Jill Heinerth recently returned from the UK after making a series of talks that included spreading a water literacy message through her We Are Water Project. Heinerth spoke at numerous diving clubs and venues and also a group at Portsmouth IBM called Connecting Women. Jill’s trip was sponsored by Suunto UK who have been incredibly supportive of the We Are Water Project. Shown here: The Suunto UK Team and supporters from the inland dive site Wraysbury Dive Center.
On July 7, 2015 Jill Heinerth had the opportunity to assist in the documentation of the recovery and delivery to provincial conservators of the sextant from the WWII shipwreck SS Rose Castle. The Rose Castle was sunk on November 2nd, 1942 by a German U-Boat that was attempting to disrupt the supply of high grade iron ore coming from Bell Island, Newfoundland, Canada. The event also marks the only time a torpedo struck land in what is now Canadian soil. 28 crew were lost, but many were saved by citizens of the island. The sextant was discovered by diver Luc Michel…
Shirley Kasser wrote and excellent blog post on the realities of pee valves for women. Read here.
Q. A reader asked for recommendations regarding a typical weekend of diving. If he dives two hours on Saturday, is it fine to dive the same canister on Sunday for two more hours? A. The answer is not exactly black and white. If you look at the PRISM2 Assembly and Operational Checklists, they clearly state the tested duration of the scrubber. It reads: “Maximum Scrubber Duration: 240 min (0.5% SEV CO2) using 6-12 @ 40 °F/4.4 °C, 1.35 slpm CO2, 40 lpm RMV, 60 fsw/28 msw” Operational Checklist If you dive deeper, colder or in more strenuous conditions, the duration of…
I carry a tiny handheld Light and Motion Sola Tech600 for my primary light while technical diving. I love being unencumbered. No cord. No canister. Lightweight for travel. Some of my diving colleagues have asked about whether such a small light can have adequate runtime for two serious cave or technical dives in a day. The answer is unequivocally, “yes!” The Sola Tech600 offers up a robust nine hours maximum burn time. Better yet, you can easily monitor the remaining capacity as you dive. This feature alone provides an unprecedented advantage over other lights. It acts as a fuel gauge,…
Q. Can you use nitrox in your diluent tank? Yes. When working on a Hollywood set that was 15 feet deep, I actually filled both the oxygen and diluent tanks with oxygen. It prevented a lot of potential issues the actors could have experienced. But let’s consider the best recipe for diluent. First, it must be breathable at your planned maximum depth. Ideally, it should NOT match the PO2 of planned setpoint for maximum depth. You need your diluent to serve several purposes. Safe open circuit bailout Diluent flush to confirm sensors – you want to see some movement when…
After disinfecting your counterlungs, there is often a pool of water left behind. Here is a tip for drying the inside of the counterlungs. Take a rectangular piece of chamois material and cut it like the pattern in the picture. You will end up with a really long strip of absorbent fabric. Now you can slip the chamois inside the countering and leave a tail hanging out the end. Hang it up overnight and the chamois will absorb all the remaining water.
A few years ago, I completed a Motorcycle Safety Class and was struck by the similarities to training rebreather divers. It was really good to be a student instead of an instructor for a change. It’s one of those experiences that reminds you what performance pressure feels like and reinforces the qualities of good instruction. I have to say that I am accustomed to thriving and performing well in new learning situations. However, I has absolutely no background in motorcycles and started off at the bottom of the heap amongst my fellow students. Everything was new. I was pleased to be…
Question: You are swimming along the deck of your favorite wreck. For some reason your PO2 is dropping, causing frequent oxygen injections to catch up to your stepping. You keep dumping gas. What’s going on? Answer: It is possible that you have a leak in your ADV that is causing small amounts of gas to sneak into the counterlung. If your rebreather has a manual diluent injection button, that could also be leaking. Failures always require you to abort the dive, but you can diagnose the problem on the dive boat by removing and replacing the diluent connections to the counterlung or ADV…
Technical diver Gareth Lock focuses his attention on how human factors affect sport diving accidents. He has created an invaluable resource for CCR Divers with countless contributions to understanding human error in safety. Lock serves in the Royal Ari Force and often correlates his experience as a tactical flight instructor to application in diving. His company Cognitas Incident Management and Research also manages the Diving Incident Safety Management System (DISMS) which is an open, transparent, detailed, and importantly, confidential reporting system for sport divers irrespective of their preferred training agency or method of diving. Ultimately, the idea is to improve diver and diving safety through…