Back to Teaching

The school year has started and our Friday night pool has followed suit and we have got off to a busy start with a new SEAL team getting underway and a brand new Open Water course starting. It seems like ages since I actually taught an Open Water course and I have to confess to a certain level of excitement at the prospect of taking brand new students through the process and creating some really competent divers at the end of it.

There are three students involved with a fourth that has done most of the work previously and will be dipping in to finish off and refine skills. They include a complete novice who first experienced a try dive at the Essex International Scout Jamboree this summer and one of the graduates from our very own SEAL team. From a teaching perspective that is tremendous because it provides a real mixture and I know that our SEALs have been able to race through the course having picked up most of the skills already.

At the time of writing I must confess we are already two sessions into the course. The first session went really well and it was evident that the students had done their homework on chapter one in their manual. A slight challenge was that Knowledge reviews had been done but the answers had not been written in the manual so we had to go through these before getting in the water.

Partial mask clear is the skill to watch out for in session one and as always I got the students practicing this on dry land before putting them in the water. It is such an easy skill when you get it but there is something about putting your face in the water and then having to blow through your nose with a regulator in the mouth that seems to confuse even the most rational persons brains at times. I am pleased to say everyone got this skill perfectly before we finished.

Session two was equally successful and this time the Knowledge Reviews were completed and good marks were achieved in the tests. This is great for me because it always gives us more time to brief the skills to be covered in the water. Session two has a lot in it but again everyone coped really well and especially with the experience of the out of air scenario.

My challenge was that following our second session I had to get on my way to the Farne Islands for a diving weekend so I had to get out and on the road very quickly in order to get the six hour journey underway. You might think that setting off at 8:30 pm to go to Northumbria is sheer madness and you would probably be right but you will need to make that conclusion only after reading the next blog entry on my weekend in the Farnes.

Another Equipment Course and a brand new Master Scuba Diver

Another busy day at Orca with yet more practice at cleaning and repairing kit. This time we managed to see first hand the problems associated with trying to glue neoprene together. Still all worked out well in the end with Harvey and Jane doing well to take in all the information on offer. Once again I here myself recommending the Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving and realising this is not just because it is a PADI book but more importantly because it remains my first call for gathering a host of information.

Discussing some of the contents with Gary in the centre after the course had finished we devised a plan to offer something more for our customers. As a result two things to watch for in coming weeks will be a modular course covering diving physics and physiology which should prove especially interesting to anyone considering doing their Divemaster or Instructor qualifications and to those that just want to remind themselves of what they already know. Keep an eye on the website as details will be published soon.

In addition we both realised that we now have a number of qualified rescue divers who have not reviewed or thankful had call to practice their skills for quite some time. So I happily spent some time putting together a refresher programme that hopefully will go live in late September.

My highlight of the day was the visit of Sasha and her family to the centre which gave us a chance to present her with her well earned Master Scuba Diver certificate. We have had a good run of qualifying Master Scuba Divers this year and Sasha has the distinction of being our first Junior. I know that Sasha certainly won't be our last Junior to qualify this year as others are well on the way.

It is always a tremendous achievement to be first and Sasha has done it in style despite the fact that she has a positive aversion to the cold and much prefers warm water diving.

Stoney Cove for the weekend?

It seems some time since I have ventured to Stoney Cove and I am pleased to say that not a lot has changed. Reserved parking has made things a touch more bearable and at least it means a little longer in bed without the urgency to arrive quite so early. The water is still cold and the tea and bacon cobs are still very welcome. Over the weekend we had Dry Suit Specialty and Rescue Diver courses to complete and I took the opportunity to take the new camera housing to record proceedings.

So here is Gill, Divemaster in training descending down the line into the murky cold depths; how different from Marsa Alam earlier in the week.

Saturday got off to a fine start in terms of the diving with Steve doing a sterling job as surface cover while the remainder of family learnt how to dive in a dry suit. All went extremely well and the only leaking dry suit belonged to Kirstie which is not bad for an Instructor. Interspersed with Dry Suit instruction we got on with the nerve wracking task of rescue scenarios though it has to be said that Heidi with her veterinary experience stayed professional cool with all that was thrown her way.

On Sunday the pace was much calmer for the Orca team though Stoney Cove was as busy as I have seen it in ages and in the water it was a veritable diver soup. Still we managed to get out to see the tug, navigate to the bus and most impressive of all just beyond the block house where the visibility was reasonable we found two very impressive Pike. One of them allowed me to approach from the front and push away some of the weed to get a clear photograph. I think you will agree he is a handsome fellow though he was looking the wrong way as just behind him were a host of small bite size fish looking like very suitable Pike snacks.

As much as I prefer the warmth of Egypt this was a very enjoyable weekend in good company and well deserved congratulations to all those earning certifications and to Gill who has also started on the Dive Master course with a very impressive stamina tired diver tow. Finally a note of praise for Kirstie for running the weekend with precision and professionalism.

Marsa Alam

On 20th August my brother celebrated reaching 50 and I took off to Marsa Alam for a well earned break and some warm water diving with family in tow. Destination Marina Lodge and Emperor Divers. With Billie as my buddy for the week sadly the rebreather was left at home but given the choice I would rather be diving with my beautiful daughter who has developed a passion to match mine since qualifying in March.

As you may expect Marsa, which is tucked way down south in Egypt, is pretty hot at this time of year. I always feel like I am on my holidays when the blast of heat hits you as you step off the plane, No exception here then, as the temperature on arriving in the late afternoon was soaring past 40 degrees.

We were actually staying in Port Ghalib where I had last visited two years ago for the sole purpose of boarding a livaboard. Then the area was an embryonic building site that had very little to offer but promised to look good in the future. Because of this previous visit I had chosen the hotel only after asking a series of questions about it and the area especially as I had an 11 and 13 year old in tow.

There is no doubt now that I will have to review my questioning technique and listening skills because the hotel while, ideally located for dive boats, was not well located for anything else. Port Ghalib still offers a lot of future promise and the plans for development are stunning. The area where the Livaboards dock is largely finished however many shops are empty and at this time of year at least, it's all but deserted. Unfortunately the Marina Lodge is situated well away from the port area and is somewhat isolated and without a beach front. The hotel itself is fine with some great pools and friendly helpful Egyptian staff. The food is reasonable but even though not full there was evidence that the single restaurant was struggling to cope. More importantly I would say that the hotel really wasn't suited for children.

For divers it is a different story with the day boats moored right at the hotel and a selection of enticing local dive sites at close hand. As Billie and I waded through the mountainous paperwork on the first morning we both felt excited and eager to get in the water. We boarded MY Amy with dive guides Alan and Vicky and set off to do our shakedown dive at Marsa Mubarak. A great couple of dives followed during which we saw a range of the expected Red Sea critters and in particular a large number of puffer fish and stone fish. The water was bath warm and everything seemed right with the world which I could tell from Billie as she sung her way through both dives to a ditty from Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Alan and Vicky were both delightful despite the fact they were immanently returning to the UK and not looking forward to the change in weather having guided for a number of years. Alan was planning to qualify as a commercial diver and Vicky was soon to be a Geography teacher and I am sure that both will do exceptionally well.

Food on board Amy was extraordinarily good and it always amazes me what the boat cooks can turn out from such small galleys. In this case it has to be said the quality and presentation surpassed that of the hotel very easily.

During our first days diving we also got to select the additional diving activities that we were interested in for the remainder of the week. They included a trip to Abu Dabab to attempt to locate a Dugong, Elphinstone, Dolphin House, a night dive and a wreck all obviously at extra cost to the dive packages already paid for as is the Emperor way. We booked Abu Dabab especially because this was a beach dive and it meant the whole family could go. We also both went for the Night dive as Billie absolutely loved her previous experience. I chose to go to Elphinstone alone as from experience this can be a challenging site.

Elphinstone meant an early start the next day at 6am with breakfast on board MY Sea Dreams. Vicky was still with us but she was accompanied by a German dive Frau who provided an all too thorough and officious briefing in which we were told in no uncertain terms that if we dipped below 30m we would not be allowed to dive for the rest of the day. I buddied up with Stewart, a BSAC Dive leader and we jumped in to discover the current had been misread so suddenly the whole party was fighting hard to get round the north tip of the reef with a couple having to abandon the dive because of the effort. As I confidently swam off in search of the shark life my buddy also decided to abandon due to a painful stomach. So a 13 minutes dive ensued, no sharks and the potential for no more diving as my computer showed slightly deeper than 30m. But then again what our dive Frau doesn't know will not hurt her!

The second dive passed off without incident as Stewart and I took a gentle drift along the east side of the reef capturing numerous photographs but without spotting any pelagic life. On the way back to Port Ghalib the dive Frau informed me that Billie and I would be going to Abu Dabab in the morning but that there was no room for the rest of the family. Not at all impressed and left with no real option to cancel or rebook the trip Billie and I decided to go.

Abu Dabab is a lovely dive site set in a bay with a massive area of sea grass that attracts the local sea cow Dennis, though only in the afternoon and apparently not seen recently. Our first dive along the house reef was superb, a beautiful reef full of live gently sloping down to 20m. I have never seen so many pipe fish in one dive and Billie and I left the water satisfied and excited at the prospect of seeing a sea cow in the afternoon.

The second dive consisted of a hour long search for an elusive sea cow across the sea grass. We were rewarded with some very close encounters with several massive Turtles and Cuttlefish but Dennis proved to be an illusiorary distant blur. Still it was a lovely day with a great pizza for lunch.

The following morning I discovered that there had been a night dive that somehow nobody had felt appropriate to tell us about. Oh and there was not going to be another on this week. Billie was devastated as she had been looking forward to watching the Lion fish using her torch to hunt once again. While Billie lamented at poolside I took off on MY Amy for another day off great food and some high quality local diving for three dives. Well actually whilst they were all good dives this time with new buddies David and Martin the first was at the entrance to the Port and the first 40 minutes of the hour long dive consisted of wondering at the amount of dead coral clearly impacted by the local development. Strangely the better coral was closer to the port entrance at the end of the dive.

For our last day of diving we headed north towards Ras El Torfa where the topography of the reef was amazing but surprisingly the visibility was not gin clear as it had been all week. Once again we saw nothing big but the diving was nevertheless very enjoyable.

Over the week I experimented with my new camera housing taking in excess of 500 photographs several of which will now appear on the main site.

For those considering the Marina Lodge and Emperor I would say you could do better in the area. The week before we went Gary had been out in the same area with Ecodivers and seems to have had a better experience. Of course the diving was great and I wouldn't change that for the world but Emperor need to improve on this showing.

Try Dives at the Jamboree

On the very last day of the Essex International Jamboree I made it down to Frinton to get involved. This only seemed fair as Gary had pretty much worked flat out to make this whole week a roaring success. Gary had been on site fairly much non-stop as he set up the diving area from start to finish.

Building on previous experiences from last years mammoth event at Hylands Park Gary had made sure that the pools were set up and full of water, fenced off and safe and that the briefing/changing areas were all set up. This time we had two significant differences, firstly some of the scout leaders were camping in very close proximity to the pools which meant that even though there was a facility to top up and refill the pools with cleaner water at the end of each day Gary had to be very careful with what happened to water leaving the pool. Apart from one slightly soggy tent this worked well. Secondly whilst there were not quite so many people at the event at a mere 10,000 camping.................thats loads, more of them spoke English and we had committed to getting at least 80 participants through a day.

By the time I had turned up to lend a hand the weather had taken a turn for the worse and was very windy and the rest of the team had been running through experiences at an average of 180 per day. Now that is a daunting number and a big hats off to Mel, Andy and Kirstie who had already taken turns in the front line.

I decided to be brave and do my day in a 5mm and having been in the water for several hours I am not sure this was the best choice because it was very cold. Either that or I am turning into a wimp which is clearly equally as likely.

From the off the operation ran like a well oiled machine. All I needed to do was stay in the pool as group after group of eager people followed each other up the steps and into the water. Thankfully the scout leaders who were assisting us were taking care of the necessary paperwork and putting everybody into an Orca wetsuit. All that was left for Orca to do was a briefing and then set them up to take their first experiences breathing on scuba gear.

Everyone clearly had great fun and most of the participants seemed reluctant to get out of the pool even sometimes when they were evidently getting quite cold.

Once again I have found myself in great admiration for the scouting movement. I took the chance to look around the site during my brief lunch break and there is no doubt that this was an impressive event. But most of all I was impressed with the attitude and enthusiasm of all the scouting fraternity that I met.

None of this would have been possible without Gary who has done a great job for Orca and as a result will have also attracted a number of potential new divers to our sport.

Down to the Sea Again!

The time had eventually come and I decided that Billie should get her first experience of UK diving. So on Saturday last we set of to spend the night in Southampton before getting on the road again at 6am to head straight off to Swanage pier. Getting a twelve year old up at that time in the morning is always going to be a challenge but such is the lure of diving Billie managed this without a single whimper. Though it has to be said she was soon asleep in the car.



We managed to get to Swanage at just after 7am allowing us to secure a spot on the pier to park the car. At which point I awoke Billie for the second time so that we could go and get a very welcome bacon sarnie and nice hot cup of tea. Conditions didn't look great and there was a fair bit of mist in the air so I set about briefing Billie and making it very clear that this was going to be different to diving in the Red Sea.

This was to be only the second time that I had dived the Pier and I was hopeful that like the last time we would get lucky and see Cuttlefish.

Once the dive shop on the pier opened we went to investigate if they hired suits as the one I had borrowed for Billie was not quite a perfect fit. I was delighted to find Pat in the shop both very helpful and reassuring for Billie who had become a combination of excitement and nerves.

As high tide arrived we made our way into the water, Billie now very snug in a 7mm suit. Making our way under the Pier we were greeted by a plethora of life with fish darting everywhere. I also discovered that Billie had decided to clamp onto my arm like a limpet. She had realised very quickly that this was not the Red Sea and despite being snug, it was colder and darker, though actually not too much less lively or colourful. As we made our way to the end of the Pier we saw a lobster, an edible crab and an array of fish including a large shoal of Pollack. The various girders under the Pier were also covered in anemones and other sea weeds gently swaying in the swell. This is a truly pretty dive.

Once under the main Pier structure an engine started above us and sounded like severe thunder causing Billie to want to go up. Through signalling I quickly calmed her down and we carried on diving with the limpet like grip holding fast.

Back on dry land Billie told me how much she had enjoyed it whilst admitting that it was a bit different. She was eager to go again and I decided that we would go back under the Pier after lunch rather than go on a drift dive with Divers Down. I also pointed out that buddy diving did not mean holding on to me constantly.

After a pasty and Billie catching up on sleep in the car we got ready to go in again. This time Billie showed her true colours and dived like any hardened UK diver would in three metres visibility. Both of us spent a good hour under the Pier looking in all the crooks and crannies and finding an abundance of life including shrimp and a host of velvet swimming crabs.

Then just as we were making our way back I spotted a splendid Cuttlefish. We both stopped for a good five minutes watching as this beautiful creature moved effortlessly through the water waving its tentacles and paying us very little heed.

This time Billie fairly bounded out of the water; she had loved it!

To celebrate her first UK dives I decided to get a memento from Diver Down. I thought a beanie hat or something would suffice. In the shop Pat didn't have anything but after a moments thought rummaged in the back of the shop and came out with a Divers Down at Swanage Pier t-shirt that she presented to Billie. She was thrilled and has hardly taken it off since.

We had a great day and Billie will doubtless remember this for years to come. Pat and the team at Divers Down were superb and I am very impressed with their customer service. They can be assured that they will be seeing Billie and I again.

Plymouth and the Scylla

At last I have been back to Plymouth city of my birth and I couldn't resist the urge to call it my home town even though I can't recall a single thing about the short time that I actually stayed there as a babe in arms. Mind you there is something nostalgic about going back only a day away from your birthday.

Having arrived late on Friday night we met for a beer and a bite to eat on the Barbican. Very lively it was too with loads of Marines out in uniform to catch Kirstie's eye. To be fair they did look smart, just too damn young and fit. That said you have to admire and respect these guys and they certainly make me proud to be British.

On Saturday morning after a hearty breakfast at the B&B we met up at Aquanauts to be introduced to our no holds barred skipper, Doug. Before talking about the diving I am going to take the opportunity to make a totally unashamed plug for Aquanauts and Doug.

Our first encounter with Doug, on his well used and well equiped boat included a lot of shouting and abuse together with his observation that his bark was much worse than his bite. He went on to provide us with what must class as the most informative boat briefing I have heard this season. Within the briefing we were told of Dougs extensive diving experience with over 3000 dives and medic training. What became instantly clear was that Doug knows what he is doing and runs a well ordered operation, that he was there to help and make sure that we had a good time but most importantly our safety was in very capable hands. Doug was true to his word he proved to be a larger than life character that made our weekend run superbly well as he laced it with confidence in his abilities, plenty of good banter, good cups of tea and a great choice in biscuits. SO here is the plug "Go diving with Doug!"

Now back to the diving. Both dives on Saturday were magnificent and once again this year the weather conditions could not have been better. As much as I wanted to dive the Scylla I must admit I wasn't sure what I would think about this artificial wreck. But after five years in the water she is teeming with life and provides a fantastic dive. She is easy to penetrate and they have done a great job in making penetration safe; though a reel and a torch are essential and as you might expect I would re-iterate the mantra, not to be attempted without training. Inside there is plenty of room to manoeuvre but there is a reasonable amount of silt that is easy to kick up. The Scylla was deliberately sunk in March 2004 having been purchased by the National Marine Aquarium and frankly they have done a fantastic thing for all divers.

In terms of life the outside walls of the hull are teaming with anemones and sea squirts of a variety of colours (predominantly orange). A vast number of fish have also taken up residence both in and around the Scylla, including wrasse, pouting, bibs and pollack.

Our second dive was on The James Egan Layne. This is a completely different dive as she is now very broken up and covered in life. By contrast to the Scylla this was a pretty dive and very relaxing too. Not that I can say the same for our dynamic Dive Master duo Colin and Graham! To the right you can see them posing for the camera having just completed the dive and then helped themselves to all the biscuits.

I am told that the Layne is the most dived wreck in the world though I haven't verified that, personally I could quite happily repeat this dive many times over. Doug dropped us on the bows and as you descend this still intact part of the vessel it creates an awe inspiring silhouette towering from the sea bed. Finning down the port side past the point that the torpedo had struck this Liberty ship during the war the wreck opens up and would have been a photographers delight had my camera been operational. As we moved through the wreck and looked up the ships sides are now a cathedral like set of columns bathed in anemones and oatenpipe hydroids (tubularia). Inside the wreckage we saw a profusion of poor cod and bib. Large wrasse, swim and dart everywhere and we also managed to spot a couple of congers.

On Sunday we started a touch earlier but still managed to squeeze in a full English. Or at least Gill and I did as others succumbed to wimping out with limited breakfasts of egg on toast. Rather than go back to the Scylla which was a very tempting option, we chose to head off in the opposite direction and dive the Persier. The Persier was another victim of the second world war, this Belgian cargo ship is now a tangled mass of metal mostly flattened though the shape is still discernible. Doug got us straight on the boilers and once again we had a fantastic dive starting with having to almost fight our way through a massive shoal of bib.

Again the wreckage is teeming with life and of particular note was the covering of sea fans especially the rarer pink variety.

Our final dive of the weekend was a relaxing drift during which Kirstie tells me she saw two cuttlefish which she claims to have pointed out, I must have been in a world of my own looking under rocks for Lobsters because I entirely missed this.

Managing to get away from Plymouth just after lunch I headed off to Bristol ready for a weeks work very content with an excellent weekends diving and only slightly envious of Gill who made her way down to Dorset and the prospect of diving out of Swanage. Such is the benefit of being a Teacher and having longer holidays.

Once again my thanks to Doug and the fantastic staff at Aquanauts.......we will be back!

Equipment again!

Back by popular demand on Sunday we ran another equipment specialty course which meant that the centred was swamped with a full array of stuff.



I must say that I really enjoy teaching this course and on Sunday this was helped by the great company that made teaching a pleasure. As ever I found that something new could be learnt from running this course. I was suprised to learn that one of guests for the day had been told by another centre that they needed to buy the Encyclopedia of scuba diving before investing in the course. Now I have to say that this is a highly recommended purchase and is certainly a necessity for anyone undertaking a Dive Master course but it's a tad excessive to do the equipment course.



Now it is fair to say that if anyone does want to get a copy of the Encyclopedia then they only have to ask and we will readily provide.



Completing the course on Sunday was also the fifth specialty for Sacha who is now added to the list of Master Scuba Divers qualified this year. This is a great achievement and a fitting title as Sacha has always shone as a student of diving despite the fact that she has a more than natural aversion to cold conditions.



What also got me excited on Sunday was confirmation of the running of a digital underwater photography course. This is such a good course so I can't wait to confirm the dates for this in the near future with a view to running things with the customary Orca focus on providing added value.



The other news to report this week is that we now have another pool and it is deep. We ran our first session in the pool on Tuesday and the team said it was great. Keep an eye on the web site as some photo's and details will be appearing very soon.



This weekend will be a quite one for me on the diving front as I am off to a friends wedding though it is probably not a bad thing as we have an exceedingly busy time coming up with a big crowd converging on Guildenburgh for the training weekend on the 19th and 20th followed by the trip to Plymouth the next weekend

Throwing up DSMB's

A quick early morning dash to guildie on Saturday morning gave an opportunity to run yet another SMB Distinctive Specialty and bring another student to the brink of Master Scuba Diver. Of course we also took the opportunity to finish of a long awaited Rescue course that will allow Orca to go on and qualify another Dive Master as well.

In fact it was all a fairly relaxing day and I am sure that it will seem even more so once we have completed our next trip to Guildie later in July when it looks like we have around twenty people going to Open Water.

Guildie doesn't change much but at least the weather does and on Saturday it was a reasonable decent day with only the slightest passing hint of rain. Having got on site by 10 am the first disappointing news was the Kirstie would be unable to dive as she had started to suffer badly from a cold, which meant we had top quality surface cover.

The SMB Specialty is fast becoming one of my favourite two dive courses not least because launching a DSMB is such a vital skill for any diver and so many people get it wrong. We now have a full presentation for the SMB course together with a range of equipment to use and compare. I have taken to the view that as DSMB launching is all about practising I also make sure that students get plenty of this by getting them to launch a range of DSMB's using both automatic and manual filling options.

Mid water launching is always a fine skill to learn and in Guildie that was even more the case as visibility was close to as bad as I can ever recall it. Still there is nothing quite as satisfying as seeing DSMB standing proud at the surface because they have been properly deployed.

So after another pleasant weekends dive it is back to the classroom as next Sunday I am running another Equipment specialty back by popular demand and this time with an all new and improved presentation.

Club Nights, Wreck Diving and Scuba Reviews

Suddenly I seem to have hit busy having arrived home from Bristol to hit both the centre club night and the Junior club night in the pool and a couple needing a scuba review.

Once again we put a talk on at the club night this time covering wreck diving. The presentation included wreck identification and anatomy. We also considered the main legislation covering sea wrecks. For those that didn't get to the meeting the three main acts are, Protection of Wrecks Act 1973, Military Remains Act 1986 and the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

The relevance of these acts was more pertinent having just visited Lundy where we came into close proximity to Iona II which is protected as a site of historical interest under the first of these acts.

We also had a chance to talk about some of my favorite wreck sites and look at some of the photos that I have taken on these. As predictable as it may seem the Thistlegorm is still high on my list and looking at pictures served to wet the appetite of those booked on our Northern Red Sea safari as they will get a chance to explore her themselves.

There was a call at the meeting to run a disabled diving course for those that want to help out as part of our team. I expect to get some dates out very shortly for this so keep watching the web page.

On Friday evening we had another good turnout at the Junior club night in the pool. It looked to me that as though Gary had his hands full in the pool. Meanwhile I was taking Robert and Catherine through their paces in a scuba tune-up. Both have done a reasonable amount of diving in the past and were now planning a foreign trip. Going through the tune-up book reminded me of how important this type of activity is for ensuring that you are up to speed.

Both said they enjoyed the experience as we reflected on some things they remembered and some things they didn't. Robert could not recall ever doing a weight check which have to say worries me, but now he has been reminded I hope that he and Catherine are better weighted when they dive in Taba later this year.

It was also good to see Claire's smiling face back at the pool. Our Dive Master has been away at university for the academic year and should now be back getting involved for the summer. Just in time to help us with our next International Scout camp coming up in July. More on that later.

Perfect Weekend at Lundy

Last weekend at Lundy was just amazing. I am sure that we could not have planned things better if we tried as we managed to enjoy superb weather with fantastic sea conditions. Take a look at the picture on the left taken by Kit and you will see exactly what I mean. Not only were the surface conditions wonderful, the viz was stunning too despite a small amount of plankton bloom still evident in the water.

We all arrived at the pier in Ilfracombe harbour as planned 8am Saturday morning to be greeted by Andy the skipper of Obsession. Andy was friendly, helpful and an ideal host and skipper. The boat was well kept and I was not at all surprised to discover Andy is involved with the RNLI. On top of all that he is a diver and makes a damn fine cup of tea. In fact whilst I am at it I would make a shameless plug for Andy and recommend him to anyone who happens to read this blog.

On the way out to Lundy just as we started to kit up we were joined by a pod of dolphins, they were every where though despite best efforts with the camera nobody managed to get the elusive mid jump shot. I still happen to think that Kit's effort taken at the point of re-entry is pretty good though. As you can imagine we circled and slowed to enjoy the display as there is little to match seeing these animals in the wild.

Then as we arrived at the Knoll Pins for our first dive we were greeted by this sunbather who slowly slid beneath the waves to wait for us to join him. Actually I didn't see him on the dive but there were reports of close fin biting encounters. Andy explained that we were diving in the no-take zone and that we should expect to see a lot of life. He also suggested that the lobsters acted as if they knew that they lived in the marine reserve and this proved to be the case. As we descended my first sight was of a huge resplendent and regal lobster waving his claws and happily wandering across the open sea bed.

The site lived up to the promise as it was covered in life with more lobsters and spider crabs than I think I have ever seen on a single dive. We were also treated to a number of dog fish gliding by and an abundance of nudibranchs.

Our second dive was equally as rewarding as we worked out way along the coast looking for more seals and admiring the sea life.

Sunday was a later start, which made for relaxing lie in at the Montpelier guest house for me. It also allowed me to have a full English breakfast and very much appreciated it was too. For our first dive we did the MV Robert. The Robert is pretty much intact though she is covered in life with pumnose anemones and jewel anemones everywhere. As we were told she looks very silted up inside so most of us confined ourselves to a swim round and exploration of the decks. This wreck lies on its' port side and although the bottom composition kicked up fairly easily the viz remained good so it was possible to see most of the ship from the bows.

Close to the Robert lies a much older wreck the Iona II which is protected and requires a licence to dive. The Iona II is a paddle steamer that was sunk on her way to supply arms to the confederates fighting in the American civil war. The history has sparked my interest and one day I hope to get the chance to go back and dive this wreck as well.

As we stopped for lunch near the island we were joined by a couple of curious seals. Most likely they were curious about all the sunbathing activity as well, most strange for this time of year.

Once we finished our lunch we dipped in to see if we could locate these two but while some of the group reported sightings once again they eluded me and I had to content myself with a really relaxing last dive drifting in the mild current and watching the underwater world go by.

Overall this was a brilliant weekend of relaxed and leisurely diving. We only managed on small and exciting incident as Carina lost a fin during her safety stop only to be saved by Alan Lee as she came to the surface.

A big thanks to all who joined us on this trip for their company and good humour. Once again also, a really big thank you to Andy and if you are at all tempted make Lundy a must and give Andy a call or look at his website http://www.obsessionboatcharters.co.uk/

Lundy here we come!

This weekend we are off to dive Lundy Island in the Bristol channel. This is a new destination for me and the good news is that I have just spoken to the skipper who has confirmed the conditions are great and it is all systems go.

Lundy was designated England's, and Britain's, first statutory Marine Nature Reserve in November 1986. The area is of international importance as well as it has been selected as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC)under the European Union's Habitats Directive legislation.

The island itself measures 3.5 miles by 0.5 mile and acts as a huge breakwater to water that flows from the south and west into the Bristol Channel. For us divers the convergence of clear oceanic water from the west and Mediterranean water from the south accounts for "remarkably good underwater visibility".

Because of it's unique position the island supports a massive variety of sea life and gets visited by such creatures as Leatherback turtles, seals and Basking sharks so my fingers are crossed.

Over the weekend we aim to get four dives completed and have plans to do the Knoll Pins and MV Robert dive sites. The Knoll Pins is a spectacular dive where we are expecting to see jewel anemones, cup corals, dead men's fingers, sea fans and an abundance of fish and crustaceans such as lobsters and edible crabs.

The MV Robert is a small single screw coaster that capsized and sank in 1975. It is actually the only intact wreck amongst over one hundred around Lundy. It is apparently a great spot to see John Dory.

So as you can see I am getting excited and I look forward to putting another blog on to let you know haw it all went.

Equipment Specialty

On Sunday we hosted an Equipment Specialty course at the centre which meant the centre was awash with dive gear of all sorts, shapes and sizes. Actually the course is going to prove a dry one as another is already booked by popular demand.

The manual states that the teaching and practical content should last six hours so you can imagine how chuffed I was to come in bang on time. The other thing that was immensely pleasing was getting some of my masks cleaned. Thanks to Blake my old mouldy Mares X-vision now gleams and I shall be looking forward to trying it out on our trip to Lundy Islands at the weekend.

To ensure that the course was great value the presentation was a team effort with Kirstie which meant that we could draw on a variety of equipment related experiences. We also provided a full slide show presentation just to make sure that we covered the full syllabus.

I have to say that given the amount of cash we all tend to spend on diving gear this course is an absolute cracker and in terms of getting tips on choosing and looking after your kit the cost of this certification is probably covered many times over.

Mind you one of the participants realised that his regulators really should be serviced rather than waiting for them to start malfunctioning on a dive. The good news is that they are now in for servicing with one of the best kit experts in the area.

One of the discussions that always arises when you start discussing equipment is centred on which is best and the truth is that it has to be personal choice and reaching your own decision is best done by discussing things with an experienced and unbiased diver.

My last serious diving purchase was my O3 dry suit and this is a very good case in point. There are hundreds on the market to choose from ranging in style, construction, colour and price. now the most important thing is that whatever you get should be fit for purpose and should keep you dry. I actually got the O3 in the days before Orca, here's what happened.

Realising I needed a new suit I went to a local dive shop and as you may expect was encouraged to buy the one they had in stock. It didn't fit and I was told they would get one in for me to try as it would only take a week. The fitting consisted of standing on a mat to confirm my foot size, if this ever happens to you I actually would advice you to walk out and find a centre that will measure properly.

After many broken promises three months later a suit, not the style I wanted, arrived and not surprisingly didn't fit much better than the first. To have waited as long as I did even in the off season required the patience of a saint and the good lesson was that now I know what is really important to me in selecting a dry-suit.

A UK manufacturer who I can get quick and prompt service from and a company that actually measures you to make sure that you get something that really does fit. I love my suit, it works well for me and I will happily recommend people to consider O3 suits.

What works for you may be different and there are some great suits on the market. What I would ask is learn some of the lessons I did. Decide what is important for you, don't get fobbed off or accept poor customer service and certainly don't use a dive shop that tries to flog something off the peg without measuring you up.

Farne and Back

It's Sunday night and I am tired and weary after a satisfying weekend diving in the Farnes. No doubt there will be a fuller report on the main web page in due course. Suffice to say at this stage it was something of a tiring weekend with water temperatures hitting 8 degrees and northerly winds making for choppy seas and challenging diving.

The diving was good if not spectacular and of course we all got sight of the grey seals that make the islands their home. Travelling up to Seahouses on Friday afternoon I had not felt 100% but I still managed to be ready to dive first thing on Saturday morning along with Gill, Tony and Dave. The first dive was superb with more squat lobsters than I have seen on any dive. Below 20m the sea bed was literally crawling with life notably so with a multitude of brittle stars fighting for space. Small critters were in absolute abundance with the normal distribution of star fish and urchins.

After 45 minutes I was starting to feel the chill as was Gill so we departed the sea bed where upon it suddenly seemed to get much colder so that by the time we surfaced both of us had a shiver on. At that point the new lift on Sovereign II decided to play up so that by the time we got out Gill was really really cold. It was a great dive but no seals and both of us were too cold.

Sunday continued without any underwater sightings of seals. The sea was rough and the water freezing cold. It didn't stop a couple of reasonable dives and some excellent DSMB work from Gill and Tony as they underwent their Distinctive Specialty.

Whilst the absence of seals was disappointing all 12 in the party were encouraged by the weather which we heard was favouring the North East with sunshine. Had we been in the South it sounds like there was no decent weather to be had and therefore no diving.

On Monday the wind was still northerly and still we managed to dive. On the first I was rewarded with a glimpse of two seals racing behind Kelly in the kelp. Despite how much we searched from that early sighting we didn't find any more so with his camera unused Kelly and I surfaced to be told all the others had seen seals galore. On the last dive Kelly and I found two large well worn cannons at around 15 metres amongst the myriad of crustacean life and pumnose anemones.

My thanks to Dave for driving all the way back to Essex and to everyone else for their company.

Club Night

Back in early April whilst in the Red Sea one of our newly qualified advanced divers came to me with their log book looking very puzzled. We had just done a dive to 28 metres for 56 minutes and having referred to the RDP to make a record of the dive confusion now reigned as the maximum time for a no decompression dive was coming out at 20 minutes. What was puzzling our intrepid diver further was that her computer was fine with what she had done. At the time my explanation that the actual dive profile meant that we had not spent much time at 28 metres and most of the dive was actually at much shollower depths quickly dispelled the confusion and concerns. But how then to keep the log book neat and record the pressure groups rather than just a note about diving this one on a computer?

So I promised that I would reveal the mysteries at a club night at the same time as encouraging the student to extend their education into the realms of multi level diving. So it was that last weekend I recovered my diving wheel from its' safe and undisturbed home in my log book and calculated some devilishly fiendish dive profiles to discuss at our club night.

On Thursday night all was revealed at our club night. We started the night by presenting certificates for some of the club who had recently qualified including Nicki, Annabel, Gill, Paul, Louise (represented by Mum and Dad) and Julie.

Then it was down to business. I covered a little bit of history and theory including some brief explanations of compartments, halftimes and M-Values. We then all had a go at remembering how to use the RDP before using some worked examples of using the wheel. It was really rewarding to see that everybody picked up on what they needed to do and they are all now in a position to plan their dives more accurately, not having to rely on the computer and just as importantly they will all now be able to fill in their log books confidently.

Now all they have to do is complete the Multi-Level Diver Specialty and they can't go wrong.

It was a very good night overall and thanks to those kind enough to join me in the pub afterwards, hic!

Dry Suit Specialty

With May's specialty of the month being Dry Suit Diver I decided to search my photo archives for some suitable pictures that might inspire visitors to the centre to consider the course and starting their UK diving adventures.

I did manage to find a couple of inspiring underwater shots of divers looking warm in clearly cold, chilly water including a shot with ice in the picture. Somehow though I felt compelled to share this one with you.

This is Colin demonstrating the time honoured technique of using talc to help ease the suit over the head. It is evident from the grin that Colin enjoyed the experience and I am sure that it is a look that we will see again this weekend as we head off to the Farne Islands.

There are 12 of us off diving for the long weekend hoping to catch sight of the seals though I will be looking out for replications of this particular pose from those using a Dry Suit for the first time.

Look out for some images from the weekend next week.

Buoyancy Competition Update

On Friday we put several of the younger divers through their paces in the Buoyancy challenge. A number of the Orca fraternity are having a go at this throughout May with the chance to win an Orca T-shirt or a Peak Performance Specialty course.
Of course we have also tied in the prize with next months PADI specialty of the month challenge so there is a further chance to win prizes for the outright winner of the competition.
On Friday evening during our monthly club night James, Lewis, Danielle,Louise and Harry all had a go. With ten points each for five tasks and a further ten for overall style each of the contestants had a good chance of getting some decent marks on the board.
Harry was outstanding as he has yet to complete his full open water course. Meanwhile James took a lead in the overall competition showing off some classy hovering skills.
The five tasks all include a variation on the hovering theme and included swimming through hoops, hovering while removing and replacing a mask, vertical hovering and the more challenging inverted hovering.
I should add that the whole thing is handicapped which does mean as some of our Dive Masters have entered the fray they can rest assured that they will have to put on a good show to overtake James.