SHARKS ALIVE! - GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 4

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - Part 4 – Sharks Alive!

“A shark just chased me out of the water!  I’m thinking there was no genuine threat, but a grey reef shark dropped its pectoral fins, waggled its tail and swam at me at full speed!

I expected it to veer at the last minute, but it didn’t and kept coming until it ran into my strobe arm.

I left the water quite quickly.”

 

 – my notes after diving at ‘Amazing’, Holmes Reef.

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 2

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - Part 2

I'm back from the most amazing dive trip.  The week on Spoilsport went so far beyond what I expected, I'm having trouble grasping the magnificence of it all.

Where to start?  How about a checklist:

• Comfortable boat with everything a diver could want.
• Fantastic crew for whom the word 'No' doesn't exist.
• Awesome bunch of divers from all over the world.
• Perfect weather.

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 1

GREAT BARRIER REEF 2012 - PART 1

It's happening.  Almost two years in the pipeline and now it's here...  I'm en route, in the air, on the way.  The Great Barrier Reef, here I come!

23 months ago (to the day), I turned 40.  My beautiful wife gave me a piece of paper with a coded message.  Crack the code, discover your present.  I admit, I needed some (big) hints, but eventually worked it out...

Dive the Great Barrier Reef on Spoilsport, Mike Ball Dive Expeditions premiere liveaboard!

Now here I am, bound for Cairns...

HOBART’S DERWENT RIVER - WHAT LIES BENEATH

I did a night dive in Hobart's Derwent River, a few night's ago.  This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but the logistics seemed too hard.  When I heard the Tas Uni Dive Club had an event planned, I joined them for this unique opportunity.

For those of you not familiar with the Derwent, it's a victim of industrial pollution.  For many years considered a nasty, toxic place, there's been a great improvement in the health of the estuary in recent years; thanks to an increased community awareness of the environment.

HOBART’S DERWENT RIVER - WHAT LIES BENEATH...

It’s a Tuesday night in Hobart.  The rush hour is over and diners are enjoying their restaurants.  It might be early spring, but it’s still too chilly for many people to be out and about.  Those who are, huddle against the cold, hurrying to their destinations.  Lined up on the end of a wharf are seven divers.  One at a time, they step off, splashing into the river.  The dark waters close over and they disappear from sight.  Underwater lightning surrounds the photographers and bubbles give a clue, but from the surface, their whereabouts is uncertain.

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND – NOW WHAT?

TO INFINITY AND BEYOND – NOW WHAT?

No posts for a while, but plenty going on… in my head, at least:

A couple of months ago, I finished a Trimix course (TRIMIX COURSE - PART 1).  I learned more over that couple of days than I had for years.  It was bloody hard work and by the end, I felt like I really earned my certificate.  But I gained more than just another qualification because somewhere along the way, I rediscovered my passion for diving.

For the last few years, the majority of my diving was in shallow water.  I mostly shore dived to take photos of the pretty fish and reefs.  I did deeper dives, but for a few reasons, I didn’t really push myself.  The result: I was getting stale.

The good news: my diving enthusiasm is more than rekindled – it’s blazing.  The conundrum: what to do next?

TRIMIX COURSE - PART 2

I am a Trimix diver.

Wow, what a course.  Everyone asks me if I had fun… the thing is... I’m not sure I did! 

Although I finished a few days ago, it’s taken me this long to get my head sorted out.  This was easily the most challenging course I’ve ever done, and because of this, the most rewarding.  I thrive on a challenge, so I certainly enjoyed myself, but ‘fun’ never entered into it.

I went into the course expecting to go beyond my comfort zone.  At this level of diving, the course is as much about testing the diver’s mental abilities as physical skills.  Task-loading and simulated problems add to the stress level and test the diver’s ability to cope.  I knew all this, and at times still found myself questioning whether I should be there. 

In many ways, we are our own harshest critics.  It was only when I reminded myself that I did achieve what was asked, that I felt better.

 

DIVE 1 45M TRIMIX 18/35

THE TITANIC AND AVOIDING THE EVIL TWINS

Just seven days to go until the start of my Trimix cert course…  I just realised it will be the day after the 100^th anniversary of Titanic’s sinking.  I’ll use my wreck fascination to interpret this as a good omen!

My spare time is full of revision… gas laws, deco schedules, emergency procedures… oxygen toxicity, nitrogen narcosis, decompression illness…  And the abbreviations: EAD, HPNS, OTU…alphabet soup for divers.  It’s all come back, but it needed work.

I’m planning numerous dive scenarios, considering gas mixes, calculating oxygen exposures and allowing for contingencies.  I usually do all this stuff with a spreadsheet and software, but I find running through longhand brings it to the front of my mind.

I still enjoy ‘playing’ with dive plans, which is a good thing… it’s not unusual for planning of a technical dive to take longer than the dive! 

Warning - the theory that follows is a bit dry…

IDEAL GAS MIX, OXYGEN TOXICITY, EQUIVALENT AIR DEPTH

Avoiding deep-diving’s evil twins, oxygen toxicity and nitrogen narcosis, is the whole point of Trimix.

Why I Do What I Do (Part 2)

In Why I Do What I Do (Part 1) , I talked about how I started and the three things that influence my diving.  I continue that discussion here...

SOLO DIVING

I live close to one of the planet’s best diving regions, Bicheno.  On Tasmania’s east coast, the colours and diversity of the marine life are spectacular and Bicheno is the jewel in the crown.  Despite this, I struggled to find someone to dive with.  Most divers work during the week and dive on weekends.  I like to spend my weekends with my family, who are at school during the week, so I found myself diving on my own.

Why I Do What I Do (Part 1)

When I started diving, I expected more.  Others have spoken of their first breath underwater as life changing.  It didn’t do that for me. 

I grew up on the water.  I sailed dinghies as a kid and later moved into offshore yacht racing.  I’m a decent swimmer and did lots of snorkelling, so the underwater world was known to me.  As a young adult, I started competing in triathlons.