Steve Bogaerts demonstrates some basic skills scuba diving in sidemount configuration while using his Razor Harness and BAT Wing.

You could get in some practice dives on the Canterbury.

Nearly 800ft long, in less than 40 metres water, she surely is one of the best, if not THE best wreck dive in the southern hemisphere.

The trip is tentatively planned for either July or November, this will depend on how they get the required numbers. The trip is open to all divers, however minimum of Advanced Open Water is recommended. Nitrox will be available. Trimix will be available as well – however only to CCR rebreathers.

Wreck penetration cannot be recommended without a redundant air source and advanced wreck training or similar. Therefore single tank divers will be limited to small penetrations and the outside of the ship. They will have plenty of guides on the trip (Brend, Christian and probably one more), so that even on a single there will be some nice stuff to see in the easier parts of the wreck, just the deep penetrations will be restricted for diver safety. If you are on CCR or twins you can go for it.

Number of divers will be limited to nine. 5 spaces are already filled, so there are 4 spaces left at the moment.

Costs for 5 days diving including accommodation and all airfills, but excluding O2 for nitrox and He/O2 for trimix will be around $950 departing Picton (top of the South Island). Final price to be confirmed when they have numbers as this is a non-profit trip.

Contact Christian on email cblaschke@z-systems.co.nz.
Or see the SODS website.

Aucklander Pete Mesley is an expert deep-sea diver who’s recently been working for National Geographic. Listen to an interview with Pete Mesley on Radio New Zealand National at 11:34am on Tuesday 22 September (duration: 20′32″). Visit Pete Mesley’s website.

The Suunto HelO2 technical dive computer and dive planner make your whole diving experience simpler and more flexible. Plan your dives based on real previous dive profiles, program eight gases – including trimix – and get blending instructions. Then dive your plan with the Suunto Technical RGBM algorithm, providing extra flexibility by allowing you to decompress without steps between ceiling and floor.

Find out more.

HMS Britannic

A top diver has died while filming the wreck of the sister ship of the Titanic on an exploratory mission for National Geographic magazine.

The 37-year-old, named by the Greek merchant marine ministry as Carl Spencer, is believed to have suffered from decompression sickness, the bends.

The fatal condition can occur when divers surface too quickly and nitrogen bubbles form in their blood.

Spencer was part of a National Geographic crew exploring the Britannic, which sank in the Aegean Sea in 1916. A military helicopter flew him to Greece’s naval hospital in Athens where he was pronounced dead.

The diver, who has led a number of high-profile wrecks explorations had been on board the Belgian-owned research vessel CDT Fourcault.

“A Super Puma rescue helicopter was dispatched to collect the diver who was unconscious with decompression sickness symptoms,” said a spokeswoman from the Greek ministry. “He did not regain consciousness and was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.”

The National Geographic team had permission to film the wreck of the Britannic from 19-31 May, the spokeswoman added. No one from the magazine was available for immediate comment.

The diving mission comes amid efforts by the Britannic Foundation, headed by British businessman Simon Mills, to preserve the ship. Foundation member Mark Chirnside said: “I understand there is an expedition going on at the moment. I think it’s about 120 metres down and so it’s quite a tough dive and you need really qualified people to go down.”

Spencer’s team was to spend nine days doing an internal and external analysis of the wreckage. He led a similar expedition to the Britannic in 2003.

Following the sinking of the Titanic in April, 1912, the hull of its 53,000-tonne sister ship was redesigned and it was launched on 26 February 1914.

On its sixth trip, on its way to pick up wounded soldiers from the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, it was sunk on 21 November 1916 when it hit a mine. Of the 1,066 passengers aboard, 30 died.

The Diving Legends website lists Spencer as one of the world’s most accomplished divers. “Carl Spencer has been involved in and led expeditions to HMHS Britannic, still considered the benchmark expedition dive in the industry, and co-led joint military expeditions with the Royal Navy and British Army.

“His Britannic expedition in 2003 was successful in locating and documenting the open water-tight doors and proved why she sank so fast. His team also located the minefield which she sailed through that caused the fatal damage.”

The video is a Campbell Live segment on diving the Port Kembla, a 4,500 ton cargo ship sunk by a German mine off the coast of New Zealand in 1918. The wreck is located in 100 metres of water off Farewell Spit at the top of the South Island and is dived first by New Zealand’s very own Pete Mesley and Dr Simon Mitchell. Notice the high-pitched ‘Donald Duck’ voices of the divers from breathing helium.

Because now underwater mp3 players have matured and the new iDive 300 allows you to play and control your iPod down to a depth of 300ft (90m).

“An integrated dock and microprocessor allow for control of touch wheel and even touch screen iPods through external buttons. The headphones can be tucked under your dive hood, or clip directly onto your mask strap.”

It costs $350 USD for the case but you must supply your own iPod. Seriously though, this could be great for decompression stops; currently a lot of tech divers are using those swimmers headphones but they can usually only be used on the 3m stops. It may be good for bored oil rig divers too? who knows. You can even watch movies, I can’t wait to play Finding Nemo for the clownfish and see if they get any ideas.

But if I am swimming through the corridors of the Canterbury and hear bum-tish, bum-Tish, bum-TISH, BUM-TISH coming up behind me like jaws. Well, I might finally find a use for that big ass dive knife strapped to my leg.

Please come and visit us at our stall near Shadows this week. We will also be manning the National Bank BBQ outside the rec centre during lunchtime on Tuesday (clubs day). Come and get a sausage, all profits go towards your dive club.

Don’t forget, Jamie Obern is talking to the club this Wednesday night from 6:00pm, Eng 3.401.

This isn’t just for experienced technical divers – the photos will be spectacular, the story an adventure tale. Novice divers, non-divers and tech heads alike will enjoy this presentation. It’s also an opportunity to mix and mingle with other club members, meet the committe and find out a bit more about what we have in store this semester.

Hope to see you there!

Twins, AND four stage bottles hahaha, awesome. Keep an eye on Mike for this one… he might sprain something!
EDIT: Dammit, that wasn’t the right video… that was just a lame advert. Oh well.