A previous interview on 'featured diver' focused on Nick Legras a retired wreck diver from the UK scene. Staying on the subject of retired wreck divers we caught up with another lad who has recently retired from the scene, London based wreck diver Jamie Powel

Regarded by many as one of the best wreck divers of the last decade, his cool laid back approach singled him out above others. we asked 'Jay' as his fiends call him what inspired him through his career, what he has most enjoyed through the years as well as all the Usual deepimage Q&A.

Enjoy featured diver No2 who knows next time it could be you!

Introduction
I first had the pleasure of meeting Jamie Powel at a technical diving conference at Coventry, England back in 1994. Interestingly enough this man was about as laid back as they come even then in 94 although it has to be said over the last 9 years he has become a little more chilled out and has always been happy just to .....well just go with the flow really. Jamie was a member of the Starfish Enterprise from its early days a corr pioneering member of the team although of course still with that laid back attitude. During the Britannic 98 expedition it was noticed that Jamie was using one of new Uatec D timers, timers that don't calculate depth beyond 99meters/326ft and as the wreck lie at a depth of 120m/400ft he was asked how he accurately measures his daily depth for his decompression. Jay simply replied that that he knew the bottom was 120/400 and that the top was 83m/273ft and what with the visibility so good he was more than happy enough to simply estimate the depth he had reached!

In the last ten years Jay has used one single decompression table tucked nicely in his front pouch, these tables designed on MIG some years ago have been used for all of his diving from a 20ft scallop dive to a 300ft dive on the Lusitania. All Jay had to do was adjust them in his head on an ascent either way to suit the dive in question!

On one diving occasion he was given the task of lashing the anchor line into the wreck on a dive off Plymouth England at a depth of 265ft. Once he had done the job in question all he had to do was release a co lour coded marker indicating to the remaining divers his job was complete. As Jay then went about his dive as normal he could not quite understand why more anchors were being dragged into the wreck and why the divers had descended later down another line on a different location of the wreck. Quite simply put Jamie was too laid back to inform us that in fact he was colour blind and on the surface the two markers to him looked very much alike. In other words the Orange one looked very like the fluorescent yellow one that represented no wreck try again! Interesting to say the least ...... Still he is good at cartoons!

Even when I met Jamie he had pulled off some serious dives since then he has added to a mouth watering CV of classic wreck explorations. I managed to catch up with him over the last winter and ask him about his life as a diver. After several cups of a classic Indian blended tea as we over-looked the Thames river in London I was happy I had enough material for my
interview.

DI; Jamie how long have you been diving for?
JP; 18 years
I went on holiday to Papua New Guinea of all places in 1984 with my mum, we went snorkeling saw lots of very nice fish and mum said “hey how about learning to dive”

DI; Is it true you dived the Medina 200ft deep shipwreck off the Devonshire coast of England with a single cylinder at the age of 14?
JP; Yes Yes and No, I think we can account for a little Christina Campbell exaggeration here. I was 17! But even so I guess still a little wet behind the ears to know better, as for deco what was that?

DI; We also heard you dived to a depth of 363ft on air with a single 10ltr in 1995 off the Island of Palau near Truk. Is there any truth in this and if so can you relay the story back to us.

JP; Well this guy called paul Owen who was a diver as well told me that beyond 300ft Id have a good chance of seeing a mermaid. Actually we were terribly macho and much misguided by the adventure of deep air divers like Hal Watts and Bret Gilliam and the like who made it look terribly exciting and romantic in the 1970’s. But actually it added a little more interest to mealy looking at shoals of barracuda and hundreds of reef sharks all the time. So each day I’d do a 300ft dive on air and really enjoy it. Very Peace full and mellow it was too.

DI; So where do the beetle nuts come into the equation.

JP;The man on the dive boat said they were sweeties!Tell you what though I was the first to the bar one day (for a change) had a beetle nut and kind of slipped off into a dimensional Hiatus, to re-awake to a warm conversation and bottle of victoria beer.

DI; You’ve just retired from diving after 18 years Why?
JP; Semi …. Semi-retired, still like pretty fish.

Why? , tired of it really ….. I like to progress in sport and since the Britannic 98 expedition I’ve not progressed in my opinion, perhaps because of my failure to embrace CCR. I’m simply not a technical diver and those things are technical. And the rewards were scant too, the hassle of it all the time the expense etc etc… As far as I’m concerned I’ve had the best of it and retired happy and in no way resentfully or regretful.

DI; Throughout your career of some 18 years in the game you have concentrated on wrecks why is this have you had a love for them?

JP; Well if you dive in the UK seriously then you'd be a fool to ignore them , there's thousands of wrecks all around our coastline , they are rich in history and have many great tales to tell. Plus the new dives (newly found that is ) are true exploration of something new a rare treat on this planet other than new caves. And there aint no ridge at the end of a cave! But seriously if you've dived a wreck you know for yourselves the answer to this question

JP; Britannic ! Myself and Bob Hughes were first down the line to tie the anchor into the wreck on day one, that day the viz was so good that descending the line at about 60m I could see from the tip of the bow to the second smoke stack laying on the seabed ! It looked lie a model…. No Bullshit! Is there a better ship to be seen in wreck diving than that???

DI; Have you ever been in a decompression chamber?

JP; Yes twice, one in Poole in Dorset and once in Cork Ireland. Didn’t Uncle Nick Legras say Poole was a particularly nice chamber? If so I’d have to agree with him , seem to remember tea and jammy dodgers before and after the entire affair.

DI; Is there any truth in the rumor that you once took a serious O2 hit convulsed and actually died for a period of time? Can you tell us a little more about this incident?

DI; Other than the UK where else in the world have you dived?
JP; Spain, Cozumel Mexico, Tobago, Mauritius, Seychelles, Philippines, Bali, Lae Malawi, Turkey (black sea) Palau, Barbados, Red Sea, Greece, Switzerland (Lakes) and Ireland…. Think that’s about all.

DI; You appeared in Aquacorps ‘wreckers’ was this a great honor for you?

JP; Yes I did didn’t I, an honor….. umm at the time yes I guess so …..but now I couldn't give a hoot.

JP; Why not , I was young and carefree and foolish, Not long after I sported a fine Goatee beard to match! I was the first in my year at school to have a goatee as well I was only about 8.

DI; Other than your O2 hit have you had any other real scares in diving?

JP; Oh yes indeed getting back after a really long day at sea when its nearly pub closing time and missing last orders…. Its never happened but its been darn close. That’s the only thing that’s really scared me over the years.

DI; You have been an avid collector of shipwreck artifacts and have a more than impressive collection, what is your most prized artifact of your entire collection and why?

JP; I’d say my BIG Alagonia Bell . This wreck has been dived extensively for almost 26 years or more and I’d never heard of the fo’c’astle bell being recovered, the wreck bow is upright and intact so if the bell was there it would be long since found so where was it? Had anybody thought of looking on the seabed I thought? So I had a quick sniff around the seabed and it was just lying there 5ft off the starboard hull at the bow…. A good day!

DI; You have 9 ships bells to your name, have you any advice for anyone who wants a bell and haven't found one?

JP; Yeah go around to your place Leigh one night and steal the one round the back of the shed or …. Easy dive a wreck that has never been dived before and have plenty of Luck! Oh Yeah an obvious point is try looking around the pointy end!

JP; No . I’ve never done anything naughty ever!

DI; Do you like Marmite
JP; Yes

DI; And tea you like tea don’t you

JP; Yes , 2nd only to beer. Earl Gray first thing in the morning , then builders half a sugar please!

JP; Love My kids Poppy and Lilly my wife Becky , my Principia race bike and of course beer. I Hate Aggressive people, what's the point? When I say aggressive I didn’t mean all the time I mean ever very mundane things , a spilt pint in the pub , a minor driving error , you know the type, not exactly uncommon. But still just take it easy people.

JP; A complication of Iron Maiden, every few years I play some maiden and think….. fantastic!, its not too serious it just rocks!

Mind you I don’t suppose listening to “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” would in any way make me bolt my load no matter how good my imagination.

DI; Now you have finished diving what are you going to do with your time?

JP; Have fun with my kids and ride my bikes, I will be racing cycles this year, although at 33 I'm perhaps too old to be a pro but having said that I can still do well in the armature leagues. I know I can do it mentally I just hope the legs comply.