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Logbook for Vance Stevens, Padi OWSI 64181

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Personal Dive Log Record

Date: March 2, 2000

Dive # 332

Location: Khor Fakkhan

Diving with: 7 seas

Dive site: Shark Island Night Dive

Dive buddy: Robin Lunden

Others on dive: Dave Propst and B ill Maurice, Evan Davisand Scott Benson

Others present at dive site: Nandi, Ann

Sea condition: Calm

Water temp: 23

Visibility: mediocre, 7 meters

Wetsuit combo: thick farmer john and 3mm typhoon top

Weight: 10 kg

 

Profile tracking chart

Planned time

Depth

PG

Actual time

Depth

PG

Pressure group in

1st dive of day

15 meters

 

Air in: 200

 

 

Time at bottom (NDL)

45 min.

 

 

32 min.

 

 

Safety stops

 3 min

 5 m.

 

 

 

 

  Data from dive computer:

Dive 332 – 15.4 meters for 33 min.

Comments:

This was an advanced open water training night dive for:

Also along, Scott Benson and Evan Davis, already Advanced certified

I had to give a talk at the American University of Sharja Wednesday evening, and was barely able to make it to the 7-Seas dive shop by 7:00 p.m, the appointed time. I did call however, and found that my divers had yet to show up, so I dropped Bobbi and Dusty off at the Sandy Beach Motel and got to the dive shop around 7:15. All divers had by then arrived but had gone into the market. They were all back by 7:30 and kitting up, Nandi waiting patiently.

We got everyone outfitted and in the truck and drove to the harbor, there to offload onto the boat, just us, Mohammed as usual keeping everything open just for us. Trip to the dive site was short, calm waters, slight breeze. I went through the procedures on the way out. It would be three compass courses from the anchor line, proper night signaling and buoyancy control, and a lights out at the end of the dive to check phosporescence.

Despite a slight current, compass work went well enough. Divers were swept down current a bit and had trouble returning right to the anchor line, but all got in the apprx. Vicinity, and the line was fortunately draped over an easily identifiable rock, so we didn't have to surface to check where we were, which would have overly expended air. On one of the compass headings, we turned up a strange free swimming eel, silvery skin, blue ripply fins. Not much else on that part of the dive, so we headed north to the island.

Before I had gone left and turned up a plethora of sea life. This time, we sort of hit the rock sloping right and followed it down. It went a bit deeper here and we were getting down to 14 meters, 14.7 on my computer, and 16 on Evan's watch. Not much there but a lot of green morays, many out of their holes, and someone found a cuttlefish.

I signalled a turnaround when the dive time (including the compass work) had reached 25 min. Robin, my buddy, was nearly at 50 bar. Dave was also low though I hadn't been able to find that out Greater than normal air consumption is common in divers in unusual circumstances, cold water at night being fairly unusual for these trainee divers, and I was of course monitoring the situation as best I could. Depth seemed to be increasing off the back side of the island, and we were in a current and would have to return against it, and I led everyone up to safer depths as we recovered distance back to the boat. I managed to maintain us at 5 meters for the required 3 min safety stop. By then Robin was down to 30 bar so I dispensed with the lights out and took him to the surface. I tried to signal to the others to continue their dive, but Bill and Scott came up with us. Evan meantime, and unbeknownst to us, had dropped his weight belt accidentally and popped to the surface with alarms sounding. Dave followed more slowly. Even Dave had a problem with his bcd and had gone close to the rocks to sort it out, so all divers were at the surface but two were taking a moment to recover from a stressful situation. We called them off the rocks and they joined us at the boat.

Overall impressions I think were good. Dave in particular had never seen anything like it in Alabama, and Robin was glad to come out of it having met a challenge unscathed. Bill seemed to enjoy the practice. Scott and Evan had been on the last dive when we'd seen the rays and guitar fish at that site, so the dive was perhaps disappointing to the three of us by comparison, but the strange eel and guitar fish made us two for two at Shark Island for unusual sightings, so I guess I was happy with it. And I'm glad when all goes well for my students.

On the way back to shore, we were stopped by the shore patrol for being out in a boat without running lights. It could have been dicey, but eventually Nandi was let off with a "next time."

Created by Vance Stevens, PADI OWSI 64181, July 1999

May be used freely as long as this credit is retained

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Last updated: March 26, 2000