Stocking up on chocolate I said goodbye to Norway and opened my arms to welcome the United Kingdom. I was here to try something that I had been looking forward to from day 1 of the scholarship; Rebreather diving. Throughout my scholarship year I have been fortunate enough to meet, train, and be involved in work with dozens of incredible people within the diving industry and my visit to VR Technology was no exception. Every year Kevin Gurr sponsors the Our-World Underwater scholarship society with VR computers, this year myself and the European scholar Ingrid Rushfeldt Krüger were particularly fortunate in that we were invited by Kevin and Phil Short to undertake a specially tailored introductory course to the Sentinel rebreather also.
In the past year I have become increasingly interested in the realms of technical diving so having a chance such as this was a dream come true. The course ran for three days, with the first day in the VR Technology offices being taken through the working of the Sentinel rebreather, dismantling then rebuilding the units we were to be using over the next two days. Phil also gave us short history of VR Technology particularly that of the Sentinel (for those of you who are Star Wars fans you might have already guessed the roots of the Sentinels name, hence the title) and the early years of technical diving. Kevin and Phil left a marked impression on me, telling me about the diving that they not only partook in, but helped shape over their years within the field.
The second and third days had Ingrid, Phil, and I relocate to a bed and breakfast just a few miles away from our dive site of Vobster Quay. Itching to get into the water and try the unit out, I excitedly listened as Phil gave us a comprehensive run down of the pre-checks one must complete prior to every dive. I was blown away by Phil’s ability to teach us the complexities of the unit in such a friendly and easy to understand way. It made the whole experience so much more enjoyable.
My first breaths on the rebreather brought me back to the same initial excitement I felt when I took that first nervous breath on open-circuit scuba. To my surprise I found the unit much easier to use than I first envisioned. It was very intuitive once you got your head around the differences in breathing, buoyancy, and the flashing Christmas tree of lights in front of your mask. I think it’s fair to say that it was love at first breath. I can’t wait to get my one of my own, and thanks to this experience I know it will be sooner rather than later!
I would like to thank Kevin, Phil, and everyone at VR Technologies for the absolutely amazing time that I had with you over the three days, it’s been one of the highlights of my year.
My experience into the World of technical diving was not to end here, I’m heading off to sunny Malta where I will be undertaking open-circuit technical diving instruction through Selkies Oxygene Malta with Karl and Pamela Almark. I’ll let you know how it goes shortly 🙂
