Training at the Rebreather Megalodon Innerspace, England - Stoney Cove, March 20, 2008

Stoney Cove is a large flooded quarry that is a popular inland diving site,

located between Stoney Stanton and Sapcote in Leicestershire, England.

Columnist / Photo: George Petrou

After a long career with open circuit in amateur, technical diving & exploration I decided to take advantage of the advantages offered by rebreathers. I chose the Megalodon - Innerspace which is widely used and with excellent safety and performance rates. I got to know it during my participation in exhibitions such as DEMA USA and the diving exhibitions in London and Birmingham. The training took place in England and at Stoney Cove. The flooded quarry where many dives were done. It is located between Stoney Sapcote in Leicestershire, England. My instructors were TDI and MEGALODON INNERSPACE instructors Dennis Vessey and Andy Mumford.

Since 1879, when the first Closed-Circuit Oxygen Rebreather (Fleuss mask/Siebe Gorman) was manufactured, Rebreathers have come a long way. The basic idea is the same, inhale, exhale, analyze, enrich and so on. The gas mixture we breathe is not exhaled freely into the sea but re-enters the rebreather where the CO2 Carbon Dioxide is bound, the mixture is analyzed, enriched and allowed to be inhaled again. Filtering is always done to retain the CO2 by the Lime Soda. Since then, many technological improvements have been made both in the field of safety and in the design part. Rebreathers went through a thousand waves because of their complexity compared to open-circuit pressure regulators and a degree of mortality that we did not encounter in open circuit.

Μετά από μεγάλη πορεία στο ανοιχτό κύκλωμα αποφάσισα να εκμεταλλευθώ τα πλεονεκτήματα που προσφέρουν οι επαναπνευστήρες. Η επιλογή μου ήταν το Megalodon της Innerspace το οποίο χρησιμοποιείται ευρέως και με εξαιρετικά ποσοστά ασφαλείας και απόδοσης. Η επιλογή του εκπαιδευτή σε αυτόν τον τομέα είναι ένα πολύ κρίσιμο σημείο. Προερχόμενος τον χώρο της τεχνικής κατάδυσης και όντας ήδη εκπαιδευτής και αντιπρόσωπος οργανισμού επέλεξα να εκπαιδευτώ με τους Dennis Vessey και Andy Mumford. Πολύ καλοί γνώστες του αντικειμένου, υπεύθυνοι Megalodon UK με 30 χρόνια εκπαιδευτικής εμπειρίας. Και οι δύο είναι instructor trainers στην Professional Scuba Association International (PSAI) and Technical Diving International (TDI).

Η εκπαίδευση έγινε στην Αγγλία και στο Stoney Cove. Είχα ακουστά για ένα πλημμυρισμένο λατομείο στο οποίο γινόντουσαν πάρα πολλές καταδύσεις. Αυτό βρίσκεται μεταξύ Stoney Stanton και Sapcote στο Leicestershire, England. Το Stoney Cove αρχικά ήταν ένα μεταλείο εξώρρυξης Γρανίτη ξεκινώντας απο τις αρχες του 19ου αιώνα. Το 1850 μια σιδηροδρομική γραμμή προσετέθει για να μεταφέρει το γρανίτη στο κέντρο του Stoney Stanton. Το 1958 το λατομείο έκλεισε και ο χώρος αυτός πλημμύρισε από μια πηγή γλυκού νερού. Το 1963 πρωτοπόροι της κατάδυσης άρχισαν να χρησιμοποιούν την τεχνική αυτή λίμνη για καταδύσεις εξάσκησης. Για τα επόμενα 15 έτη εκεί εκπαιδεύονταν οι δύτες της North Sea_oil"Sea και από το 1978 που συνεστήθει η Stoney Cove Marine Trials Ltd το σημείο αυτό έγινε ένα από τα πλέον δημοφιλή καταδυτικά σημεία.

Arriving on English soil, near our diving training point, a foggy landscape makes the place atmospheric, which I liked. Dennis and Andy were very hospitable and jovial outside of training, perfectly disciplined inside training as they should be. From the beginning of the theoretical course it was obvious that they knew the subject very well. Megalodon had kept no secrets from them and the teaching was organized and enjoyable. The insistence on detail made the concentration to be at its best. We dismantled the Meg, analyzed every part of it, usefulness, inspection, maintenance and repair. And the long-awaited day of diving arrived and here was the famous Stoney Cove!!!

I was really impressed by everything!!! We have high air and water temperatures in our blessed country and in winter, except for the use of waterproofs, we don't go into the water much. Where temperatures are always low, humidity, fog, green water, 6 degrees Celsius in the flooded quarry there was a mess of divers, mainly technical divers. A huge parking lot outside was full but fortunately Meg UK had made sure that we had space to park in the parking lot inside the area right next to the water. Incredibly large number of divers in the area, with their vans full of equipment. We are talking about 250 - 500 divers!!!! Meg's preparation, the necessary checks are always carried out with rigor without the slightest deviation from detail. The area is different, exciting for us who are not used to such images and situations. They took a barren quarry and turned it into a wonderful place that had everything. A small hotel to stay in, a huge parking lot, a restaurant, a cafeteria and a shop selling equipment. And the most impressive thing is that the management company had made sure that there was a team for immediate intervention, rescue and first aid.

Ready to dive from one of the many docks. The silent world of Stoney Cove welcomes me. Green waters, low visibility, fish and a water surface temperature of 6 degrees Celsius!!! Breathing warm in the lungs is a real pleasure. In combination with my isothermal and the waterproof o-three suit I don't get cold at all. Buoyancy is differentiated with the Rebreather and the training begins. Practice, practice, practice, checks, and the dive is exciting enjoying the advantages of the Meg. We have analyzed the advantages of Rebreathers many times as well as the risks that are clearly greater than those of using an open circuit so I won't repeat them again. In the artificial lake they have thrown trucks, buses, a boat, the front of an aircraft and there are buildings from the time of the mine operation that give you the opportunity to explore and do more realistic exercises. For many days we dived in the former quarry and I enjoyed the training and this different underwater environment.

What unfortunately was not lacking in the area throughout this week of my diving is that every day there were "extraordinarily unpleasant incidents" with very unpleasant developments in some cases.

Fortunately, we were completely safe and after the successful competition we ended up in a pub for food and beer!!!

I greeted Dennis and Andy thanking them for their warm hospitality and quality training. The flight to Athens was full of thoughts and plans for the new dive buddy – Meg who was added to my diving toolbox. Arriving at my school I had in my luggage a brand new, my own Megalodon and I started to organize the marketing for its promotion in the Greek market as I was now its Representative.

Μετά την δημοσίευση αυτού του άρθρου πολλοί Έλληνες επαγγελματίες , τεχνικοί αυτοδύτες γνώρισαν το Megalodon Innerspace κάλεσαν τον Dennis για εκπαίδευση στη χώρα μας και άρχισαν να καταδύονται με το Meg γεγονός που με χαροποίησε ιδιαίτερα.

Let us all remember that the seabed is a foreign environment in which we are guests with mechanical support (open and closed breathing circuit). The real tools are us and our choices.