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