Rondo Again

Last time I was diving the Sound of Mull back in May I blipped MrsCyclops on the rudder of the Rondo. Sitting with her bow in 50m of water and stern near the top of the reef, the Rondo's rudder is only about 5m down which makes for good light for photography.

Today I was diving with B, and you see him here just below the rudder. B dives with a rebreather, which means that he keeps breathing the same gas in a loop with oxygen added as required and a scrubber to remove the carbon dioxide. It's a bit more complex (and a lot more expensive) than the equipment I use, where I breathe in gas from the cylinders on my back and exhale it into the water in a cloud of bubbles. Rebreathers are able to constantly adjust the breathing mixture so you're always breathing the best possible gas, which means you keep a clear head and spend less time doing decompression stops on the way up.

He's been using the rebreather for about 18 months and is now pretty used to it, so is going to do an advanced certification that lets him go even deeper. In preparation for that we popped down to 40m on the Rondo to help him build up the required log book of deep dives.

Later on we dived the Hispania. After 48 minutes on the wreck, B could go straight to the surface safely, but I had to do 24 minutes of decompression stops! Fortunately I was carrying a stage (an extra cylinder clipped to my side) of 80% oxygen to speed up my decompression, so I only actually had to hang about for 10 minutes. I can see the benefits of rebreathers, although since B was diving with me he was stuck doing the deco stops anyway :)

Another lovely weekend diving thanks to Lochaline Dive Centre!