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Dive Report: 08/04/98

ShipRock by Night


I had a very different night dive tonight. Only my second ever on the RB,the first was last week. The dive was Shiprock in Sydney, a shore dive with a wall that goes down to 18m covered in growth and critters. As soon as I got in the water my torch crapped out (I think the charger must be faulty as there is no water in it).


Inside the bubblecave at the bottom of the wall at 'Shiprock'.

After the first night dive last week I figured I might need some torch backup to read the displays and thought of using a cylume stick strapped to them but I hadnt gotten round to buying one and had no other back up. The thought of the steep hill climb back to the car without having dived was also in my mind.

Being the ever responsible Hogarthian rigged diver I am I was forced to use my back up torches, all four of them in the form of 4 other divers that happened to be diving there. I spent the part of the dive in the twilight of their lights and the rest in darkness but it was surprisingly stress free. With some guesswork and checking the displays every so often the PO2 was easy to keep around one only ever getting as low as .7 on an ascent and not over 1.1. When I got worried, which was only once after I had been in total darkness for about 10mins, I simply flushed with air dil and topped it up with a set amount of O2 from the reservoiur.

We saw some sea horses and I followed a school of large squid, till I remembered I didnt have a torch and had swam off into the gloom away from the other divers ;) The cylume stick would have made it easier but it was a no brainer anyway.

Scott

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