Diver Air Quality Compressor Operator Handling Course Completed in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand - Big Blue Tech completed a BSAC Compressor Operator course today for Divemaster Intern Dylan Thornton by BSAC Instructor Ash Dunn.

The BSAC Compressor Operator course is about teaching the proper handling, procedures and functions of divers air quality compressors and banked air systems.

Divers air quality compressors are not the same as compressors you use for filling tires or using a nail gun. The quality of the air has to be high to prevent any respiratory problems for the divers breathing it under pressure. With the quality of the air so important Dylan was also taught how to change the filters which have special chemicals inside to help remove toxins and moisture before being put into the scuba divers cylinder.

The course consists with a  morning of academic theory lessons and afternoon of practical hands on filling and then concludes with a written exam. Dylan progresses tomorrow on to his Gas Blender course where he will use his skills again to fill nitrox cylinders.

In addition to this the rest of the team have been busy servicing regulators and equipment in preperation for the start of the next tech course which starts bright and early tomorrow for 4 eager future technical divers.

Technical Divers arrive on shore in Khao Lak after 4 days diving in the Similan National Park

Khao Lak, Thailand - Big Blue Tech arrived this afternoon in Khao Lak peir after a 4 day technical diving liveaboard in the similan and surin islands aboard their luxury liveaboard the Mv Pawara.

Over the 4 days expedition leader and senior technical instructor James Thornton-Allan delivered a TDI Compressor Operator, TDI Gas Blender and TDI Extended Range course to students Emily Billingham, Andy Cavell, Mark Slinn and Matt Payne. These course we taught using the on board continuos flow nitrox system installed by Big Blue Tech in November and during dives on the different sites.

The course went smoothly and everyone passed with the exception of Matt Payne who was unable to complete his training dives due to an allergic reaction but he will complete them later on Koh Tao along with his TDI Divemaster Course next month.

During the dives in the similans it was easy to see why it’s so attrractive to dives with clear blue water and white sand, large rocks to swim around and diverse marine life. With dives around 50m the diversity was even greater and the technical divers saw different life then the recreational divers showing a clear option for deeper diving.

While the majority of the diving was around boulders and coral there was a trip to a shipwreck and some deep drift hangs to spice things up a bit.

In general the liveaboard is perfectly suited for technical divers with amble space for technical diving gear. The dive deck is low and easy to get in and out of the water. Additionally the continuous flow and oxygen fills were easily accesible and accurate with operation.

Returning tpo khao Lak for one night and some well deserved rest and then on to Krabi for some Cave Diving.

Technical Divers venture out on the Similan Islands

Similan Islands, Thailand - Big Blue Tech continues their technical diving expedition called the Golden Horseshoe Expedition with the boarding of their liveaboard vessel the Mv Pawara bound for the Similan Islands over the course of a 4 day / 4 night trip.

The Mv Pawara is a luxury class liveaboard owned by Big Blue Diving and chartered through Big Blue Khao Lak and offers diving trips to the best of the Similan Islands off the west coast of Thailand.

Big Blue Tech uses this trip to conduct a TDI Extended Range, TDI Compressor Operator and TDI Gas Blender course for Emily Billingham, Mark Slinn, Matt Payne and Andy Cavell.

The team returns to land on January 17th where we’ll updating the news with pictures and video from our adventure. Before heading off to Sra Keow in Krabi and then to Phi Phi Islands.

The technical diving team is finally assembled as another dive arrives

Khao Lak, Thailand - The technical diving team came together today with the arrival of Matt Payne who would be joining us for the similan islands portion of diving. Matt joins Andy, Emily and Mark for his TDI Extended Range, Gas Blender and Compressor Operator course which will be combined with wreck diving and a liveaboard on the Similan Islands.

Matt arrived this morning from Phuket Airport after a flight from his home in Pattaya. Matt joined us last year for a Khao Sok Expedition where he completed his Cavern and Decompression Procedures course.

Also today Andy and Emily were on a trip to Ranong to get their visas extended, this left James, Mark and Matt the afternoon free to be tourists. One of the more remarkable things in this area is the tsunami memorial which pays homage to the people who lost their lives and were effected during this event during christmas in 2005. This is illustrated by a large police boat which was swept over a kilometer in land and is now displayed as a reminder to the force and destruction of the water which took over 4000 lives in Khao Lak alone.

The remainder of the day would be spent adjusting gear, charging flashlights/torches, checking our dive profile through our decompression dive planner and getting to bed early for tomorrow would start at 7am to get on the wreck at slack tide.

Today Big Blue Tech are busy planning and packing for the upcoming 3 week long technical diving expedition through Thailand.

Technical Director James Thornton-Allan leads a group of technical divers through some of the best technical diving Thailand has to offer. James leads a group consisting Matt Payne, Andy Cavell, Mark Payne and Emily Billingham.

The expedition is scheduled to visit Khao Sok Nation Park, Nam Ta Loo Cave, Sra Keow Cave, Song Hong Sink Hole, Sea Chart 1 Shipwreck, Similan Islands on a live aboard, Emerald Cave in Krabi and other undisclosed ventures that won’t be revealed until after it’s secured discovery.

During the expedition the divers will earn many certifications including their Cavern, Intro to Cave and Cave certification along with Extended Range, Compressor Operator Gas Blender and Advanced Gas Blender (Helium Blender)

The most daunting task of any expedition is the planning and logistics to allow us to dive everyday in several different locations covering hundreds of miles.

This expedition requires special equipment we don’t normally take with us which includes an Haskel Mini Oxygen Booster, Helium and Oxygen Analyzer, Portable Petrol Powered Compressor, GPS and Portable Sonar, Oxygen and Helium Filling Whips, Torches, Cameras, Satellite Phone and Emergency Oxygen, Dive Medic First Aid Kits, A 4 Door 4×4 Pick-up Truck and that doesn’t include the actual diving equipment or personal equipment.

This expedition is also a great opportunity to show new technical divers the essential foundation of this style of extreme diving which has it’s roots in exploring the unknown and going where the majority of other divers never venture. Not only that it’s all about going where we want to go diving and getting wet when it suits us. No boat schedule, no time table, just the open road and a lot of water to jump into.

You can follow our expedition as we’ll be updating the news from the road.

Big Blue Tech and BSAC Thailand completed Skill Development Courses for Ash Dunn and Mark Slinn during a workshop in Koh Tao on the 23rd of December to ehnace their abilities as scuba diving instructors.

A SDC is a course that teached instructors the ability to deliver different or signature courses. For example, a nitrox course could be considered a SDC because it delivers a specific skill set rather then enhancing day to day diver skills.

BSAC Thailand took Mark and Ash through the  BSAC Oxygen Administrator Instructor and BSAC Compressor Operator Instructor SDC during the day long workshop. During this time the students had to demonstrate their overall knowledge and ability in both disciplines to the instructor examiner.

After a written and practical exam they were issued their certification cards and received authority to begin teaching the courses.

Andy Cavell, our other intern, missed this event because he was teaching a PADI Deep and Nitrox Specialty Course. He will complete this workshop on the 29th of December.

The rest of the SDC will be earned in February with titles such as Gas Blender Instructor, Mixed Gas Diver Instructor and various other accompanying disciplines like service technician skills.

For more information or to attend our next cross-over, sdc workshop or instructor course please contact us or www.bsacthailand.com

Big Blue Tech completed a TDI Advanced Nitrox Course yesterday with the combined afternoon of skills which embodied both TDI Decompression Procedures and TDI Advanced Nitrox.

With the flexible curriculum offered by TDI it was possible for the training team to introduce interesting and valid skills which are appropriate for the diving ahead.

The students on the course were Mark Slinn, Andy Cavell and Ash Dunn who are all working towards a future as a technical diving instructor.

One of the signature skill introduced involves using a 3m marked line on the sea bed and having the divers wearing full technical diving gear start at the 1m mark and start fining, during fining the diver must remove one decompression cylinder without loosing control, upon reaching the end of the line the diver stops and begins backwards kicking, collecting his decompression cylinder while kicking backwards and returning to the start where the diver turns 180 degrees and moves away. The goal is to not use your hands and focus on perfect trim and balance while performing these skills.

Backwards finning can be quite difficult initially, to help this process we provide Jet Fins to our students as part of the equipment they will be using during the course to enhance the ease of learning. Here is a video to help illustrate the skill:

Additional to these skills was task loading with 8 cylinders removing and replacing each one while maintaining buoyancy. The training team felt the students really excelled and didn’t see them disturb the bottom, without being told to, during both 50 minute dives.

This would be the last dive until the after christmas as the students progress on to their Gas Blender and BSAC Instructor course.

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.

Big Blue Tech have revised their website to include the release of the new PADI TecRec courses we’ll start offering in the new year of 2010.

In September of 2009 PADI released the new technical diving cirriculum to the public with a new name and new standards. Many say PADI have made a move to follow the trend of modular teaching which are already in place with other diving agencies like TDI and IANTD. Additionally PADI have invited Cave Diving Instructors to develop their own courses called “TecRec Cave Diver” which will be specific to the instructor/author and suit the local conditions and methods.

With this change it appears PADI have also dropped the name “DSAT” which stood for “Design, Science and Technology” which didn’t really suite as the cover for their technical diving branch.

In January of 2010 Big Blue Tech will be releasing PADI Cave Diving courses designed for technical divers. This course will be distinctive to Big Blue Tech as it has been written by us. The other TecRec courses have been released for quite some time and can be seen below:

PADI TecRec
PADI Tec 40
PADI Tec 45
PADI Tec 50
PADI Tec Trimix 65
PADI Tec Trimix Diver
PADI Gas Blender
PADI Trimix Blender
PADI Tec Cavern
PADI Tec Intro to Cave
PADI Tec Cave

You can also read more on the PADI TecRec blog:TecRec Cave Diver

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.

Our technical training team is comprised of skilled and experienced individuals who excel in their own field of expertise across the technical scuba diving industry in Thailand. No one can train divers to do everything, with that we have specialists who focus on their own personal interest in the area they’re responsible for.

Our team work and live in a very small community of technical scuba diving explorers who’s main goal is to train and expose divers to this ever growing style of technical deep water exploration and advanced scuba diving education in Thailand.

We provide technical diving leadership and education in English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Thai and Japanese.

James Thornton-Allan

Director Technical Diving Operations

James is responsible for the day to day operations of Big Blue Tech and the on going quality assurance of technical diving operations including the expanding selection of dive sites and training courses for Big Blue Diving branches across Thailand.

James provides contact and liaison through all facets of technical diving at big blue and provides on going consultation for other technical diving companies and agencies. For all course and diving bookings please contact him directly.

Contact: James@bigbluetech.net

Yvonne Fries

Manager Technical Diving Operations

Yvonne is responsible for supporting the Director of Technical Diving Operations by managing the finances, scheduling and accounts along with all other related activities for Big Blue Tech in Thailand.

Yvonne has been working for Big Blue Tech for several years and is one of the more senior and respected members of the team.

Falls Sie Interesse haben am technischen Tauchen, Hoehlentauchen oder Rebreather Tauchen in oder um thailand herum, bitte kontaktieren Sie mich per Eunter

Wir bieten alle Kurse auch in deutscher Sprache an.

Contact: Yvonne@bigbluetech.net

Ash Dunn

Diving Facilities Manager

Ash is our Advanced Gas Blender, Equipment and Oxygen Service Technician and Technical Divemaster. On top of these skills, Ash is responsible for the logistics and delivery of suppot services for all diving with Big Blue Tech.

Ash provides logistic support and serviced equipment for all our technical diving expeditions across Thailand.

Contact: Ash@bigbluetech.net

Andy Holdaway

Technical Divemaster

Andy is our technical divemaster. He is responsible for leading certified technical divers and conducting skill workshops for divers who have not been current with their diving.

When not diving Andy can be found travelling between Thailand and England or enhancing his education and skills to become a technical diving instructor in the future.

Contact: Andy@bigbluetech.net

Sonia Scott

Hyperbaric Services Manager

Sonia is responsible for the health and safety of all our divers as a dive medic and hyperbaric chamber operator.

Sonia supports technical diving by being an onsite representative for all diving related health concerns while working with other medical facilities and professionals in the region.

Contact: sonia@bigbluetech.net

Panos Iosifoglou

Technical Dive Manager Similans

Panos is our in house technical dive managers who’s responsibility is for the west coast technical diving in the Similan Islands and Khao Lak. He provides logistics, underwater guide, supervision and liaison through our shop in Khao Lak and on our liveaboard the Mv Pawara.

Panos is also responsible for Cave Diving and Gas Blending Facilities for the west coast on Thailand.

Contact: Panos@bigbluetech.net

Simon Garitty

Technical Instructor Trainer

Simon is our SSI (Scuba Schools International) Instructor Trainer providing instructor level course, cross-overs and general course development for the Big Blue Diving franchise. Simon is also heavily involved with the SSI-TXR curriculum of technical courses.

Contact: Simon@bigbluetech.net

Guillaume Fargues

Technical Instructor Development Coordinator

Guillaume is responsible for coordinating instructor development courses and assisting in their application. Regardless of what level you wish to complete be it technical diving instructor or open water instructor Guillaume creates an effortless process and private tutor beyond what is already provided.

Guillaume is also our in house French instructor and is available for translation or entire courses upon request

Contactez-nous pour en savoir plus sur les formations tech, ainsi que la plongee en cavernes et grottes et avec recycleur partout en Thailande. Nous offrons des cours individuels dans de nombreuses langues dont le francais pour tous les niveaux, de debutant a instructeur tech.

Contact:guillaume@bigbluetech.net

Dean Jenkins

Technical Internship Coordinator

Dean is responsible for the ongoing training and development of our Technical Dive Master Program. Those completing their tech dive master program will work closely with dean for all aspects from physics to water skills.

Dean overseas your entire development and insures that all student needs are addressed including accommodation and equipment.

Contact: dean@bigbluetech.net

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