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Guy's, This report made one of the Australian tech lists. But for some reason has not appeared on techdiver yet. Make of it what you will. FYI >The 300-meter series >Long regarded as the four-minute mile of open circuit scuba diving the >depth of 300m (or 1,000feet) marks the goal of those in the deep diving >community striving to go deeper than anyone before. These divers fall into >their own category for although many divers have been deeper before (in >fact those that use submersible bells, surface supplied gas and other >commercial rigs regularly dive and work at deeper depths) those on open >circuit face infinitely greater risks; it's no exaggeration to say that >they are working at the very limits of physiological knowledge. > >In the world of open circuit many world record depth attempts are made in >fresh water sinks. The relatively "ideal" conditions of these environments >make the staging of tanks and logistics that much easier than those who >face the more uncertain conditions of open waters. Unpredictable currents, >surface conditions and a massive difference in surface and bottom >temperatures are just some of the environmental factors taken into >consideration. > >John Bennett is the director of technical diving at Atlantis Tech in the >Philippines. He is no stranger to the logistics, stress and hazards >involved in pushing depth limits; on June 4, 2000 John made a solo dive to >254m, the current world record, in the beautiful waters off Puerto Galera >on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. > >In November 2001 John intends to go deeper than anyone else has ever done >on open circuit scuba in open ocean and Puerto Galera will again set the >stage. John intends to incorporate many of the techniques employed on his >last world record attempt, one of which is the use of a specially built >free floating decompression platform that allows a vertical decent line to >be employed with a four bar trapezium assembled in shallow water for the >longest decompression stops. The unique design allows the platform to be >cut free if necessary and drift with the current while keeping essential >support mechanisms in place. > >The team of divers that support John are another key part of any successful >dive and the November team remains almost unchanged from the June 2000 >dive: Mark Cox, Targa Man, Ron Loos, Axel Lechwald, Kfir Zorev and >Portuguese depth record holder Jorge Marques are all experienced deep >divers many of whom John trained personally; all train relentlessly and >make regular dives with John. Long briefings and discussion sessions >ensures each knows their role. Equally essential is Joe McLary, a veteran >paramedic who flies in from Hawaii for each deep dive series and takes care >of contingency medical procedures. > >John rarely targets a record depth on one dive; in the November 2001 >attempt he is allowing a week of dives spaced to allow ample rest and >decompression. Although the first dives are planned as warm ups all dives >are made in such a way for John to be able to attempt the record should >things "feel right". > >Months of planning and training have lead to the November 300m series. The >equipment configuration alone caused a delay of two months; the original >quad pack on his back was awkward and restricted movement, the new more >flexible set up consists of a triple pack of OMS low-pressure 20liter tanks >required to carry the huge amounts of bottom gas John will consume (over >620 liters per minute on the bottom; that's a regular scuba tank every four >minutes). John also straps a forth 5.5 liter tank behind the triple set for >dry-suit inflation. OMS also provide a specially constructed canister >light that will be placed between the left hand tanks. Two side slung >11.1-liter tanks make up the last part of the tank rig - these are used for >the first two gas switches in 150m and 90m of water; from there on up John >relies on the support divers to supply decompression gas. Other essential >pieces of equipment that John tests to the limits include Apeks regulators, >Otto Dry-suits and backup lights supplied by Princeton Tec. > >In addition to testing the equipment John has also set a tough physical >regime over recent months. His fitness schedule is aimed at maintaining a >very high level of aerobic, cardio-vascular and muscular fitness and >consists of ten workouts each week, five aerobic and five muscular. Diet >is also important and John supports his training regime by eating four >times each day, keeping the carbohydrates high, proteins moderate and fats >low. He adds high quality supplements > >Tables have been 'cut' for this special dive using Abyss software and >despite a bottom time of just a few minutes (he plans to descend at 20-30m >per minute) the slow ascent (no faster than 10m per minute from 150m and >up) will bring his total dive time to over eight hours. The dive >incorporates six different trimix blends and although his use of large >amounts of helium at all stages of the dive is somewhat experimental in >dives so far he has made the decompression 'cleaner', cut back on CO2 >problems and increased the ease of breathing. Even normal air breaks have >been replaced with switches back to trimix aimed at buffering the oxygen >clock (protecting against oxygen toxicity), reversing vassal constriction >(caused by breathing high PO2's), reversing pulmonary edema (caused by >breathing high PO2's) and cutting back on the amounts of CO2 retained. > >In June 2000 John said "I think that's deep enough" but his desire to >explore the underwater world, further man's knowledge of diving physiology >and test himself drive him forward. In his latest venture, a company >called John Bennett Deep Ocean Research International (JBDORI) he and his >partners aim "To go beyond diver training and actively support individuals >and groups that explore the underwater world and extend the boundaries of >diving knowledge". > >On Tuesday November 6, 2001 John Bennett descended to 305m on open circuit >scuba, his total dive time was over nine and half hours and despite some >complications on his ascent John surfaced in good shape and is now >recovering and resting at Atlantis. > >Our sincere thanks to everyone involved - especially all those is the >support team, Chuck, Dieter and crew, Frank Doyle and team, Dave Ross and >Pedro Magsino who helped out at the last minute to make the dive a >success. > >A full official report on the dive will be released in about two weeks. > >The Atlantis Tech Team Safe Diving Paul O'Malley -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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