•  

 

Joint Services Dive Safety Day

Vodelée, Belgium 2019


Divers:
Dieter Maezele & 249 others

        Dive Sites: The Center de Plongée Profonde René Crepin, Vodelée, Belgium

 

This event was the 5th annual Safety Dive Day for combined services of Police, Military and Fire Brigade units, held at Vodelée quarry located in the south of Belgium. 

We are 3 good friends, all Police officers and using AP diving equipment. 

We are members of Diving Club Guy Serville Koksijde, Belgium https://www.guyserville.be

Our club is an old military diving club, linked to 40 Sqn SAR of the Belgian Air Force.  Just like most of our members, 40 Sqn rescue divers have been using AP Commandos for many years.

In our club, 95 percent of the divers use different models of AP Commando - from the newest AP Diving, to the black BUDDY Commando [TD] BCD and even some very old-school pink and yellow models. 

These BCD’s are the best for the toughest cold water conditions such as the North Sea. We use them in combination with the AP SMB: a perfect combination.

 

At the Vodelée Dive Safety Day there were a total of 250 divers from across the different services - police, army and fire fighters.

We did 2 dives with maximum depths around 40m. In location there are some objects in the water, such as a sailing boat, a jetski, an armoured troop carrier etc...

My BUDDY BCD has been used all over the world: all diving sites in Belgium, Scapa Flow (3x), Isle of Wight, Norway (3x, even above the Polar Circle), Brighton, Egypt, Spain, France, Holland, Curacao, Thailand and many many more.

Will be diving for decades with AP products!

Greetings

Dieter Maezele

2* instructor

Staff of DC Guy Serville Belgium

About Vodelée:

The Center de Plongée Profonde René Crepin is a suitable winter dive site for 40m dives and deep tests.

It is an old marble quarry located in Vodelée, a small village between Givet and Phillippeville, close to the French border.

The gray and red marble that was mined here is called Royal, Imperial and Griotte. The walls of the quarry are therefore beautiful in color. Under water you can still find beautiful pieces of marble.

You can go into the water along a small road that runs up to the surface of the water or from a platform 3 meters above the surface of the water (ideal for showing off your giant stride jump). Below the platform there is a depth between 3 and 6 m. The steep walls of the quarry fall perpendicular to 30 m, with ridges at different depths. On the left-hand side of the quarry, the wall drops to 30 m, sloping and is littered with boulders.

The maximum depth is 36 to 40 m in the back left corner and in the middle of the well.

To make the dive site more attractive, underwater objects were placed. You will find an airplane, sewer pipes, grain silos, a boat, etc ...

A lot of fish has been released in the quarry, including carp, pike, perch, salmon, trout, barbel, tench, eel, sturgeon and much more. You also come across crayfish and duck mussels.

It's just a shame that most of these fish live in the top 5 meters. You will only find sturgeon in the deeper part. But the objects that can be found at depth are a nice compensation.

The first aid post right across the cafeteria is very well equipped with oxygen and an adjustable table. First aid material and necessary medicines are available to doctors. Every club must bring an oxygen bottle.

Contact details can be found here:

https://www.royalcas.be/vodelee.php

See also:  http://www.duiken-in-belgie.com/Duiklokatie.php?id=4

Please Note: Copyright for this report is held by the author. It is reproduced here with the permission of the author.  Any disclosure, copying, distribution or other action taken in reliance of the information contained in this report is strictly prohibited. Any views expressed by the author are not necessarily those of  the company. AP Diving is the trading name for Ambient Pressure Diving Ltd, registered in England under Company Registration Number 4118978, and the Registered Office is Unit 2C, Water-Ma-Trout Industrial Estate, Helston, Cornwall TR13 0LW.