2nd Jan 2008 “You two make us look sane”.

**Freef** · 4th January 2008, 23:32

A lieu day off work and a night diving Wednesday combine to allow me to make the first night dives on the Dolphin at Stoney, where other fun and games will be undertaken if the nutters I am going with are up to form. The site was busier than either Xmas eve or new years eve, allowing Lesley to feel justified in her predictions of there being a crowd, even if she was a few days late in it coming true.

“Jurassic plank” to mark the first dive of the season.

As I was the youngest one in our group at 37, I thought that it would be appropriate to mark the occasion with some dinosaurs glued to a plank of wood that would be left at the gnome garden. Dive one saw Lesley fighting with her kit so she and Malc waved us off for our first dive, Barry being the unlucky one and being lumbered with me. We quickly dropped to 22m and made our way to the gnomes to place the plank. On arrival at the edge of the pit my pO2 was a bit high from the fast descent. With a bypass valve and non standard gasses the pO2 can get quite high on a fast drop into the depths so I waited a while for it to lower after I had turned the supply off. I left my hand on the tap so that any sudden drop would let me switch back on quickly.

The second stop was to be the Cessna ledge the other side of the pit. Barry had volunteered to navigate our way across the deep bit. I alarmed at 1.4 in the pit, an OC level of pO2 so I wasn’t worried about any problems as we went over the bottom to the cliff edge. We missed the cone on the way which is my usual ‘relief’ marker [as in I’m relieved I’m on course] and were about 8m to the North of where I normally end up. We ascended to 19m and found our way over to the Cessna-that-isn’t-a-Cessna.

Rather than swim around the perimeter and clock up the deco I headed off on a bearing of 240 to the barge. I couldn’t remember the exact bearing so took a guess, and I was nearly on target. Looking at my map later showed the barge to be at 230. We had a bit of a swim to the van which is on a bearing of 120 [or follow the bottom of the cliff] as the next stop.

Poor technique adds backscatter to the left side of the picture of the ‘not a Cessna’.

While a bearing of 310 will get you back to the Cessna, heading North will cut out a bit of the swim back, and as we were in deco for the second time [the first time the computers cleared as we ascended to the ledge] and the water was 7C minimising the deco time means we aren’t freezing our bits off any longer than necessary.

The narrowboat lies on a slope of about 30 degrees.

We hit the wall near the rail and started the swim back in a bit of a quandary. To stay deeper meant less of a swim but racked up the deco, to go shallow to offgas means you double the distance back. The compromise was to drift up to 15m, then after a bit go to 12m and then 9m for a minute before heading back at 6m.

We passed by the shop and rescue pontoons at 6m, seeing the tops of the bolts that used to hold rails for some sort of lifting machine that was used in the quarry workings. There are always a lot of fish in this part of the lake and for a while we were escorted by a group of perch, which in turn were being stalked by a pike.

The shop from underneath, with the crane.

Barry was relieved to be on the way back.

Concrete blocks secure the bolts for the top of the old workings.

Further over the edge the perch swim near the inclined rail system.

The good vis we have been enjoying for the last month allowed us to clearly see the box at 13m from 6m as we headed to the step to get out. We had completed the deco we had to do on the swim back over. Although I wasn’t actually in deco, as I was diving with an OC buddy I left my computer on 21% rather than changing it to 27% as I was able to do.

We got out and made our way back to the cars to see Lesley and Malc out after a 35 min dive. Although they had been to the pit Lesley wasn’t feeling comfortable at that depth so they had come back to 22m earlier than planned, shortening the dive by 5-10 minutes.

Back at the car Frank gives me a call, telling me he is bunking of work early and heading over to join us for a dive in the afternoon as well as the night dives, and he would be on site in a couple of hours.

Dive one profile, with yellow triangles to mark the start of deco. Twice.

Deciding to wait for Frank, Barry and I dekitted to our undersuits and had a look for Malc and Lesley, who were nowhere to be found. It turns out they were hiding in the shop to keep warm, but we were in the pub getting a hot chocolate and some food. We had a choice of chips or cheesy chips, and the cheese was 50p! We laze around for a bit until Lesley and Malc, and then Frank found us so we wandered up for another go.

Frank is on for three dives so we have to decide what our objective is for dive two. As usual it is DOTF-decide on what we think is funny. I am taking in my 35mm and digital this dive, so I should be able to capture some idiocy at some point. I am elected dive leader by the ‘toilet democracy’ method and we head down to the bus stop.

Frank’s buoyancy is awful, but all the girls love him.

Once in it is over the edge at the cockpit to get to the anchor chain and the quick way to the Stanegarth where we have a bit of a photo session before I decide Frank should navigate to the APC. On the way we pass all the correct landmarks and come onto the tank in relatively clear water for a change. I then decide that I would like to be able to find the tank from the cliff, so we follow Frank on a heading of 090 to the base of the cliff, noting what is around.

This was supposed to be Titanic, but it ended up like Thunderbirds.

Frank getting vertigo on the APC.

I begin to cut straight to the white van, but Frank is following the cliff bottom and Barry is undecided whom to follow. We pass the van and I pick up a plank for some more action shots of Extreme Seesaws. Barry takes some pictures of Frank and myself before he takes my place and I get some video of the fun and games. We then head up to 6m where Frank an I have a bit of a disagreement and resolve it in a manly fashion by staging a boxing match on the bedstead. Although he was winning for most of the match, Frank was disqualified as he landed a low blow, right below the weightbelt.

Having a look at the boxing ring.

Barry appeared to be suffering a freeflow at this point, but it was actually his laughter at what us idiots were up to. We emerge at the step again, and haul ourselves back to the cars to stow the kit and head to the pub for the 3+ hour break that we will have before we are in again.

Dive two went like this. Not the best profile in the world.

After a bit a happier Lesley and Malcolm join us in the pub where we sit and chat for a bit, and then a bit more, before deciding that we had best get kitted for the night dive. The car park is empty and there are a total of seven night diving today, including the three of us.

Malc and Lesley wave goodbye as we finish kitting up and head in for dive three. I was leading again so we went to the coach and then the 20m box that has migrated to the far side of the coach. Trusting my navigation skills I manage to get us back to the coach without using my compass, and repeat the feat by finding the Stanegarth.

Zebra mussel and fresh water sponge on the Stanegarth’s anchor chain.

We enter through the hole under the wheelhouse and make our way aft. It was getting a little congested towards the rear so I decided to pop up through the main hatch. Amusingly the others were waiting for me by the rear hatch, and I gave Frank a bit of a surprise by already being out of the wreck.

Frank got us so far West we ended up seeing Welsh firefighting signs.

Once we had all got out of the wreck we headed over to the Wessex and then the white van before ascending to the silhouette of the Nautilus, lit from behind by the pub lights.

The scary gnome has moved again. Don’t take your eyes off it. Don’t even blink.

On the slow swim back we bothered the fish for a bit and then emerged into the night where the temperature had dropped rapidly.

Something had taken a bite out of this Perch. I suspect Barry got hungry.

Dive 3, the first of the night dives.

To keep our strength up we ate sausage sarnies followed by lemon curd tarts as we discussed the entertainment when night diving on a rebreather while trying to take photos. We also chatted to the two ladies across the car park who admired out underwater seesaw film and then said that they had a pogo stick race along the 6m ledge. And to think that people worry about me when I go diving.

Dive 4 was a quick swim to Barry’s marker for the blockhouse and then back at 6m. As the others are getting low on air and I have had 2 hours and 6 minutes on the scrubber in cold water the dive is to be a quick sprint along the bottom of the cliff past the white van and then up the wall where we think the blockhouse is before returning home.

Barry was bang on with his marker point and we came up at the blockhouse. We had a slow swim back while Barry took photos as we headed to the West and the exit, passing the pub and sub on the way. I lost Barry for a while, but he was hiding behind the sub. Once back together Frank was flashing for my attention. He had found a pike for Barry, a good spot, and I flashed Barry to get his attention and allow him to take photos of the fish. It was a bit battle scarred and will probably be a bruiser when it reaches full size.

We were soon out of the water and packed up and in the pub for a warmer before heading off. Unfortunately I have to miss the next night dive as I am in the middle of some dental work, but I’ll be back in before too much longer.

Dive 4 profile.

Dive Data:

Dive 1

34.7m
50 min

SI 2 H 51 min

Dive 2

20.7m
40 min

SI 3 H 50 min

Dive 3

21.6m
36 min

SI 2 H 51 min

Dive 4

20.7m
28 min

Temperatures:

Air [arrival] 7C
Water 7C
Air [depart] 4C

4th January 2008, 23:32	#1 (permalink)
Freef Custom Title Disallowed! Current Rebreather/s: Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Dolphin Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Land of the Freef, UK. Posts: 1,356	2nd Jan 2008 “You two make us look sane”. A lieu day off work and a night diving Wednesday combine to allow me to make the first night dives on the Dolphin at Stoney, where other fun and games will be undertaken if the nutters I am going with are up to form. The site was busier than either Xmas eve or new years eve, allowing Lesley to feel justified in her predictions of there being a crowd, even if she was a few days late in it coming true. “Jurassic plank” to mark the first dive of the season. As I was the youngest one in our group at 37, I thought that it would be appropriate to mark the occasion with some dinosaurs glued to a plank of wood that would be left at the gnome garden. Dive one saw Lesley fighting with her kit so she and Malc waved us off for our first dive, Barry being the unlucky one and being lumbered with me. We quickly dropped to 22m and made our way to the gnomes to place the plank. On arrival at the edge of the pit my pO2 was a bit high from the fast descent. With a bypass valve and non standard gasses the pO2 can get quite high on a fast drop into the depths so I waited a while for it to lower after I had turned the supply off. I left my hand on the tap so that any sudden drop would let me switch back on quickly. The second stop was to be the Cessna ledge the other side of the pit. Barry had volunteered to navigate our way across the deep bit. I alarmed at 1.4 in the pit, an OC level of pO2 so I wasn’t worried about any problems as we went over the bottom to the cliff edge. We missed the cone on the way which is my usual ‘relief’ marker [as in I’m relieved I’m on course] and were about 8m to the North of where I normally end up. We ascended to 19m and found our way over to the Cessna-that-isn’t-a-Cessna. Rather than swim around the perimeter and clock up the deco I headed off on a bearing of 240 to the barge. I couldn’t remember the exact bearing so took a guess, and I was nearly on target. Looking at my map later showed the barge to be at 230. We had a bit of a swim to the van which is on a bearing of 120 [or follow the bottom of the cliff] as the next stop. Poor technique adds backscatter to the left side of the picture of the ‘not a Cessna’. While a bearing of 310 will get you back to the Cessna, heading North will cut out a bit of the swim back, and as we were in deco for the second time [the first time the computers cleared as we ascended to the ledge] and the water was 7C minimising the deco time means we aren’t freezing our bits off any longer than necessary. The narrowboat lies on a slope of about 30 degrees. We hit the wall near the rail and started the swim back in a bit of a quandary. To stay deeper meant less of a swim but racked up the deco, to go shallow to offgas means you double the distance back. The compromise was to drift up to 15m, then after a bit go to 12m and then 9m for a minute before heading back at 6m. We passed by the shop and rescue pontoons at 6m, seeing the tops of the bolts that used to hold rails for some sort of lifting machine that was used in the quarry workings. There are always a lot of fish in this part of the lake and for a while we were escorted by a group of perch, which in turn were being stalked by a pike. The shop from underneath, with the crane. Barry was relieved to be on the way back. Concrete blocks secure the bolts for the top of the old workings. Further over the edge the perch swim near the inclined rail system. The good vis we have been enjoying for the last month allowed us to clearly see the box at 13m from 6m as we headed to the step to get out. We had completed the deco we had to do on the swim back over. Although I wasn’t actually in deco, as I was diving with an OC buddy I left my computer on 21% rather than changing it to 27% as I was able to do. We got out and made our way back to the cars to see Lesley and Malc out after a 35 min dive. Although they had been to the pit Lesley wasn’t feeling comfortable at that depth so they had come back to 22m earlier than planned, shortening the dive by 5-10 minutes. Back at the car Frank gives me a call, telling me he is bunking of work early and heading over to join us for a dive in the afternoon as well as the night dives, and he would be on site in a couple of hours. Dive one profile, with yellow triangles to mark the start of deco. Twice. Deciding to wait for Frank, Barry and I dekitted to our undersuits and had a look for Malc and Lesley, who were nowhere to be found. It turns out they were hiding in the shop to keep warm, but we were in the pub getting a hot chocolate and some food. We had a choice of chips or cheesy chips, and the cheese was 50p! We laze around for a bit until Lesley and Malc, and then Frank found us so we wandered up for another go. Frank is on for three dives so we have to decide what our objective is for dive two. As usual it is DOTF-decide on what we think is funny. I am taking in my 35mm and digital this dive, so I should be able to capture some idiocy at some point. I am elected dive leader by the ‘toilet democracy’ method and we head down to the bus stop. Frank’s buoyancy is awful, but all the girls love him. Once in it is over the edge at the cockpit to get to the anchor chain and the quick way to the Stanegarth where we have a bit of a photo session before I decide Frank should navigate to the APC. On the way we pass all the correct landmarks and come onto the tank in relatively clear water for a change. I then decide that I would like to be able to find the tank from the cliff, so we follow Frank on a heading of 090 to the base of the cliff, noting what is around. This was supposed to be Titanic, but it ended up like Thunderbirds. Frank getting vertigo on the APC. I begin to cut straight to the white van, but Frank is following the cliff bottom and Barry is undecided whom to follow. We pass the van and I pick up a plank for some more action shots of Extreme Seesaws. Barry takes some pictures of Frank and myself before he takes my place and I get some video of the fun and games. We then head up to 6m where Frank an I have a bit of a disagreement and resolve it in a manly fashion by staging a boxing match on the bedstead. Although he was winning for most of the match, Frank was disqualified as he landed a low blow, right below the weightbelt. Having a look at the boxing ring. Barry appeared to be suffering a freeflow at this point, but it was actually his laughter at what us idiots were up to. We emerge at the step again, and haul ourselves back to the cars to stow the kit and head to the pub for the 3+ hour break that we will have before we are in again. Dive two went like this. Not the best profile in the world. After a bit a happier Lesley and Malcolm join us in the pub where we sit and chat for a bit, and then a bit more, before deciding that we had best get kitted for the night dive. The car park is empty and there are a total of seven night diving today, including the three of us. Malc and Lesley wave goodbye as we finish kitting up and head in for dive three. I was leading again so we went to the coach and then the 20m box that has migrated to the far side of the coach. Trusting my navigation skills I manage to get us back to the coach without using my compass, and repeat the feat by finding the Stanegarth. Zebra mussel and fresh water sponge on the Stanegarth’s anchor chain. We enter through the hole under the wheelhouse and make our way aft. It was getting a little congested towards the rear so I decided to pop up through the main hatch. Amusingly the others were waiting for me by the rear hatch, and I gave Frank a bit of a surprise by already being out of the wreck. Frank got us so far West we ended up seeing Welsh firefighting signs. Once we had all got out of the wreck we headed over to the Wessex and then the white van before ascending to the silhouette of the Nautilus, lit from behind by the pub lights. The scary gnome has moved again. Don’t take your eyes off it. Don’t even blink. On the slow swim back we bothered the fish for a bit and then emerged into the night where the temperature had dropped rapidly. Something had taken a bite out of this Perch. I suspect Barry got hungry. Dive 3, the first of the night dives. To keep our strength up we ate sausage sarnies followed by lemon curd tarts as we discussed the entertainment when night diving on a rebreather while trying to take photos. We also chatted to the two ladies across the car park who admired out underwater seesaw film and then said that they had a pogo stick race along the 6m ledge. And to think that people worry about me when I go diving. Dive 4 was a quick swim to Barry’s marker for the blockhouse and then back at 6m. As the others are getting low on air and I have had 2 hours and 6 minutes on the scrubber in cold water the dive is to be a quick sprint along the bottom of the cliff past the white van and then up the wall where we think the blockhouse is before returning home. Barry was bang on with his marker point and we came up at the blockhouse. We had a slow swim back while Barry took photos as we headed to the West and the exit, passing the pub and sub on the way. I lost Barry for a while, but he was hiding behind the sub. Once back together Frank was flashing for my attention. He had found a pike for Barry, a good spot, and I flashed Barry to get his attention and allow him to take photos of the fish. It was a bit battle scarred and will probably be a bruiser when it reaches full size. We were soon out of the water and packed up and in the pub for a warmer before heading off. Unfortunately I have to miss the next night dive as I am in the middle of some dental work, but I’ll be back in before too much longer. Dive 4 profile. Dive Data: Dive 1 34.7m 50 min SI 2 H 51 min Dive 2 20.7m 40 min SI 3 H 50 min Dive 3 21.6m 36 min SI 2 H 51 min Dive 4 20.7m 28 min Temperatures: Air [arrival] 7C Water 7C Air [depart] 4C __________________ David. Currently owner of two differently sized ankles.
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