In 2011 I completed my Alternative A-Z of commercial diving.  I thought i’d start 2012 with 10 different types of diving.  Why?  Well why not?  Hopefully the next 10 posts won’t give you a valid answer to that question and will prove to be both mildly informative and mildly amusing……….

Sky Diving

I’ve said before that i’m not a thrill seeker (although I did once poke a badger with a spoon) and the thought of Sky Diving is up there with the thought of an afternoon spent with coarse sandpaper and hidden parts of one’s anatomy.  That said, I have to “admire” those who do it.  You have to be fearless and in this instance – toothlesss!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvMYkQOju2w

Comparetheskydive.com (currently 0 visitors)

As I finish for the Christmas break on Friday but still have 7 letters in the alphabet left to cover I hope you enjoy my last blog post of the year and I wish you all a successful and Happy 2012…….

T is for (Dive) Technicians
Dive Technicians are responsible for the smooth operation of all aspects of the dive system and a vital component in ensuring the divers safety. This You Tube video gives you an insight into one team of dive techs – you’ll also spot some Analox analysers on the panels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_fWeqMBhs0

U is for Umbilicals
A divers umbilical is their lifeline and carries the vital comms and gases they need to survive. This video shows an incident where an umbilical is knotted underwater and the diver is running out of bottom time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzYR0nNX35g

V is for very funny.  This is a new craze called “coneing”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WygNjMSllLQ

W is for (Hot) Water Suit

Keeping warm when diving is another vital factor and this video shows how it is done with a hot water suit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-hIGNIpf3o

X if for Xtreme Stage diving
Check out this video for some excellent examples of stage diving which is accompanied by Nirvana’s Mr Moustache, a song I once stage dived to during the Reading Festival:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNeEfPtnn1c

"Bring me a chair made of sweaty teenage hands" demanded Cobain

Y is for Yellowstone

Check out this fox hunting in the snow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP15zlyra3c

Z is for Zzzzzzzzzz
I’ve never been a fan of sharing a room with other men, ever since I was forced to sleep in a dormitory in a Youth Hostel in York with 3 Hulk Hogan look-a-likes in 1992. So the thought of bunking down with 6 or so other divers in a chamber for a month doesn’t appeal to me at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97-nN3U4YlA  This diver decides to take a little nap.

For £45 per night even Lenny Henry expected an en suite and a twin pack of shortbread biscuits

To coincide with the launch of the best book i’ve not finished reading yet I thought i’d share Alan Partridge’s take on Queens “Under Pressure”.  Despite the poor quality from the blatantly illegally taped footage I can reassure viewers that it improves with ever viewing. (Kiss Alan’s face to view the video)

The boys are well and truly back in the barracks....

Whilst a vast number of commercial dive operations centre around our thirst for oil a growing number of dive teams now find themselves working on the likes of offshore wind farm installations and other such renewable resource jobs.

Not all “green energy” ideas are quite as good as wind turbines though – check out these beauties by clicking on the images for more info………..

Pooptricity

We mock but could this be the future?

Door Power!

I Bet That You Look Green On the Dancefloor.....

Norway.

Our European neighbours who share the majority of the North Sea commercial diving activity with us in the UK are lucky to live in some of the most amazing countryside I personally have ever seen.  But for the purposes of this blog entry I thought I’d share my top 5 favourite facts about Norway along with my 5 favourite Norwegians:-

My Favourite Norweigan Facts

1. The snow planet Hoth from Empire Strikes Back was filmed in Norway
2. The cheese slicer was invented in Norway.
3. Aristocracy was outlawed in Norway in 1814.
4. The most popular cheese in Norway is brown
5. The word “ombudsman” is Norweigan

My Favourite Norweigans

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Responsible for the longest party in Manchester in 1999 - none of which I can remember!

Matt Groening: Click on him to see my funniest Simpsons moment

Marilyn Monroe: The opposite of Grotbags

Edward Greig: Also a favourite of Inspector Morse

Edvard Munch: Inspired by the Home Alone movies (possibly)

Monitors.  It had to be really.

We’ve been  supplying monitors to the commercial diving industry since 1981 (when I was 4 years old).

The Analox 100: Released at the same time Metallica were formed. The "Battery" was 9V.

Our monitors are used on hundreds of dive systems worldwide, something we’re very proud of.

The first US test tube baby was born at the time our CO2 baby was. We named her 0055 (after her Great Aunt 0055) Aaaawwwwww.

We’ve been offering solutions to monitor CO since the early 1980s……

Bob Marley died in 1981. But thanks to the 3300 we made sure commercial divers were irie.

We’ve come a long way since our beginnings though.  We now offer state of the art units such as our SDA and EIICO and will shortly be launching our Compressed Air Gas Analyser.  Lets hope i’m writing a hover-blog in 30 years……