Page 66 - The Wish Stream Year of 2022 CREST

Exercise FLOODED QUARRY CADET
OCdt Cummings
Ex FLOODED QUARRY CADET was a scuba Diving expedition to a flooded quarry in Leicester, run between 17-22nd April 2022.
The expedition was off to a rocky start before it had even begun, as our accommodation had to cancel the day before departure due to a mainte- nance issue, and so we had to find an alternative pretty quickly! On the first day, we made the trip up to Leicester from RMAS in two vehicles, and we visited the local Wetherspoons... as is any sensible OCdts duty.
struggling with equalising, and one of the groups had to stop earlier than planned due to exces- sive ear pain – as the instructors said: “You can always dive another day.”
After the initial theory and pool training, we had to complete our theory assessments (which was harder than anticipated!) and we were finally into the quarry. Our first open water dive con- sisted of swimming down to 6m and adjusting
to practising our buoyancy with the drysuits on, which was much harder than with just swimming costumes on. Rather than just controlling our buoyancy with the BC, which looks like an inflated life jacket, we had to adjust to also using the drysuit. With the drysuit, you inflate the suit so there is air between the inner suit and the drysuit, almost like a bub- ble of air underneath your clothes
which makes you buoyant. The equipment also included a weight belt to help you sink, and we noticed how all the kit felt similar to carrying webbing and a Bergan. In the first dive we saw some pike, perch, a submarine, lots of shells, a skeleton and a large underwater room with win- dows and a Nessie statue.
On the subsequent dives, we swam down to 10m and saw a viscount with lots of tiny fish in it, as well as practising our mask clearance drills. We all found this the hardest part, as the sensa- tion of cold water flooding your eyes can make
Throughout the week, we were
split into two groups of four, in
order to maintain a 2:1 ratio of
instructors to OCdts. Over the
first two days, both groups alter-
nated between theory lessons
and pool lessons. The theory les-
sons included presentations on understanding the scuba kit and
equipment, the physiological effects of scuba, how to perform rescue drills and lifts in emer- gencies and how to calculate maximum oper- ating depth, tissue nitrogen levels and decom- pression stops. We were even shown camera footage of the instructor being attacked by an octopus underwater! The pool lessons covered the basics of snorkelling and scuba with just a swimming costume, flippers, mask, buoyancy compensator (BC) and 12L air tank on. We got to grips with controlling our buoyancy, swimming around the small pool, communicating under- water, and mask drills. Many of us were initially
We were even shown camera footage of the instructor being attacked by an octopus under water!
64 SANDHURST