LEARNINGCURVE
Anyway , from my perspective the presentations were pretty good , and we managed to cover a fair bit of the theory in Cyprus . It worked really well , as we could do a presentation then directly afterwards go outside for a dry-run prior to going anywhere near the water .
It gave us a chance to talk things through , and clarify how to do some of the trickier elements , but repetition and practice are undoubtedly key to this course . Our DO ’ s mantra for the week was “ more sweat in training , less blood in war ”, which initially made me roll my eyes . But when our car randomly sprung a puncture ( DO ’ s shocking parking skills , was the team consensus ), Tash had us laying line with primary and secondary tie offs from lamp post to lamp post while waiting to be rescued .
By the time we started laying line underwater , I oddly felt like I had already developed some form of muscle memory . It definitely helped when it came to masked communication drills on a line , as it allowed us to focus on communication by feel , rather than have other additional stressors . It ’ s surprising how a simple thing like following a line with your eyes covered really gets your heart thumping , but the dry drills really helped with that too .
One particular skill I enjoyed was the controlled buoyant lift of a casualty , laterally guiding them through the wreck . Tash took the open circuit guys on this skill , and George took the closed-circuit guy . It ’ s surprising really ; I thought it would have been so much harder for Tom on his rebreather , but apparently there ’ s just different considerations , such as hand placement on the casualty ’ s loop before starting to inflate .
Once we got to grip with in-wreck rescues , we really felt like we could make the most of the Zen . Our final qualifying dive involved more than 40 minutes of advanced overhead environment penetration , routing through the engine room and lower levels of the Zen . We were in the belly of the beast ! I commend this course to anyone a little unsure of which direction to take their diving , perhaps still early in their technical diving career . Take my advice – go and speak to your Diving Officer to see if your club can set up what ours did . It is without question worth the effort , and a really great course to develop your wreck penetration confidence and skill . �
Tom and Steve rehearse tie-offs
The Zenobia ’ s vertiginous canteen
For more information on the Advanced Wreck Diver course go to bsac . com / advancedwreckdiver
Styling it in Cyprus