ANDY CLARK
We chat to Andy Clark, the distinctive face and voice behind the popular Andy The Northern Diver YouTube Channel, about exploring our watery planet, getting into stunt work, the challenges of underwater photography and filming, and the attractions of freediving. Photographs courtesy of Andy Clark
Q: As we always do with these Q&A sessions, how did you first get started in the world of scuba diving? A: My first trydive was in Tenerife back in 2002, but life got in the way until I had a chance meeting over a brew with a now-close-friend Steve Kirkman in February 2016. He was planning a military diving expedition deploying to Fuerteventura. He explained that if I was to get the BSAC Ocean Diver certification before we deploy in the October, I’d not only be put through the Sport Diver training, but I’d be used as a safety diver. Like everything I do, 100 miles an hour at 100 percent, scuba diving was the sport I’d been waiting for all my life, and I quickly became his right-hand man. Q: I understand that you popped the question to your nowwife Ali on a reef off the Canary Islands – what made you opt for this unusual proposal? A: After a previous marriage and other relationships, I’d resigned myself to never meeting ‘the one’. When Ali came along all that changed. She was adventurous, supportive, interesting and most importantly she broke my walls down and helped me mature into someone I really wanted to be. So, two years into our relationship, I knew it was time to speak to her dad. Once his permission was given, I called Steve, who suggested we fly out to the Canaries and I pop the question on a reef. We planned a weekend away where Ali would learn twinset. Back in Fuerteventura, the fourth dive was when I was going to pop the question and she’d had enough and didn’t want to get back in - I think she wanted to sunbathe while the boys went to play. With a little bit of coercion, she donned her twins and got on the RIB. We’d planned that Steve and I would head off to an area of the reef that had a swim-through / chimney, Ali and Martyn would follow. With me on top of the reef she followed and was met with a dive slate and plastic ring from a Christmas cracker. More shocked than I can explain, she said ‘yes’. ‘Give me that camera...’
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Andy returning from a tech dive
Q: You are a qualified CCR and Sidemount diver. What are the challenges of these forms of diving over recreational scuba, and what led you down the technical path? A: Since I first set eyes on the JJCCR at the Go Diving Show 2020 (Thanks to Alan from Techwise), I knew I’d end up with one. Kieran Hatton was my UK instructor of choice, through both recommendation and how well we got on. For now, I’m qualified to 40m on Air Diluent, commonly known as MOD1. For Sidemount (SM), Garry Dallas was also the only choice for me. Not only because I knew him personally (I’d done his garden), but I’d seen some footage of him and needed
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