9 Jul 2021

Spend 40 hours underwater

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Spending longer underwater than some people work in a week sounds extreme but breaking it down into 40 one hour-long scuba dives way off shore in the Red Sea made it a pleasure, especially during the pandemic!

Most dives last around 1 hour. At least, that is what I typically aim for. Sometimes, if there is strong current or some other issue then they may be shorter and equally, provided that it is safe to do so, it may be worth hanging around under the surface a bit longer (like I did to spend more time with the shark under our boat in the below video).

Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan:

My plan was to do all the dives during the pandemic once domestic travel was possible. I therefore would do the following trips to try and achieve it:

  1. Farazan Banks July 2020 (a total of 9 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 9
  2. Yanbu September 2020 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 21
  3. Yanbu October 2020 (a total of 11 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 32
  4. Rabigh May 2021 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days) – cumulative total 44

I figured that with 44 dives to go at, I had a 10% buffer / margin of error to make up any shortfall. However, things don’t always go to plan…!

Highlights:

Being able to do this during the pandemic kept me sane; a few things really stand out so I have listed them below:

  1. Interaction with a Silky Shark
  2. Freediving the Aiona
  3. My deepest dive to date
  4. Having a reef named after me (Budgie Smuggler Reef, Marker 35)
  5. Interaction with an Octopus hunting at night

I have expanded upon them in the body of this post, with pictures on my Instagram @cjburgoine and videos on my YouTube.

Farazan Banks July 2020 (a total of 9 dives over 3 days):

We did 9 dives over the long weekend and had some amazing experiences including a very up close and personal encounter with a beautiful and inquisitive Silky Shark:

The dive sites were as follows:

Day 1:

  1. Canyon Reef
  2. Malathu Island
  3. Shi’b Ammar Reef (night dive)

Day 2:

  1. Belgium Reef
  2. Malathu Island
  3. Marmar Island
  4. Shi’b Ammar Reef (night dive)

Day 3:

  1. Aramco Reef
  2. Aramco Reef

God laughs at people who make plans:

Due to an avoidable and thoroughly regrettable error on my part, I did not download the detailed data files from my dive computer before they were overwritten by the data from new dives. The computer records the total number of dives and has therefore recorded the dive took place but it only has capacity to hold the detailed data for 59 dives.

So, I can prove I was there and that I did 9 dives but if I rely on these dives, I will be unable to prove categorically that these dives equate to 9 of the 40 hours underwater!

This issue was exacerbated by me using my diving watch for freediving. Even when it is on Gauge mode, the number of dives racks up fast and risks overwriting important earlier dive data. I have addressed this by purchasing a separate watch, specifically for freediving.

I hereby commit to downloading my dive computer data after each and every trip going forward!

Moving on:

Since then, I managed to do the other 35 scuba dives so I’m confident that I have spent well over a total of 40 hours underwater. That being said, for the sake of completeness, I will gladly do another 5 dives to collect the 40 dives worth of data and post it on this blog.

For each dive, I’ve put a picture of the relevant dive maps or nautical charts below with some other links and photos etc. I’ve also included the detailed data from my dive computer for each of them. This allows you to see the maximum depth, total time, water temperature and dive profile of each dive, amongst other things.

Yanbu September 2020 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days):

Yanbu, KSA – nautical chart

The dive sites were as follows:

Day 1:

  1. Aiona Wreck
  2. Marker 32
  3. Abu Galawa
  4. Abu Galawa (night)

Day 2:

  1. Mansi
  2. Marker 39 Tes Tes
  3. Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef 
  4. Abu Galawa (night)

Day 3:

  1. Marker 34 
  2. Marker 29
  3. Shermo Reef / Aiona
  4. Shermo Reef / Aiona (night)

Dive computer information and maps:

Aiona Wreck:

Marker 32:

Abu Galawa:

Abu Galawa (night):

Mansi (HH):

Marker 39 Tes Tes:

Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef:

Abu Galawa:

Marker 34:

Marker 29 (no map available):

Shermo Reef / Aiona:

Shermo Reef / Aiona (night):

The sun setting at Shermo Reef

Yanbu October 2020 (a total of 11 dives over 3 days):

The dive sites were as follows:

Day 1 21/10/2020:

  1. Aiona
  2. Marker 32
  3. Abu Galawa

Day 2 22/10/2020:

  1. Mansie
  2. Marker 34
  3. Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef
  4. Abu Galawa

Day 3 23/10/2020:

  1. Marker 39
  2. Aiona
  3. Marker 29
  4. Marker 29 (night)

Dive computer information and maps:

Aiona (my deepest dive so far):

Marker 32:

Abu Galawa:

Mansi:

Marker 34:

Marker 35 Budgie Smuggler Reef:

Abu Galawa night (unbelievable current):

Marker 39:

Iona inc. Freedive:

Marker 29:

Marker 29 (night):

Rabigh May 2021 (a total of 12 dives over 3 days):

Rabigh Nautical Charts

The dive sites were as follows:

Day 1:

  1. Abu Madafi Reef and Boiler Wreck
  2. Shib Nazar Reef
  3. Cement Wreck
  4. Cement Wreck (night)

Day 2:

  1. Maria Reef
  2. Mary Jane Reef
  3. Noura Reef
  4. Shib Al Karra Reef (night)

Day 3:

  1. Shib Al Bayda Reef
  2. Rose Reef
  3. Chicken Wreck
  4. Coral Garden (night)

Dive computer information, maps, videos and stuff:

Abu Madafi Reef and Boiler Wreck:

All wreck and swim throughs James Buddy 57 mins out on 110 bar 20.7 max depth

Shib Nazar Reef:

Cement Wreck: Out 120Freedive propeller and eagle ray! Love 

Cement Wreck night dive ian buddy:

Maria Reef: White tip Reef sharks and eagle Ray

Mary Jane Reef:

Noura Reef collected rubbish, pipe etc. 

Shib Al Karra Reef (night)

Shib Al Bayda Reef

Rose Reef strong current at one point 

Chicken Wreck big barracuda 

Coral Garden (night) night dive octopus!

    2 Jul 2021

    Scuba Dive below 40 Metres

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    If I can freedive on one breath to over 40 metres, how deep can can I dive with Scuba gear? Would breathing compressed air at 40 metres have an effect on me (nitrogen narcosis, for example)?

    The Aiona is a wreck in the Red Sea. The story I was told is that the ship was captured from the British by German submariners in World War 2. The Germans gifted it to their Turkish allies who ran it onto a reef off the coast of Yanbu, Saudi Arabia and it’s been there ever since!

    I’ve explored between 35 and 40 metres deep a number of times on this particular dive site and become familiar with it.

    Here is a video of an earlier trip:

    This 40s 4 40 trip, I was with a number of very experienced divers, none more so than my buddy. We wanted to know how deep the sea bed is and so took measurements in the sand, a few meters out from the propeller. Previously, I had only ever hovered above the sea bed, toward the top of the propeller.

    By doing so we achieved a depth of 48.7 metres – that’s my deepest dive so far.

    • Diver above the starboard side of the propeller
    • Diver going through the starboard side of the propeller
    • A few metres from the propeller
    • My buddy depth checking the sea bed
    • The Port side of the propeller

    Even though I was only 5 minutes into my dive, you can see from the below data how little time was available at that depth before I had to ascend to a more shallow depth to stay within no decompression dive limits (<2 minutes):

    I descended to 48.7m in 5 minutes, took some pictures and headed back up

    Clearly, I was aware of this and started to ascend too quickly for the dive computer’s liking; I was only 8 minutes into my dive and already on my ascent but within one minute of no decompression time!

    Dive computer screen warning me to slow down on my ascent – note 1 minute of no deco time remains

    Once I had added a few more minutes on my no decompression time by ascending, I slowed my assent rate appropriately.

    My deepest dive to date – 48.7m

    The rest of the dive was spent at a more shallow depth exploring the wreck itself and the reef to the North of it, before returning to the dive boat. The brief dip during the safety stop was to retrieve something.

    Going beyond no decompression limits is not necessarily a problem provided you manage it correctly but I believe it is good practice to stay within no decompression limits when recreational diving unless exceptional circumstances and experience provide good enough reason to go beyond them (e.g. an emergency or something like a specific wreck or incredible marine life).

    I experienced no negative effects during or after this dive. I’m left with a recollection of feeling lonely down there and it clearly being time to get back to the surface (full Buddy respect).

    Suffice to say, it is of the utmost importance to always dive within your personal limits, relative to your qualifications and who you are with.

    Here are some pictures of the Aiona from an earlier trip:

    Being reasonably familiar with the Aiona and with the support of my friends and dive operator, I freedived the wreck. The highlight for me was penetrating the wreck through a hatch on the port side and swimming up through the hull of the wreck before exiting through its broken deck to re-surface.

    You can watch more about the Aiona in the amazing documentary ‘Desert Seas’ by David Attenborough:

    See the Aiona at 38:40
    26 Jan 2021

    Freedive to 40m depth

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    40 metres deep sounded deep, and believe me, it is. Basic scuba dive qualifications typically certify to around 20 metres, the more advanced to 30 – 35 metres (Padi Advanced Open Water and BSAC Sport respectively) so this challenge was to dive down to beyond both of those limits on only a single breath.

    It wasn’t easy. It took a lot of learning, travelling and practicing but I made some good friends and learnt some incredible things that for sure I would not have done otherwise.

    Here’s a video that I found inspiring:

    Guillaume Nery base jumping at Dean’s Blue Hole, filmed on breath hold by Julie Gautier

    The hardest part is getting off the surface but once you have mastered the duck dive and got past the point of neutral buoyancy at around 10 metres you become ‘weightless’.

    At around 20 metres you enter a freefall where gravity accelerates you to the ocean floor – this sense of effortless yet continuous acceleration is incredible and probably caused by what Slomo is explaining referring to in the below video in neurological terms at 08:42. I just love the sound of the water passing my ears as I fall.

    Slomo: The Man Who Skated Right Off the Grid | Op-Docs | The New York Times

    Each 10 metres down from the surface adds a force equivalent to an additional atmosphere on top of the one at the surface. As a result, at 10 metres the lungs half when the pressure doubles from 1 to 2 atmospheres.

    At 20 metres the pressure doesn’t double again but adding another atmosphere means your lungs compress to a third of the size they were on the surface and at 30 metres that is 3 atmospheres plus the one at the surface equalling a total of 4 atmospheres. This increase in pressure effectively reduces the lungs to a mere quarter of what they were on the surface. This makes it very difficult to equalise beyond this point without using advanced techniques as all the air inside you is so compressed it is hard to move it around.

    At 40 metres your lungs are a fifth of the size they were on the surface and to counteract this, I retain some air in my mouth cavity instead of inhaling it all at the surface in order that I still have some in my mouth to equalise with.

    The thing that struck me the most is how much this activity relates back to our roots as aquatic mammals. I have not felt a sense of calm under pressure like I have under the surface, I can feel my body, my lungs and heartrate adapting and I can feel the squeeze of the water as the pressure increases and a sense of unencumbered orgasmic immersion takes over.

    James Nestor does an incredible speech at Google on the following link that goes a long way to explain the science behind what effects it has on the human body, how the body has retained some of these sensed and reactions and how it adapts. They are using it to great effect when researching sperm whales and I have experienced first hand how creatures are less afraid of me if I am not exhausting used air bubbles into the water (as with scuba diving):

    James Nestor – Deep: Freediving and Renegade Science

    I had been freediving of my own accord previously, something that I referred to as ‘skin diving’ but would now denote it as merely ‘enhanced snorkelling’. I made it as far as 15 metres but came to the sensible conclusion that I needed some fellow like minded divers who could reach the depths I could and who I could share knowledge with.

    15m ‘Enhanced Snorkelling Video’

    It was during one of my enhanced snorkelling sessions that I met a guy called Zak who is a freediving and diving inductor and is the contemporary mortal represtation of the Roman God Neptune. Zak is patient, kind and very forgiving. I really enjoy spending time with him and learning to become a true freediver from him was an honour and a privilege.

    I have always been able to hold my breath for a reasonable amount of time and estimated that travelling at around a metre a minute would take at approximately 80 seconds (40 down and 40 back up) so one minute and 20 seconds but it is only by practicing this, by practicing the dive, by learning how to control your attitude and direction in the water that you are able to reach as far as 40 metres. My biggest hurdle is relaxing. Relaxation is key and without it, this is not possible. I still have a lot to learn in that regard.

    It’s definitely not as simple as just holding your breath and going for it!

    During the course of the next 18 months, I secured my AIDA Level 2 and and Level 3 qualifications and SSI Level 2 qualification. Freediving gave to me something amazing, it expanded my underwater potential and ironically was the breath of fresh air I needed and remains something I want to do for many years to come.

    It’s amazing how much progress I made in 12 months with Zak’s instruction:

    The dives in this video are to a maximum of 36 metres

    Getting to 40 metres was a beautiful moment and I paused at the plate of course to make sure I had made it (confirmed registration on my dive watch!) but also to absorb some of the tranquillity and calm before I was forced to resurface.

    Some pictures chronicling my journey can be found below:

    21.2 m
    25.6 m
    31.4 m
    36.0 m
    41.2 m on my 40th Birthday! Mashallah

    I cannot recommend my friend, mentor and highly skilled amphibian instructor Zak highly enough, I trust him with my life and am very grateful for his support, energy and inspiration.

    Zakaria Diving Instructor Freedive Master Instructor & scuba
    كبير مدربين غوص حر و سكوبا
    00966503645482
    Instagram:@zak_dive

    18 Sep 2020

    Swim over 40 metres on one breath

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    One of the 40s 4 40 challenges I set myself was to swim 40 metres underwater. I would do this with no fins; this is defined as Dynamic No Fins (DNF) by the International Association for Development of Apnea (AIDA).

    I have been able to swim 25 metres under under water since I was a child. Nonetheless, turning around and doing more remained unfathomable to me.

    I found myself taking a tape measure to the pool to measure how far 40 metres was and putting a submersible marker down so that i knew when i had reached 40 metres. I soon got tired of this hassle and so decided that I would simply aim to swim 50 metres or 2 lengths of a 25 metre pool.

    Here is one of my earlier attempts:

    I managed to do this and subsequently replicated it to ensure it wasn’t a fluke!

    I became concerned that I was completing over 40 metres by pushing off the wall twice. For example, in a 25 metre pool you can push off the side at the start and again around half-way through; in a 50 metre pool, you can only push off once.

    There happens to be a large pool near where I live and so it naturally became an aspiration of mine to see if I could swim the full pool length underwater.

    My friend Mike measured the length with a golf range-finder and it is actually 55 metres!

    I’ve done quite a bit of scuba and free diving in the recent past and have learnt a lot. Of the greatest importance is to relax, followed by having strong but smooth actions and a hydrodynamic position that allows you to glide. These things enable you not to build up too much resistance in the water and to limit carbon dioxide build up and thus, the desire to breathe.

    To that end, I must thank my talented friends who gave up their own time to help me achieve this safely, Mirka, Amr, Shohreh, Mike and Zak who helped me to learn a real appreciation of apnea and some of the techniques required to make this possible.

    Pictures or it didn’t happen: