Page 153 - AGC-Journal-2016

AGC JOURNAL 2016

The Mark Angelou, the dive platform for the expedition

Ian Strickland and Conner Packham ready to dive

adventure training. A highlight included reaching 38 degrees. Having been warned to Coron’ flowerbed that had been planted
swimming along through the prop-shaft of firmly about the danger of descending at 25 metres. The trip ended in a controlled
one of the wrecks, emerging in the engine below 30 metres, into sulphur clouds that buoyant lift and unconscious diver drill
room, where many of the gauges and would render visibility at zero metres for one of the Sports Divers, which proved
valves remained intact. Meanwhile in the and from which one may not return, the challenging given the vast amounts of
evenings the lectures continued, with Sub Group docked in the bay and kitted up, tourists (and life jackets) that had by
Aqua Diving Supervisor, James Bromige, before swimming ashore and climbing a then flooded to the very small decking
delivering Advanced Diver Lessons for rather precarious looking set of stairs, kit that bordered the lake. This provided an
the trainee Advanced Divers. Military and all, before descending into the Lake. excellent opportunity to practice crowd
flexibility and planning came into play Everyone was delighted to experience the control.
towards the middle of the trip when the less hazardous sulphur clouds and soaring
rudder broke on the boat. Despite having temperatures in the lake, with the strange The End is in Sight
two Vehicle Mechanics on board, the sensation of having a freezing cold head
decision was taken to head to dive sites and toasty feet. The rock formations were As the end of the trip drew nearer, Group
closer to the shores, in order to preserve absolutely delightful, with some of the 2 saw divers gaining in confidence and
the time limit to the recompression group finding a cave to stick their heads venturing even further into the wrecks.
chamber. Despite the initial excitement into and others seeking out the ’Welcome Sea-life manifested itself galore, with a
and potential disappointment, the day pod of dolphins and even Moray eels
turned out to be one of the most successful, being spotted. One diver even became so
with all divers reporting fantastic dives. engrossed with the sea-life that he almost
Meanwhile on the boat, the resident got a bit too close to a camouflaged
Scot spent the day running the slate crocodile fish. The final day’s diving,
and catching some rays after the onset and the whole trip, was ended on a high
of a head cold. One or two Dive Leader with Adam Clamp completing his drift
disasters manifested themselves in the dive to become a fully-fledged Advanced
form of a lost dive knife and weight-belt Diver. Finally, the group tee shirts arrived
releasing on entry, reminding everyone just in time for a final barbecue where
that mistakes can happen even when you Alistair Ross and Andrew Le Feuvre took
reach the dizzy heights of Dive Leader.
the opportunity to make presentations
to the resort hosts, thanking them for a
Barracuda Lake wonderful trip on behalf of Group 2. In
total, we conducted 257 dives between us,
After several successful days of wreck down to a maximum depth of 30 metres,
diving there was a chance to leave the and clocked up a total of 137 hours in the
wetsuits behind and do something a water. Skills were pushed and personal
little different as the Group headed to development was achieved across all
Barracuda Lake. The Lake is unique in that participants.
it contains layers of both fresh water and
salt water, with the temperature in places Group 2 at the end of a successful expedition

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