Diving
in the mid 1967’s by
Michael Warren FFESSM brevet Elementaire 1976
I learnt to dive
in 1976. The Club was based at St Germain en Laye – a few miles from
Each Monday for a
6 months we carried out exercises in the pool – alternate weeks snorkelling and scuba
lessons. The scuba lessons were very special:
Lined up on the
side of the pool were a dozen sets of kit: all
was made by “Spirotechnique” yellow
cylinders with shoulder straps and a strap that passed between the legs and clipped onto
the weight buckle. Beside the cylinders was another line – a dozen demand valves.
They looked magical - twin corrugated hoses
connected to a big chrome box with a large yellow and chrome nameplate marked “Mistral brevet Cousteau-Gagnan”. This device when
bolted onto the cylinder permitted you to breathe underwater. The regulators were
purposely maintained to a very low standard. The hoses and ducks beaks leaked. As is
common with early Mistrals the mouthpiece did not contain non return valves. To increase
the proportion of air in the air/water mixture delivered it was advisable to swim on your
side with your left side towards the bottom. That way the air delivered by the hose over
your right shoulder was dry and the water drained out of the left hose. Later in the year
during my pool assesment I was priveledged to dive with a Mistral that the club had
specially serviced for the occasion. What a revelation to discover how good this regulator
is. To breathe more easily all you do is turn on your side to increase the depth of the
demand valve relative to the lungs. If you turn on you back air gently free flows into
your mouth.
The lessons
started in autumn. By summer I was ready for the first dives in the sea. These took place
with a dive club at St Tropez. The boat was
moored in a depth of 7 m. As one of a small group of newly qualified divers we did mask
clearing and air sharing exercises. Buoyancy control was not taught as Fenzys were
only worn by instructors.
On the third dive
I was informed that if I preferred I could join an exploratory dive instead of more
exercises.
I immediately
agreed to the dive.
My hired kit
comprised a Spiro cylinder with harness, Sporasub weightbelt, Beuchat
Jet-Fins, an SOS capilliary depth gauge, a Scubapro Mk2 regulator, a
mask with a single large glass.
Not included : a
watch, computer, backpack, stab jacket, knife, octopus, contents gauge or computer I did
not wear any of these items and nor did my companions.
We were instructed
not to descend below 40m as this was the max
depth permitted by the club.
How do you know
when you are running out of air? Simple – its gets more difficult to breathe. This
was in an era when balanced first stage regulators were not common, so as the cylinder
contents reduced to around 30-40 bar breathing was harder. At this point you pulled on the
lever at the base of the cylinder to open a reserve. You then indicated that you were on
the reserve and that the ascent should commence. The recommended ascent rate was
17m/minute - about the speed that bubbles rose
- with a safety stop of three minutes at 3m
home Mistral Royal Mistral Aquilion CG45