Chris and Coty Gratton along with Laurieanne Whelan touched down in Calgary on Friday evening (August 24th) intent on working their confined and open water dives. Focused on obtaining the gear necessary to make this endeavor a little more efficent in the cold open water of Lake Minnewanka.

Chelsea .... was very patient as the divers talked about things she had know awareness of as we went over more of the classroom session Friday evening.

The three team was very focused thus far with all of the training which consisted of many hours along with confined water skill development. Tomorrow(Sunday, August 26th, 2007) would be the first section of open water training with the team and we really needed to be prepared for this endeavor. Cold water diving may be trying as it is heavier and tougher for many of the participants when compared to some warm sunny location so many have enjoyed. The one thing we have found is that divers who do the cold water training are much more likely to do well when the heavy gear is stripped down and that fun in the sun is prevalent.

On Saturday, August 25th Charlene Barker from AquaSport Scuba schedule us in the pool amidst a VERY busy schedule. The group arrived at 9:00 AM as did Charlene and her son Nathyne to assist us in the purchase of dive gear and suit the team up for open water diving out at Lake Minnewanka the following day. They were busy getting everyone sized for wetsuits, having tanks at hand and Nathyne put SS spring straps on their ScubaPro Jet fins.

Much of the group purchased Suunto SK5 compasses, Suunto D3 depth and timer guages. ScubaPro Jet fins, Apex DS4 regulators complete with 7 foot hoses and back up regulators on a necklace, made their knife holder out of webbing and will look for the appropriate steak knife broken off. They know about the high intensity light and why they might have this even in the day and they now understand about a good quality dry suit complete with pockets and accessories.

We did much of the suiting up and weighting for the open water amidst frowns from the instructors but they didn't understand that they would be going through all this out at the dive site the next day anyway so the laugh was on them. It was much more work at the time to get everyone geared up and fitted properly in the webbing system but did the weighting/gear set up and quality regulators make things easy once the team had to do their actual open water check outs. No messing around, the divers were properly weighted, gear all working so were able to concentrate on the skills required for the betterment of the activity.

The group was early to rise the following morning as they were keen on getting out to the dive site. Laurieanne did have a head cold even before she came down from Edmonton so it was decided she will have to opt for a different day of diving.

Chris, Coty and I made sure the gear was all in place from loading it the night before and we were off to enjoy the cloudy rainy day ahead of us in the Rocky mountains. It didn't take long before we were up at the lake, 8:00 AM start was the schedule today.

One of the dive stores sent an affiliate to the most sought after place to park for both divers and tourist vehicles. The affiliate had eveything blocked off with mats, coolers and his vehicle so no one could park so I had something to say about this. We had planned to dive in a different area anyway but the reservation thing some of these instructors put out is just to much. It really sends a bad message to the students and the public at large. This type of thing has been going on for many years and it really should be stopped. If one comes with a vehicle then fine but putting barriers up early like this is nonsense. It is like the only thing important out there is the instructor or facility and how they will work their day with dive students. Their is much more for all to enjoy.

Coty and Chris had all of their dive gear down at the site and were already putting it together as was taught a number of times in the confined water training. The divers did few actual skill related movements on their first dive and we accumulated thirty minutes of bottom time as we cruised through the underwater environment. The divers made note of how they felt in the water, logged their dive and figured out pressure groups for the next adventure.

Gwen Gratton my partner made sure we had nutrition in our breakfast then sent with us nutritional snacks to make it through the day. This was much appreciated as the energy it takes in the cold environment really lends itself to nutrional fitness along with physical. The group had also particapated in the Pilates class Gwen holds on Sunday and the group was also pleased with the swimming this course entails.

Dive two was just to unproblematic for the two fellows so we decided to do a third dive. We saw the dive flag of the 1912 Dam far in the distance so we saddled up and swam on the surface to this point of way. We all recieved fantastic swimming skills as this surface swim is around 1KM. I saw a class coming in the water as I looked towards the shore and new we had to make haste so a jam wasn't encountered down below.

As we began our descent on the line everyone was calm and rested. We came to the rocks just off to the side of the pumphouse and carried on over to the structure. Coty and Chris thought this was very cool and we carried on down the pumphouse and went out through the window. The battery was not charged on my camera properly so it failed us on our first dive but shots of this would have been stellar! After we went out the window we carried on to the Cousteau write up and the 1912 insignia then a bit further and overtop the dam to the other side. We finally arrived back at the pumphouse and the divers still had 2200 psi in their back gas so we went to the bottom of the pumphouse, out the culvert opening and over to the intake. We then swam the reciprocal and checked out the grate in place for divers in training so they have a place to stabiliize and minimize silt build up.

We had only been there moments before a diver landed on Cotys head. We looked up and could see divers raining down on us. People were bouncing off the structure and total lack of control was evident. Chris and Coty tried to swim away but were followed by the student divers. These divers had no idea who they were supposed to take direction from and didnt stay in place on the grid as they were probably instructed. It just goes to show large classes like this do not do well in the limited visibility and tougher conditions we experience at Minnewanka. As soon as a something unexpected is introduced the plan goes out the window and everyone is just trying to survive or do their best.

Chris and Coty did their best in trying to get the students to go back to the starting point. The two looked pro in their DIR set up and skills were excellent so the students thought they had to be the instructor and just followed like they thought they were supposed to. Who knows maybe the instructor changed the plan! Anyway from my stand point just to the side of them it looked like mayhem was taking place but Chris and Coty handled it all very well

After all this excitement we went back to the pumphouse and checked air pressure. They still has 1000 psi in the backgas but we decided it was time to make our way up the line and to the surface whilst making the planned 3 minute safety stop at 15 feet. The fellows mastered this well but got a taste of what it was like on the line with divers bubbles below them. The class of divers was now ascending and they were breathing so hard it was like a freeflow coming from the depths. Chris and Coty had to get somewhat negative as the bubbles tried to push them positive. They did this in stride and all went well to the surface. We were met there by yet another large group ready to go test the deep. Lucky our dive was over and we wouldnt have to experience this uncontrolled traffic jam again.

Swimming back to shore we were witness to, two different groups of divers popping feet first to the surface while still swimming. These divers had lost control of their buoyancy in the drysuits and were trying desperately to get back down in the water to rejoin their dive partner. The last time I had enjoyed such a cluster we were privy to on that dive was sailing in Lake Ontario with someone that had more than likely done more watching than doing. Our group came back to shore/ walked up the rocks as is common for divers diving the dam and made it back to our vehicles. One last thing to do was get our dive flag in shallow water and head to Craigs for a much deserved carb munching.

The divers did extremely well today and I look forward to our next outing. They all come from Edmonton, Alberta and I know my deep diving pals will soon have others to go out with that match in a well rounded philosophy of diving.

Date(s):

* August 26, 2007