Sports Diver!

Well last weekend Frances and I returned to Stoney, me having my membership/ID In Emergency Type Thing Card and did a further 4 dives to help me complete my Sports Diver qualification.

The first two dives went no deeper than 22m, doing compass work and deploying the DSMB (Delayed Surface Marker Buoy) from a depth of 22m. On the second dive we delayed the SMB a bit too fast and the winch on the winder snapped in half, meaning reeling it back in was difficult.

For the third and fourth dives we were joined by a man from Frances BSAC dive club in Nottingham, so I could do my rescue work and Frances could watch easier.

The third dive was a dive I planned myself, going from the edge of the water on a bearing of 200 degrees until I found the 6m shelf edge, dropping down to 22m and onwards to the Wessex, a helicopter. My dive plan surfaced now, but we had loads of time and air left so carried on a wander looking at the perch and the freshwater sponges on the cliff edge, found somewhere to deploy the SMB and ascended, stopping to look at a crawfish "nest" under the pub.

The 4th dive descended near the emergency boat jetty and followed the track road down to 25m. This is the deepest I have been so far and I realised just how much darker it gets very quickly. It didn't help the viz down there was no more than 2m because of an algae bloom nearer the surface. We followed the edge up again to the 22m shelf and then over to the School Bus for a quick play about inside. Because I've never really been inside anything wreckwise yet it took a short while to realise how big (or small) some gaps are and how much room the equipment on my back takes up! We continued over towards the Stanegarth for a bit more exploration and then (eventually, after a long and air consuming detour causing me to end up breathing from Frances' pony regulator) finding out way back to the surface and doing our rescue ascent.

With most of my BSAC logs signed off now, all I need now is to go back and have Rob (DO in the Club) stamp and sign my book and I am officially a Sports Diver! Though I will need to buy some more equipment - luckily it shouldn't be too expensive!