Rescue Course all change

Those who read my blog on a regular basis will know that one of my favourite courses to run is the Rescue Course. We started another one this Tuesday which Andy is leading so I know it will be a great course. This time it will be different as the latest PADI Training update pronounced changes to the course requirements.

I can remember the last significant change which meant being able to conduct the Open Water section on one day amongst other things. Now the Open Water section has been shortened from four to two scenarios. On the face of it the move makes a lot of sense. If I were choosing which scenarios to keep because I only wanted two it would be the missing diver and the unconscious diver at the surface too.

No more spurious badly gashed legs indicated by labels underwater then!

The rationale given by PADI for the change is also sound:
This scenario refinement further and more clearly defines the separation between development and assessment. During the 10 rescue exercises, divers are developing – learning how to perform rescue components in a skill-building approach. The scenarios are an evaluation of skills learned in the development phase, similar to the IDC development/ IE (assessment) process. Scenarios focus on student divers role-playing and being appropriately responsive to realistic diving emergencies– demonstrating that they have mastered their newly acquired skills.

All is good and very rationale though I will continue to believe that a greater range of scenarios run over two days does add something different. The truth is I always love the bonding and teamwork that emerges when you put students through their paces on the Open water section. I am therefore concerned that this element may get lost with the possibility of just two scenarios even if they are the right ones to take.

It does also increase the importance of the pool work and to give students great value a real emphasis on the skill development and sessions must be in place.

As Andy starts the rescue course one of the things he and the students will appreciate is that they are in the deep pool. This pool has real advantages when it comes to practicing lifts and I believe that we end up with students that are exceptionally good at controlled lifts as a result.

The first session is the one that often get spun through quickly and I know that you just can't do that. Revision of the basic skills from the Open Water course is not just a race through to get to the new skills. Too often I have found that students don't have the basics from which to build.
Tonight Andy will run through all the basics with emphasis on weight belt dumping. It needs to be an automatic response for the distressed diver on the surface and I for one am distressed by reading every year about another diver who made the surface but then sunk below the waves and lost their lives.

So to the point shortening the Open Water scenario requirements must not and cannot lead to a lessening of the experience for the student. At Orca we are offering our students option of a two day Open water section. The first will now be scenario practice and could well include some of the scenarios now dropped. The second day will then be the formal assessment and run exactly as per the new directive.

This means the group doing the rescue get to bond and start to get the team working benefit. I believe this will be offering great value and I also think that even if the team all worked through the ten scenarios in the pool together they will find this of benefit.

I can#t wait to see how our latest Rescue students turn out.

Enjoy the course, love your diving!

Try Dives all day!

Some Saturdays are busier than others and yesterdays is up at the top for non stop stuff. With half term upon us in Essex and most of the local schools having had the previous Friday off too the Orca team took to two local pools and provided an endless stream of try dives. In the morning the team, organised by Gary, spent time at James Hornsby school offering try dives and then from 1pm we were the guests at South Woodham Liesure centre.

During the afternoon and early evening we had six separate sessions for different groups. The sessions started with children and juniors before moving on to parent and child and family group sessions. Last of all we had the sessions for just adults.

As is often the cases the participants ranged in their reactions to the first experience of diving underwater. Some get straight in and take to it all naturally so the biggest effort is in actually slowing them down as they race off like rockets from the moment the kit is on. Others need to deal with nerves and take a little bit more time and attention to get going.

The team is well versed in dealing with all types of challenges as well as those with handicaps because both myself and Gary are IAHD Instructors. The people putting in the hard work throughout the day were James, Gill, Nick and Mel while Amanda covered the Academy.

Gill our most recently qualified Divemaster and now Discover Scuba Leader did an absolutely outstanding job as she was the only member of the team who stayed in the water for every single session. Probably won't need a bath for weeks after all that water.

Meanwhile Nick our trainee Divemaster took the opportunity to complete one of his required stamina swims which proved such hard work he had to get out of the pool early and go off to a family do.

Personally I lost count of the number of people we saw but the paperwork is mounted up back at the Academy ready to process and it does look like quite a big pile.

I still love watching people get under the water for the first time and it was very obvious listening to the chat in the changing rooms that everyone had a really good time. Once again the frisbee was very popular as our new divers played with it during every session quickly adapting to the underwater experience whilst concentrating on the whirling disc.

I am sure we will also be seeing a number of those who had such fun coming back to us to start an Open Water Course or to join our active PADI SEAL Team.

Orca started out doing some big events offering try dives with our largest being the International Scout Jamboree. We should be pretty good at it by now but it still gives me immense pleasure to see the team in action. Making sure everyone that turns up ends up in the right kit with fins and mask that fit and with air in the tank takes some organisation.

It certainly makes me realise what a great team we have got and how amazingly hard Gary has worked to get this sort of event running. I still love nothing better than introducing people to our sport but I know I couldn't do it without the people around me so on this occasion I want to take the opportunity on my behalf and on behalf of all the participants to say an enormous thank you to Gary and the rest of the team.

PS The are loads more photographs on the Orca Facebook site.

Back to Stoney Cove

It certainly felt like slipping back in time on Saturday morning as we joined the line of cars waiting to get into Stoney Cove at unmentionable o'clock in the morning. Having travelled up on Friday night and arrived at past midnight I have to admit to some level of tiredness. At least we were welcomed at the hotel with a drink from the bar.

The mad dash up was because as always I needed to do some instruction on Open Water before going up. Session four which all went well and it should now be plain sailing to finish the course next week.

We were also staying in a new hotel, nearer to Stoney and somewhat different. It was such a good idea to try somewhere new because I have to admit the place we used to use has pretty much lost its appeal.

Dave and I were the only ones to get up at stupid o'clock because Mel had booked a space. I don't go with paying the extra for a worse parking spot myself and find very little reason to lounge around in bed. Anyway it gave me a chance to catch up on some reading.

Numbers were down in terms of students but between Mel and myself coupled with our desire to provide good instructional diving we still had plenty to do.

On Saturday I started with a deep dive as part of the Advanced course taking Lauren and Andrew gently down the road. Vis was awful to say the least and Stoney was about as crowded as you may expect. All went off well with both students taking considerably longing completing their timed task than on the surface.

Meanwhile Mel was getting on with an Open Water dive and a Peak Performance Buoyancy dive.

The day was over too quickly as it happened but we did manage to get on the new wreck sunk in September on our last dive. The Defiant is fairly easy to locate from the stern of the Stanegarth. On a bearing of 130 she lies almost directly astern but in the vis could be easy to miss. Fortunately we didn't but it was a close call.

The Defiant looks good though she is a little tight for penetration so a certain amount of care is required. It is a shame the vis was so poor because I would have liked to have got some good shots; but at least I could make out the name.

Sunday was much the same. very crowded and poor vis. I had a burning desire to find a Pike to show the students and managed this on the second dive. Unfortunately I did not get the Lauren, Vicky and Dave in a good enough position to see, though we managed to find another in the gloom under the pub.

Our last dive proved to be the most interesting as we once again went for the defiant. This time with somebody else leading we managed a miss. Using my instincts I tried and failed to get us back on track and in the end having only succeeded in finding minis I had to head for the cliff face. Instead of the Defiant we ended up exploring the Wessex and the Commer van.

On the way back we found Bill clinging to the DC-10 with Olly keeping him down. His loss of buoyancy turned out to be due to a dropped weight pocket. Thankfully Olly was on the money as a buddy and Bill managed a perfectly safe ascent.

All in all a good weekend including a catch up with some old friends with reminiscing about old times and acquaintances.

Keep diving......

Cleaning the River

It's that time of year once again and members of the Orca team with friends set off to see what rubbish they could retrieve from the Chelmer in the middle of Chelmsford town centre. As usual Gary masterminded the operation getting everyone to the centre early and making sure all had a good time as they found a variable haul of yuk.

The weather was just about spot on as the recent rain held off and we had a pleasant autumnal day. That meant the crowds gathered as the passed over the bridge near Argos spotting the bubbles moving up and down through the water below.

I must confess that I did not get in the water myself but I was there is spirit. I am told that the visibility is actually ok and that there are plenty of fish in the water too. To be fair I could see the fish as I watched from the pavement.

The haul this year included the same range of shopping trolleys, plates glasses and general rubbish. One handbag and several pieces of scrap metal and drainpipe were also recovered.

Having spent all morning with divers the Mayor and his good lady happened along to encourage all and to provide a photo opportunity. I tried but failed to tempt him into the water, on the basis that I hadn't got in, that seemed fair.

I do promise that I will get in next year and not just take pictures from the side but it is a great thing that so many people jump in to do their bit including Lewis who came back from University in Brighton just for the clean up.

Well done to James, Michaela, Gillian, Mel, Steve, Gary, Lauren, Barry, Andy, Lewis and all the others.

Just in case the instructing seemed slow

As ever I have been involved in all sorts of courses over the last couple of weeks though undaunted I still can't wait until the next one. To be honest I am really looking forward to teaching the wreck specialty if no other reason that I have such a passion for the subject myself.

That all start with a presentation in the classroom at the weekend and completes with the open water dives at Stoney Cove and I can't wait to get on the new wreck the Defiant. It will be a real explore for me as well as the students.

Meanwhile the list of activities continues to grow. I recently completed another Equipment course and was delighted to see several returnee student who came for a repeat having done the course previously. The more the merrier and especially as I managed to get my grotty old Mares mask lovingly cleaned once again. Makes me think that I should book to run this course at least twice a year so that all my kit gets a regular going over.

I still love the variety of questions that come from running this course. This time round we spent quite some time on dry suits. One topic was the location of a dry suit dump valve. To cuff or shoulder that is the question. Personally I have always preferred a cuff dump. It is was what I learned to use and so now it feels comfortable. I have mine placed under the wrist to assist with my photography. Others prefer shoulder dumps for similar reasons, it is simply what they've been taught with and got used to. The important thing is that it all works so when you want to dump so to speak. you are certain that you have.

My own suit came with a shoulder dump and I had it changed. It does mean that under the carefully placed patch there is a big hole that will always be there but only I know that. I was intrigued to learn that despite having been on a dry suit course somebody else I have been speaking to recently had no idea of the options at all but then she also went on to confess that in open water she had not been asked to complete any skills. This type of thing really does worry me and I wonder how some Instructors can get away with such sloppy and poor standards.

In addition to the Equipment course I have been fortunate enough to start working with another two Divemaster students and once again I threw the into the deep end on the exam front so they are both underway with clean first time passes in Physics.

Finally I have been working on an Open Water course and have been very capably joined by Nick on the trainee DM side. I haven't told him this as yet so he may blush if he gets to read this but he is a natural. Helpful, friendly and very good at relaxing people. What a pleasure though we must both remember that a 12 litre tank in serious weight lifting for Liam!

Keep on Diving

Lyme Regis

At last I got out for diving and this time there was not a student in sight just a bunch of people from Bristol intent on having a good day despite the drizzle that persisted. It is great to be with a group of people that you don't know and for me it meant concentrating on doing my thing.

Rebreather at the ready I couldn't wait. The trip was on the Blue Turtle out of Lyme Regis both of which were new to me.

Lyme Regis is picturesque and if I have visited before I certainly can't recall. It has a natural harbour and some decent beaches and all looked really very pleasant.

Getting on the boat meant dropping the gear of at the harbour and then parking the car at the top of a hill about half a mile away but for only a £1 for the day it was worth the exercise.

The plan was to dive the Ailsa Craig a British steamer sunk in 1918 by a German torpedo. I tried in vain to get much more detail. The wreck lies about 11 miles off the coast and fortunately the sea was in a good state despite the rain so the trip out was relaxing.

I was looking to get the chance for another solo dive but as the boat was full of twin sets I ended up buddying up to dive the wreck that lies in 36 metres of water. Visibility was not brilliant and it was quite dull when we reached the bottom of the shot line but there to greet me was a magnificent John Dory.

Turning to the right of the shot line we explored the wreck and were amazed at the fish life, mostly Pouting but Bass were about too. I also saw several large Lobsters and Crabs but took only photographs which was challenging enough as the water was ladden with silt.

The second dive was a drift on the West Tennants reef and whilst I listened to our skipper Doug telling us that the dive would have something for everyone including plenty of scallops as usual I wasn't too excited by drifting. I was very wrong. The sea bed was gloriously covered in pink sea fans and the life was prolific. Dog fish were everywhere and there were numerous schools of fish at every turn. More John Dory and enough scallops to feed an army. In fact I would rate this as one of the best drift dives every in the UK.

A very full bag of scallops, a pint and some chips and I was back to Bristol. At the point of writing I have just savoured a supper expertly cooked up for me in return for bringing my haul back.

Wonderful.......................

Dive Site: Ailsa Craig

Location: 50 33'N 002 47'W Lyme Regis

Description: British steamship

Length: 56m x 8.5 m x3.5metres 601 tons

Depth: 33m -36metres

The Ailsa Craig was built in 1906 and spent most of her life carrying coal. On the 15th April 1918 she was on a run from Cardiff to Weymouth with a load of coal on board when she was attacked by the German submarine UB-80. The U-Boat sent a torpedo that struck home amidships and the Ailsa Craig sank quickly on the spot.

The wreck site has been partially salvaged and though she is now somewhat broken up there is still plenty of superstructure to explore. The bow section sits twisted to starboard but remains essentially upright extending at least 7 metres from the sea bed.

The boiler and engine are fairly much intact in the midships but much of the stern section is now badly damaged. There is plenty of life to see including large lobsters and crabs and the inevitable conger in the boilers. There was also a John Dory on the day I visited.

The bottom composition is fairly silty so you do need to take care with buoyancy. It is advisable to dive just before slack so that if you do kick anything up on the descent then at least the current will take it away.

I would certainly recommend the site and will be visiting again given the chance.