DiversInc

On the friday morning at 11.30 I began the long journey down to Pentewan , Cornwall where I would be staying for the weekend arriving at Pentewan village at 18.30pm very tired but looking forward to  good weekend's diving .

I checked in at Sal diving centre who were running the hard hat course I booked two years earlier but circumstances prevented me from completing it earlier .

Afterwards I check in at my accomodation before seeking some food and drink before resting up before an 11am start on the Saturday.

On Saturday morning I arose early as I was excited about diving in old fashioned navy hard hat diving equipment later that day.

Meeting up with Sal my instructor I watched a video and completed the paperwork before making my way down to Mevagissey harbour where my first dive would take place.

Arriving at Mevagissey harbour I was taken back by how beautiful cornwall is but then it was my first trip. Sal gave me an participant tour of the equipment and explained what we would be doing.

I was diving second so I helped Sal put the equipment together with help from Bill and few willing helpers and then we carried the safety checks for the dive could take place . Everyone was taking pictures and asking questions I felt like a celebrity put the equipment together and had my picture taken a few times . 

Dress the diver was a different dive experience and normally you do it yourself but this is not possible so you have to help them put on the heavy and stiff suit which is 70 years old and gets much heavier when wet ... just doing this builds up a sweat!

Then adding the other equipment : knife , weights , breast plate before finally putting on the helmet before the obligatory photograph . Finally the diver standing wearing 15 stone of equipment plus their own weight  then helping them to the water before they slowly descend into the deep.

Roughly twenty minutes later or so the diver came out and then it was my time to dive. I was really excited although slightly nervous ....

Now it was my term to be man-handled into this suit and it was a hot day I was sweating before I even been diving then slowly I made my way to the water before making my descent although it was weird diving without my regulator , mask and dive computer.

Slowly I walked along lending forward slightly to balance the weight although I was breathing quite hard throughout the dive . After 15 minutes dive time I slowly made my way out up the steps back to the harbour side for more pics by the spectators ..and sat down and realised I had dived the way the navy used to dive upto until 1990!  

After a hard days diving I went with friends and went to the pub for a drink to celebrate and some food and some hours later it was time to return to the B&B.

Sunday morning I was able to relax as I wasn't diving until the afternoon so had time to explore and chill out on Pentewan beach .  After lunch I had to be at Sal Dive , Pentewan for the second and final briefing before my dive later that afternoon at high tide at 5pm . Once we arrived at the harbour I had to set up the equipment under supervision before carrying out the safety checks and then dressing the diver before sending them on their way. Then I was on the intercom talking with the diver which is a strange to do when diving ...before moving onto dealing with the air line and monitoring where the diver was by looking for the bubbles and watching the line move along the sea bed . After thirty minutes the guys hand pumping the air were looking on their last legs so we told the diver who came up to clapping and more pics. Now it was my turn I was doing the specialty course padi standard orientation which I had to complete to pass the challenge . Sal briefed my task to put a flange together with nuts and bolts in the shortest time possible although the dive time was estimated at 30minutes min.

Slowly I made my way to the water weighing at 28 stone and looking forward to getting into the water and getting down to diving .

Slowly I walked although walkway before jumping off and slowly making my way down to the sea bed five metres below. 

Walking around this time was much easier as I gotten use to the weight on the first dive the previous day . After ten minutes exploration it was time for the task slowly I made my way to the harbour side and awaiting my task being lowered into the water inside a sealed bag to make it harder whilst talking with the guys top side and hearing the air bellowing into my helmet and watching my language as I was loud speaker .

Sal told me your time starts once you open the bag but I was standing up so that meant getting down but how to do this ... simple fall down its the simpliest way .. i was glad no one had pics  i can imagine people would have been killing themselves on seeing them on facebook. So I emptied out the bag and slowly started to work in a logical order which isn't easy when you feel like your cooking but I  worked hard and completed my task only swore once ...before the feeling I have done .. I have completed a life's dream finally . Once my task was done I had to make my way back to a ladder and rest as I was really knackered at that point before learning the hard of ladder bouncing but that's another story . Once I reached the top the ladder I slowly made my way up the steps before dressing and having a large soft drink to celebrate . I cannot thank the guys and gals at the centre for their support and encouragement . I enjoyed myself so much I am going back to dive with them in October but on the modern stuff this time .