Safety Culture - diving in the zone
“Thank [beep] for that! How lucky were we? We better not do that again.
Don’t tell anyone though, we don’t want to look like amateurs...”
Technical Diving & Training
Richard Pyle is an early adopter of technical-diving practices and is known around the world as a rebreather diver and designer. He is a highly respected Ichthyologyist (in plain English a scientist who studies fish) and he has discovered many new species of fish.
When Richard Pyle was 19 he was living and diving the western Pacific Ocean off Palau. During his time there he suffered a very serious case of decompression sickness and became quadriplegic.
RF3 was convened primarily as a platform for discussion of various issues that may have an impact on the safety of diving with rebreathers. It was attended by many expert presenters and rebreather divers who contributed to these discussions.
It was recognised however that the forum would also attract some divers who were not rebreather users, but who were perhaps contemplating purchasing one, or simply interested in learning about them. For this reason the program included this presentation on the basics of rebreather devices.
For years and years, people have often asked me, “Hey, why aren’t you a cave diver?” And I would respond simply, “When I have dived all the wrecks of the world (twice), I will then think about diving Wet Rocks!”
Jakub Šimánek lives for diving and dives for a living. He inherited his passion for the underwater world from his father at a young age. Currently, a Factory Instructor Trainer for the Liberty closed circuit rebreather (CCR), Jakub has been a part of the development team at the dive equipment manufacturer Divesoft since 2012.
In May 2019, a group of dry cavers visited the famous silver mines of Lavrion in the southeastern area of Attica, Greece. The main objective of the visit was to inspect and document the flooded chambers.
What a resurgence! I first saw this amazing resurgence in 2017.
It was a beautiful day in Indonesia’s Banda Sea. Richard rolled back into the warm waters and swam over to join his wife, Florence. After exchanging signals, they descended together, heading for a patch of bright yellow sea fans on the reef wall at 30m, where their guide had promised to show them pygmy seahorses. The guide was already there below, searching for the elusive little creatures.
This cave system runs for many miles underground and is explorable from November to June. It is prone to seasonal flooding during the monsoon months: June to October. Apparently there are warning signs discouraging visits during the rainy season.
{"preview_thumbnail":"/sites/default/files/styles/video_embed_wysiwyg_preview/public/video_thumbnails/SV8j7WRdFGg.jpg?itok=JQXqAHtm","video_url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV8j7WRdFGg","settings":{"responsive":1,"width":"854","height":"480","autoplay":0},"settings_summary":["Embedded Video (Responsive)."]}
This is the transcript of the conversation between Rick Stanton, John Volanthen and the trapped children.
John: How many of you [are there]?
Children: Thirteen
John: Thirteen? Brilliant!
John: There's two of us.... we had to dive.
John: We're coming, it's ok. Many people are coming. We are the first.
Children ask what day it is
John: Monday. One week and Monday. You have been here 10 days. You are very strong, very strong.
The booklet had ten chapters that covered various topics including the guideline, air supply planning, panic, lights, emergency procedures and physiological emergencies.
Since it was published Blueprint has certainly saved lives.
“Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.” It is an old and well-worn phrase, but is it true?