dive mistress

Sorry team!  A wee bit of a hiatus for Scuba Sunday’s but we’re back!
Scuba Sunday is a feature on scuba divers both here in New Zealand and some of the divers I have come in to contact with from all over the world.

Today’s interview was completed by a wonderful woman from across the water and someone quite inspiring – Ka Grima.

Ka loves wreck diving and her rebreather.
Her trip report blogs are fascinating as we learn how her kit is put together and the preparations she makes before each and every dive (plus there are cats – and who doesn’t love cats!)

Where are you based?
I’ve lived in Malta all of my 36 years, it’s a small Island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
Surrounded by clean blue sea – what more does a girl want?

Why scuba diving?
It was something I always wanted to learn I’ve always had the sea at my doorstep, and spent the summer months swimming and snorkeling.
Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to do my PADI Open Water course until my mid 20s.
When a colleague of mine sent an email that he was taking up scuba and needed a small group to get a discount – I signed on without batting an eyelash! And since then there was no turning back, I’ve taken the training very seriously, I completed my PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor and then proceed to start Technical Diving International Courses from Nitrox all the way to Advanced Trimix & Rebreather Trimix.

Has scuba diving changed your life in any noticeable way?
Yes I must say it did, I have made many new friends whom I’ve kept in touch with over the years. Maltese divers, foreign divers who visit Malta, divers I’ve met on trips to Sharm, and now the new phenomenon Social Network through which I met Tara, IAREDIVER & WifeBuddy, Clare Wilders aka DiveBunny, Nikki the Squirrel amongst us and many more…
Diving has made me better person, I cherish and appreciate friendship much more than before since these friends and buddies are also my support system when diving, they rely on me as much as I on them. Within the Tech-Dive Team I dive with we try to think as one and look out for each other, on land as well as underwater. Most of use completed our training together as Open Circuit Trimix Divers others I met since I’ve become a Closed Circuit Rebreather Diver.
I also believe I am more focused and lead a healthier lifestyle, since I work out weekly, quit smoking for the last 10 years and only consume alcohol occasionally.

Your favourite dive?
Must be the MV Polynesian, it’s a World War 1 wreck which was torpedo and sunken a couple of miles off Malta. It’s a deep wreck, beyond 60 meters and more often than not surrounded by strong currents. One has to respect it, not only as a grave site but also as a dive site for experienced divers. Unfortunately the Poly has claimed a life or two since it’s become a wreck site, mostly due to divers who dive beyond their training levels and with no technical and redundancy equipment.
I never get bored diving this wreck, there is always a new grouper that pokes her head and then swims off, some new artefact that was brought up from the belly of the wreck and left on the deck (it is illegal to pillage from wrecks in Malta). I try to dive into new holds every time, so it’s always an exploratory dive.

Favourite piece of kit?
My Insp rebreather – it was a huge investment from a financial stand point but I have no regrets from the first time I used one I said to myself that I had to get certified and buy one. I used to dive with twin 12 steel tanks and two 7 litre aluminium deco tanks on every dive – the strain on my back and legs was getting to me as well as to my pocket paying for trimix fills for 24 litres.
With the rebreather I can do the same dives I did with the twins, go deeper, stay longer have shorter decompression times using 50 or 80 bar from two 3 litre tanks.

Favourite marine life?
Has to be the Mola Mola, I only saw one once, on my very first dive to the Polynesian – this was the first and last dive I did on the Polynesian on Air and I was narked out of my face but other divers saw it too so I hadn’t imagining it – the first reaction was – Oh My God half a fish – there must be a bigger fish coming …. SCREAM …. and I screamed and the Mola just looked at me and sort of smiled …. (that’s the narked part, but I want to remember it that way) she swam calmly along the wreck and then off it went into the blue …

Your diving bucket list – is there;
Funny you ask, while in Birmingham during DIVE2011 a friend asked me a similar question and I replied with one and two

• a course that you want to complete
• Yes, I would love to take up a cave diving course in Mexico, I’d like to start from the basics and climb the ladder to advanced cave diving. Alternatively do other rebreather courses using different units other then the Inspo, something like the Meg and the Sentinel …

• a place you want to dive
• Truk! – I would like to be able to afford a two week holiday (or longer I won’t put a limit) to Truk on a live aboard with unlimited Sofnoline and oxygen.

• something you want to see?
• I would love to dive with sharks, mantas and whales …. that could really be the ultimate … I saw sharks in Egypt but regretfully I can’t say that I dived with them cause they just swam off as our group approached … I can say I dived with the tail of a shark … that’s about it.

You are given 30 minutes to talk to anyone about anything ocean or marine related. Who would you talk to and what about?
I always enjoy talking about Technical Diving and Training open or closed, I enjoy when people are crossing over from Recreational to Technical Diving and they approach me to discuss anything such as which training agency to sign on with, diving computers, wing systems, twin set sizes etc. I can never stop insisting that divers take the appropriate training courses, invest in suitable equipment, dive the appropriate number of hours and reach high level of performance in their skills to keep the skills fresh, because when a problem arises and a divers skills are rusty Murphy will come knocking, one should always be prepare for any eventuality.
I am always on the look-out to learn from what other divers are using and doing, from simple things such as why they clip their reel on the right lower D ring to which is the best mix to use on deeper rebreather dives.
I would never consider diving without my bail outs or redundancy even if it’s just an equipment check dive at one of the familiar reefs like Cirkewwa. Other divers can think I’m a dive shop on fins as much as they want, I’m still doing a 30 meter dive with the rebreather and two bailout tanks!

What do you do on your safety stop?
If its deco from one of the deeper wrecks then I hang on tight to the rope because the currents can be pretty strong and count down the minutes left for the end of the dive, on calmer currents I practice buoyancy skills while doing other tasks such as removing and donning bailout tanks, reel and SMB work, run CCR emergency skills etc. If it’s an easier dive such as a shore dive I run the skill circuit on every dive. On a most recent dive I practiced the tapping skills on my new dive computer the XEO (have to mention it I’m sorry)

To follow more of Ka’s adventures;

• Silent Diversion – Karla’s Blog
• Karla on Twitter