Q&A with Andy Clark

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...’ 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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that kind of stability in the water. Hearing him on the Speaking Sidemount podcast with Steve Davis about how SM wasn’t a speciality but a lifestyle ticked the right boxes for me. For open circuit diving, I think there is nothing better. Both can seem to be more faff than the recreational scuba configuration. But both also have many more advantages over it. I still love to just put a single 15-litre cylinder on my back and hang out in 5m of water at Porth Ysgaden or Cable Bay with my camera. But if I’m going to penetrate wrecks or checking out some murky depths, the SM or CCR are tools I have and can use to my advantage. Both need to be embraced fully, only doing so for a long period of time will you really get to understand, respect and be at one with it.

Q: You are a BSAC instructor – what do you enjoy most about teaching people to dive?

A: I did all of my BSAC instructor training at the Joint Services Sub Aqua Diving Centre in their combined instructor event. This would allow me to teach anywhere in the world through the military – meaning I’d be taken away and paid to do so. What I enjoy the most is the trydives in

For Sidemount (SM), Garry Dallas was also the only choice for me

Spider crab Andy on his rebreather

the pool. Getting someone that was initially nervous to get in the water and take off their mask or swap a regulator over while hovering mid-water, and see the excitement in their face at the end of the session is amazing. More so the week after if they return to the club and carry on their journey.

Q: I saw that you recently completed a freediving course with the other Andy (Torbet). What were your reasons for venturing into the world of breath-hold, and what was it like to be exploring the depths off Cornwall with no tank on your back?

A: Before I found scuba, I’d always owned a snorkel, so a duck dive for a few seconds was second nature. As part of my swimming training I have to complete two 25-metre underwater swims, which I’m struggling with. Ali had mentioned a while ago that she would love to freedive to allow her to experience the water without the bulk of all the dive kit. So, when Andy (who has been a great support to me over the last few years) announced he was putting on the course with Georgina Miller of Aquacity Freediving, it was a no brainer.

The weather, much like the underwater visibility at Porthkerris, couldn’t have been much better. My surface static breath hold was around one minute at home but with some help I got close to three. The depth we needed to qualify was 10m and I pushed to 17m. Our urge to breathe as I’m sure we all know is brought on by the increase of CO2, but we still have masses of useable O2. The course teaches us to understand this discomfort and how to safely use this extra O2 to stay under longer. Oh, and the silence is golden – much like CCR.

Q: Your podcast ‘Are You a Scuba Diver – Fancy a Brew?’ podcast was what first brought you to the fore for many people, and your YouTube Channel soon followed. What is it that drives you to create content for your various channels?

A: For me, the podcast was never on the cards. I listen to podcasts more than the radio and struggled to find any scuba-related (other than Speaking Sidemount obviously) that were interesting with great sound quality. What I hoped to create was a platform that inspired me, with guests that had done stuff I barely knew about that might set me on a different path. I wanted it to sound genuine, so we would sit and have a brew without the formality of an interview. I’d done my research on them and had an idea where the conversation would go.

Podcasting is hard work, long hours in post-production, it costs money to host, there’s obviously the research and planning to consider. While the financial rewards were small, thanks to several Patreons, the networking was immense. I learned so much and investigated new avenues. Now at the end of my third season with around 80 episodes, I’m so proud of what it’s achieved without any commercial backing.

My YouTube channel was totally different. I had the opportunity to test some kit for Northern Diver back in 2019/20 before it was released and my wife suggested that I might want to start an Instagram account – I came up with the name Andy the Northern Diver, then the testing led on to me talking to a few people and the YouTube channel was spawned. My initial few videos were dreadful and since deleted. Over the first six moths I’d only had maybe 100 subscribers and most of them were friends and family. Then we were hit with the COVID19 lockdown, I had masses of free time. I studied and improved my understanding of how to be a YouTuber and quickly grew to 1,000 subscribers.

Andy in film mode Andy has recently expanded into stunt work and other water activities

I’d say the driving force behind what I do comes from my need to meet and interact with likeminded people

Understanding how people find your content is as important as what they find when they get there. You have to stand out from the crowd and be yourself. While some of my videos are similar to other YouTubers, what I have aimed to do is share little tips and tricks that I’ve been lucky enough to have been shown. Then to showcase some of the phenomenal dive sites around the UK we’ve been to. I’ve consistently added 1,000 a year since then and had so many kind messages from all over the world, no mean feat on your own.

I’d say the driving force behind what I do comes from my need to meet and interact with like-minded people and then to help others in the same ways I’ve been helped.

Q: You have dabbled in the world of commercial diving. This is a seriously different prospect to recreational or technical diving. What were the main challenges for you?

A: After several episodes of my podcast I was convinced that I could make it as an underwater camera operator. So, the HSE Professional Scuba course was booked with Neil Brock of Bristol Channel Diving Services.

Andy on expedition around the UK

Busy editing for his YouTube Channel

On completion I improved my CV and sent it to everyone and anyone I knew or could find that might employ me. Luckily, I’d written articles, ran expeditions and done quite a bit with my life that helped me get a foot in the door. My first job was in a really cold swimming pool in Kent chipping off broken tiles, followed by being a safety diver for Rich Stevenson in Manchester. This led on to me sailing around the Islands of Scotland with Bob Anderson on the Clasina and later with Rowan Holt on the Pelican of London. From there I was a dive supervisor for Miranda Krestovnikoff before landing a job as a safety diver on Emmerdale for ITV.

The biggest challenge is to get your foot in the door and manage your expectations. Being proactive, helpful, volunteering and bolstering your knowledge of the industry you want to get into will all grease the wheels.

Q: As I have seen on your Facebook page, you have been busy learning a host of new skills in pursuit of working as a stuntman. What on Earth possessed you to go down that road?

A: The Emmerdale job meant we were in the water at Capernwray waiting for any of the stunt team to have an accident and we were there to save them. The week after we moved to High Force Falls, where I had to take one of the stunt team down under the waterfall and release her to float up to the surface on cue. In this kind of work, it pays to get to know your colleagues, build up a rapport and develop an understanding of what they might need from you. In doing so it quickly became obvious that I wanted to be in their line of work. What’s involved in training for the British Stunt Register (BSR) is what I’ve been doing all my life, what they do for a job, I’d do for free!

Q: What does the future hold for Andy Clark?

A: Currently I’m building up towards completing my Rock Climbing Instructor assessment. Then heading off to the Red Sea with some military friends in September, so I need to get my JJCCR serviced and refresh my skills on it before then. With all the training for the BSR I’ve been doing I’ve only managed to do one dive this year, in Silfra Rift in Iceland, for my birthday. The freediving course we’ve just done has now added to the urgency in which I need to get back in the water. n