28th September 2002 - Mevagissey, Cornwall

Dive Location: Outer Harbour Image of Mevagissey Harbor

Depth: 9.2m

Dive Time: 24 mins

I was surfing the net one day and came across Ocean-Sports, a company that offers historical diving courses. It has been an ambition of mine to dive in Siebe Gorman Hard Hat gear. After diving the US Navy MkV earlier that month it made me want to try it even more. I finally managed to pin down a date when my buddy Lawrence and I could go down to Cornwall.

We got up at 4am and travelled down to Mevagissey to arrive for 8:30am, high tide was due at 9:30am. The sun had been burning off the cloud since we had arrived and it was turning out to be a nice sunny day. The visibility of the water in the harbour was excellent and we could easily see the bottom, which is a little unusual in British waters.

We met up with Miles and Sal from Ocean-Sports who run the course and Paul who came down for the diving as well. Sal briefed us on the equipment we where going to dive, which was a Siebe Gorman 1939 Admiralty Pattern 6 Bolt, the hand pump was dated 1909. After the briefing it was time to get geared up. I was nominated to go first.

Click on the Thumbnail to view a larger image and more information.
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The whole gearing up process takes 15 to 20 minutes, about 75% of that is done by the tenders. I had a choice over how I was to go into the water, either a giant stride or to walk down the slipway. I decided to do a giant stride, something I had been dying to try in heavy gear. I have to say it was a incredible experience which I would recommend to anyone. You would think you would sink straight down, but you don't, you actually bob to the surface, and then descend slowly.

The Giant stride entry - click on the image to view the video
Mevagissey Gaint Stride Movie


When I was in the water the visibility was just stunning, I could easily see 10-15m. There were a number of times I was just standing there admiring the view. There wasn't too much wildlife around to see but there were a few fish and crabs around.

As for diving in the Siebe it is certainly a lot harder than scuba by a long way. All your movements are slowed right down, even walking can be interesting at times, especially as you have to sort of watch where you are walking. One of the fun things I had to do was to remove suit squeeze around the feet and lower legs. This is done by lying down on your front and lifting each leg slowly so the air can pass to the feet. The lying down bit is easy it's the getting up bit which is not so easy!.

After a while you do get used to the gear and do find things easier. One thing you should always remember is never figh the gear to do something, just go with the flow. About halfway into the dive I was really enjoying it and getting used to it, I was even doing bunny hop's over rocks.

Coming out has to be the most interesting part of the dive. You feel fine, but as you emerge from the water, you start to feel the full weight of gear, to which everyone usually says "oh my god this is heavy". You just have to remember not rush! It took me at least 2 minutes to walk up the steps.

Click on the Thumbnail to view a larger image.
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Although the dive was 24 minutes I could have stayed down there a lot longer as it was that enjoyable, but I couldn't hog all the fun; after all there was still my buddy Lawrence and Paul to take their turns diving in the gear.
If anyone would like to do a dive in the Siebe Gorman rig then the dive costs £45 for certified divers. You can find more information on the Ocean-Sports website including contact details. I would certainly recommend it. I hope to go back soon for another dive and perhaps do their one day course. Keep a eye on out on here for it.


 
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