A Tribe Called K2 Buhl-oog!

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Whether it was working under water in the construction of docks, or later as a deck officer on ocean-going ships, the early days of Veljko Pesakovic’s career meshed nicely with his passion for scuba diving.

A young student in the naval academy in the former Yugoslavia at the time, Veljko’s diving training led to jobs, as well as recreational diving opportunities that only a privileged few enjoyed.

In building concrete marina docks, his job was to assemble under water the planks that would serve as forms to contain the cement. He also found work in ports, cleaning the hulls, bottoms and propellers of 150-foot vessels that ferried 80 to 100 passengers between the islands and the mainland. For a young recreational diver looking for every opportunity to pursue his sport, getting paid to do it was a bonus. The pay breakdown was split evenly in three ways – to the diver, the diving club and for operating expenses.

But his favourite memories were of the recreational dives his group of eight to 10 friends from the diving club would make from their base in Split (in the former Yugoslavia) to the islands in the Adriatic Sea. In his homeland, divers underwent rigorous training to be certified, spending two months in classes before they even went into the water. As such, they were valuable to the navy, which sponsored the diving club and provided them with a boat, free fuel and access to places few others could go.

The diving club had two focuses for these trips. One was the “archaeological group,” which sought out sunken ships from the Roman era. The interesting artefacts on those ships included “amphoras,” which were vases two- to four-feet tall that were used to transport goods such as wine or spices. The other was the “gastronomic group,” which dove for rare shells known as “prstaci,” found underwater in the rocks of the Adriatic islands. They were considered a delicacy and Veljko says they took hundreds of years to mature. In August, they would dive for lobsters, but in Yugoslavian waters they were not allowed to catch them with the aid of air tanks. Being young, fit and experienced divers, they had no trouble going down 60 feet without an air tank to catch the lobsters.

When he graduated from the naval academy and began to cruise world on commercial ships, the big bonus for Veljko was the opportunity to dive during his down time in ports. Among his favourites were Durban in South Africa, Newcastle, Australia, the island of Mauritius and the Canary Islands. He rented equipment from local diving clubs and went on their organized dives, usually 20 to 40 miles from the ports. These locations were prime diving locales. There, warmer water temperatures would mean that the spectacular aquatic life that divers enjoy exploring would be at much shallower depths. This involves several advantages, Veljko says. One is that the colours of the plants and fish in shallow water are much better because water absorbs the light. By 130 to 140 feet, “everything is grey.” Shallow depths also make aquatic life more accessible to divers and allow for more time to enjoy them before air tanks run too low to safely continue the dive.

For Veljko, who now lives in Montreal, Canada, the Adriatic dives and those at his favourite warm-water locales around the world reinforced his passion for the sport. “I was spoiled,” he says. “I was privileged. I was a paid tourist.”

Kathy Dowsett

www.kirkscubagear.com

Buoyancy is one of the most critical skills in a Scuba divers’ training regimen. It is more art than science. Continuing to build on the skills with the right training is essential. Following are ten tips to help you develop better buoyancy!

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NOTES FROM A RECREATIONAL DIVER – Drill, Baby, Drill | Seeded from Precision Diving Blog.

The subject of training, gear choices and the development of diving skills can seem secondary to a new diver. Something to get out of the way so we can get out there and dive. The experience of diving is what it’s really all about, right? The wreck, the cave, the wildlife, shooting film, bagging the lobster. Yeah, we can do all that with so-so skills.

But the true enjoyment and safety of the dive is greatly enhanced by how we dive – how we move through the water, control buoyancy and trim, whether we utilize our equipment efficiently, communicate effectively with our dive buddies, and work as a team. It’s also about how we resolve equipment malfunction, a rolled off valve, a free-flowing reg, a lost mask, or an out-of-air situation.

When was the last time you removed, replaced and cleared your mask underwater? Five years ago, maybe once or twice in your open water class? What if your buddy kicks your mask off on your next dive? How comfortable would you be in replacing and clearing it quickly? How much depth would you lose by the time you got squared away again? Have you now lost your buddy? Maybe you’re now on a runaway ascent to the surface?

This simple scenario can easily happen, and it can lead to a real screwed up dive. The same can be said of any number of other little things gone wrong. Here’s another mask scenario:

What if your buddy loses his mask at depth? How long would it take for you to notice? Can you then take him safely to the surface, with safety stops, both holding your positions and communicating with touch hand signals when to move and when to stop? How about doing this on a free ascent, without an upline to hang on to? Did you think to check his air before the ascent?

Divers are even more vulnerable to these stresses after initial certification. And if the level of initial skills and comfort in the water is not minimally sufficient – if the initial training doesn’t demonstrate what those skills should look like and provide a guide for how to develop those skills through practice and drills going forward – then the student is left to struggle on his or her own, and may never learn the most efficient way to do things. How many instructors demonstrate a high level of skill and refinement to their students – showing them what is possible – how it should be done, and what to strive for? (here’s one I know of).

In the lost mask example above, I can think of several skills that you need to have mastered for this situation to resolve smoothly and safely. First, you need to be acutely aware of your surroundings and your buddy, to notice in the first place that he has an immediate problem. Take your head out of that lobster hole once in awhile and look around. This is not as easy as it seems. Situational awareness is a skill in itself, something we need to consciously work on.

If the mask is gone or not functional, you’ll need to take him up safely. You both need to know the protocol for doing this – so team coordination and contingency planning is important. Next, you need to be able to communicate with touch hand signals – calling the dive, move up. You need to check his air, just in case he’s about to need an air share – you don’t want to add to the stress of the situation by waiting for this surprise, remember he can’t see. You both need to have good, intuitive control of your ascent – nice and slow and smooth. When it’s time for the first safety stop, you need to signal your disabled buddy with the touch signal for leveling off, then up to the next stop. You both must hold your position at each stop exactly – 30 feet, 20 feet, 10 feet. Let’s hope your buddy, and you, know how to fine tune buoyancy control with breathing and know how to vent your drysuits with finesse – remember he can’t see his depth gauge to make gross corrections.

In most situations, you might guide your sightless buddy to an upline or anchor line and work up the line. But if you need to make this unplanned ascent away from the surface vessel, and perhaps if there’s a current, you might need to first deploy your SMB to notify the boat crew of your position. Before beginning your ascent, depending on depth, you would signal your buddy to hold position while you blow the bag. There’s another skill you’ll need – quick, efficient, smooth deployment of your SMB. And you’ll need to reel it up while maintaining touch control of your buddy.

All this may sound simple, maybe easy, but it’s really not at first, as I and many of my (even technically trained) dive buddies can attest. To master these skills requires a few things: knowledge of how to execute them correctly; likeminded divers who will practice them with you in a calm, shallow environment; and a desire to practice them over time. No different than if you were to spend a Saturday hitting buckets of balls at the driving range to refine your golfing skills. How much better and more enjoyable will your next game be as a result?

Refined diving skills should not be the domain of the technical or advanced diver alone. They can and should be part of every recreational diver’s abilities. Practicing them with good friends can be fun, and it definitely pays off.

More on how we practice skills and drills on our “workout dives” in my next post. (You work out at the gym don’t you?)

Jim Costopulos is a Chicago-area executive with an industrial products distribution company. He began diving as a teenager in Southern California; around Palos Verdes, San Diego and the Channel Islands, which he desperately misses. Currently, diving in Lake Michigan, Lake Superior and of course local quarries is also great fun. He will post here on a regular basis and welcomes your comments.

The following is a conversation that occured on FaceBook about that quarter turn of a tank valve knob, Charles Law as well as a host of diving physics.  We welcome you to agree, disagree and above all learn.  Please join the conversation by adding to the comments thread at the end of the article. 

We pick it up in mid conversation. . .

. . . . K you are right! S, you hit the nail on the head, it is because of old J valves.

The remainder is something all should think about. In ice diving with old valves in the 80s freeze up would occur, and so those divers got into the habit of quarter turning their valves, which is stoopid because it if it froze, wouldn’t you rather it freeze open?

Now a days it is a stoopid substandard teaching agency thing. Technical divers do valve drills on a regular and consistent basis in the event of a manifold failure. You would have to pile drive a valve into a bulkhead to have it fail. So short answer is when is an open water diver going to slam their valve into a wreck? Furthermore it has nothing to do with the valve knob.

What makes it dangerous is on boats where you have people (divemasters, buddies, fans, deckhands, idiots. . .) playing with your valve knob. Get in the habit of being the only person who touches your valve. If anyone else touches it, immediately do a valve check (and you should be able to accomplish this standing up with your gear on. . .before you leave the boat/enter the water on the beach. Watch me and make me demonstrate it for you. If you cannot, your tank is too low.

A, I touched your valve when we entered the water, how did you know I didn’t turn off your air, if you reached back to check if it was on/off. . . and it was quarter turned. . . how do you perform a valve check? Y, therein lies the problem. . . if the valve is at full on, you can quickly ascertain if it is all on. . . it is a quick pop, and remember you are doing this behind your back . . . 

Note, I have had a DM turn my tank off and then a quarter turn back on at Casino Point. . . breathed fine until I descended to 100 fsw. then the pain came. . .

This is a GREAT discussion, as learning can occur here. What is most important all is that you all have a responsibility to ask WHY and discover what is the truth. . .

to this I say. . . bring it!

I am so going to make this a blog article Y would you mind?

A grateful thank you  to Y, for bringing the learning