Time racing by; holiday needed

Several days seem to have raced by so quickly and I have to admit that there is an enormous amount going on in life at the moment. Thank goodness I have my diving to assist in keeping me sane.

Having had a fantastic time racing at Cowes last Saturday I organised an impromptu Divemaster session on Sunday morning. Fortunately the pool was available at such short notice so a call in the morning secured its' use and getting the trainee DM's to come along involved just a few calls which Gary masterminded as I drove back from Southampton.

The purpose was essentially to see if we could sign off some skill circuits for which I could otherwise have driven back from Bristol on Tuesday to perform. I have to admit arranging an impromptu pool was the much better option.

The great news is that the practice had all paid off resulting in both Gill and James scoring sufficient marks to get their skill circuits signed off. I so easily recall that when I was doing this myself I was so determined to score a 5 (top mark) in every skill that I practised endlessly. The same seems to be true for our DM's so something is rubbing off and most of the skills now look top draw.

In Bristol on Wednesday I had a great time mostly just hovering and getting people to play with buoyancy skills, very relaxing and just what I needed after a hard day.

As the week progressed Orca got the chance to buy it's own van. I am delighted to report that we do now have an Orca van but doubtless I will report on that later.

Those of you keeping on top of Orca news will have realised that on Friday a PADI Instructor Development Course started at the Academy. I managed to see Steve and Janet Prior only to briefly though it great to see our facilities being used. I did sit in the back of the classroom on Friday for the briefest of spells and immediately wished that I was joining the candidates on their course, I will always remember my own course with great affection. Steve is such a great Course Director and just watching him for a few minutes reminded me of how inspirational he and Janet are,bear in mind that he wasn't even my Course Director until I did my Staff.
The guys on the course are going to have such good fun and I admit to some envy.

Having spent too little time watching Steve it was back to teaching and on Friday night with presentation in hand the trainee DM's and I went to the pub where all three passed their physiology exam with flying colours. more importantly as is my want, I re-quizzed them on physics from the previous Friday and discovered that what they had learnt had stuck.

Finally to round the week off I had all day on Sunday delivering another Rescue course. I still love this course and working with James and Marcello was a sheer pleasure. They both approached the course with great humour and despite their concerns that they may not be as good as other divers I have to report that they were excellent.

Working at the film studio's pool really is the business when it comes to practising the lifts from the rescue course. This is always a challenging area for students to grasp. But after a bit of practice with weights and buoyancy these two went on and made lifting an unconscious diver look like child's play.

Now I need that break. On Wednesday I am off to Marsa Shagra and I can't wait. The diving will be great, the company outstanding and I only have 10 courses to run............seriously though it will be awesome and I hope to have plenty of photo's to share,