After saying goodbye to new friends in South Africa, it was time to pack my gear and hit the road again. This time, I was homeward bound, and flew to Ireland.
A Commercial Diving ticket is required for divers undertaking professional work outside of the tourist industry, including engineering, underwater archaeology, and underwater repairs and maintenance. On the advice of several past Scholars, I enrolled in the HSE Commercial Diving course, as it is also essential for media and production workâsuch as safety diving. My course was run by BIM at the National Fisheries College in Castletownbere, Co. Cork.
The first of this five week course focused on First Aid, CPR, and O2 administration. Out of the classroom, we went to the pool for a full-face mask orientation and conducted rescue drills in the sea.
We must have put on a convincing performance, as whilst I was on shore marshal duty, a dog-walker bounded over in a panic to ask what was going on. They were relieved to hear that the victim was simply a mannequin, although he does have a name (Steve!)
The next 4 weeks were an intensive programme of theory and practical work. We gathered in the classroom every morning, bright and early at 08.30 in the National Fisheries College. My classmates had come to the course from a variety of backgrounds including fish farming, marine engineering, and recreational diving. Brian Murphy was the course director who led us through the majority of the theory work which spanned across many topics including report writing, survey techniques, and physics. Brian has led a life entirely devoted to diving, working both as a saturation diver in the North Sea before establishing Ireland’s first PADI training facility.
Topics on decompression and physiology were covered by Tiernan Gray, who works as a Life Support Technician and Diver Medic. Tiernan had to constantly bring us back to the subject at hand in the classroom, where we would always want to hear more of his stories about life working in the North Sea.
Classroom sessions also included workshops on compressor operation, gear maintenance and repairs, and rope handling and knots, led by Cillian Gray, an expert equipment technician and retailer. We were incredibly lucky to have such dedicated instructors who were so generous with both their time and knowledge.
After a quick lunch break, we put away the books and it was time to change into our waterproofs and jump on the rib to make our way to the barge. ‘Sandfisher’ was a purpose-built facility for commercial training, including a dive supervisor’s station, decompression chamber, and the all-important break room where many cups of tea were made.
All candidates were on rotation, acting as a diver, a tender, or a standby diver. Whilst diving, we learned to conduct surveys and inspections, execute searches, and carry-out maintenance and repair works. Standby divers were never putting their fins up, knowing the diving supervisor, Tiernan, had the habit of springing them into action for a rescue drill if they were caught being handed a cup of tea! Similarly, at any time, he might test their awareness of the in-water divers’ location and status.
Tenders prepared their assigned diver’s gear, aided with kitting up and entry, and supervised their comms line throughout the dive, keeping communication with the diving supervisor. Tenders often had a tough job, standing on deck in all weather!
Training at the hyperbaric chamber on the barge taught us the technical elements and anatomy of the chamber as well as how to conduct pre-checks. We completed a 40m dive with use of oxygen BIBS.
Any diver who claimed they weren’t affected by narcosis was quickly proven wrong when tasked with assembling a humble children’s jigsaw under pressure!
The course was a fantastic and enjoyable experience. After 5 weeks of long days out on the barge in the Irish weather and late evenings revising for exams, friendships were formed and we all came out the other side a bit hardier and certainly better, more competent divers.
My sincere thanks to BIM for supporting me during this course, to Brian Murphy and all of the brilliant teaching staff. Thank you for all of your advice, time, and the fun we had in Castletownbere!
Thank you to my sponsors- SUUNTO, Aqualung, Apex, Fourth Element, PADI, DAN, and GoPro for your support throughout my journey.
Thank you to my wonderful coordinators Jade, Rich, Saeed, and Jim, and The Our World Underwater Scholarship Society, which allowed me this invaluable experience.
