Wave Shape
Wave Shape

Instructor Team Hosts September Club Training Days

Waves Shape

The Dacorum Scuba instructor team held two training days and a night dive in September to provide Diver Training Programme (DTP) sessions for members doing Ocean Diver, Sport Diver and Dive Leader training. Thanks go to all those who participated; instructors, divers and students alike.

Training coordinator Lindsey explains what was achieved

On Sunday 4 September, 12 club divers visited Stoney Cove; where five DTP lessons were signed off, one diver completed a depth progression, and six DTP lessons were partly completed. Some of the students learned about the all-important skills of dive management too.

 

On Tuesday 6 September, during a night diving session at Wraysbury Dive Centre, seven divers did a total of 10 dives. Shore cover was in place and two complete DTP lessons were delivered.

On Saturday 10 September, divers visited two sites: at Stoney Cove more DTP training took place, and a second training group went to Wraysbury for Sport Diver rescue training.

Dive Leader trainee James reports from Stoney Cove

On Saturday 10 September, a group of six divers once again made the trip up to Stoney Cove. Among them were three Dive Leader trainees, an instructor and two members who were diving for fun. Despite the appalling visibility, conditions underwater were generally pleasant. It was nice and warm on the six-metre shelf and there was an abundance of fish of every size along with the remains of several crayfish.

The Dive Leader trainees were all taught how to use lifting bags and were introduced to techniques to lead novice divers. One trainee managed to get three lessons signed off on the day, the final lesson being a harrowing demonstration of what a potential Dive Leader may need to react to when leading a dive. The other two divers enjoyed a relaxing dive on the six-metre shelf, followed by a second dive beginning on the Stanegarth and navigating underwater to the Wessex helicopter. Overall it was a very productive day. All divers learned new skills or gained confidence through diving in more challenging environments.

Special thanks go to Andy for diving five times in one day to ensure all trainees completed their lessons.

Ed, a new member who is returning to diving after a break, commented

The highlight for me on Saturday was managing to navigate from the Stanegarth to the helicopter using a reciprocal bearing from the map. It was very satisfying to trust the compass and find ourselves in the right place despite the truly terrible visibility.

Some lessons I learned:

  • Compasses do not work well when immediately on top of large, ferrous objects such as wrecks…
  • I need a better system than trying to hold a torch in one hand, a GoPro in the other, and managing drysuit etc at same time.
  • it’s one thing thinking “I’ll just clip that bit of equipment off on that D-ring” when it’s all nice on the surface… but actually FINDING that D-ring in near darkness is something else…
  • I need to not rush seating my mask on my face properly in the rush to jump in. It was only after the long surface swim and the start of my descent that I discovered it was slightly over my hood and it began to fill.
  • When they say GIANT stride, they mean it… there are rocks to hit your feet on by the Stoney steps if you don’t get a good 3-4 feet out when you hit the water. Ouch.

 

To see more photographs of Dacorum Scuba out training, check out the Training, Summer 2022 photo gallery.

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