Mexico Overhead Sidemount Course in October 2015

Mexico Overhead Sidemount
Course in October 2015

In October 2015, a group of PSAI technical divers were thrilled to travel half way around the globe from Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Suzhou to the world famous cave diving heaven, Mexico. Led by PSAI-China Instructor Trainer Evaluator, Gallup Lee (ITE-85), Vera Pang and Pong Ho attended a week-long Overhead Sidemount training while Kenneth Cheung, Wong Ting Kwok, Han Ting, Eddie Yung and Irene Chong enjoyed the beauty of the various well-known caves systems in the region.

Diving the Mexican cave system has always been the dream trip of many divers, be it just a swim-through at the Cenotes showered by holly sunrays, or the challenging penetration into well decorated chambers miles into the cave. Cave diving demands not only the use of dedicated diving equipment and extremely fine technique of buoyancy control, but a thorough understanding of the underwater protocol, execution of dive plans and team communications. Proper and intensive training is without doubt a prerequisite before one can safely appreciate and protect the million-year-old earth formations from underneath the ground.

Over the past years, Gallup has spent relentless effort in equipping technical divers with the needed skills for cave diving and bringing them to the level where they can truly appraise the beauty of the caves. Divers are not only trained on skills but also the mentality of humbleness, safety and the readiness to handle emergency situations (should that arise) under potentially stressful circumstances. “The tasks that are most likely to be performed correctly under stress are those tasks which are practiced regularly” as it repeatedly appears in every PSAI training material.

於 2015 年 10 月，一眾雀躍的技術潛水員遊歷半個地球，由香港、杭州、蘇州出發到世界知名的洞潛天堂 – 墨西哥。國際專業潛水協會 (PSAI) 中國區 – 教練訓練評核官李旭東 (Gallup) 帶領兩位學員龐曉薇及何智邦，在一週內完成了側掛式潛水 – 密閉環境課程。同團包括張傳其、黄定國、韓廷、容智傑及莊小姐，他們在當地欣賞了好幾個聞名已久的洞穴。

墨西哥洞潛，是很多潛水員夢寐以求的旅程。陽光普照下的洞口，一道道嘆為觀止的耶穌光、大家深入極俱挑戰性的洞穴，來回穿越狹窄而絢麗的通道感到興奮無比。換言之，洞潛活動不但需要專用的潛水裝備及良好的中性浮力要求，還需要全面掌握所有潛伴之間的安全協定、嚴格執行潛水計劃及整個團隊的溝通和默契。無疑地，洞潛者都必須接受正規而嚴厲苛刻的常規訓練，才能確保潛水員能安全地欣賞，及好好保護幾百萬年遺留的地下堡壘。

在過去好幾年，Gallup 花費了不少心血及時間去訓練一班技術潛水員，讓他們能夠運用所需的洞潛技巧，去探索及享受洞內恬静而優美的環境。不但提升了各潛水員的技術水平，最重要的是能培養謙卑的心態，提高警覺性及在緊急情況下都能維持臨危不亂，保持清晰頭腦，把問題一一解决。最後，就如 PSAI 的課本內經常提到：「在有壓力的情況下，能正確地執行任務，都是來自經常練習技巧的結果」。

Photo credit: PSAI-IT Wong Ting Kwok
相片由 PSAI-IT黄定國提供