose-down re-entry that might interfere with parachute deployment.
The two stages appeared to come close to each other as they tumbled, but that could have been an illusion due to the viewing angle of a long-range tracking camera.
The behavior of the first stage appeared normal during powered flight and after separation. A drogue parachute, used to slow and stabilize the rocket before main parachute deployment, could be seen in video from the rocket, but the on-board views cut off before the main chutes could be seen.
Recovery crews consisting of closed circuit rebreather divers and technical divers are expect to finish towing the big rocket back to a processing facility at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Friday. Engineers will be standing by to remove an on-board data recorder that is expected to provide a wealth of information about the rocket’s performance.
Big Blue Tech and Big Blue Diving Khao Lak joined forces recently for the installation of a continuous flow nitrox blending system on our new liveaboard the Mv Pawara which will be providing liveaboard trips to the similan islands.
This combined effort was done to create a vessel that could support technical diving for the upcoming season.
Big Blue Khao Lak is the only technical diving facility in Khao Lak offering technical and cave diving course through the instruction of Big Blue Tech. All our training and diving will be done from our new vessel so it had to be installed correctly.
The blending system was organized by Samui Easytek and shipped to the area for installation. The existing ventillation system on the massive liveaboard had to be replaced along with compressor oil replacement from mineral oil to synthetic.
The installation took two days and was tested with 0.1% accuracy. (no leaks)
The install comes just in time as the first trip leaves the shore in just a few days.
In addition to the install, Big Blue Khao Lak is also opening a second shop to support it’s additional 2 speed boats which will be taking people daily to local dive sites.
As a side note, the larger more robust divers of Khao Lak are celebrating the opening of McDonalds directly across the street from the Big Blue Khao Lak office.
Big Blue Tech has recently returned from cavern and cave diving in one of Thailand’s National Parks called Khao Sok. Big Blue Tech conducted a TDI (Technical Diving International) Cavern and Extended Range course for Matt Payne, Mike Borneo and Ash Dunn. Matt and Mike who had already completed their Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures with us earlier in the year returned to join this expedition with Ash Dunn who will be joining the tech crew in December as our new facilities manager.
The 4 day expedition in Khao Sok proved to be a text book adventure of challenging dives in stunning surroundings. On this particular trip the water had risen another 5m making the sunken temple out of range for the 55m certification depth.
The increase in water level on the lake was a result of heavy water fall leading up to the trip. Thankfully the rain fall and preceeding weather didn’t effect diving conditions or underwater visibiility leaving nothing but clear skies and sunshine.
The expedition progressed with the required training dives for the Cavern Diver certification followed by exploration for new cave systems and accelerated decompression dives up to 55m.
The students were introduced to new and unfamiliar conditions with diving from a longtail and in fresh water. While most chose the more formal method of backwards roll, others like United States Marine Captain Mike Borneo chose a more uncoventional method.
One of the more interesting highlights of the caverns was the exploration of a dry pool above one of the systems where a dive could surface to see the stalagtites and stalagmites forming above. An interesting spectacle when all the dive computers registered that we were still at 4m while very clearly above the surface of the water.
As the trip concluded, the divers had experienced 10 fresh water dives and combined their previous training with the challenges of overhead environment.
Big Blue Tech would like to tank Prival Raft House and Big Blue Diving for their support and assistance conducting this expedition.
Big Blue Tech returns to the region for more diving in December of 2009.
