OCC Dive School - Feb-March, 2010

The Last Day

2010-03-26T08:37:00.000-07:00

For all of my blogs thus far I have spoke about things that we had already done but today I will write about what we will be doing. Today will be our final day of diving. Since we will be flying out tomorrow afternoon we will only be diving for half of the day and will only be getting one dive in. We are scheduled to head out to Q Cove to dive a wreck site. This is a sad day because, though we are excited to be getting home, we just got to spend the past six weeks diving nearly everyday on great dive sites. We got to build wood boxes, put together pipe flanges, climb inside sunken Destroyers and generally have a lifetime experience diving.

Let us look on the bright side though, we are certified divers! We know a lot of knots! We got to see lots of cool animals everyday! We got to eat great fish and chips! We had fun!

*To all you at OCC, we will see you on Monday.

Underwater Dredging

2010-03-24T06:53:00.000-07:00

My last official project as a student was underwater dredging. Divesafe has a custom made low power underwater dredger which uses compressed air from their low pressure compressor to create a siphon. With this siphon one can dig trenches, search for lost or buried items, clean out fish pens or a variety of other underwater applications. For our diving operation we needed two divers to operate this dredger. One diver would be maneuvering the underwater dredger and the other diver would be holding down the top of the siphon so that it would not be directly perpendicular with the seabed. This was necessary because if the siphon was perpendicular all the silt and gravel it was pulling up would come showering straight down on top of us.

Our mission was to search for anything of value. I was able to find a calculator and a pair of safety goggles. It is amusing those things someone might find useless and just throw into the ocean becomes a ‘find’ when found underwater. This was a really enjoyable project and I could have stayed under for hours searching my locker (Davie Jones’ Locker).

Blacked Out Knots

2010-03-20T18:23:00.000-07:00

This project, like the blacked out flange tree project, was a way of testing our knowledge of knots and knot tieing in a no visibility underwater situation. Divers are often required to rig things for lifting underwater so having a working knowledge of rigging is nessecary to complete lifts in a safe manner. To ensure that we have gained this level of knowledge the instructors once again covered the face plate of the helmet with duct tape and sent us to the bottom to tie 10 knots that they felt we should know. We were required to tie a reef knot, single and double sheet bend, clove hitch, rolling hitch, round turn and two half hitches, bowline, bowline on a bite, figure eight, and a figure eight with an eye.

Blacked Out Flange Tree

2010-03-20T17:01:00.000-07:00

The clear water around Campbell River provides for some excellent visibility which can be great but unrealistic. Most of the working dives in our careers as divers will be performed in little to no visibility so the instructors set up projects that mimic working with no visibility. For the blacked out flange tree project the object was to put five pieces of pipe together underwater with duct tape covering the face plate of the helmet. While one diver worked on the project blacked out the other diver would observe with a camera so topside could see what was going on and act as a standby if something went wrong with the diver who couldn't see. The various pipe sections were lowered from the boat on a crane and the diver would have to direct the piece into place and bolt it down with a gasket between each piece. For added difficulty the divers were given just enough bolts, nuts and washers to complete the project and some of the bolts were different sizes meaning that they had to be placed in the right section. The project was completed with all divers taking turns working on the project so it was a big team effort.

DEEP DIVES

2010-03-19T07:06:00.000-07:00

As a requirement to get our certification it is necessary for each of us to perform at least one dive in the hat to 100 feet. When going deep it becomes much more important to control buoyancy and have clear communication and planning with topside. When descending to a depth of 100 feet it is imperative to periodically inflate air into the drysuit. As each of us felt, the suit squeeze at 30 feet was much different than 100 feet and if you do not inflate your suit during the descent it will be nearly impossible to move your arms or legs at 100 feet.

For our dives we dropped straight down to nearly 100 feet to a rocky flat. From there we were free to look around and watch the fish. There was what seemed to be a wench from a small tug boat on the seabed and lots of rockfish. Going deep is always a heart pumping experience and I think it is important to learn how to safely push yourself to gain more trust your skills and abilities.

Side Note: Divesafe has uploaded a bunch of pictures from our class. Follow this link if you would like to see: http://www.divesafe.com/photo_gallery.php?gallery_id=43

Emergency Situations

2010-03-18T06:46:00.000-07:00

Divers never want to be in an emergency situation but because of the fact that we are underwater and in unknown surrounding we are constantly surrounded by dangers. Even if we know where dangers are located there can always be another unknown danger underwater or something topside can happen which could put the diver at risk. All these things require us to be vigilant with our safety and emergency training.

It is nearly impossible to recreate an emergency situation. That is the emotions, surprise and adrenaline that would be present in a true emergency, but practicing for an emergency, no matter how different, does make us more prepared. For our exercises in the marina we would have one diver go down and entangle his umbilical before calling up with a mock situation. The diver could say he had injured himself, or he was getting a headache and the air tasted bad, he cracked his mask or even say nothing, like he was blacked out. At this point the rack operator would, depending on the situation, attempt further communications with the diver then jump the standby diver. Regulations in British Columbia Canada state that the standby diver needs to be able to be in the water within one minute. This was our challenge each emergency drill. It was difficult but each of us got three tries in each position; the rack operator, standby diver, standby tender and injured diver.

These types of drills are important to experience and practice, they keep us focused and aware. As with any profession with danger complacency is the factor that will take an emergency situation and turn it into a deadly situation.

The Daily Routine

2010-03-17T06:56:00.000-07:00

We are now in our 5^th week of class and everything is beginning to fall into place. Each day our diving operations are running smoother and faster. Setting up the boat, dressing in the diver and breaking down after the day are all becoming second nature to each of us in the class. I will duly note that this does not mean we are becoming complacent with our duties on the boat but rather that we are becoming aware and comfortable of what is expected of us.

At the beginning of the day the instructors select one person to act as the dive supervisor. The dive supervisor will then ensure that all the checklists are completed and that we are ready do begin diving before we leave the marina. These checklists include one checklist for each helmet that we will be using and a surface supplied air checklist. The helmet checklists include visual inspections of the helmet as well as setup procedures. The surface supply checklist includes checks and setup procedures for primary and secondary air, the rack manifold, safety harnesses and includes redundant checks for the helmets. This procedure forces us to always have clear communications on the boat as well as ensure that no one person can fall into a routine of performing the same tasks each day.

At the end of the day we all break down the boat storing some of the equipment on the boat as well as brining in the oxygen tanks, helmets and tools from the days projects. At this point the dive supervisor need to ensure that the boat has been properly broken down then the supervisor will need to check each helmet used during the day. The supervisor alone will go over a final checklist cleaning and checking over the helmets before filling out their dive logs. As with everything we do on the boat safety, teamwork and communication are always first on the checklist.

The Story of Pogo Ogo

2010-03-16T08:00:00.001-07:00

Pogo Ogo is the sea monster of Queen Charlotte Sound. Chased here from Alaska by Chinese whale hunters Pogo Ogo has a harpoon shaped mark on its back from the hunters. Pogo Ogo came to Queen Charlotte Sound because of the plentiful amount of fish and clean water.

The natives never knew what Pogo Ogo was and were frightened by it until one faithful day. On that day two native boys went out on their canoe to fish during rough weather. The sea got so rough that their canoe overturned throwing the two boys into the freezing water. Pogo Ogo saw what was going on and came up to the surface. Though initially frightened by the monster the boys quickly realized that Pogo Ogo was coming to help and they grabbed onto his back. Pogo Ogo brought them to a rocky ridge on the coast, saving them. This ridge is called “Po-Oh Ridge”.

Now the natives say that Pogo Ogo is a part of their family, a protector. When on or near the water a tell tail sign of Pogo Ogo is two humps in the water, often mistaken by a log with two humps.

*This story was told to me by a local on the boat.

Pipe Puzzle

2010-03-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Working in teams of two we were charged with putting together a ‘pipe puzzle’. When we reached to seabed we found a bucket filled with the pipe pieces, 2 wrenches and Teflon tape. The assembled pipe was supposed to be a square with one side having a T piece with an inflator nipple, which allowed our instructors to pressure test our pipes at the surface for leaks. The side opposite the T piece was supposed to have a coupling which would allow for the pieces to be tightened and assembled correctly. The two adjacent sides were matching long pipe pieces.

The most difficult part of this project was making sure the pieces came together correctly. Since the t and the coupling were different sizes the 4 pipe pieces given for those two sides were all different sizes. This made it so that there was only one correct way to assemble the pipe where the coupling would close correctly. I think all the teams ran into the problem of not having the coupling be able to close, which I can say from experience, was a frustrating moment underwater.

This was a fun project to do and though any one of us would have been able to put the pipe together at the surface in under 30 minutes underwater it took quite a bit longer.

A Word About Helmets

2010-03-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

Here at Dive Safe we have had the opportunity to dive an array of hardhats and bandmasks. So far in the class we have been able to jump a Kirby Morgan SL17K, a Gorsky, the infamous Desco and a Kirby Morgan Bandmask 28. In addition to these we are still looking forward to getting into an exo and an aga.

This past week we had the chance to dismantle and reassemble the SL17K. This was something I had been looking forward to for the whole class. Everyday that we jump with these helmets we trust our lives to the equipment. To finally take the helmet apart and see, not read, how they work gave me more confidence in the gear I will be using.

Deep Projects (March 3rd-4th)

2010-03-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

As we moved away from the marina and into deeper waters we could feel that our instructors were beginning to trust us more or at the very least they had the trust that we weren’t complete neophytes to the diving world. With the deep project we were faced with more complicated dives. The complications came from the fact that we were limited in our bottom times to about 15 minutes and we would have to balance that with our surface intervals to maximize our bottom work time.

Our project was to attach a lift barrel to a steel gangway sitting in about 80 feet of water. To maximize our working ability we staggered our divers which gave us at least one diver at the site at all times. Even with this strategy pulling a lift barrel down about 75 feet is a time consuming and difficult task.

It was obvious that this project went much smoother for each of us. We are beginning to become more comfortable with our communications between diver, tender and rack operator. As a result the dives are going much smoother. We can all feel that our upcoming projects are going to become more difficult, interesting and exciting.

Line Pull Signals

2010-03-10T23:17:00.001-08:00

Today (Feb 26, 2010) we went to a new dive site to practice line pull signals. The depth at the site was 33' and sea bed was wide and flat which was perfect for running search patterns. The point of this exercise was to familiarize us with the US Navy line pull signals in case of lost electronic communications. As soon as we hit the water we were on line pull signals which is a means of communication between the diver and his tender via pulling on the diver's umbilical. The diver's started the exercise by running a widening arc pattern on the bottom as directed by their tenders. Once the instructors were confident that the diver's were following the line pull signals correctly and making good arcs they started throwing small weights into the water all around the boat for them to find. It was a good exercise and each diver got quite a bit of bottom time to practice the signals. David Jones even got to spook a Blue Herring off of its perch by coming up beneath it at the direction of his tender.

HMCS Columbia

2010-03-10T08:26:00.000-08:00

This day of diving can only be described as a day that was meant to be. Monday March 1^st was supposed to be a classroom day but because of some scheduling problems it was decided that we would head out to dive. Since we did not find this out until late in the morning our departure from the docks was delayed about an hour.

This delay turned out to be exactly the kind of blind luck we needed because as we made our way to the dive site we saw a pod of killer whales. This was not a common sight here in Campbell River at this time of year and even our instructor didn’t believe his eyes when Rob first spotted them. The pod of killer whales was a sight. I didn’t know whether to snap pictures or just sit and watch. They were huge and majestic. It was a great start to our dive day.

Our dive sight for the day was the HMCS Columbia, which was a decommissioned WWII Canadian Destroyer which was sunk in the 90’s to create an artificial reef. We completed two deep dives on the Columbia and it was spectacular. The dive plan was to first dive down to the tower which stood at around 50 feet to get our bearings. Once on the tower we would proceed down to the deck and move to the bow, at around 90 feet, or the stern, at around 80 feet. Climbing around the Columbia was a lot of fun and I was overcome by a feeling like I was walking on the moon or in a dream. Seeing the turrets of a destroyer underwater and up close was great and I could not help to imagine this turret firing on a German U-Boat in the Atlantic. While moving around the destroyer we kept our eyes open for entry points because our next trip to the HMCS Columbia will be a penetration dive.

Shot of Chain

2010-03-03T07:04:00.001-08:00

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

2010-03-02T23:12:00.001-08:00

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

2010-02-28T16:39:00.000-08:00

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.