A night in the pool

Following our GUE Fundamentals part one course in Northland I have been back in the pool working on skills with students.

Philippe and I joined a pool session courtesy of Global dive to have another investigation into trim, buoyancy and basic skills. over the two hour session we focused heavily on positioning and segmentation of skills in order to build a solid foundation on which to further develop.

Philippe like most keen divers has a great desire to succeed in skilled tasks but the reality is that skills mean nothing kneeling on the ground! you have to perform them whilst holding position and neutrally buoyant. This is the biggest shock of Fundies to most participants, it is uncommon that buoyancy has been looked into further than a 30 second hover in a pool! it is also even less common for there to have been any sort of team awareness and positioning element encountered in basic SCUBA training.

Philippe is a dedicated student and I know he has been practicing when I see the development at each session. It is hard to have such a steep learning curve to grapple with, especially if you are success driven. It gives me great motivation as a potential instructor to invest time in a student when I see them work so hard on their skills. Well done mate! I am sure your dedication will get you to where you want to be in diving, you just have to remember it takes time to develop.

 

learning how to teach AGAIN!

So the weekend just passed saw another part 1 Fundamentals course run again in Tutukaka, The team was comprised of Belen, a well trained and experienced UTD diver, Philippe an enthusiastic PADI advanced diver looking to broaden diving skill set with the intent of starting to explore Technical diving, myself and Jamie.

We met the guys in class at 9am on the Saturday morning and introduced each other. Jamie led the introductions and then gestured to me to start delivering the first module of academics. Right then, I thought, time to put this into practice - all the hours of staring at a Go pro and tripping over my tongue when delivering lectures in an ITC format! This was to be the first time I would deliver GUE content to real life paying Fundamentals students and it was not without its nerves on  the outset.

To my relief as I began to talk WORDS actually came out! Before I knew it I was explaining who we were as an organisation  and how we developed as a group, training methodologies and so on. Jamie assisted when he thought a little more depth was required but on the whole the module went through in the right time with the right material covered. (Happy intern!)

After module 1 we had a quick rest and relief break and I quite happily almost rested on my laurels  

until the realisation came that I was to deliver the first portions of module two also..... Hang on, I have already talked for an hour and done my best to satisfactorily answer questions. You mean I have to deliver another module (most of) for another hour! 

This was to be the value for me this time round. You can deliver as many single lectures as you want and feel confident that they are polished and perfected but it is a whole other animal delivering back to back presentations. These modules are different as well, Its not prescriptive like what I have been used to before! There is an art to making this material work and I am certainly not a master of it yet.

As we went through the two days we mixed theory, field drills and open water sessions. I had the chance to get stuck into all that I was capable of and it was tiring. After two hours in a 13 degree Celsius sea water pool with a leaky dry suit its going to be much harder to deliver a module on dive planning than sitting on your couch rehearsing it with a nice cup of tea. ( N.B. cup of tea was present in both situations!) 

There is a great deal of mental and physical stamina I will have to build up in order to deliver a course for my exam. It has taken me until now to learn this. Everyone said it, just like the lectures but you always think you're the exception and it's all going to go smoothly for you. News flash: you ain't no different from the people who have done this before you, so lose that dive instructor ego and move forward. 

This was a great experience for me and I hope for Belen and Philippe also (students are welcome to comment below should they feel otherwise!). Having actually tackled a real life teaching situation with GUE I am looking forward to the part two section with renewed vigor and fresh goals to aim for. 

Cheers all :)

Here comes the science bit!

As some may have seen on the face book, I was involved among others in this years science project here in Mexico. This has been going on for the last ten years and involves numerous different opportunities for divers to use their cave skills in support of scientific research.

Lead by Dr Eduard Reinhardt the project runs twice annually, December and May. May is usually a smaller team which means we had the chance to help out all week. Dr Sean Kovacs was also on side this project analysing and sampling calcite chemistry of the region to further research for his PHD.

Having just done our survey course Hilde and I got the chance to continue to use the skills in recording and surveying a site in Sistema Koox baal which has provided calcite cores and water chemistry information to the science team. We took measurements that I hope will help to build an accurate cross section of the cave and will allow more teams to easily access and collect more data as the years progress.

Mike and Fedo along with Ali and Cam got a lot of long range stuff done as well as collecting sediment traps in Yax chen. This large Cenote has been the staging point for numerous projects in the past and is the gateway to Sistema Ox Bel Ha (largest underwater cave system in the world!)

Alongside the data collection mentioned above there is more than sixty sensors deployed within numerous areas of Quintana roo's caves, sea and lagoons. These sensors record temperature and depth. This data is compiled and then made available to interested parties free of charge from the site linked below:

http://cindaq.org/

This year post project I have been fortunate enough to be involved in the processing of the data collected and to help generate information that others may use to further investigate areas of interest.

CINDAQ is an investigatory body is actively looking at the aquifer and helping to support numerous interests and endeavours with the goal to create a better understanding of what is happening to this valuable source of fresh water. Its not the resorts or the beaches, not the eco retreats or the night life that is the peninsulas greatest asset! Its the aquifer.

It is this simple, The ONLY source of fresh water on this peninsula is the aquifer! without this potable water source nothing could survive here! The only way to achieve a greater understanding on the issues facing fresh water here in the Yucatan is to breed awareness, educate and engage people on this, there most precious resource.

Below I have linked to a great talk by Sam Meecham on the value of fresh water globally. Its well worth a look! Sam is a true explorer and the content of this talk is something all should be aware of.

I would like to close this post by thanking everyone who has given us the opportunity to be involved again in this years Science project. It has been another outstanding experience and I am privileged to have had the opportunity to get stuck in in Mexico once again. Cheers also to Mike for more awesome photo content.

A week of Survey

Part of the reason for coming back to Mexico was to undertake more training. I have long wanted to not only explore the caves of the Yucatan peninsula but also to gain a better understanding of them.

The best way to meet this second goal was to engage in GUE's Cave Survey course. Designed by Fred Devos and other GUE educational bods the program encompasses all that is needed to get you on the way to producing valuable data and drawing up your findings into a full map. The course weighs heavily on the Survey side of things but there are also elements of cartography tackled within.

We start as with all courses with theory, Moving through the value of stick maps vs wall measurements " If there is no walls there is no cave!" then on to how best to tackle sketching and detailing within the constraints of gas limitations and logistical dive planning. 

We were really lucky in that we had the chance to dive a place which is usually unavailable to divers. Because of the efforts made by the team here and the continued science project work of GUE in the area the land owner allowed us access for the purposes of surveying the cave (No pressure eh!)

Tatich is a large system so we focussed our efforts around the downstream main line and local jumps. The area we were in is beautifully decorated with columns and calcite mounds, even a Dog house where mineral deposits had formed over sediment which has been washed away leaving a lace dome of strands standing above the floor of the cave. We were in a shallow section no deeper than 7 meters and it had plenty of twists and turns and a balance of smaller swim-able areas and large rooms.

It has been the same feeling as many courses with the organisation. At first you feel way out of your depth task loaded  and engaging in something unfamiliar but slowly the pieces come together. When we first took our pages from the survey wet notes it was hard to believe that they would ever amount to more than scribbling and child like handwriting but each night we plotted the data and slowly we saw the cave appear in front of our eyes.

We have used a lot of new kit on this course. Hand held sonar, Survey compasses and wet notes, tape measures and  even a 1 meter long piece of string to get the data we needed. All of these technologies are reliable but it will be interesting to see what happens in future with the development of drones, lasers and the like!

GUE is often associated with clones, We look the same, We have all the same gear, We Almost seem to think the same!

I would like to introduce you to two of my dive buddies.  Over the last three days I have dived with both of them;

Hilde flew in on Thursday and we have been in contact before her arrival in Mexico as she is doing Cave Survey with me.






From Germany she loves the caves and strives to be out here for as much time as work affords her. we met the morning after her arrival and the then proceeded to make a checkout dive followed the next day by A huge stage dive in Cenote Crystal  (Naharon).

average 18m 150 minutes 3x jump lines (one of which 35 minutes long and all included restrictions!)





Federico Is a friend of mine and we dived together as Cave 1 level when I lived in here Mexico. He is Italian and once again we have been in touch about the trip before coming to meet. An avid diver he is currently focused on the deeper wrecks of southern Italy. Today Fedo teamed up with mike and I to dive double stages in Cenote Regina.

Average 18m, 140 minutes, 1 jump heavily restricted, Zero viz exits and halocline areas.




My question is this; How many people would you be prepared to make a dive of this scale with? Who do you trust enough in terms of in water skills to be able to deliver the goods after two hours in a cave? Maybe a handful of people? Maybe less?

This is why I believe in GUE training! Not once have we discussed dive plans until the morning of the dive, Nor have we sat for hours fascinating over maps and computer software to make these dives.

My answer is as follows; I would make any of these dives and more with ANY GUE cave 2 level diver! We are trained to perform decompression, Handle stages, Perform complex navigation and we have to keep our skills current! if we don't dive We stand to loose our certification levels, no other agency is this committed to maintaining this level of skills within its divers!

If you know this blog thus far you know that I have dived to Full Cave and Advanced Trimix levels before engaging with GUE technical training. This training was GOOD! I have had the benefit of learning from awesome instructors and I am truly thankful to have been guided within my technical career by such interested and skillful friends but there was always an obstacle presented once I was certified.....

I have lacked availability of similarly trained people to dive with, also I have been unsure  whether they have been trained the same way, in the same kit and with the same procedures.  A core part of what we do within GUE's diving communities is to keep training and configurations consistent and this has once again provided me an awesome set of people to enjoy my dives with! No hassle Just meet up and get stuck in!

Whether you are Fundies, Rec, Tec or Cave I can Guarantee that you will gel underwater with anyone else qualified through GUE's curriculum.

Anyway that's enough GUE bashing for me.... Time to go back to school again and learn how to survey caves for the next week, Wish me luck amigos :)

Diving with other people

GUE is often associated with clones, We look the same, We have all the same gear, We Almost seem to think the same!

I would like to introduce you to two of my dive buddies.  Over the last three days I have dived with both of them;

Hilde flew in on Thursday and we have been in contact before her arrival in Mexico as she is doing Cave Survey with me.

From Germany she loves the caves and strives to be out here for as much time as work affords her. We met the morning after her arrival and the then proceeded to make a checkout dive followed the next day by A huge stage dive in Cenote Crystal  (Naharon).

average 18m 150 minutes 3x jump lines (one of which 35 minutes long and all included restrictions!)

Federico Is a freind of mine and we dived together as Cave 1 level when I lived in here Mexico. He is Italian and once again we have been in touch about the trip before coming to meet. An avid diver he is currently focussed on the deeper wrecks of southern Italy.

Today Fedo teamed up with mike and I to dive double stages in Cenote Regina.

Average 18m, 140 minutes, 1 jump heavily restricted, Zero viz exits and halocline areas.

My question is this; How many people would you be prepared to make a dive of this scale with? Who do you trust enough in terms of in water skills to be able to deliver the goods after two hours in a cave? Maybe a handful of people? Maybe less?

This is why I believe in GUE training! Not once have we discussed dive plans until the morning of the dive, Nor have we sat for hours fascinating over maps and computer software to make these dives.

My answer is as follows; I would make any of these dives and more with ANY GUE cave 2 level diver! We are trained to perform decompression, Handle stages, Perform complex navigation and we have to keep our skills current! if we don't dive We stand to loose our certification levels, no other agency is this committed to maintaining this level of skills within its divers!

If you know this blog thus far you know that I have dived to Full Cave and Advanced Trimix levels before engaging with GUE technical training. This training was GOOD! I have had the benefit of learning from awesome instructors and I am truly thankful to have been guided within my technical career by such interested and skillful friends but there was always an obstacle presented once I was certified.....

I have lacked availability of similarly trained people to dive with, also I have been unsure  weather they have been trained the same way, in the same kit and with the same procedures.  A core part of what we do within GUE's diving communities is to keep training and configurations consistent and this has once again provided me an awesome set of people to enjoy my dives with! No hassle Just meet up and get stuck in!

Weather you are Fundies, Rec, Tec or Cave I can Guarantee that you will gel underwater with anyone else qualified through GUE's curriculum.

Anyway that's enough GUE bashing for me.... Time to go back to school again and learn how to survey caves for the next week, Wish me luck amigos :)

Double staging Mayan Blue

Today saw us return to an old favorite, Mayan Blue.

Contrary to popular opinion it is possible to get into Deco in the caves of Quiatana Roo. This becomes more apparent once you start extending the limits of available penetration gas. Time at depth is the bigger factor in decompression that depth itself!

Mike and I prepped, planned and packed our poor little rental car with backgas, two stages each and two O2 bottles. Aside from lunch there really was not much room for more.

We planned the biggest dive I have done on this site! Start in B tunnel and jump to E tunnel. then drop a stage, switch and move forward jumping onto the main line way back in to the Battleship room. This was to be a 75 minute penetration with considerations of eleveated consumption, restrictions, decompression and narcosis... Yes thats right Narcosis! GUE treat O2 as narcotic and after starting to dive Trimix in shallower ranges you start to realise quite what an effect it has on you.

Mayan Blue is a site of massive power cave with jumps off into highly decorated restricted areas. The passages constantly plunge from Fresh to salt water through the Halocline, changing the cave from dark, vacuous primary light sucking fresh layers to an incandescent blue and bleached white layer of light silt and sheer beauty!

SO... The Deco? Our maximum depth was 24m, We spent two and a half hours in a cave! 150 mins! How do you work it out? We use average depths, this enables us to use decompression software to see what our limits are. Also we dive Nitrox within ranges that will optimise available bottom time. through propper planning and training Mike and I worked out or Deco and for the profile achieved and it gave us a 10 minute stop on O2 at 6m. not a long one but it would have been far more if we had not planned and used all optioms available to a diver!

Bring on the next Multi Stage dive!