Tough conditions for first Rebreather World buddy dive

Mark Chase · 9th July 2005, 08:41

The first two days of diving we sped out 35miles on calm sea and had two cracking dives followed by a bloody awful trip home. Three and a half hours of bouncing off the benches and crashing back down in a force 6-7 with the occasional drenching thrown in for good measure. Pete, Andrew and Dave looked like death and had to face a drenching and being thrown all over the boat so they could chuck up without doing it on us. Thanks for that lads

Day three I was to dive with Stuart (of Rebreather World fame) with his Meg. On the way back in from the morning dive we checked out a site 22miles off shore and the viz was pretty good so we decided to keep that in the bank if it got a bit rough. Day three was unique only in that the trip out was going to be a bit rough rather than just the trip back

So we opted for the plan B wreck in 40-50m

Teem 1 went in and tied in the shot and teem two deployed the station. Stuart and I went in third and dropped to 28m to put our clips on the station. By then I knew conditions had deteriorated as the mid water viz was pretty poor. By the bottom of the shot things looked awful. Pete was on his way out solo on his CCR so I checked him out but the only reason for the abort was a flooded 18W Halcyon, so I let him go up alone.

Viz on the bottom of the shot was about 500mm. I clipped off the line and we set off and I have to say with such awful conditions and diving with a strange buddy for the first time I was more than a little nervous about loosing Stuart. This was made doubly important when I suddenly realised we were inside the wreck. I quickly turned the direction of dive and we got out no problems. Stuart was very good at interpreting signals and he did an excellent job of keeping in contact but not being all over me as I laid the line. It was very comforting to see his torch beam regularly over my right shoulder.

We persevered with the dive and on the upper decks the viz improved to 1-1.5m. My overwhelming impression of the wreck was silt. Loads and Loads of silt al over and inside the thing. It was big with some nice intact sections and penetration points but it was so silty you would need excellent conditions to risk diving her again. I found coal so we assume we were amid ships as it was definitely not a cargo of coal but apart from that I can tell you little about the unknown wreck.

After struggling with the conditions I turned the dive 7mins early and we headed back to the shot. I didn’t get much argument from Stuart when I called the dive at the shot and we headed up to the deco bar.

Stuart cleared deco and I watched him out of the water. I stayed in for an extra 10mins as the multi day deco and tough conditions were a bit of a strain on these old bones.

The trip back was only a 5-6 so Stuart thought it was rough but the rest of us thought it was a bit of a breather after the last two days

.

Ho hum. Not a good dive but my first with a new buddy met via Rebreather World so I thought I would share it with you.

Thursday was canned and due to the fact I could barely walk I canned my other dive planned for the Friday in Portsmouth. Not much came from our trip but some bits and bobs were had.

Conditions on the way in on Monday. The red blob is Pete waiting to have another look at breakfast.

ATB

Mark Chase

ROB DAVIE · 9th July 2005, 09:25

Mark,

Good write-up! Thanks for a good story, and some good pics. Glad you and "The Founder" had a good time.

At least the fish were well fed. Lends kind of a new outlook when you are having fish and chips, doesn't it?

Rob

***caveseeker7*** · 9th July 2005, 11:08

It's all your fault, Rob. You used to call this the "Flying Circus".

No wonder they're all hurling.

Thanks for the report, Mark. Great you guys got together for some dives,
even if the weather wasn't good.

Scuba_Vixen · 9th July 2005, 13:29

Nice write-up, You guys are a lot tougher than I am.

I am a bit envious of the tid-bits you brought back though.

Glad no one lost anything more than breakfast.

Darlene

Andy M · 9th July 2005, 14:31

Quote: (Originally Posted by Mark Chase)

Not much came from our trip but some bits and bobs were had.

Can I assume that these have been declared to the Receiver of Wreck?

Not to rain on your parade, but I am fed up with people taking stuff off UK wrecks and ruining them for everyone else (who dont take stuff off wrecks). The stuff that gets taken invariably sits rotting in someones garden shed or in the garden. Why bother taking it in the first place, let others see it where it was found.

Mark Chase · 9th July 2005, 18:07

Quote: (Originally Posted by Andy M)

Can I assume that these have been declared to the Receiver of Wreck?

Not to rain on your parade, but I am fed up with people taking stuff off UK wrecks and ruining them for everyone else (who don’t take stuff off wrecks). The stuff that gets taken invariably sits rotting in someones garden shed or in the garden. Why bother taking it in the first place, let others see it where it was found.

You are of course entitled to your opinion and to be honest personally I don’t even own a lift bag as I have never found a lobster big enough to warrant one

. My personal jolly is trinkets I like china and glass. I got a soup tureen on this trip (but I haven’t finished cleaning it up yet) and it will be in my little display cabinet soon. Even if I found a bell I would give it away it just doesn’t interest me.

However some of the boys on the boat are tooled up and only have eyes for brass. You might not like this but I would point out we paid over £500 for the hydrographics for these dives and all but one were un-dived wrecks. We then paid £56 per day for the privilege of transporting a decent boat around to do the gig. This is just not happening in this area. These are wrecks that we are breaking new ground on. No one has been denied seeing these artefacts as no one has been willing to put the effort in to dive these blips and find out if there worth it.

Ripping stuff of the Thistlegorm is a crime but I can’t agree with you on this sort of diving. The brass boys put a lot of risk, time effort and money into finding these wrecks and ripping off brass. I do the same so I can experience diving something no one has ever dived before. IMHO Those that take advantage of our efforts and do the dive as a jolly for £30 shouldn’t complain to much about the missing artefacts.

To put your mind at rest all artefacts will be reported to ROW.

ATB

Mark Chase

Pierre Farrugia · 9th July 2005, 19:36

Quote: (Originally Posted by Mark Chase)

ATB

Mark Chase

Maybe in Malta, we are too spoiled

as opposed to UK and would not dive in such conditions

About the brass thing better not to comment

***schford*** · 10th July 2005, 18:40

It was a great day even if the conditions were challenging....

Thanks for inviting me Mark and sorting everything out...It was great to be lazy and follow Mark as he had the job of reelin off and I just crusied behind him with an occasional flash fo the torch in front of him to let him know I was still there!

Stuart

PS after a weekend in Poole my kit has stopped smelling! We went through a swarm of what looked like mini shrimps - they were on and in everything and stunk to high heaven as they decomposed!

Barrie Law · 10th July 2005, 22:45

Mark,
Dublin today at 1300.........SCARY CONDITIONS!!!

Whats seldom is wonderfull, I think the term is CALM and in these parts a bit like hens teeth!!

Cheers

Mark Chase · 11th July 2005, 13:55

I could go right off you Barrie

Diving Wed and Friday so lets hope some of that heads dover snd Selsea way

ATB

Mark Chase

9th July 2005, 08:41	#1 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,564	Tough conditions for first Rebreather World buddy dive The first two days of diving we sped out 35miles on calm sea and had two cracking dives followed by a bloody awful trip home. Three and a half hours of bouncing off the benches and crashing back down in a force 6-7 with the occasional drenching thrown in for good measure. Pete, Andrew and Dave looked like death and had to face a drenching and being thrown all over the boat so they could chuck up without doing it on us. Thanks for that lads Day three I was to dive with Stuart (of Rebreather World fame) with his Meg. On the way back in from the morning dive we checked out a site 22miles off shore and the viz was pretty good so we decided to keep that in the bank if it got a bit rough. Day three was unique only in that the trip out was going to be a bit rough rather than just the trip back So we opted for the plan B wreck in 40-50m Teem 1 went in and tied in the shot and teem two deployed the station. Stuart and I went in third and dropped to 28m to put our clips on the station. By then I knew conditions had deteriorated as the mid water viz was pretty poor. By the bottom of the shot things looked awful. Pete was on his way out solo on his CCR so I checked him out but the only reason for the abort was a flooded 18W Halcyon, so I let him go up alone. Viz on the bottom of the shot was about 500mm. I clipped off the line and we set off and I have to say with such awful conditions and diving with a strange buddy for the first time I was more than a little nervous about loosing Stuart. This was made doubly important when I suddenly realised we were inside the wreck. I quickly turned the direction of dive and we got out no problems. Stuart was very good at interpreting signals and he did an excellent job of keeping in contact but not being all over me as I laid the line. It was very comforting to see his torch beam regularly over my right shoulder. We persevered with the dive and on the upper decks the viz improved to 1-1.5m. My overwhelming impression of the wreck was silt. Loads and Loads of silt al over and inside the thing. It was big with some nice intact sections and penetration points but it was so silty you would need excellent conditions to risk diving her again. I found coal so we assume we were amid ships as it was definitely not a cargo of coal but apart from that I can tell you little about the unknown wreck. After struggling with the conditions I turned the dive 7mins early and we headed back to the shot. I didn’t get much argument from Stuart when I called the dive at the shot and we headed up to the deco bar. Stuart cleared deco and I watched him out of the water. I stayed in for an extra 10mins as the multi day deco and tough conditions were a bit of a strain on these old bones. The trip back was only a 5-6 so Stuart thought it was rough but the rest of us thought it was a bit of a breather after the last two days . Ho hum. Not a good dive but my first with a new buddy met via Rebreather World so I thought I would share it with you. Thursday was canned and due to the fact I could barely walk I canned my other dive planned for the Friday in Portsmouth. Not much came from our trip but some bits and bobs were had. Conditions on the way in on Monday. The red blob is Pete waiting to have another look at breakfast. ATB Mark Chase __________________ Is it supposed to make that noise ? I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit. Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt "Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System
(Online)

9th July 2005, 09:25	#2 (permalink)
ROB DAVIE Administrator Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: HOUSTON, REPUBLIC OF TEJAS Posts: 1,120	Mark, Good write-up! Thanks for a good story, and some good pics. Glad you and "The Founder" had a good time. At least the fish were well fed. Lends kind of a new outlook when you are having fish and chips, doesn't it? Rob __________________ [SIZE=2]"CC Rebreathers will become a viable part of tech diving [U]WHEN PIGS FLY[/U]!!"--GI3[/SIZE]
(Offline)

9th July 2005, 11:08	#3 (permalink)
*caveseeker7* Who loves ya, baby Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Too far from Neverland Posts: 5,435	It's all your fault, Rob. You used to call this the "Flying Circus". No wonder they're all hurling. Thanks for the report, Mark. Great you guys got together for some dives, even if the weather wasn't good. __________________ Cheers Stefan "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.'!"
(Offline)

9th July 2005, 13:29	#4 (permalink)
Scuba_Vixen e/mCCR Dolphin Pilot Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Home Build Join Date: May 2005 Location: St. Croix USVI Posts: 557	Nice write-up, You guys are a lot tougher than I am. I am a bit envious of the tid-bits you brought back though. Glad no one lost anything more than breakfast. Darlene
(Offline)

9th July 2005, 14:31	#5 (permalink)
Andy M Dude Current Rebreather/s: Home Build Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Home Build Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 415	Quote: (Originally Posted by Mark Chase) Not much came from our trip but some bits and bobs were had. Can I assume that these have been declared to the Receiver of Wreck? Not to rain on your parade, but I am fed up with people taking stuff off UK wrecks and ruining them for everyone else (who dont take stuff off wrecks). The stuff that gets taken invariably sits rotting in someones garden shed or in the garden. Why bother taking it in the first place, let others see it where it was found. __________________ Know your PO2 at all times
(Offline)

9th July 2005, 18:07	#6 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,564	Quote: (Originally Posted by Andy M) Can I assume that these have been declared to the Receiver of Wreck? Not to rain on your parade, but I am fed up with people taking stuff off UK wrecks and ruining them for everyone else (who don’t take stuff off wrecks). The stuff that gets taken invariably sits rotting in someones garden shed or in the garden. Why bother taking it in the first place, let others see it where it was found. You are of course entitled to your opinion and to be honest personally I don’t even own a lift bag as I have never found a lobster big enough to warrant one . My personal jolly is trinkets I like china and glass. I got a soup tureen on this trip (but I haven’t finished cleaning it up yet) and it will be in my little display cabinet soon. Even if I found a bell I would give it away it just doesn’t interest me. However some of the boys on the boat are tooled up and only have eyes for brass. You might not like this but I would point out we paid over £500 for the hydrographics for these dives and all but one were un-dived wrecks. We then paid £56 per day for the privilege of transporting a decent boat around to do the gig. This is just not happening in this area. These are wrecks that we are breaking new ground on. No one has been denied seeing these artefacts as no one has been willing to put the effort in to dive these blips and find out if there worth it. Ripping stuff of the Thistlegorm is a crime but I can’t agree with you on this sort of diving. The brass boys put a lot of risk, time effort and money into finding these wrecks and ripping off brass. I do the same so I can experience diving something no one has ever dived before. IMHO Those that take advantage of our efforts and do the dive as a jolly for £30 shouldn’t complain to much about the missing artefacts. To put your mind at rest all artefacts will be reported to ROW. ATB Mark Chase __________________ Is it supposed to make that noise ? I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit. Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt "Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System
(Online)

9th July 2005, 19:36	#7 (permalink)
Pierre Farrugia Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Malta Posts: 636	Quote: (Originally Posted by Mark Chase) ATB Mark Chase Maybe in Malta, we are too spoiled as opposed to UK and would not dive in such conditions About the brass thing better not to comment __________________ Pierre Farrugia My wife told me " If you don't quit diving I'm going to leave you" My reply " God, I'll miss you" www.atlam.org www.divemed.com
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10th July 2005, 18:40	#8 (permalink)
*schford* Despotic Overlord Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: London, UK Posts: 3,674	It was a great day even if the conditions were challenging.... Thanks for inviting me Mark and sorting everything out...It was great to be lazy and follow Mark as he had the job of reelin off and I just crusied behind him with an occasional flash fo the torch in front of him to let him know I was still there! Stuart PS after a weekend in Poole my kit has stopped smelling! We went through a swarm of what looked like mini shrimps - they were on and in everything and stunk to high heaven as they decomposed!
(Offline)

11th July 2005, 13:55	#10 (permalink)
Mark Chase I go down for ages Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kent Posts: 2,564	I could go right off you Barrie Diving Wed and Friday so lets hope some of that heads dover snd Selsea way ATB Mark Chase __________________ Is it supposed to make that noise ? I took my unit to the dive shop and demanded they bolt on every thing that would fit. Join my elite diving teem and get a Tshirt "Doing It Chasey"Hammerhead Eccr Advanced Diving System
(Online)

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