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The dive took place in Belize, Hol Chan Marine Reserve. The
dive started on the morning of Sept. 14th 2009 and ended the
morning of Sept 16th, 2009. I brought 2 divers from the USA
and the Ramon's Village provided the rest of the dive support
team.
To minimize the number of times I would need to remove the GFFM,
the supply hose was fitted with a Quick dissconnect right at
the second stage of the mask. When it came time to switch to
a new tank, my support team would bring down a new Tank/Reg set
that also had a quick disconnect on the hose. I would settle
to the bottom, take a few deep breaths, and with a team member
right in front of me with the new tanks quick connector, I would
unhook the connector followed by them connecting the new quick
connect. Once on the new suppply, they would completely unhook
and remove the old tank, and then mount the new rig.
Through out the dive I had voice comm. with the topside thanks
to the OTS SSB-2010, and a SP-100 surface station.
One thing that surprised me was that the crew never had to change
the batteries on the surface station. It lasted the whole time
on one set of batteries. I also had 2 of the 2010's for
ease of changing them out for new batteries, and the first one
needed to be sent up at around 40 hours due to the batteries
going low. This was also much longer than I had expected the
batteries to last. I left for belize with about 100 AA batteries
thinking I would need to change them more often, but needed hardly
any of them.
I found sleeping underwater to be a little difficult. I only
remember getting about 20 minutes of sleep however, my team tells
me I got about 3 hours of sleep.
For the duration of the dive, I was on a liquid diet. I used
a camel-bak type hydration system for all my liquids. This was
the only time the GFFM came off my face. When it was
time to eat, I would Doff the GFFM and move to a standard
2nd stage and mask. Eat what I could and then re don the GFFM.
During the whole event I only did this 3 times. Donning and
clearing the flooded GFFM was very easy, and one of the
most practiced tasks before I left for Belize. The GFFM
was the first FFM I have ever used and I love it. Even in the
rush to get it back on during the dive if I did not get he straps
just right for the most comfort, it would still seal right up
to my face and allow me to clear it. And then once clear, re-adjust
evering for the most comfort. The GFFM provided much
more comfort than any other half-mask I have ever used.
OTS was a great asset in making this record setting dive
a success, and I don't beleive it would have been possible without
their help. John Hott was great with providing me with the exact
gear I needed, and even took the time to talk to me about other
aspects of the dive not related to the gear OTS was providing,
such as sleeping and eating underwater. I am forever thankfull
to OTS ad their great staff.
I know one thing for sure, If I didn't have to return the Demo-Locker
gear I was provided, The GFFM would be my only mask on
even the simplest of dives. It is going to hurt me to return
the best piece of dive gear I have ever used.
Right now, my team members from the US are still in transit home,
they stayed a bit longer than I did. They have all the original
digital photos, and once I receive the files, I will forward
them out to you. For now, I am just using copies pulled off
the newspapers websites. There are also videos hosted up on
youtube with the GFFM in action. You can find them on
my website at
www.worldrecordscuba.com
Robert Silva
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World Record Scuba Dive
Longest Saltwater Dive
Record Dive for Charity
NEW RECORD 48 HOURS 2 MINUTES |
