Shot of Chain

February 24^th and 25^th were two rainy windy days. These two days of foul weather caused us to stay in the marina for our dives but lucky for us Divesafe had another project in store for our class, ‘Shot of Chain’. This turned out to be the most enjoyable and challenging project for me thus far in the class. It really forced us to work together as teams and put our newly budding knot skills to the test. The project put forth to us by our instructors was split into three separate steps which took us the better part of two days to complete.

Step one was to run a heavy duty chain approximately 50 feet between two piles in the marina. We needed to keep the chain about one foot above the sea bed and ensure that it was attached tightly. This task sounds simple but getting the chain into position and tight created several problems which the first team had to overcome.

Step two was to rig a foam filled barrel to the chain. We were to achieve this by using a come along and our knot skills to slowly bring the barrel down to the chain. This was a slow and methodical part of the project where we knew one missed knot or step would result in the barrel being released to the surface and the process starting again.

The third and final step was to move the barrel along the chain without allowing the barrel to break the surface. This required us to slowly move the barrel along the chain by using the come along to pull the barrel forward before releasing the previous knot. This proved to be a major challenge to us because, though we knew exactly what to do, releasing a knot under tension can only be done with a round turn and two half hitches. This simple fact only came to us after much trial and error underwater and some guidance from our instructors.

This project made us face problems where the answer was never as clear and simple as we thought when jumping into the water. There were times when we would take a step, or float, back and rethink our strategy. To this end we were all able to complete the project and overcame major critical thinking problems underwater. Though I doubt I will ever have to do this in the real world this project will always be fond memory for me. I mean who gets to do things like this?

Wooden Box Project

Monday and Tuesday (Feb 22, 2010-Feb 23, 2010) of last weeek we started on our wooden box projects in the underwater classroom here at the marina. The project involved taking a sheet of plywood and a length of 2 by 6 lumber to the bottom. From this we were to create an 8"x8"x8" wooden box using only a hand saw, a hammer and 16 nails. The first challenge of this project was rigging the piece of wood in such a way that we could work on them while keeping them on the bottom. Once the wood was secure at the workstation we had cut the pieces to the proper dimensions while making sure that no pieces floated away from us to the surface. Using the hand tools underwater turned out to be harder than we had anticipated but it gave us an idea of how much harder simple tasks can be underwater. The project required that you not only work hard but smart by keeping a clean and organized work station and by planning every move to complete the task. The grading on the project was done on a scale of ten to zero with ten being a perfect box. Points were taken off for nails that were not driven correctly, incorrect dimensions, gaps between the pieces of wood, lost nails, and lost pieces. All of us spent about an hour and a half between the two days in the water working on the project and everyone completed the project successfully!

Welcome To Campbell River

Hello fellow bloggers.

The past two weeks here in Campbell River BC have been full of hard work, excitement and great memories. As one could assume, getting a commercial diving certification is not a common experience. This being the case it makes it that much more fitting that we are living on a house boat two steps from our classroom and diving boat. There are four students in the course, Rob and myself as well as two Canadians named JP and Julian. For the first week we were in the classroom everyday going over dive theory. This week was a difficult week full of anticipation for our first dive. The week went by slowly and we would often pass the time practicing our knots and exploring the beautiful Campbell River.

I think I should spend a minute to try and describe what a beautiful place this is. Campbell River is located about half way up the eastern coast of Vancouver Island on the Passage of Discovery. As I have read in several travel books, Campbell River is the last sizable town on Vancouver Island when heading north. It has been dubbed the “salmon capital of the world” and is a beautiful natural town on the edge of clean untouched wilderness. Each morning, as I look out our window, there is a thick fog over the water. As the sun rises higher into the sky and the fog begins to clear, the outlines of mountains and islands come into view. On the islands across the passage, where we have many dive sites, there are lush evergreens and beautiful houses along the coast. On our first day across the passage we saw well over 12 bald eagles flying around hunting, playing and giving us sights that many never get to see. This place has a great natural feel which makes each day out on the boat exciting. We are constantly turning around to see blue herons flying across the bow of the boat or kingfishers perched waiting for their catch of the day. Sea lions, seals and porpoises will swim around the boat giving us a look over. This is a truly powerful place and I hope that these pictures we post will do it justice.

We are about to begin our third week of school and the blogs to follow will be recaps of the various projects and activities we have had to perform while on surface supplied air.