Way too long.......What's been going on!

It has been a very quiet blog for far too long and despite being the off season there has been lots going on. At last the dive season is underway and consequently it is time to start recording what is going on again.

A lot has been happening on the Orca front the highlights of which include the qualification of three new Open Water Scuba Instructors under the careful tutelage of Steve Prior. Gill, James and Dave are now actively instructing and hopefully well on route to becoming Master Scuba Diver Instructors.

Of course we are also settled into the new premises at the Underwater Studios and the shop is carrying a good range of equipment from some new suppliers.

We have already been up to the usual haunts of Gildy and Stoney and several trips to Buckland Water including one this weekend inclusive of BBQ. Just happened to miss that one, shame really as the weather was wonderful and the viz was apparently very good too.

Still the weather was also fine at Stoney last weekend and as I was supporting more than Instructing I got plenty of chance to use the rebreather. Sadly the viz was not so good and despite my best efforts and some reasonably sizable Pike I didn't manage to capture any decent images.

The technical diving season is due to start on Wednesday though it looks unlikely that anything will actually happen as the charter boat is not going to be ready in time. Plenty planned on that front with a few warm up dives before getting into some deep wrecks as the water warms.

The sad news on the Orca front for me is that I am off to pastures new and will be leaving Essex permanently. Obviously I am not sure how it will all work out but one thing is for sure I will continue to dive.

Assistant Instructors in the making

Wednesday evening and we got everything going starting out with the course overview and the discussion on the benefits and virtues of PADI. I don't know about the students but I have to say I am ready and eager to get started on the course in earnest on Saturday morning.

The course opening and initial discussions are always good fun. Amongst the participants we have one person who will have done all his courses with Orca and it does make me feel very proud that we have helped him get to this level and to see the results of his efforts.

We also had a couple of BSAC observers in the classroom which does make for interesting discussions when you are talking about the virtues of PADI.

There was a fairly typical mixture of reasons given as to what had started Gill, James and Amanda off as divers but my best one for the night was when Steve told us that he had taken up diving because he couldn't swim. Logical when you think about it...........

After the overview and some fruitful discussions about what attributes make a good diver it was off to the deep pool to run a skill circuit. I am delighted to report that the standards in general were excellent.

All about tomorrow now.

100m and all is well

Gozo was the destination last week with Module 3 Inspiration Trimix TDI qualification the goal. The good news was that travelling with Air Malta makes all the difference in terms of sports luggage. On previous trips to the Maltese islands I have felt like a victim of the Ryan Air rudeness and unhelpfullness campaign. Air Malta were brilliant with an additional sports baggage allowance for divers of 32kg. In short this meant the Rebreather plus enough sofnolime for the week could all be flown without fuss or hassle. Air Malta you deserve the plug.The course has been coming for some time and in the end it worked out more economical to go to Gozo than to ge to Stoney Cove for the weekend. Perhaps a touch warmer too with both air and water temperature at 20C.

The three years that I have had the Rebreather seem to have shot past though there were still some nerves as I headed to the airport to meet up with the others. Getting over to Gozo was a bit of a trek but fortunately all five units arrived in one piece and with just a bit of setting up it was on with the course in earnest.

Our first dive after some theory on Monday morning was to be on air diluent down to 50m. Expecting to be narked and ready to go

with our two side slung stage tanks we all

entered the water at the Inland Sea. By the time we had swum through the opening in the cliffs on down to 50m there is no doubt that me and the others were truly narked. Kaf had a fit of the giggles and

I almost made a complete mess of one of the rebreather drills.

On Tuesday after yet more theory we changed gasses this time introducing some helium and

headed off to a site called middle finger. Another shore dive with some serious deep diving possibilities. Unfortunately Paul discovered a leak in his drysuit and much to his frustration but good judgement he called his dive. It was down to Kaf and eye together with Andy and Pete which gave us one on one supervision. On our way to 72m we stopped at the previous days maximum depth. The difference was amazing. I had always been told this was the case, though even I had not

expected it to be so noticeable. We carried on to our bottom depth at 72m and my head remained totally clear and the whole dive was very comfortable.

Then Andy started throwing 'what if' problems at us to test our understanding and ability to cope with problems. Things like what do you do if you run out of O2 at 100m and what do you do if your computer packs up at 100m? Very daunting as you realise that if these things happened at the end of the dive you wouldn't have sufficient gas to get to the surface if you opted to switch to open circuit. I am pleased to say there are answers but it really does make you think as well as recognise the need to understand what your kit can do and how to run it.

On Wednesday the plan was to dive both HMS Stubborn and the Imperial Eagle. The S class British submarine lies in 55m and is intact albeit that a number of fittings were removed before she was sunk in 1946 as part of sonar training. The Imperial is somewhat shallower but looked like a good option for a second dive to enable us to practice skills.

Having got kitted up it was too late when we realised that our skipper, Tony was next to clueless.

Hanging around as he looked for the wreck was painful. Eventually Andy got in to go and have a look. On his direction we followed him down when he put his SMB up. As instructed I raced down the line to check my cells function. Worked a treat too.

Trouble was we had missed the wreck, the shot line was dragging in the sand and despite 25m viz there was no sign of the submarine. Feeling pretty disappointed we surfaced and realised that the skippers faffing about had also cost us the second dive. Not a memorable day.

On Thursday we went back to Middle Finger with gasses suitable to go to 100m and an intention

of going to 85m first and seeing

how we felt. The day was much calmer and this time we all got in the water as per the plan. At 85m the decision to press on to 100m was an easy one. This took us to the bottom of the impressive middle finger pinnacle. At 20m we did a diluent flush to change gases to a 36% nitrox mix and it was fascinating to watch the decompression obligation tumble by 17 minutes.

The decompression stop at 6m was long enough. Paul encountered another challenge as he lost some buoyancy and had to wedge himself into the rocks. As he lay face down he was ceremonially decorated in a covering of seaweed. Such a shame the camera can't come with me on these dives as it would have made a great shot.

That was it, a great week, excellent company and lots of learning. Next season it starts to get serious with the first dive planned for the mighty Moldavia. Can't wait!

Meanwhile watch out for some Technical courses coming to Orca in the new year.

SMB Diver

I have to confess to not being a big fan of Gildenburgh Water. This is mostly because the visibility is usually awful amongst other things. So on Saturday morning with lashings of rain and strong winds blowing I was not expecting a lot as I picked Gill up far too early in the morning.

We should have realised that fortune was on our side as we swept up the M11 having taken the back route rather than the M25 as the radio announced the M25 had been shut. Bad weather causing accidents. Both Gill and I wondered what on earth we were doing, but such is the draw of diving.

Gildenburgh offered no respite when we arrived. Luke warm tea, howling wind and waves on the water. When John and Lesley arrived I took care to warn them that given the conditions and the normal state of affairs at Gildenburgh the viz was likely to be really poor.

How wrong I was......... a good 10 metres viz and the best I have ever seen in the brick pit. Wow, we could see the whole length of the bus, we could spot it from the platform. We could see the lorry from the bus. I was gobsmacked and delighted.

Enough of that because you couldn't ignore the surface conditions were nothing less than bleak. In fact I was most definitely more comfortable in the water.


The order of the day was SMB Diver specialty. As usual we had already had a fair run at SMB

deployment in the 6m pool at the Film Studios so all that was left was planning the dive and making sure that communications were going to be understood. This is so important when you are working with a buddy to let of DSMBs.

The first dive is all about attached deployment. With plenty of DSMB on board and feeling like a Christmas tree we all headed of for a pleasurable dive. Normally I tell people to keep hold of the lines as we swim between the various attractions. It was good enough not to have to do that and it made such a change to be able to see all the fish.

Having toured around we stopped at the lorry so that Lesley and John could deploy two SMBs each. Both using an auto inflate as well as a traditional inflated version.

For the second dive the stakes changed as it was time to practice mid water deployment. Always a little more challenging. Undertaking a task and trying to keep buoyancy is never an easy task. By focusing on a set point it does become easier. As always we experimented with a couple of techniques. Once again everyone realised that the large reel is so much easier to use than the little small ones that most divers tend to carry. I swear by it, especially in the UK where there is the chance for cold hands.

With eight successfully launched DSMB's enough was enough and it was time to head off but I am very confident that both Les and John will be proficient at the vital skill of deploying and using SMB'.

Busy with life, diving is a blessing!

Since my last blog I must confess life has been pedal to the metal. Work has had to take the driving seat and it has been great fun too. The big event was our National Conference at the end of the month during which we presented an awesome proposition to the team. Big splash time though there can be no doubt the hard work is only just beginning.

No diving in the sea or in any quarries for a couple of weeks so it all seems quite. Anyway it is getting cold and I really do miss the sun and warmth. The dark afternoons just have no fascination for me.

But, whilst I have been run off my feet I have managed to keep my hand in both in Bristol and in Essex and I am pleased to report I am getting in the water proper this weekend.

In Essex my sanity has come from Open Water training with Liam and Corbin. Both great young lads with oodles of personality and a joy to instruct. Corbin has already completed a SEAL Team so moving onto Open Water training is fairly straightforward. Once again demonstrating the benefits of the younger diver programmes.

With Corbin comes his aunt Vicky our latest trainee DM. All our DM's are so very different and Vicky just makes me smile. She is going to be such a good DM because she is so down to earth and approachable. What I really love is that Corbin is already at such a good standard the relationship between the two is jovial and slightly competitive. Love it!

In Bristol I have had more Open Water, one on one with another really capable lass called Steph. It is like a breath of fresh air when you get students that get the skills so easily and when you have work pressures going to the pool and just unwinding with great people really is the business.

Last Tuesday I managed to catch one of our pool sessions in the Deep pool at Basildon. Order of the day was the SMB pool session ready for the Open Water session tomorrow. I lost count in the end though I am sure we let off about 24 DSMB testing out various techniques and using a variety of DSMB's. Should mean we have a good run at it in the morning.

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.