Mod 1 Completed

**Simon TW** · 3rd June 2005, 17:37

Mod 1 complete.

Monday the 30th May. I attended Dales divers at Sedborugh to start the course on the Inspiration with Andy Heyhurst. I have experience of courses with Andy so I knew that it wouldn’t be an easy course but that it would be a good course and that I would learn and that it would stick. I was to be joined on the course by Jason who I had never met before but instantly I took a liking to him.

Our diving couldn’t be more different Jason likes the cold dark world of the Anglesey wrecks while I prefer a coral reef teeming with life. Jason had been waiting longer than I had for his box and we were both very pleased when we got our first look at them.

Theory was the order of the day and I think that we over ran Andy’s timetable quite considerably but that was really the fault of Jason and myself, Andy didn’t seem to mind he was as enthusiastic as we were.

We had a good play with the kit stripping down and rebuilding then preparing for the next day, Capernwray was to be the meeting place.

Tuesday morning was a glorious day the sun was beating down and it was a pleasure to drive up the M6. As usual there was a line of cars waiting so I just joined the rear and waited. The gates opened and I had left my membership card in Egypt but I had a plastic laminated card from the dog groomer in the car and the guy on the gate just took the tenner and glanced at the card so I was in without having to search for my name in their membership list.

Andy arrived with Jason shortly after and we kitted up. This was the first time that I had strapped an Inspiration on and it felt very awkward. I used to diving in different kit and liken it to driving other cars really, but this was a spaceship compared to that.

We entered the water and did the bubble and weight check, all was fine so time to go to the two-metre platform. After bouncing along the bottom I became airborne (waterborne really but you know what I mean) and was quite content for a very short while because we were to settle on our knees. Pick your spot and descend. Not that easy, I overshot the runway and crashed.

When we were kneeling I suddenly got a cramp. I don’t really like kneeling (arthritis) and the dry suit was killing me. Remember I’m a warm water diver; I have less than 30 dives in the cold water. The squeeze was bad but cramp sorted we continued.

A major problem that I encountered was masks. I have in the past had several masks and they all leaked, I then tried a Scubapro that doesn’t leak and is very comfortable. So I bought three of these masks. The problem with the Scubapro mask is it doesn’t really give you a good sight of the Hud so I really had to change.

The second dive at Capernwray was again drills and skills but this time I had a different mask. This meant that the only piece of kit I was familiar with was my fins but at least I could see the Hud albeit through all the water that was constantly filling the mask.

Back at the van when we were disassembling the unit I was a little disheartened but Andy was positive and said that we had done so well that we were to go to Wastwater the following day, the sun was shining and although disappointed in my performance I felt good.

Wednesday morning was a miserable day, the nearer to Wastwater we got the more miserable it became. I sent a text to a friend in Hurghada it read “Wastwater today 30 metre viz and I haven’t left the car yet” It was to continue to rain all day.

Andy had done the modification that I had asked him to do which was to get rid of the clumsy Buddy auto air and put a proper inflate deflate on and a Apeks TX40 for bail out which I bungeed around my neck. I also altered the position of the contents gauges in an attempt to make them easier to see. Andy had brought me another mask to try but it didn’t perform any better.

The first dive in Wastwater was again drills and skills and I knew that I was getting a little happier on the unit. Before the second dive I altered the weighting, removed the head weight and placed it in the pocket on the left to better balance the sidelung. On the second dive I was much happier I had changed the mask back to the trusty old Scubapro and the buoyancy was much better. One of the problems that I encountered with the dry suit is the cuff dump as the wrist mounted computer has two straps and I couldn’t place it anywhere other than one strap either side of the cuff dump therefore restricting the dumping of the suit. As I dive mostly in a wetsuit this won’t normally be a problem. I was using the wing for buoyancy rather than the suit so I just needed to take the squeeze out.

After the day at Wastwater I went to the Stanton Bridge pub for the night and as they didn’t have any single rooms left I had to have a double. They really wanted me to pay for a double but after a little haggling I got a discount. Sixty quid is still expensive for a crappy room though. It was very cold and after diner (just as crap as the room) I went to my room and got in bed to keep warm. It wasn’t even eight and I was asleep.

I woke at five and couldn’t get back to sleep so I started to read the manuals preparing the exam. I met Andy and Jason at the lake and was introduced to Terry who was to be diving with us. It was more drills and skills and we went deeper. I found that the deeper you go the easier it is to use. I was really happy with the set-up and diving the unit. This was the first time that I had felt comfortable and I noticed that you could trick the unit into injecting buy taking a large breath that gave me just enough buoyancy to ascend a little and by exhaling through my nose I could descend a little. Breathing the lungs with different volumes seemed to give a measure of control on the buoyancy side. The one problem I encountered on this dive was the dry suit as I had to put more air in to prevent squeeze and it wouldn’t dump as fast as I needed on assent and the result was floaty feet. As I’m doing my best to rid myself of the air Andy came with a Card to perform another drill. This didn’t go as good as planned but training kicked in autopilot took over.
The last dive was just a dive as all the skills had been completed and we had clocked up about six hours on the unit so we just went and dived.

Now just diving for the pleasure of diving would have been great but Wastwater is a cold dark place with not much to see so it was an underwater fin a round really and gave me practice time. After the dive was finished, Mod 1 was completed. I am now a certified novice. I intend to get some practice as soon as possible and with use I’m sure that my skills will improve. I have explained it to my friends as it’s like learning to ride a motorbike when you can drive a car. You wouldn’t pass your bike test and set off on a trip around Europe. You would ride where you know and keep it simple until your ready for the European trip.

I intend to make one other modification to the unit and that is to enable the right shoulder dump on the wing. This is just a blank at present and I prefer a dump to the inflator hose.

All I have to do now is to clean it, dry it, caress it a little and pack it. Then it’s off to the warm waters of Hurghada to get some time in. No doubt some airline is going to make a mint charging excess baggage. Do you think I could say it’s golf equipment?

***Decodiver*** · 3rd June 2005, 18:09

Well done Simon, welcome to the real Silent World.

Cheers,

Dave Cooper.

ROB DAVIE · 3rd June 2005, 19:40

Simon,
Congratulations! Job well done!!!

Rob

TechBlue · 3rd June 2005, 22:30

Simon,

Congratulations, and welcome to the wonderful world of diving and tweaking breathers.

Chris

3rd June 2005, 17:37	#1 (permalink)
Simon TW Martini Diver Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: May 2005 Location: Hurghada (Egypt) and Lancaster (England) Posts: 159	Mod 1 Completed Mod 1 complete. Monday the 30th May. I attended Dales divers at Sedborugh to start the course on the Inspiration with Andy Heyhurst. I have experience of courses with Andy so I knew that it wouldn’t be an easy course but that it would be a good course and that I would learn and that it would stick. I was to be joined on the course by Jason who I had never met before but instantly I took a liking to him. Our diving couldn’t be more different Jason likes the cold dark world of the Anglesey wrecks while I prefer a coral reef teeming with life. Jason had been waiting longer than I had for his box and we were both very pleased when we got our first look at them. Theory was the order of the day and I think that we over ran Andy’s timetable quite considerably but that was really the fault of Jason and myself, Andy didn’t seem to mind he was as enthusiastic as we were. We had a good play with the kit stripping down and rebuilding then preparing for the next day, Capernwray was to be the meeting place. Tuesday morning was a glorious day the sun was beating down and it was a pleasure to drive up the M6. As usual there was a line of cars waiting so I just joined the rear and waited. The gates opened and I had left my membership card in Egypt but I had a plastic laminated card from the dog groomer in the car and the guy on the gate just took the tenner and glanced at the card so I was in without having to search for my name in their membership list. Andy arrived with Jason shortly after and we kitted up. This was the first time that I had strapped an Inspiration on and it felt very awkward. I used to diving in different kit and liken it to driving other cars really, but this was a spaceship compared to that. We entered the water and did the bubble and weight check, all was fine so time to go to the two-metre platform. After bouncing along the bottom I became airborne (waterborne really but you know what I mean) and was quite content for a very short while because we were to settle on our knees. Pick your spot and descend. Not that easy, I overshot the runway and crashed. When we were kneeling I suddenly got a cramp. I don’t really like kneeling (arthritis) and the dry suit was killing me. Remember I’m a warm water diver; I have less than 30 dives in the cold water. The squeeze was bad but cramp sorted we continued. A major problem that I encountered was masks. I have in the past had several masks and they all leaked, I then tried a Scubapro that doesn’t leak and is very comfortable. So I bought three of these masks. The problem with the Scubapro mask is it doesn’t really give you a good sight of the Hud so I really had to change. The second dive at Capernwray was again drills and skills but this time I had a different mask. This meant that the only piece of kit I was familiar with was my fins but at least I could see the Hud albeit through all the water that was constantly filling the mask. Back at the van when we were disassembling the unit I was a little disheartened but Andy was positive and said that we had done so well that we were to go to Wastwater the following day, the sun was shining and although disappointed in my performance I felt good. Wednesday morning was a miserable day, the nearer to Wastwater we got the more miserable it became. I sent a text to a friend in Hurghada it read “Wastwater today 30 metre viz and I haven’t left the car yet” It was to continue to rain all day. Andy had done the modification that I had asked him to do which was to get rid of the clumsy Buddy auto air and put a proper inflate deflate on and a Apeks TX40 for bail out which I bungeed around my neck. I also altered the position of the contents gauges in an attempt to make them easier to see. Andy had brought me another mask to try but it didn’t perform any better. The first dive in Wastwater was again drills and skills and I knew that I was getting a little happier on the unit. Before the second dive I altered the weighting, removed the head weight and placed it in the pocket on the left to better balance the sidelung. On the second dive I was much happier I had changed the mask back to the trusty old Scubapro and the buoyancy was much better. One of the problems that I encountered with the dry suit is the cuff dump as the wrist mounted computer has two straps and I couldn’t place it anywhere other than one strap either side of the cuff dump therefore restricting the dumping of the suit. As I dive mostly in a wetsuit this won’t normally be a problem. I was using the wing for buoyancy rather than the suit so I just needed to take the squeeze out. After the day at Wastwater I went to the Stanton Bridge pub for the night and as they didn’t have any single rooms left I had to have a double. They really wanted me to pay for a double but after a little haggling I got a discount. Sixty quid is still expensive for a crappy room though. It was very cold and after diner (just as crap as the room) I went to my room and got in bed to keep warm. It wasn’t even eight and I was asleep. I woke at five and couldn’t get back to sleep so I started to read the manuals preparing the exam. I met Andy and Jason at the lake and was introduced to Terry who was to be diving with us. It was more drills and skills and we went deeper. I found that the deeper you go the easier it is to use. I was really happy with the set-up and diving the unit. This was the first time that I had felt comfortable and I noticed that you could trick the unit into injecting buy taking a large breath that gave me just enough buoyancy to ascend a little and by exhaling through my nose I could descend a little. Breathing the lungs with different volumes seemed to give a measure of control on the buoyancy side. The one problem I encountered on this dive was the dry suit as I had to put more air in to prevent squeeze and it wouldn’t dump as fast as I needed on assent and the result was floaty feet. As I’m doing my best to rid myself of the air Andy came with a Card to perform another drill. This didn’t go as good as planned but training kicked in autopilot took over. The last dive was just a dive as all the skills had been completed and we had clocked up about six hours on the unit so we just went and dived. Now just diving for the pleasure of diving would have been great but Wastwater is a cold dark place with not much to see so it was an underwater fin a round really and gave me practice time. After the dive was finished, Mod 1 was completed. I am now a certified novice. I intend to get some practice as soon as possible and with use I’m sure that my skills will improve. I have explained it to my friends as it’s like learning to ride a motorbike when you can drive a car. You wouldn’t pass your bike test and set off on a trip around Europe. You would ride where you know and keep it simple until your ready for the European trip. I intend to make one other modification to the unit and that is to enable the right shoulder dump on the wing. This is just a blank at present and I prefer a dump to the inflator hose. All I have to do now is to clean it, dry it, caress it a little and pack it. Then it’s off to the warm waters of Hurghada to get some time in. No doubt some airline is going to make a mint charging excess baggage. Do you think I could say it’s golf equipment?
(Offline)

3rd June 2005, 18:09	#2 (permalink)
*Decodiver* Administrator Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Geneva Posts: 2,181	Well done Simon, welcome to the *real* Silent World. Cheers, Dave Cooper. __________________ CCR/OC Trimix Instructor Trainer CCR Training to Mixed Gas in Switzerland, France, UK & Germany on Megalodon/COPIS-Megalodon/KISS/Sport KISS/Ouroboros/rEvo/Inspiration/Evolution/Sentinel www.zerogravitydiving.com Rebreather World Terms & Conditions
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3rd June 2005, 19:40	#3 (permalink)
ROB DAVIE Administrator Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: HOUSTON, REPUBLIC OF TEJAS Posts: 1,120	Simon, Congratulations! Job well done!!! Rob __________________ [SIZE=2]"CC Rebreathers will become a viable part of tech diving [U]WHEN PIGS FLY[/U]!!"--GI3[/SIZE]
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3rd June 2005, 22:30	#4 (permalink)
TechBlue RebreatherWorld Sponsor Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Classic Kiss Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Inspiration Vision Evolution Megalodon Optima Other CCR Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Costa del Sol, Spain Posts: 212	Simon, Congratulations, and welcome to the wonderful world of diving and tweaking breathers. Chris __________________ Cheers, Chris www.tech-blue.com The site dedicated to Rebreather and Technical diving "We only sell what we dive"
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