News
rEvo Rebreather event held in wintry conditions at Stoney Cove
Over the weekend of the 17th & 18th of March, the teams from rEvo Rebreathers and Mares gathered at Stoney Cove to show off their latest equipment, offering rEvo try dives and loaning out Mares dive and XR equipment to the divers who adventured out on what was a particularly wintry weekend. Even with a weather warning for extreme cold and heavy snow, divers turned up from around the UK.
Saturday started out beautifully sunny as the first group, who had signed up to try out the rebreather systems, headed into the classroom at Stoney Cove to hear about how the system works and the benefits over other rebreather models. Then it was time to gear up. The sky turned white and soon snow was falling, but just as quickly it shifted back to bright sunshine; clearly, the weather was going to be a feature of the day!
In the water, the temperature was 4 degrees and the visibility was somewhat less than ideal. This, however, did not seem to put-off the divers from experiencing the rEvo rebreather on a try dive. Some were experienced rebreather divers, others having a go for the first time, but once they had signed up, they were treated to 1:1 guidance from the professional instructor team that had traveled from Italy, Belgium and all over the UK.
The rEvo is a revolutionary rebreather system and we were amazed at just how compact and light the system is. Features that make it stand out from the crowd include:
- Dual scrubber: the most efficient scrubber system on the market, dual redundant design, safer in use while using less sorb.
- Lightweight / travel friendly: travel weight of around 15 kg, and a dive ready weight of 21kg makes the rEvo micro one of the most travel friendly units on the market.
- Maintenance friendly: easy to set-up and maintain. Complete assembly and dive preparation including checklist in less than 5 min. The design prevents user assembly errors.
- “True” redundant electronics: the different electronic system that monitor the ppO2 in the rebreather are redundant up to sensor level and therefore produces an inherently safe design.
In the evening Mares and rEvo hosted a dinner at Stoney Cove for journalists, instructors and dive shop owners to hear a presentation from Paul of rEvo about how the system works. Alas, the snow really picked up, and the group grew nervous at the thought of the drive out of Stoney involving driving up the winding hill. Watching the blizzard getting worse from the Nemo restaurant window, the decision was taken to head back to the hotel while we still could; a wise move.
Sunday saw the air temperature drop to a chilly -2 degrees, and as we pulled into the car park at Stoney Cove, a layer of snow had covered the cliff edges and walls around the quarry. Surely only the brave would be turning up on a day like this, but turn up they did, and the morning rEvo try dive session went ahead with seven of us braving the chilly water. For those with little experience in rebreather diving, the try dives were conducted in shallow water, staying at 5m, and touring around the Nautilus sculpture, spending around 30 minutes in the water (which was plenty given the temperatures!)
It was a very informative weekend for anyone interested in rebreather diving and it provided a great chance to try out the rEvo rebreather with 1:1 instruction. Mares, somewhat unsurprisingly, saw plenty of divers asking to try out their heated vests. I was lucky enough to be one of the divers trying these out and the difference it made to diving these wintry conditions was incredible. We did three dives over the weekend and never once got cold; no ice-cream headache and our hands were fine throughout the dives too.
For more information about rEvo Rebreathers visit their website: www.revo-rebreathers.com.
For more information about Mares visit their website: www.mares.com.
Fire on Monroe Bravo is the latest book in the Jack Collier series by Fred Lockwood. Our story begins with our lead characters, Jack and Sandro, owners of Marine Salvage & Investigation Company, arriving on the Monroe Bravo Oil & Gas Platform in the North Sea. Having secured a contract for their vessel the MV Stavanger to act as support ship to the platform for TransGlobal Oil, our protagonists are on a celebratory visit.
However almost as soon as they arrive a series of explosions rock the platform, causing huge damage, loss of life and the very real danger of a massive human, ecological and financial disaster.
As the danger mounts for both our heroes and the surviving workers, Jack and Sandro will have to escape the inferno, all while trying to save the platform and the men still trapped unable to help themselves.
The disaster sets the scene for the unfolding story lines following the fate of the platform and our main characters, the police investigation into a suspected terrorist act and the actions of TransGlobal Oil as they attempt to navigate the pubic outcry and financial repercussions.
In his eighth book, Fire on Monroe Bravo, Fred Lockwood delivers an explosive thriller, with plenty of above and in-water drama, and our heroes fighting for survival, what more can you ask for?
We thoroughly recommend this read and look forward to the next in the series. For more information about his book series, you can check out the reviews of his previous books here on Scubaverse.
- Title: Fire On Monroe Bravo
- Author: Fred Lockwood
- ISBN: 979-8325324536
Available in a paperback version and for Kindle from Amazon and book stores.
In June we were incredibly fortunate to be invited to dive in Alonissos, a small Greek Island in the Sporades island chain located in the North Aegean Sea. While I have long been a big fan of the Greek Islands as a great holiday destination, I had not had the opportunity to do any diving on previous visits and Mike and I were extremely excited to see what Alonissos had to offer both above and below the surface!
The Sporades are easily accessible via the airport in Skiathos (the first island in the chain), which is served by Jet2 flights from all major UK airports from May through October. Numerous ferries and charter boats make island hopping from Skiathos Town a breeze. After an hour boat ride, the picturesque port of Patitiri was a wonderful introduction to Alonissos, where we were met by our gracious hosts Kostas of Albedo Travel and Dias of Alonissos Triton Dive Center. Mike and I were delighted to be staying at the Paradise Hotel, aptly named for its stunning views over the sea and great location for walking to the waterfront.
Alonissos is beautifully situated in the National Marine Park of Alonissos and the Northern Sporades, the largest marine protected area in Europe. The surrounding seas offer fabulous marine life, including incredibly rare species such as the Mediterranean monk seal. They boast deep walls covered in gorgonians and sponges, stunning topography with caverns, swimthroughs and pinnacles, and the first accessible ancient shipwreck from 500BC!
In locations where historical sites have been reported, the waters are largely restricted, but with collaboration between government, underwater archeologists and dive centres, incredible underwater museums are being created for a truly unique diving experience. Alonissos is home to the first of these, the Ancient Shipwreck of Peristera Accessible Underwater Archeological Site. The chance to dive into history (along with reports of healthy reef life and amazing underwater topography) meant Mike and I were keen to get in the water.
Our introduction to the diving around Alonissos was at the Agios Georgios Pinnacles, in the channel between Alonissos and Skopelos. This fantastic site was named “The Chimney,’ and proved to have a huge amount to see. We got to a decent depth here (over 25m), and marvelled at a colourful reef wall with a wonderful swim through whose rocky walls were absolutely covered with life. As well as brilliant topography there was no shortage of macro life here. We saw numerous nudibranchs, five different species in total. The second dive at Mourtias reef nearby was a shallower dive along a nice wall with lots of crevices. Several moray eels and grouper called this site home. We enjoyed looking in the crevices for lobster and smaller benthic life, such as cup corals and tunicates.
Our itinerary allowed us two dives a day with afternoons left to explore the island with our hire car and evenings to enjoy the famous Greek hospitality. This proved to be a lovely mix of in-water and land based diversions.
The next days diving to the Gorgonian Gardens and Triton’s Cave was to be even better! These two stunning sites are nothing short of fabulous. The Gorgonian Gardens was a deep wall near to the Agios Georgios islands. The ever-present currents in this deep channel meant that the sea life was amazing … the namesake Gorgonian sea fans dotted the wall at a depth of 30 to 50 meters, getting ever larger the deeper we went. Above 30m was by no means less beautiful, with sponges, corals, scorpionfish, moray eels and some rare and colourful nudibranchs.
The second shallower dive of the day was to Triton’s Cave or the Cavern of Skopelos, on the east side of that island. The spectacular rock formations had wild striations both above and below the water making a truly epic topography. The cavern entrance was at 14m, and big enough for a buddy pair, winding up to 6m and passing two beautiful windows out into the blue. Emerging from the cavern, the light at the shallower depths and the incredible rock formations made for a fantastic gentle swimming safety stop and we all surfaced by the boat with massive grins.
Check out our next blog :Alonissos: The complete diving destination (Part 2)” to hear about our amazing dive on the 2500 year old Peristera Wreck!
Thanks to:
Alonissos Triton Dive Center https://bestdivingingreece.com/
Albedo Travel https://alonissosholidays.com/activities/
Paradise Hotel https://paradise-hotel.gr/
Alonissos Municipality https://alonissos.gr/en/
-
Blogs2 months agoDiving With… Nico, Ocean Earth Travels, Indonesia
-
News1 month agoMurex Bangka Announce New Oceanfront Cottages & Beachfront Dining
-
Blogs2 months agoA new idea in freediving from RAID
-
Marine Life & Conservation1 month agoIceland issue millionaire whale hunter a licence to murder 128 vulnerable fin whales
-
Marine Life & Conservation2 months agoThe Shark Trust Great Shark Snapshot is back
-
News3 months agoCharting New Waters; NovoScuba Goes Global with the Launch of their Revolutionary Dive Training Agency!
-
Gear News1 month agoNew Suunto Ocean – a dive computer and GPS sports watch in one for adventures below and above the surface
-
Marine Life & Conservation Blogs2 months agoBook Review: Plankton