The Bluebird Project

I suppose that there is nothing to stop a reckless and over confident individual obtaining their Open Water certification and, with eight or nine dives in their logbook, buying a tank and a regulator and going straight out and getting themselves into a situation which they can't handle.....

I did the support diver work on a deep exped one time (172m to seabed) and I was given two divers whose job it was to look after the deco station and stage a couple of extra bottles. This involved diving to 12m max and as one of them was a fully certified PADI instructor dive leader rescue and whatever other tickets he'd acquired, I had no worries about him. That was until he went over the side in full deep water rig, found himself over-weighted and descended into total, unreasoned panic. He was sinking and would undoubtedly have died but for my deck-hand gaffing him with a boat hook. We pulled him alongside, threw a loop around his manifold and left him dangling from a cleat until he calmed down. It was later that I learned he'd got all his tickets with the minimum number of dives and actually couldn't dive at all.
We had to go for fuel soon after and he got off the boat with his mate never to return.
When we got back to the dive site we discovered that the girlfriend of one of the bottom divers (now 150m below the surface on the wreck) had volunteered to do support so she went over the wall but without checking what was in the cylinder she'd picked up, which turned out to be a trimix that was unbreathable at the surface. She went hypoxic, lost consciousness very rapidly and became the second casualty to be gaffed that day by my deck-hand. This one was more serious and had to be resuscitated then rushed to hospital where, thankfully, she made a full recovery. Those two very nearly did pay and die immediately, and neither went more than a few feet below the surface.

I did a quick Google on it so I could supply a link but only found discussions on various fora but one astonishing finding is that the dope who panicked and had to be pulled crying like a baby out of the sea later claimed to have actually dived the wreck!

Yeh-I'll stick to BSAC i think!-not that I can do much diving nowadays-just the occasional Lobbie from Ailsa Craig and scallops from Wemyss bay-ach-now I'm hungry!

slightly off topic but maybe you guys can help.

The old man is a dive instructor at the local dive school. I've pretty much taken no interest in it as its really not my thing at all but its coming up to a significant birthday in 2 weeks and I'm looking for a present for him. can anyone recommend a gift, up to about £50 which is diving related.

thanks

Must have item for any self-respecting diver...

http://www.foulmouthshirts.com/New-shir ... -shirt.htm

Renegadenemo wrote:Must have item for any self-respecting diver...

http://www.foulmouthshirts.com/New-shir ... -shirt.htm

Missed that opportunity, with my dad just retiring his fins this year, bet he would have loved that t-shirt for the pub.

Well what did I expect when i clicked on the link! Excellent
Novie

On a semi serious note.... What type of diver is he, other than the stated type on the T shirts ?

Is he PADI new school, take only pictures leave only bubbles, or is he an old Pirate salty sea dog like Bill ?

Mixed gas ? air diver ?

Granted you say he is an instructor.

How about some new slates ? new knife ? New mask ? (Latter is best if he is there)

Gear gulper, gloves usually get worn out quickly, new rash vest, fins ? Lift bags, DSMB,

Richie wrote:On a semi serious note.... What type of diver is he, other than the stated type on the T shirts ?

Is he PADI new school, take only pictures leave only bubbles, or is he an old Pirate salty sea dog like Bill ?

Mixed gas ? air diver ?

Granted you say he is an instructor.

How about some new slates ? new knife ? New mask ? (Latter is best if he is there)

Gear gulper, gloves usually get worn out quickly, new rash vest, fins ? Lift bags, DSMB,

thanks Richie. PADI 'new school' I assume. Gas I have no idea.

This wreaks of Dave Shaw....except the rescuers actually managed to survive and surface.

Cave diving has never appealed to me, swimming through silty boggy feted caves to look at pretty walls ?

The furthest I will go if my ears and sinuses get fixed (project underway) will be to move onto a breather, you can keep your caves thanks all the same.

I saw some other footage of a group doing film work for natural history when one of the divers became CO2 retentive, he had not packed his scrubber correctly re using old sofnolime and got into difficulties, luckily not at any major depth or in an overhead environment.

Dangerous lark this diving !

I have my doubts..... Small motor boat, and look at the size of that anchor !