Gas Giddy

The Techwise boys are out to Gozo today to dive the Blue Hole and the Inland Sea. They are clocking up Tec Dives 10 and 11 for students on their Tec Deep Diver Course. Its a truly beautiful place to dive deep, white sandy bottom, then up folling the reef with an amazing array of colourful coral and algae. As you enter into the passage to the Inland Sea, look out for John Dory Fish.

As they prepare for the dives, the shop floor is a flurry of activity. People mark their slates, while others analyze their gas mixes in stage cylinders that will help them to exit the water a little quicker after loading Nitrogen at such depths.

Understanding the behaviour of gases and their relationship to your body during dives - its an essential component of Technical Diving, even more so as you progess to Trimix Courses and dives. It requires an almost paranoic care in checking and rechecking the mixes for your safety at depth. Analyzing the mix of gases is each diver's personal duty, just like on the Enriched Air Diving Course from the recreational specialties.

One way to understand gases in a more intimate way is to take the DSAT Gas Blender Course, which enables you to mix TextEnriched Air, and - with an extra course - Trimix. You understand better the way that gases interact with each other, their characteristics and considerations. It also means that if you decide to be ultra-careful, you can even see the making of your gases from start to finish, giving you full control of your safety.

So as the final strips of gaffer-tape marks the mix and MOD, we wish the Techwise staff and students all the best and the greatest success on their course dives.