FALMOUTH JUNE RALLY

Air is pumped to the diver with a Siebe Gorman 1 Cylinder diver pump. The pump is a single cylinder double acting pump and is suitable for one diver to moderate depths. In the Siebe Gorman D4 catalog the pump goes by the codeword Pumot. This model of pump was used by the Admiralty and private contractors throughout the World.

With the emphasis on safety we have produced a High pressure control panel. Air is supplied by 2 high pressure cylinders and regulated through the control valve to the manifold. Should the pump fail stored air can be used as a safe reserve supply. Medium pressure from a compressor may also be supplied through the panel.

On a typical rally, the day starts off with a final check of the equipment. Spares are assembled and checked , crowd control is set up and the dive marshals are briefed as to their duties. Every one of the crew will be familiar with their own roles. The diver will be dressed in and await instructions from the diving supervisor who takes overall charge of the whole operation. The diver will receive a final brief as to what he is expected to do, however should he feel there may be a problem he will have the last word and can abort the dive at any stage, and this can be for any reason from apprehension to concern about the performance of the equipment

Here we see Boat Skipper Mike Tuffrey receiving the last minute dive briefing. He only requires his weight belt and his helmet and his kit is complete and he will be ready to dive. The equipment he is wearing in the picture is a 1944 Schrader MK5 outfit with lightweight boots, ideally suited to climbing the granite steps after the dive has been completed. With the whole kit weighing some 170 lbs any reduction in weight is a great advantage.

Although maintenance is carefully planned occasionally leaks do occur. This may be due to small tears or even the size and shape of the diver's wrist. Here we can see we didn't get it right, no damage done though apart from a wet sleeve and a few hours drying out the inside of the suit. On close inspection you can see the diver is wearing a nose-clip, this enables him to equalize the air pressure between the cavities in the ears with the ambient pressure. The lanyards seen connecting the belt between the divers legs are designed to hold the helmet firmly on the diver's shoulders should the suit become filled with air on ascent. Although not an essential part on the kit, diver's who have worn it feel it has positive advantages over not wearing it.

On a cold and windy afternoon in October the Working Equipment group of Falmouth Historical Divers put on an in water exhibition of standard diving for the BBC TV programme Flog It. We used our two cylinder double acting pump to supply the air and in water communication was with our Siebe Gorman Divers Intercom Unit . The filming took about four hours but with some good underwater shots a lot of great fun on the quay and copious amounts of hot coffee we survived the day. Later we made our way to a local hostelry to compare and discuss various items of diving for the rest of the show, with commentary by Dr Bevan of HDS UK

Seen here are some of the helmets that were discussed during the programme Left to right.
A reproduction Morse MK5 helmet, a Schrader MK5 helmet and a Siebe Gorman 6 bolt helmet.
In the foreground there are a Siebe Gorman screw in knife, a Heinke knife and a bakelite
handled Siebe Gorman Knife. There is also a diver's torch and boots of various styles.

On the picture, left to right are Warren Hastings (chairman and tender)
Paul Martin (TV presenter) Steve Uphill (tender) Tim Goldburn
(tender and telephone operator) Alan Jones (rescue diver)
and don't forger the diver, Iain MacQuarrie.

We hope you have enjoyed our contribution to the Working Equipment Group section of the
Diving Heritage website and look forward to your return to catch up on more of our events.