Part 1
VANUATU
June 2005
A tale of a newly certified, Classic Kiss Rebreather diver's travels

It all began many months before hand with the preparation and logistics of making sure all would be sweet upon our arrival in Port Vila,Vanuatu. Having purchased the soda lime here in Australia. I decided to send it via Aussie Post addressed to another Kiss CCR diver,working at the main hospital, Dr."Harry" Harris and as a second choice to Hideaway Island where we would be staying and celebrating my wife's birthday. This suited me fine , working up to going deeper, starting with easy recreational dives on a closed circuit rebreather. Many emails were sent back and forth between Harry and I and yes he confirmed that the sorb I had sent 3 weeks earlier had just arrived in time & yes he could help me with two 3 litre tanks and oxygen too because none of the dive shops I contacted could.
Ummm---- make a mental note of that.

We used Virgin Airlines to fly with who have a really great sporting goods policy. With all the extra equipment I took, (O/C gear too just in case) plus another 10 kg of sorb a total weight of 52 kg counted as only 5 kg of my allotted 20 kg check-in allowance. Gee whiz, at that rate I could have brought my own 3 litre tanks as well! Fantastic service.
Arrived and settled in quickly on Hideaway Island, promptly made our way back down to the dive shop to set up our equipment only to be met with a cold reception by the new Dive Manager who pulled me aside and said I think we better have a little talk. We ambled over to a table out of earshot of the others at the shop. John's opening comment had me shocked, he wasn't happy for me to dive the breather.
Although I had requested permission prior to booking, Upper Management had not emailed and informed me about John's negative response.
With a sudden rise of temperature and my self control ebbing, my comment was "If you approach this with a closed mind we will get nowhere" that seemed to smooth the waters. I addressed all of John's concerns throughout the rest of the day, about my training certifications and how the unit operates and what my intentions were on diving it while there. Saying I would spend about the same amount of time in water and not hold everyone up for hours on end was a positive too.

Setting up the Kiss outside,on the dive shop table soon attracted a crowd of interested divers with me explaining and answering questions as each part went together. Now, totally assembled with the VR3 and Kiss sensors calibrated it was time to get wet, checked everything was working and watertight. A shore dive beside the jetty soon had me removing weights when at first I sank like a stone. That sorted, I clipped on a O/C bailout tank and then begun a little 25m dive for 45 minutes,that was just what the doctor ordered. Four days passed, two dives per day saw me gradually taking the unit deeper and longer each day. The local dive guides/staff were all amazed at how little gas was required only once a day and would quiz me regularly on how it all worked and what's that white stuff.
Gearing up for a second dive one time I forgot my o2 displays were not secured on my arm and as I stood up to adjust the BC, oops out popped an o2 display cable that caught in a crevice beside the seat, exposing bare copper wires. Bugger, that blew that dive!
Back at the dive shop where John had pretty much given me free rein in the workshop because I kept on coming back and was always in there fiddling anyway, saw my dilemma and bought out the tools I needed for repairs. I tried several times for the life of me to get a good connection soldiered but failed, miserably. I decided to go into Vila to see if a radio technician was available and found a local fella in the middle of town running a mobile phone /repair shop. Showed him my problem, asked can you fix- a nodded reply and within 10 minutes it was back perfectly repaired. You bloody beauty, how much? Five vatu he says so I doubled it and shook on it.
The breather lives again!

It was about this time Harry required his tanks returned for several upcoming trimix dives on the Coolidge wreck in Santo. Having returned them I gratefully thanked him for all his help as the breather diving would never have happened otherwise. I had the option to go open circuit, it was too late I cried---well almost. I was hooked and determined closed circuit is the way for me. Only two days left.
The very next day I jumped on the ferry and then a bus into town searching for some suitable tanks at the dive shops there. First stop at the end of town, turned out to be a winner but they only had one 3 litre ally tank. Half way there I thought trundling back along the main street. Called into Tranquility Island Dive office/shop, where I meet the owner Owen Drew who informed me "sorry no tanks". After chatting for sometime he started to scratch his head and he recalled that he had an old oxygen tank he used on his old boat a long time back for medical emergencies. He had it stored in a 20 foot shipping container full of old stuff and he would have to rummage through to find it, he asked me if I could come back after lunch to which I agreed. Ok, looking good now,having spotted the gas depot on the way in I would check with them on my return for a supply of o2.
Lunch over and back at the shop where I was presented with a very rusty vintage 2 litre tank that still contained a dribble of oxygen, over 20 years!
With nothing to lose a deal was struck if it's any good you can use it in exchange for the Hydro test. Back at Hideaway John does the hydro's, I worked hard on the tank and valve till it had cleaned up well to pass test then finished up with a coat of black paint. Back into town next day for the oxygen fill that took up most of the morning's time ( another story there) so then it was off to collect the other tank only to be told by another shop staffer "sorry that tank can't be hired,it doesn't belong to us". That comment sat me right back on my heels. Spending a day and a half of walking from one end of town to the other a few times in the blazing heat was good exercise and I had tried, but that comment just kept on coming back haunting my mind.

Maxwell Smart said more than once to Agent 99-----Missed by that much.

As it turned out I was a little fitter and wiser with my first foray with a breather overseas racking up 7 hours in water on this unit and my good wife Bev had a ball blowing bubbles throughout the week. Packed up the gear ready for the next leg of the journey---the Solomon's on the midnight express to Honiara.

I would really like to thank all who assisted me on this trip especially ole grumpy John on Hideaway (A really good fella once past the thick outer skin) who gave me the chance to practice my voodoo.

Jeff Giddins

    Part 2 Solomons