Westwinds Intro - Canadian CCR Diver

Westwinds

Preface:
Up to now I have been very low key on Rebreather World (and other discussion boards). This is primarily due to a respect for my personal privacy. This would explain why it has taken me almost a year to introduce myself and add more information to my profile. Irrespective,

Short Bio:
Living Canada, I dive out of the Greater Toronto Area in the province of Ontario. I have been diving and teaching from new divers to dive leaders for over 10 years. My dive experience is primarily cold fresh water diving on the shipwrecks in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. As Rebreather diver I have booked trips to the Grand Cayman Islands for Innerspace 2006 and in Truk Lagoon for 2007.

Short history of my entry to CCR Diving:
My CCR experiences started with a dive store information night regarding Rebreathers held by Rebreather World member ‘Kozmik’. He came by the local dive store one evening where he spoke about the advantages and disadvantages to rebreather diving and compared his experiences with double tanks vs. Rebreathers while shooting feature films and television productions. Three things struck an accord with me regarding Rebreathers:

1. The complete setup was approximately half of weight of a double tank setup (great for a small stature guy like me). I wasn't concerned about getting the setup in and out of the water; I’m strong enough for that. I was concerned about lifting the system in and out of the car and to and from the dive store. It just seemed back breaking and unnecessary. I love carrying in my 'double 13s' to the dive store now. Refills are so inexpensive.
2. Rebreather divers could get closer to marine life. As an aspiring digital still photographer, this was good news.
3. The time and gas efficiency advantages the constant PPO2 diving could provide became very attractive. At the time, I was not interested in deep diving or Trimix diving but have since started to look at the next courses.

At the end of the presentation a number divers took his system in the pool for a trial. From that day forward I tried to read as much as I could about Rebreathers. I also tried to wade my way through the myriad of biased opinions and manufacturer marketing hype to determine which unit was best for me and my kind of diving.

Rebreather choice: Evolution.
After about a year of research, discussions with other CCR divers and other rebreather trials, I chose the Inspiration and placed a deposit with Mike Fowler at Silent Diving Systems (SDS). Mike was confident that we would like the Evolution (based on our discussions) so he placed us on the waiting list. My buddy and I signed up for training on the SDS Soccoro Islands live aboard trip in January 2005. My buddy and I We were fortunate to have the late Cliff Simoneau (from SDS) on board with two pre-production Evolutions to try. We dove the units and instantly decided to purchase. The trim was better (than the inspirations we were being trained on), and the size was great. We also enjoyed the additional features that were integrated on the new system. While on board Cliff took trained us on the vision electronics and other differences between the systems. Other reasons for my Evolution decision:

1. For me, it was also the small size which made the unit great for my body size and general mobility.
2. It was light weight compared to the 100+ lbs double tank setups my buddies were dragging around.
3. The dive circle I was joining was predominately Inspiration divers. Similar setups and experience with the yellow box proved to be very helpful. They also came with a ready made spare parts kit and specialty tools (great for a new rebreather diver with no money left. Currently there 2 other classic inspiration divers have purchased Evolutions.
4. The North American distributor is located in Canada and only about a 4 hour drive from Toronto. This had many advantages.

Discussion Board philosophy:
As with many things, there are many great rebreather systems (just as there are great cars, computers, instructors and political leaders) out there. I don’t subscribe to the one item is best for everyone philosophy. In my opinion, an educated consumer is the best consumer. They make their own decisions based on the information available at the time. Resources like Rebreather World are a great place to get information. I find that most of the members of Rebreather World have their ego in check and attitudes inline with current best practices. People are free to express non-conventional ideas without the risk of being flamed or ridiculed. Many members take a moment to consider a different point of view then reply appropriately. I haven’t found this culture on other scuba related boards.

If / when asked about Rebreathers I have a healthy knowledge of many units on the market and can assist people with getting useful information from reputable sources. Once educated, they make their own decision based on what is right for them.

This is the long and short of it. The best way to contact me is through the Private Message service on this board. I surf through weekly (if not more).

Westwinds.

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Located in Canada

Westwinds

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Located in Canada

ROB DAVIE

Westwinds,

Welcome to you on your public arrival on Rebreather World. I am glad that the thing you like most about this Board is its friendly atmosphere. We worked hard to establish that from the start, and our members have definitely taken a shine to it!

We have, as you have noted, a great group of people here who are pilots, builders, and manufacturers of just about every known type of rebreather, and some that are not known. They all are friendly and willing to share information, and that is what makes this board such a great resource.

I am glad that you chose the Inspiration, and got a chance to meet my friends Cliff and Mike. I liked Cliff a lot, and miss him. I like Mike a lot as well. He is a good man, and I would dive with him and be happy to learn from him anytime.

Again, welcome aboard. Dive in and don't be shy!!

Rob Davie
Rebreather World Admin

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[SIZE=2]"CC Rebreathers will become a viable part of tech diving [U]WHEN PIGS FLY[/U]!!"--GI3[/SIZE]

MAD

Westwinds...

Welcome on board.

Stunning picture of the stern of the wooden wreck... excellent... not used to that sort of visability.

If I'm ever in the region... and I sometimes travel a bit with work, you'll have to let me know where that is...

Anyway, excellent intro and glad to see that you've decided to join in.

Cheers Bud,

Mark

Deep Thought

Westwinds

Welcome and glad to have you post. Great shot of the stern! Would enjoy some more post of other wrecks, or your favorite wrecks in the Great Lakes.

deep thought

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Creature Of Habits; Mostly Bad

www.gudcscuba.com

Westwinds

This stren section belongs to the wreck of the Forest City. The image was taken by Warren Lo using a housed digital SLR camera, wide angle lens with a dome port lens and dual 125 Ikelite strobes approximately 3 feet to either side of the camera. His work is featured on his website www.warrenlophotography.com.

I put down my camera this year to focus on learning the CCR.



The Forest City

WRECK INFO - Courtesy of Warren Lo Photography:
Ship Type: 3 Masted Schooner converted to steamer
Lifespan: Built 1870, Sunk 1904
Length: 213ft
Depths: 60ft to 150ft
Location: Tobermory, Ontario
GPS: N45 18.909 W081 33.422

This wreck lies just off the north east shore of Bear's Rump Island, outside of the harbour at Tobermory. The Forest City is one of the deeper wrecks in Tobermory. The wreck lies at an angle on a slope, with it's bow at about 60 feet, and it's stern in deeper waters down at 150 feet. As such, it is typically considered and advanced to a technical dive. A 3 masted schooner, it was originally launched in Cleveland in 1870 and subsequently converted to a steamer. In June of 1904, it struck the island going full steam while in dense fog. The wreck is fairly intact as it lies in relatively deep water. The boilers are at about 120 feet, with the railing near 140 feet.

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Located in Canada

schford

Wow - thats what I call a comprehensive intro and a stunning wreck shot!

Did you do a course or did it just come naturally as it were.

At the moment we have the toys - a Canon D20 and an Aquatica housing and big asse DS 125 strobes but umm no clue

Stuart

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Bailout and Kit Management account for Murphy's Law

The only bad question is one you did not ask and later wish you had.

Use of Rebreather World is subject to the Rebreather World Terms & Conditions of Use

Westwinds

M buddy and I were certfied onbaord the Nautilus Explorer during the SDS trip to Socorro Islands last January. The surge was insane but we persisted and was awarded a cert for the Inspiration and Evolution.

I'm not sure I'm smart enough or dumb enough to try it on my own.

As for Cameras, I purchased a rebreather this year instead of upgrading to a digital SLR camera. I currently shoot with a Canon G5 with an Inon wide angle lens and dual 125's set about 2.5 feet from the camera.

Here are a few pictures from years gone by.











The last one is a shot of Toronto taken from the CN Tower. (Actually 5 picutres merged together)

Westwinds.

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Located in Canada

decoweenie

Huhmmm, I think Stuart meant to ask about your wreck shot...

Someone charged you for the Evo certification after already being trained on the Insp ?

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"...after a while you get bored offering advice to a bull that like to keep butting the fence with its head rather than walking through the open gate..."

- Rebreather World PM

Westwinds

Quote: (Originally Posted by decoweenie)

Someone charged you for the Evo certification after already being trained on the Insp ?

Decoweenie,

I think you are reading too much into my original post. Although not stated, I was not charged for the Evolution certification. Cliff provided the additional education on the vision electronics and design differences in conjunction with the Inspiration training for free. All said and done we took about 3 hours to complete the process.

In addition to a hands on break down and rebuild of the Evolution, Cliff used a 39 slide powerpoint presentation to cover the following topics:

• Basic layout
• Statis lung loading charts
• Weight intergrated harness or BCD options
• Work of breathing charts
• Vision Electronics overview
• Dual O2 Controllers
• Intelligent battery system
• Automatic switch on
• PO2 Monitoring
• Suppressible warnings
• Auto setpoint switch
• Oxygen cells (differences + testing)
• Heads up display (construction and operation)
• Open circuit oxygen warnings
• Wrist mounted display (Features and operation)
• Evolution options
• APD Communicator
• APD logviewer

I know many instructors who would have charged hundreds of dollars for this but Cilff did not.

Westwinds.

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Located in Canada