Baltictech 2011 - report day 1

The Baltic Technical Divers’ Conference, or Baltictech 2011, is currently taking place in Gdynia. We invite you to read our report hour by hour.

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Take a look at the photos from the first day of the conference: Gallery from the first day of the conference

Baltictech 2011 – report day 2

19:00 Closing of the first day and prize draw

Before the organisers moved on to the long-awaited moment of the prize draw, a few words were dedicated to the tragically deceased Robert Klein, who had been actively involved in the organisation of all past editions of Baltictech from the very beginning. His memory was honoured with a minute’s silence.

When the drawing of lots began, the whole hall became animated. Everyone waited impatiently to see in whose hands this year’s prizes would go, and the list was truly impressive.

Among them dive underwear, ipods, torches, automatics, computers, wings, trips abroad, Sweet Deco rebreather, Mps C2 Case booster and the grand prize a Suex Xjoy 14 dive scooter!

The atmosphere was phenomenal as every year. The draw was a great prelude to the subsequent diving party. It set the right mood and put smiles on the faces of the gathered conference participants.

Congratulations to the winners and good luck to the rest next year!

Now before the participants still the last part of this evening, the diving party! Expect photos from the party tomorrow ???? .

18:00 Jill Heinerth – Discover the unknown

An extremely interesting meeting with an exceptional person who has learned about diving from almost every angle. For all those who decided to attend the last lecture of the day, Jill had a real treat. She talked about some of the most unusual and exciting dives she has taken part in and her perspective on making video footage of these expeditions.

Among the expeditions discussed were dives in difficult circumpolar regions where the temperature was -1.8°C and a cave dive inside an iceberg.

Jill also touched on a subject extremely close to her heart, which is water. She talked about love and respect for water and how we should instil these values for future generations. Proper education of our children is the surest way to take care of what is important to us.

Finally, she summed up the first day of the conference, which was full of interesting lectures.

17:00 Krzysztof Starnawski – diving in side mount configuration

The main figure of the dual rebreather project – Krzysztof Starnawski, during the workshop, presented to the gathered audience the advantages and nuances of diving in side mount configuration.

It would be hard to place someone with more authority and recognition in this role than our Mexican cave explorer.

Those who decided to devote their time to this meeting could hear many interesting arguments concerning the use of the new equipment configuration in different types of diving. Clearly outlined differences and substitutions that the side configuration introduces in our way of diving were the main thread.

The otherness and new possibilities offered by the side mount make it an interesting direction to take in diving.

16:00 Richard Lundgren – Mars the Magnificente

We are already after the lunch break. We are waiting for the speech of this year’s king of Baltic wreck hunting – Richard Lundgren. In the meantime, Rosemary Lunn encouraged attendees to visit the Eurotek 2012 conference.

This is Richard’s second visit to Baltictech. In the past we had the opportunity to see him at the second edition in 2008.

He began his talk by giving a historical overview of the Baltic and its trade routes and the animosity between the Scandinavian nations, particularly along Danish-Swedish lines. Then, after outlining the situation among the two hostile nations, he moved on to a point-by-point presentation of the clash in which the Mars was sunk by the combined forces of Denmark and Lübeck.

Finding the wreck of Mars was the realisation of a dream born in the mind of its discoverer 20 years earlier. Today he is very happy that no one has managed to discourage him from the search, even though over the years there have been many voices calling him crazy and insane.

The next part of the talk was a presentation of the technical possibilities Richard and his companions have today and an account of their motivation, determination, as well as a reference to their origins when he was still working for Mel Fisher, the discoverer of the Spanish galleon Atocha.

Those present had the opportunity to view unique video footage recorded by the explorers during a dive on the Mars shipwreck.

Despite the fact that Baltictech is a conference for technical divers, this time the organisers decided to cater also for the participants who will only aspire to this title. At the same time as the lecture on the discovery of the wreck of Mars, a lecture entitled “Am I ready for technical diving? When is the right time for the first step?”, conducted by Aleksandra Stępień. Aleksandra is an experienced trimix and IANTD cave diver, as well as a scuba instructor.

Another of the attractions planned by the organisers after the lunch break was the presentation of rebrethers, which was conducted by Sławek Paćko. It took place in the hotel swimming pool.

13:00 Krzysztof Wnorowski, Łukasz Piórewicz and Tomasz Stachura, memories from the expedition Wiatrem Gnane

The last meeting with conference participants before the lunch break, dealt with one of the most media successes of Polish diving in recent years. Finding, inventorying and excavation of cannons on Slupsk shoal.

The three participants today, representing a large group of Tri-City technical divers taking part in the Wind Gnane expedition, told those present the background of the entire project, as well as the finding of the wreck M/Y Akademik Karpinsk and the deep wreck exploration project. Much of the information was posted on an ongoing basis on Divers24, But this time everyone had the opportunity to find out for themselves what the background to this huge undertaking was like. Standing on the sidelines, we are not always aware of the staff, the months of research and preparation that precede such a large mission.

At the same time there were lectures given by Dorota Leweć Nick Toussaint. The author of the book “Women’s Diving”, focused in her today’s speech on the psychophysical and medical aspects of diving for the fair sex. In turn, the world-renowned diver, presented what diving with oxygen decompression rebreathers is all about.

12:00 Tino Balestra – PFO, does it concern me?

The speaker captured the attention of the audience from the very beginning. He established a great contact with the audience and moved on to other issues, very serious subject, joking a lot.

By listing successive causes of accidents, he made the audience aware that risk minimisation is not something simple and obvious. The considerable multimedia facilities that Tino used to support himself guided the audience through the successive medical cases and the course of the PFO.

The point he made to the audience was that even seemingly harmless activities can lead to serious consequences if the correct procedures are not followed.

In the second room, the first presentation at this year’s Baltictech, had Jill Heinerth, who shared her experiences on CCR’s. An interesting topic, but the transition from theory to practice is a huge step and still only possible for a small group of divers.

Hour 11:00 Expedition to Orda Cave, an amazing cave in the Urals

The lecture by guests from across the eastern border was started by Bogdana Vashchenko, who introduced the attendees to the main issues of the project and the first observations of the exploration team. She noted the immense uniqueness and lack of external interference in the environment of the Ordinskaya Grotto.

The possibility to learn something about this wonderful place directly from the people conducting research there is a special and unique opportunity. Additionally, for the visitors of the conference in the main hall of the Gdynia Hotel, an exhibition of beautiful photographs from the Orda Cave Awarness Projeckt was organised.

Another member of the group talking about projects in Russia was the highly experienced diver Igor Galaida, who has ventured 980m into the depths of the Ural cave, but has also taken part in many other explorations and focused his talk on these.

He devoted the first part of his speech to Blue Lake. This is a peculiar lake, the diameter of which does not exceed 120m, while its depth reaches over 200m. An interesting part of the presentation was a film made during a record-breaking dive to 180m in this body of water. The decompression that Igor and his buddy had to undergo lasted 6h.

In the next part he focused on the topic of “Russian Underwater Heritage”, whose main topics are the Baltic wrecks lying on the Russian side. Interesting photos and materials provided excellent support for Igor’s story. Especially since we still know very little about the wrecks sunken in that area. You can find more information about the research at www.baltic-sunken-ships.ru.

The last lecture of the Russian group was given by Sergei Gorpinyuk. It concerned mainly technical aspects of diving. Difficult conditions in the areas they explore (Lake Bialy, Orda Cavr), make it extremely important to prepare the right equipment to cope with frighteningly low temperatures. Sergei was very relaxed and humorous, telling us in a very accessible and understandable way about the technical nuances during the daily exploration of the places visited by the group.

At the same time, in the workshop room, Lukasz Piórewicz presented the topic “The Baltic Sea for beginners” to the attendees.

10:00 JP Imbert on micro-bubbles

The presenter of this lecture, JP Imbert, has devoted many years of his life to issues related to improving safety in diving. His presentation today was on the introduction of micro-bubbles into the body.

In 50min, an experienced diver and scientist gave his vision of what influences the appearance of microbubbles, the path they take in our body and what effects they can have.

As it turns out, micro-bubbles are already present in our body before diving. Even our warm-up or exercises performed before diving have an influence on their occurrence.

With the presentation he prepared, he presented the issues related to the topic in a very clear way. These included the route taken by bubbles in our bodies from the lungs to the heart and on to the brain, the impact of the environment and changes in pressure after immersion in water.

JP Imbert went on to talk about the different types of symptoms that occur depending on the type of dive and its course, he also discussed options for safe decompression.

In the final phase of the lecture, he spent time on the individual circumstances of each of us, such as age, gender and lifestyle.

Divers actively engaged in technical diving may have been interested in the final decompression models, which he discussed with much humour.

A very interesting lecture, even for laymen, the relaxed form and the person of the lecturer made the issues raised seem very clear.

A quarter before 10 a.m. one of the organisers of the Baltictech 2011 conference officially opened the conference. The most attention during the opening was devoted to technical issues, so that the whole event would run as smoothly as possible.

Anyone thinking of attending the workshop should be aware that it will be held in a room on the 11th floor. For those interested in visiting the Hyperbaric Institute on Sunday afternoon, round-trip transportation will be provided by specially provided buses.

If you only want to visit the hall where the equipment stands, you can buy a ticket for 20pln. For those arriving with their families, special “diving party” tickets are available for 50pln.

For more detailed information, ask the conference staff; you will recognise them by their distinctive yellow T-shirts.

The opening was concluded with the remembrance of Witek Smilowski and Robert Klein, who unfortunately are no longer with us, but who contributed greatly to the creation of the current shape of the conference.

JP Imbert is about to begin his lecture. Soon, we will have more information for you.

Source: Divers24