Fantastic Diving Program - To Boldly Go

Did anyone watch To Boldly Go on BBC2 this evening?

I've just finished watching it and thought it was superb.

Here's a quick link to BBC's iPlayer where you can still watch it....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0195rlg/

The program starts off fairly slowly with an introduction on how the body is effected by cold water by visiting The Royal Navy's helicopter escape trainer. It then goes onto showing techniques used by freedivers. The program really gets interesting after the first half where it explains decomp sickness, causes and effects, simulated narcosis in a chamber and so on. Quite a jaw dropping few moments of old US Navy footage showing the excruciating effects of breathing oxygen at depth (I think I understood that bit) as they explain gas mixtures etc.

The most interesting part is the final part where they look into Saturation diving and the times spent working below the surface and then the time spent in the chambers.....as a new comer to diving, this all seemed very scary but I found it fantastic to watch !!!

The program ends with a visit to NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Centre where they submerge potential astronauts into a huge pool which houses full scale structures of various space stations & satellites for them to train on......

Hope you enjoy watching it as much as I did.

Steve

I missed this. Thanks for the link

Watched and enjoyed. Some of the graphics were very good.

Only saw it from the NASA bit onwards. Will iPlayer it for she whole program

I know what I'll be doing on my lunch break today! Thanks for the link mate

Watched it last night after the great barrier reef prog, now for my dumb question for the day,
one of the guys in the prog (a diver at the blue planet aquarium in ellesmere port) collects old diving gear (the big brass helmet type) and said due to the pressure if they stopped pumping you could get sucked into the helmet. my question is: how did these guys equalise their ears, or is it a case of being surface fed it was unecessary or did they accept burst eardrums as part of the job

tony

Their ears weren't subjected to water pressure as they were inside of the helmet....attached to their head !! I think ??

Whilst on holiday in Sharm recently, we visited a shop called Beyond Limits in Naama Bay - they had a canvas suit, old diving helmet, lead boots etc in the window, alongside the twin wheeled pump station. Fascinating to see.

just going to watch it now,rained off today

Great programme... as others have said. Saturation diving... you'd better get on with your workmates!

20 days+ in a chamber - just to return from work !! I want to know how much money these guys earn.....I'm sure it's not enough !!

From www.theunderwatercentre.co.uk

How much could I earn as a commercial diver?

After qualifying, divers need to gain experience in a new field. Initial work will be inshore, with the majority of divers working for a civil engineering diving company. A civils inshore diver can earn in the region of £60-£120 per day, and would work perhaps 180-200 days in a year. Taking additional courses will increase your skills and boost your earning capabilities.

After gaining commercial diving experience you can progress off-shore. Additional qualifications, such as underwater tools, cutting and burning and non-destructive testing enable you to undertake skilled construction work, and earn around £450 per day. You would anticipate working 120-150 days per year.

After gaining sufficient experience you can return to The Underwater Centre to train for the Closed Bell (saturation) diving. Saturation divers can earn over £1000 per day in the North Sea.

Working in saturation support, you could earn approximately £270 per day offshore.

With a shortage of archaeological divers, there are good employment prospects in this area, pay varies, but you could earn in the region of £100 - £150 per day.

Thanks.......I should imagine the £1000+ per day would help take your mind off things during decomp.

Definately not the job for me though....

Still under pressure. If air pressure in helmet does not equal water pressure outside, think what will happen.

That was an amazing program, I tripped across it, accidentally thinking it was the barrier reef one instead...lol. The photography was amazing, explained things really well too.

Caught the second half yesterday but had it recording su just watched it in full. Good programme, well produced and presented. Well reaserched but they did say that scuba divers breathe air and can only reach 40 odd m, could have atleast mentioned tec diving.

C

Well found!

C

Just finished watching it, thoroughly enjoyed it ;-)

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner

I thought it was a great programme. I'd love to have a go in that NASA pool mind.

Doomaniac and Zubar, that mythbusters clip is a little misleading.

That effect is real, but there is an obvious safety feature that has been part of the standard diving dress since at least the early 1900's.

All "modern" standard dress helmets include a non return valve in the feed into the helmet.

Cut hose at the surface will cut off supply, but the suit remains pressurised and the diver is not in his own private hydraulic press.

Diver can drop weight and ascend.

So actually mythbusters is propagating a myth. Standard dress is actually safer than those clips show.

Wrong, at all times the diver is in equilibrium with the ambient pressure, (or the video shows the consequences). In this respect there is no difference between you and a diver in a standard suit except that diver in standard dress has no way to close his nose to help him clear his ears.

Advanced questions

In the mythbusters video what would have been the consequence of cutting the divers air hose immediately above the helmet, half way to the surface and just beneath the surface. Assuming no check valve was fitted to the helmet that is. The effect of having the free end in air is obvious.

Cheers Harry