Quote:
Originally Posted by budgy
The first time I tried to get scuba instruction I was on holiday in Hayling Island in the early 60's. It was one of the adventure activities organised by the hotel. They wouldn't take me, I was about 12 at the time it seemed you had to be 14 for just about everything. These days I just laugh at the memory. It was the last formal holiday I ever had. I always remained interested in swimmming and snorkeling but I never got an opportunity to scuba dive until the 70's when like Jacque Brel I was alive and well and living in Johannesburg. The equipment was very basic and there wasn't a qualified instructor available. My good friend Jacko, had a small cylinder on a back-pack and a reg, I think it was a healthways. We were both staying in Braamfontein at that time. He was working with computors I guess it started a trend it seems like 80% of the people on dive forums work with computors. He took me along to Wits University pool for my first try dive the instruction was very rudimentry. I don't think Jacko had ever had a formal lesson and living in Africa he'd never seen Hans and Lottie Hass or Sea Hunt like me. We all knew " When you come up dont hold your breath." If I remember rightly the reg set didn't have an SPG gauge or a J valve. I remember being told, "You dont need one "When it gets low it gets hard to breath" deco was covered sensibly, "The cylinder is so small, you run out of air before you get into deco, if you only do one dive a day, you dont need to know tables. Buoyancy control was by momentum and as Johannesburg is pretty warm, you didn't need a wet suit. My first try dive wasn't quite solo, there was only one set between the 2 of us, but he was snorkelling. My 2nd dive was in a local dam it was solo.  |
Great stories, thanks for sharing! Was it a double hose regulator or single hose at Hayling Island? Early 60's I would almost guess double hose. The conditions had to be impressive for a first effort, cold, lower viz. some real core stuff. Then again, who knew at the time? My first time I was exposed to it was in a pool in Dania, FL in the mid 1960's. My brother spent most of the time with the SCUBA gear while I was enthralled by a flex snorkel. Still use them today.
I imagined the water to be cool off Johannesburg, it is fairly warm then at least in summer? I hear you on early SCUBA "instruction." I use that analogy all the time for current kiteboarding instruction. That is focusing a bit too much on the nuts and bolts or mechanics of operation and too little on theory, risk management and emergency scenarios in some cases. It came to diving, eventually, it will likely come to kiting someday too. Sounds like your reg in S.A. was an unbalance piston, easy to tell when you're low on air or too deep! My first regulator was a USD Aquarius and felt like trying to breath through a two foot long snorkel under those conditions. Sea Hunt is a classic, anyone remember Primus? It was a bit more recent (1971) but still intriguing in an antique sort of way.
Great stuff, any other early experiences out there? Have you dove Scapa Flow? I would love to hit it someday with an excellent dry suit and UW acoustic imaging gear.
Just found a Primus clip. It was produced by Ivan Tours of Flipper, Miami Vice fame. This clip weaves a yarn around Vizcaya with some so so acting. No pressure gage or flotation vest but he did have a nifty UW light and peachy oval mask? The old days.
Sort of like Sea Hunt a decade or so moved forward.