Are you sitting comfortably? Then we’ll begin! In the second in our series of short stories, our Advanced Open Water Instructor Tim tells us how his diving journey started, and what made him take the step from recreational diver to technical diver and dive professional, and why he decided to move from open circuit technical diving onto close circuit rebreather diving:

First, a little background. I’ve always loved water whether it be swimming, sailing or other water sports. In 2013, I started my journey into the underwater world with my Open Water Diver certification. In 2014, I moved to Advanced Open Water Diver followed by Master Diver in 2015. At this point, I realised I that I wanted to pass my passion for diving onto new divers as a professional, so moved then onto Dive Guide and Divemaster in 2016.

At this point, I had spent a significant amount of time being trained by excellent instructors that I highly respected and, as I had been a Trainer in my day job in IT, my passion for teaching drove me to work to become an Open Water Instructor. After two years of hard work and studying, I succeeded in achieving my goal and became an Open Water Instructor.

In 2017, an opportunity came about to travel to Dahab in Egypt and dive the world famous (infamous?) Blue Hole and the “bucket list” moment - to go through the Arch at 60 metres. This required a move from Recreational diving into Technical diving, on a Twinset this time. So, back in the equally infamous Stoney Cove on my newly purchased equipment, I started my journey to 60m. This took me though my XR Foundations, learning my basic five skills, shutdown drills followed by lots of hard work on my finning and buoyancy. The sense of achievement I felt at the end was incredible and due to the dedication and persistence of Adam when I’d struggled to believe I would ever achieve it! This was the followed on by the Technical Extended Range course, which was completed in Dahab, going through the Arch; a memory that brings me such joy.

Now in 2020, I have started on my next step in diving, with my move to Extended Range 45m Closed Circuit Rebreather diving. So why did I decide learn how to dive a CCR? Well this allows diving on the optimum gas mix, which results in longer no-stop limits, with the added benefit of reduced gas consumption because you reuse most of your exhaled gas. Then there are the opportunities for wildlife encounters because you don't release annoying bubbles, and finally from a comfort point of view, it’s great having moist, warm air to breathe without drying out the back of my throat by the end of a long dive. With a choice between two excellent Rebreathers (namely the JJ-CCR and the SF2), in the end, I went with the JJ CCR. So, what’s involved?! My first day was in the centre, learning how to assemble the JJ CR and pack the scrubber, and learning the theory around the way a rebreather scrubs the CO2 from the air you’re breathing and how it replenishes the oxygen being metabolised. We also discussed the potential issues that you can face and how to manage with each of these issues. The next day was spent at Stoney Cove, with Will as my instructor, and was spent re-learning buoyancy control with the addition of the unit’s counterlungs. It was interesting experiencing the silence - you realise exactly how noisy Open Circuit really is!!! Then, the day of challenges when I started to push my training skills during longer dives and I was honestly wondering why I started learning this, as everything I seem to do causes my stress levels to rise! But on the next day and after a good night’s sleep, suddenly this new world of possibilities opens up and my buoyancy clicked into place; my skills started shaping up and I came back from my dives with a huge smile on my face! We then had a few weeks break before the final day… Phew, it’s all still in there! Everything is starting to become a practiced routine: prep the rebreather, plan the dive and then it’s into the murky waters of Stoney Cove and 1.5-hour trip to the hydrobox followed by a swim along the edge of the 22m shelf at ~25 metres in perfect viz, then over to the Bus, back along the anchor chain to the Stanegarth, then to the Defiant, Belinda and the APC, then up to the shelf for skills practice and then our post dive briefing. That’s a lot of diving in one go but still wasn’t the end for that day! One more dive follows, with the final skills round and then success! Qualified!

My plan now is to build up my hours on the JJ CCR for my personal diving and professionally, to continue introducing the underwater world to my new students and helping to continue to grow our brilliant recreational divers in both new skills and new experiences. environment come and join us and explore the experiences and opportunities you’ll never regret it!!!