Reports (See also photos - Littlehampton Marine Life and UK Wrecks)

15 - 22 October

Red Sea - Wrecks & Reefs

Sunday 25th September

The Mulberries

On the RIB were Julian, Tim, Paul, Simon, myself and Richard. This was to be Richards first dry suit dive so he buddied with Julian, Paul and Simon and Tim and I also were buddy pairs.

We met in Ma’s café for breakfast then set off to prepare the RIB and ourselves for the dive. I drove part way to the site then handed over to Paul because my back was becoming painful with the bouncing of the boat. We were first boat on site so we tied to the shot line and Tim and I kitted up and dropped in. Tim mentioned that he wanted to see if he could retrieve the lead shot weight belt he had previously seen and I was testing my new camera case so was happy to let him lead.

We found the visibility to be about 2m when we reached the seabed with the current running a little. The dive was very pleasant, I had previously only dived the mulberries as a trainee so this time I took my time to have a really good look around and Tim lead me on a swim through which ended with us lying still and quiet while a shoal of largish fish gradually drifted toward us, it was a lovely experience. We continued to explore the site and Tim pointed out a large conger eel hidden well back in a hole then swam over the edge of the ledge we were on. I followed him after a slight delay and a very large conger swam under me just as I came over the edge of the ledge, it’s tail flicked across my chest before it disappeared into the tangle of concrete and metal beside me. My closest encounter and nobody saw it and my camera case was empty!

We returned to the shot and started a short distance along the line laid to the cuckoo or barge but Tim decided we would be better returning to the surface so that Julian and Richard could have some of the slack time too.

We returned to the surface and Julian and Richard kitted up and dropped in. Paul and Simon returned to the RIB shortly after and then when Julian and Richard returned we headed for home with Simon driving back. The tide was out and Simon handed over to Tim for entry to the river and mooring for chips. Another successful day. (JM)

Saturday 10 September

5 - 10th September

Narvik (Norway)

Not the normal place you would think to go for a summer diving holiday but some members decided that the Arctic Circle was 'the place to dive'!

The journey took eleven hours and the Galten, an ex navy mine sweeper, was home for the next few days.

See our report of the dives - hopefully a few more photos will be coming!

Monday 29 August

Down shot to the sea bed!  Oh dear was this going to be another 'missed the wreck' dive.  However, took a bearing South and then bumped into the wreck - viz was not very good at only a couple of metres!  Current was running a bit so swam over wreck against the current and then drifted back again.  Current increased so we dropped off the wreck and drifted fairly quickly over a flat gravelly  bottom.  Few starfish, a couple of congers and lots of velvet swimming crabs. (JH)

Sunday 21 August

Shirala & Scallop Beds

Tompot blennies on the Shirala

(taken on a previous dive)

Were told that the Shirala now had a small shot on it so found this (certainly small!) and descended on  it. Found an old large shot at edge of wreck but dsmb wasn't able to lift it - will have to go back another day for it! Lots of life, tompots, congers, large crabs, lobsters, shoals of bib. Back to the shot and ascended.  Some did a drift over the scallop beds before returning to the marina. (JH)

Sunday 31 July

Ramsgarth

Ramsgarth

We met for the pre-dive briefing and breakfast in the Boathouse Café. Julian, Paul, Stuart, Steve and I discussed the dive and reviewed the information we had, downed the last sip of tea and coffee and headed for the RIB.  

Steve took the RIB off the trailer and we headed out to the Ramsgarth. The sea wasn’t very friendly with waves and troughs in one direction and wind in the other. Altogether a bumpy ride! We reached the dive site and dropped the shot without too much fuss.  

A hardboat arrived while we were kitting up and they told us we had 15mins until slack. Perfect. The first three, Julian, Steve and I, went down the shot, Julian attached the lifting bag and off we went, the tide was still running a little but the shot was on the wreck and we had about 4m visibility. There was a lovely wreck covered in life, huge congers, loads of crabs, a lobster made the mistake of waving at me from behind a piece of metal, I flashed Julian with my torch and the lobster lost the battle. There were so many fish that they were obscuring the wreck and didn’t seem to want to move aside so we swam through them.  

We saw the boilers, these even I could identify, and lots more that I won't try and name. Julian sent a DSMB up and we ascended. Altogether a very enjoyable dive, Steve felt it was the best wreck off Littlehampton, that he has dived so far. The second pair, Stuart and Paul, then went down the shot. When they returned to the surface they said the tide had been running ‘like a train’ for the majority of their dive but they had still found it a very enjoyable one.  

We the went to Kingmere Rocks for our drift dive, the tide was moving at a fair speed and there was a lot too see including the largest lobster I have seen which strolled across the seabed in front of Steve and I. By the time I decided to grab it for tea it decided to dash off and slipped out of my grasp. Still a very enjoyable dive.  

I then drove back to the marina, managed to get to the pontoon for fuelling but took 2 attempts and a bit of rocking to return to the trailer. (JM)

Sunday 24 July

Northcoates

Northcoates

Following a hearty breakfast at the posh cafe with Jules and Andrew,  Alan K and Alex K were nominated by our esteemed Boat Handling instructors to ready the boat.

Having checked the boat, everything seemed ship shape......except our eagle eyed Commodore noted that the petrol feeds weren’t connected!

Note to self.....if you want to get anywhere it’s no good having a full tank of juice and lines disconnected!!!

Having reached the harbour mouth I entered a new waypoint for me and Alex, the North Coates. Trip out was bumpy, with Andrew describing the sea as moderate. Having placed the shot perfectly on the wreck Alex and Andrew readied themselves and descended beneath a rolling sea whilst I, having only taken one seasickness tablet proceeded to feed the fish! First time in 18 months.

Note to self ...take two tablets next time and lay off the caffeine you plonker!

Then I tested my new found skill in approaching divers in a rolling sea with opposite winds. Jules reminded me to point the sharp end into the wind as you approach the divers. Easier said than done in a rolling sea......have I mentioned that before!

Then my turn. At last I was in the water. Vis 2metres, one large gun, conga, starfish, clams, shoals of fish, crabs++ and a lone cuttlefish.

45 minutes later I was back at the boat happily feeding the fish again whilst de-kitting in...... what did Andrew call it, ah yes a ‘’rolling sea’’.

Still 4 happy divers even if I was looking the colour of algae. (Modfather AK )

Saturday 23 July

Northcoates

Northcoates

Divernet Wreck Tour 77

The first dive was a second visit to the Northcoates wreck (we had dived this wreck earlier in the season). We arrived at the wreck at  low slack after a very smooth sea had allowed us a trouble free and  very relaxing ride from the Marina. On arrival there was a hard boat  with four divers in the water on the wreck already. Initially we  were going to dive using the hard boat's shot as we didn't want to drop a shot on one of their divers, however, by the time our  first group of divers had kitted up the other divers had surfaced and so we dropped our own shot. 

I was to dive first, making up a three with Steve and Jacqui. After a buddy check we entered the water and descended the line to the  wreck. Jacque laid a line between the shot and the wreck and then we started to explore. 

At this point Steve indicated a problem and so we settled on the edge on the deck.  It became apparent that Steve's weight belt had worked loose and had slipped dangerously low. I established a grip on the superstructure of the wreck and held onto Steve's cylinder handle in case the belt  became detached. Jacque then tried to sort the belt out. Despite trying to relocate and secure the belt it was proving impossible. As it became obvious that this was not going to be resolved easily, we decided to abort the dive. As we were concerned that the belt could become detached, resulting in a rapid ascent, we decided that we would perform a CBL so that Steve could maintain a grip on his belt. Jacqui and I deployed the DSMB and then I performed a CBL with  Steve, ascending the DSMB line with Jacqui below controlling the reel. We ascended without further incident at a nice controlled rate although the safety stop was a little short!

A debrief on the boat concluded that the excellent BSAC training had enabled us to remain calm and in control throughout the incident. I commented to Steve that I could actually hear Jenny's voice in  my head quoting the "Incident pit", as we decided to abort the dive. (SB - thanks to 'Bob' for allowing us to report this.)

Saturday 16 July

Boat Handling course, so no diving,(not even for man overboard practice)!  

As you can see it was a little bit rough!!  But they still kept smiling most of the time.

More pictures to follow!

Sunday 10 July

8184-ton mass-produced British standard steamer, built 1917. 445ft x 58ft. Armed. 

Cargo: In ballast, London for Barry. 
Sunk: 19 April, 1918, by torpedo from UC-75. All saved.
Diving: Lies upright with bow to north-west. Flattened midships. Three boilers clear. Engine room easy to locate. Bow complete. Stern well broken. Forward steering binnacle recently raised.

Saturday 2 July

Worthing Wall/Lumps

Kingmere Rocks

Supermarket for shellfish!!  Crabs and lobsters were there in abundance and 3 of the 7 divers decided to get their dinner whilst on the dive!!

Although the vis could have been  better (only about 2 ms) it was sufficient to be able to enjoy the dive without worrying all the time about losing your buddy.  Needed time to look into all the nooks, crannies and holes to see the wedged in crabs, hiding tompot blennies and scooting gurnards on the seabed.  Starfish everywhere, on top of each other, some with stumps where legs had been lost.

Everyone thought it well worth diving, with the depth at 16m making it suitable for trainees. 

Lots of fishing boats on the Rocks so divers were dropped a way off and although some had a pleasant drift over the rocks, others only saw  a flat bottom, albeit covered with yet more starfish.(JH)

Sunday 26 June

Gascony

Divernet 

Wreck Tour 26

I had the unusual experience of driving down to Littlehampton early on the Sunday morning through persistent drizzle, which turned into low lying mist as I got closer to the coast. It showed some signs of clearing over breakfast but we decided to leave final decision on where to dive until we reached the river mouth. The original plan was to dive the Gascony but the Mulberries would allow us to tie up to the permanent shot so that recovering divers could be done safely if the surface visibility did not improve. However, we bumped into some members of the Epsom branch and, combined with steadily improving visibility as we kitted up and prepared the boat, decided that if both boats dived the same wreck and worked together we could safely dive the Gascony.  

The journey out was over a mirror like sea and after a regulation shotting of the wreck Alex, Alan K and I went in for the first dive. Both Alex’s had their cameras so we moved fairly slowly over a small portion of the wreck in 4 to 5m visibility. Highlights included an unusually tame tompot and what looked like some pieces of engine machinery – judging by the wreck tour I think we were somewhere amidships but I’m not as well qualified as some members of the club in underwater archaeology!  

After a routine ascent and pick up Julian and Alan went in for their dive leaving me as the only boat handler on the surface for the first time. Fortunately the weather continued to clear and picking them up after their dive, in which they covered far more of the weck, was no problem.  

As the sun burnt off the rest of the mist (and my face and neck – and to think I even took sun cream with me and was determined to avoid coming home looking like I had been parboiled, best laid plans…) thoughts turned to a second dive. I had a second cylinder and Alan ‘I don’t really breathe at all’ had enough gas for a bubble so we headed to Black Ledges and enjoyed a gentle drift, seeing a lesser spotted cat shark (apparently the official name for a dogfish), huge ross coral colonies, velvet swimming crabs and a Bloody Henry starfish.  

The second dive meant we had to forgo the usual chips and so after cleaning the boat it was home time. Thanks must go to Julian for organising the day and being so patient with the ‘Learner’ drivers onboard. (AM)

Thursday-Monday

 9-13 June

Ibiza

After a number of weekends that had been total blow outs it was good to get away knowing that we should be able to dive every day!!

Great long weekend organised by Jacqui & Steve.  3 dives a day including wrecks, caves, walls and plateaus.  Plenty of sociable meals/après dive times, including communal showers!  The presence of a number of non-diving partners was really lovely - hope they enjoyed the wandering around and lazing about during the day!  Even Amy (9 months old) went into the sea but she wasn't too sure about the temperature!  Report & photos above water and underwater.

Sunday 1 May

Saturday 30 April

Gascony / Bottle Wreck / 

Very acceptable start meeting at around 12.00 noon and the boat was already in the water.  As the sea was looking a bit lumpy, we decided to go for Dave's Plan B which was the Bottle Wreck as it was thought the Gascony could be a bit too far out.  Lots of room on the boat with only 4 of us ending up going and a quick trip out to the Bottle Wreck.  Took a while to put the shot in but skipper was happy with the placement.  Stuart and Dave went in first and although Dave managed to reach the shot Stuart was unable to swim against the running current!  Obviously not slack!!  Both divers were recovered and the decision was made to do a drift over the scallop beds and try to find some food!  Retrieved the shot and Paul blasted us over to the scallop beds, where of course the tide wasn't running any more!

Dave & Stuart dropped in and obviously had a good shopping trip as both came up with goody bags of scallops.  Paul and I went in next and found no scallops, and not much else!!  A gentle drift looking at deadmen's fingers, algae, sponges etc and then we found some scallops.  Paul managed to manhandle a large crab into my goody bag (crab salad on Sunday!!) before we ascended.

Quick race back to the Arun and a careful manoeuvre into the harbour at very low tide.  (The life boat followed our line in!).  Left the boat in the water for Sunday's divers so a really easy day's diving. (JH)

Friday 29th April

Mulberries & Waldrons

Nudibranch

Nudibranch Eggs

Lumpsucker 

Picked up Tim around 8.15am heading off to Littlehampton and a day out on the RIB. Stopped first at Admiral Hubbard’s house on the Harbour Wall to pick up a cylinder for George and the Boat Box. Then around to the Marina Cafe to meet up with the Crowd - Alan &  Alex K, George and Alex M and Dave. After a hearty breakfast the boat was launched at 11am and we headed out towards the sea with Admiral Hubbard taking the salute from his balcony, for some reason there were not many people on the sea wall, something to do with a wedding I think. Wind was dropping and sea state was good with slight waves and with George at the helm we were soon moored onto the Mulberries Buoy waiting for 12noon slack. Alan and Alex as one team and George and Alex M the other and at just past 12 they were in the water looking at around a 45min dive. Tim, Dave and I waited and a hard boat with PADI divers appeared, they tied onto us and after a while put 3 divers eventually in the water. Soon after our Divers appeared all having had a good dive, viz about 5m and water temperature around 13C and the two photographers Alex K and Alex M saying they had some good pics.

Tim, Dave and I went in soon after, slight bloom but very bright, down to bottom of shot and soon over to the Mulberries. Viz was about 4 – 5m but even with the bloom it was quite bright. We had a good fin around, plenty of life including PADI divers!!! and with plenty of time and air left we headed away from the Mulberries in search of the Landing Craft as discussed before leaving the RIB. It seemed a very long way as we continually followed the rope, we were almost beginning to regret this option when some other divers came towards us, so we must be near and there it was!! The landing craft, well not exactly a landing craft one would recognise but again a fin around and then we decided again as agreed to put up our DSMB’s. I put up mine first and just as we were about to go up the line between Tim and myself appeared this very nosy but friendly Lump Fish (wish we had a camera) who came within a few feet if that. Then up to the surface and picked up by the others.

After a bit of a debate it was decided to do a drift over the Waldron’s which took a little while to get to as the GPS did not seem to be functioning right or was it the operators? George and Alex M went in as one team and Alan, Dave and Tim the other. I took over the helm with Alex snoozing in the RIB and followed them for the next 40mins or so. Picked up Tim, Dave and Alan first then George and Alex M. George after getting back in RIB stated that was one of the ‘Best F.......G Dives’ for a long time in the UK. Alex M had taken his camera again so looking forward to the Dog Fish pics

After that I took the RIB back to harbour by 5pm after a long day of diving, took on fuel for the Saturday divers and had to moor up to the Pontoon as last recovery finished at 2pm!!!!!

Soon everyone was on the way home after a tiring but enjoyable day. (MK)

Monday 25 April

Northcoates

Northcoates

A bank holiday Monday in spring with nice weather and a dive planned on HMS Northcoates.

We meet at the marina at 8.15am, no time for breakfast (except for Simon who gobbled one down in minutes at the Boat House!), we just got our kit on to the boat and left the marina at 9.00.  The trip out to the wreck took less than an hour on a flattish sea.

With seven on the boat we put the three in first Jac, Jenny and Paul. The only thing that was wrong was we were not the only boat there and the other boat had an anchor in the wreck and were stopping us dropping our divers on our shot.

Alex and Stuart then went in.  The trio ascended and we picked them up by which time Alex & Stuart had also surfaced.  By this time, the other dive boat was finished on the wreck so Simon

and I dropped straight onto the shot,

The water was quite clear with about 3 to 4 meters vis but it did seem dark after such bright sun light at the surface.  Once your eyes adjust and with a powerful torch we got to the bottom of the shot line, the wreck was just a short swim ahead.

We were at the stern on the port side so we went around the stern first, then up on to the

deck on the starboard side.  The wreck is the most boat shape wreck we dive out of Littlehampton so it is easy to find your way around.  The two diesel engines on the deck, then the gun over what was once the bridge then around bow. There was only one conger in site but a lot of different fish of all sizes to see .

This wreck was once a fishing trawler but met it’s end as a mine sweeper.

After half an hour on the bottom it was time to leave we sent up a marker buoy and set off to

the surface.  7 mins of deco was needed as we were diving on air before we surfaced.

The shot had already been picked up so it was back to the marina stopping for chips on the

way.

A nice day out, it was still a bit fresh in the slight breeze and the water is not that warm yet but you get to dive when you can!  (JA)

Sunday 3 April

Ore Wreck & Scallop Beds

There were five fearless divers on the doodle for this dive. Steve and I arrived at the Boathouse Café around 8am and were followed shortly after by Julian and Simon, we ordered our breakfast and discussed the dive ahead while we awaited the arrival of the fifth man. Stuart arrived just before 8.30 by which time we had agreed to change the planned dive on the Indianna to the Ore Wreck. We then left Stuart to his breakfast and headed off to ready the boat.

The trip out to the wreck was uneventful, Steve took a turn at practicing his boat handling, the sea was a millpond and Julian slept. When we reached the wreck site Julian took over the helm and Stuart and Simon dropped the shot. Slack was getting close so Stuart, Steve and I kitted up and after a quick repositioning of the shot, dropped in. The water was a balmy 8° and Stuart announced he didn’t hold out much hope for the vis! How right he was. I turned my torch on as we descended the shot only to find that as it got darker the light flickered and as I touched bottom it went out. I had a backup torch on my reel, which, after some fiddling about I detached and put around my wrist. We were in a plankton bloom and had no possibility of finding the wreck as even with a torch we had no more than a meter vis at best. We swam for a few minutes then Stuart indicated we should put up a blob, both Steve and I were slow to understand that he felt we should treat it as a drift dive. We certainly felt as if we were drifting quite quickly and saw lots of yellow starfish, some large flat sea-anemones and plenty of snails. There were quite a few large hermit crabs, but other than one rock with a fine display of deadman's fingers only flat seabed to see.

We had 30mins bottom time and then ascended, we were all frozen but had enjoyed the dive. Julian and Simon recovered us and we discovered we had moved hardly any distance from the shot which. It was decided that Julian and Simon would have a drift dive on the Scallop beds even with poor vis there would be more to see.

I had a go at practicing my boat handling skills on this part of the trip. I really need to practise! I found keeping to the red line on the screen or to the north-east heading on the compass very tricky, the waves had picked up a little and it was a bit windy. In the hands of an expert there would have been no problem but I was zigzagging about the line. Once I found a point on the horizon to focus on things improved and I reached the scallop beds without causing sickness or injury to anyone! Stuart took over and Julian and Simon kitted up. Julian used his SMB and in they went, they dived for 30mins and saw a fair bit of sealife. This included a couple of dogfish, one of which Julian very kindly handed to Simon who took it because you always do what your tutor tells you! Simon also saw a large ray, Julian missed it because he was looking for scallops for his landlord. The dive was quite low vis, about the same as ours and Julian got very cold but Simon proclaimed the temperature ‘balmy’. Simon then steered for home and chips, his boat handling practise was great, he held the line and then manoeuvred to the chip shop steps with only a minor bump and realignment by the crew. No chips though as the queue was huge! We then headed back to the marina, fuelled up and Stuart drove onto the trailer. We cleaned the boat and kit, put everything away and another successful day’s diving was over. (JM)

Sunday 27 March

Shirala / Pine

Report author with that crab!

All pictures

After months of training in the Pool, the joys of Wraysbury and the delight of Vobster  it finally happened, my first dive from the RIB with the club!

Julian kindly offered me a lift to Littlehampton and after an early start, not helped by the clocks transition to BST, we arrived at the marina café to meet my fellow divers at 9:00am sharp.  In addition to Julian, I was to share my first RIB dive with Andrew, Jenny, Steve, Jacqui, Alan and Alex.  After a quick breakfast and coffee and much debate about the intended dive site I was introduced to the kitting up procedure.  I was careful to stow my lunch box away on the RIB to avoid any temptation from a certain someone to hide it!

We had finally agreed on the Shirala as a dive site and it was with much excitement that we set off in the RIB  after a little coaxing of the newly serviced engines to get them to fire up. 

As we approached the intended dive site, it became apparent that a fishing charter was anchored on the site.  Despite Julian and Andrews negotiations, the fisherman was obviously not going to move and it was decided, in the interest of safety, to choose an alternative site; The Pine.

On arrival at The Pine, I was introduced to another club ritual; the “dropping of the shot”! After about ten minutes this ritual was completed and the first pair of divers (Andrew and Jenny) went in, Jenny had a very slightly leaky Second stage (noticed by the young ears of Alex) but was still able to dive. They were followed by Steve and Jackie and then Alan and Alex.

Shortly after Alex and Alan had entered the water, and after a quick spin at the helm, Andrew and Jenny returned from their dive. My time had come, it was with some nervousness that I kitted up, ably helped by Jenny.  Then into the water and a rather slow decent down the shot to meet Julian on the wreck. We untangled the shot and then explored. 

The visibility was great and I was amazed by the size of fish hiding under the widely scattered metal of the wreck . We also saw a couple of congers and a small crab that held on to Julian’s gloved finger before he shook it off.  At one point there was a large shoal of fish that we joined and, as Jenny later said, it was like swimming through an aquarium.  If only people who say there is nothing to see in UK waters could experience this!

The highlight of the dive had to be Julian sticking his hand into a hole, wrestling for 30 seconds and the pulling out a huge crab, pincers waving in all direction. It was put in the goody bag I was gingerly holding open.  After a rather bodged deployment of a DSMB by me we returned to the surface to end a great dive.

Back on the boat I was greeted by an empty lunchbox! After much laughter my sandwiches were returned. Alex then took lots of photos of the crab which seemed to have shrunk considerably during the ascent.

Chips from Fred’s finished a fantastic first RIB dive and we returned to the marina in glorious sunshine.  I am already looking forward to the next dive, thanks to all for making it a great day.

(SB)

Saturday 26 February

Dry Dive

Dry Dive at London Hyperbaric Medicine Ltd, Whipps Cross Hospital.  

Five intrepid BUDC dry divers arrived at the centre in wonderful Whipps Cross at 10.00am on a cold rainy Saturday morning and were introduced to the in-house team, two (PADI) strangers joining us for the dive and as much tea, coffee and water that we could drink.   

Sunday 6th February 

Vobster Quay

First trip out this year, Alan, Alex, Simon, Julian and Paul set out for Vobster early Sunday morning to arrive at 0830 four dives took place, not all without incident! We were all done by 3pm and headed home for lashing of ginger beer and tuck!

1ST Dive – Alan – Surface Cover

Julian, Simon and Paul – at the bottom the shot Julian suffered a free flow, switched to his octopus and surfaced, Simon and  I continued the dive exploring the tunnel, crushing works, and the aeroplane sections and returned to the slip – 20.7 metres max depth, 30 mins dive time, 5° water temperature, viz was 6-8 metres

2nd Dive – Paul – Surface Cover

Alan and Alex next, somebody forgot to do up his dry suit zip which doesn’t bode well for his ice diving career and got a good soaking but fortunately was able to climb out without too much loss of dignity.

3rd Dive – Simon – Surface Cover

Julian and Alex next, with a borrowed regulator which thank goodness worked well and complete a dive of 30 mins and max depth about 20 metres, if only Alex had remembered his memory card in his camera!

4th Dive – Alex – Surface Cover

Alan, in Alex’s dry suit and thinsulate, Simon and Paul in for the last dive of the day, down to 24.5 metres, around the usual circuit, on the return leg, Simon did the SO3 exercises satisfactorily, viz had diminished to 4-6 metres as other divers (Paul and Alex included!)  had stirred it up. 35 minutes total dive time.

Despite the odd wee problem a good day was had by all, Julian spoke to some techies and found what need to be tweaked on his reg to stop it free flowing and we all understood the need for thorough buddy checks as we had got rusty over the winter (remember BAR as Julian said – see below)

B - Buoyancy 

Test and demonstrate how each buoyancy device, such as a buoyancy compensator or dry suit is inflated or vented. It is important to test common failure modes, for example, that the device remains inflated when required and that the inflation stops when required.

A - Air 

Test that each air source has its pillar valve open, has sufficient gas, is functioning and tastes good. If the indicating needle of the contents gauge vibrates when the diver inhales that may indicate the diving cylinder pillar valve is only partially open and will not provide enough gas at the higher ambient pressures at depth. An oily taste to the gas may indicate a contaminated gas fill.

R - Releases 

Demonstrate how to operate the releases that can be used in an emergency to separate the diver from the weighting system, buoyancy compensator and SCUBA unit.