Two squeek in the Sound of Mull.

[Creepi]

Following our Advanced Nitrox & Deco Procedures course in Lochaline last year Garspeed & I signed up with Paul again for our entry into Trimix.

Following a few chilled classroom sessions we headed to the Sound of Mull last weekend for our Open water dives. Lochaline is a great place for these courses as it has a nice 100m+ wall for shore dives and a dive shop on the doorstep capable of trimix fills, it's just a shame it is 5 hours from home.

There was a little life on the wall - some small spider crabs, sunstars and the like but we were not here for the scenery, if we had been we'd have booked the Sound Diver :-)

The dives were practically event free and as low stress as a course can be thanks to our instructor and our practicing with two stages throughout the winter didn't hurt either.

Our qualification dive was the most relaxed of the weekend and we got a 'PADI style' handshake at the end of our 6m stop which was nice :-).

So we have now joined the 60m club (or for once I'll go Imperial as it sounds better '200 foot club' heh heh ).

Now to get some 50 - 60m range experience under our belts. A trip to Eyemouth beckons and we will definately be back to the Sound of Mull to finally see the bow of the Rondo!

Looking forward to Scapa later this year so we can spend some serious bottom time on the James Barrie - the cause of my initial impetus to start the whole deco training as 9 mins is just not enough for this stunning wreck.

Thanks go to:
* Garspeed for a great weekend and being, as usual, a great buddy so the course dives were comfortable.
* Paul for a hassle/stress free course. As they say pick the instructor not the agency and Paul is fantastic.
* Lochaline Dive Centre for the accomodation, meals and most importantly the trimix fills, thanks to you and your team Mark.

Creepi.

[regthing]

Well done chaps :)

Sounds good. Where is Paul based?

[Garspeed]

As Creepi said above, we have had a pretty crap winter this year but the plus side was lots of time in the local quarry practising shut downs, blobbing off, gas switches etc. The one skill that we didn't expect and therefore didn't practise was Out Of Air with flooded mask. We had to do a fair distance on the bottom at 6m following a line to then find out buddy, accept long hose and clear mask. I was first and it was not pretty ending in me swapping onto my necklaced back up and coughing up sea water whilst clearing my mask. Creepi then showed me the way and I was asked to repeat whilst doing only a short swim. Once this was done successfully I did the full swim and we were good to go.

Apart from the shallow skills sessions, the dives were basically a 40m shake down deco dive, a 50m build up dive, a 60m max depth dive finishing on a mid-50 qualifying dive. For me, 60m is along way down and an even longer way back but the amazing thing was that the following days mid-50 dive felt like a 30m night dive!

A great time, excellent instructor (Paul Haynes - see below) and good buddy.

http://www.haynesmarine.com/

Gar

[IFAIRLEY]

Nice one chaps.

[susanmac]

Well done you two!

[Garspeed]

Thanks but your still not getting our bacon baps on Invincible
Gar

[Garspeed]

Well done chaps :)

Sounds good. Where is Paul based?

Regthing

Paul is based in Stonehaven, near Aberdeen but does alot of his training at Lochaline on the west coast as he has good ties with the owners. Technical training is something he does in between his real job of training special services soldiers from around the world to dive rebreathers and other specialist military kit. Creepi and I can highly recommend him for any technical training but as above, he would need to fit anything between his other engagements.

Cheers
Gar

[regthing]

Regthing

Paul is based in Stonehaven, near Aberdeen but does alot of his training at Lochaline on the west coast as he has good ties with the owners. Technical training is something he does in between his real job of training special services soldiers from around the world to dive rebreathers and other specialist military kit. Creepi and I can highly recommend him for any technical training but as above, he would need to fit anything between his other engagements.

Cheers
Gar

Cheers Gar. Sounds like a good guy to know :)

[chris]

Yeah sounds good and sounds like you guys had a good time.

[Creepi]

Yup a really good time.

Nice to add another tool to the skill set. Opens up a number of new wrecks, allows a bit more time on wrecks already in range and remember a bit more about diving them :)

Had an initial dilemma of whether it was worth going the trimix route before some (possible) future CCR route but in the end felt that if it made those special dives a little clearer then it was worth having the knowledge and the skills to take advantage of it. Then the only decision is if to get trimix for a particular dive :)

Would recommend the course to OC divers as it is nice to know how it feels at the 60m depth and I expect it will also make the 40 - 50m range a little easier as well.

Creepi