Last night's Halloween party was a huge success with around 100 club members turning up in some fantastic cotumes (Ian, I'm not referring to your sheet!). There was blood, bad makeup and even worse wigs galore not to mention some very scary dancing. Photos from last night can be found in the gallery and I'm sure some more will find their way onto facebook. Thank you to everyone that helped to decorate the venue, your efforts are very much appreciated.
Massive congratulations to the 7 successful IDC candidates that all passed the IE this weekend in Peterborough. Even Alex although terribly afflicted by 'The Ginger Gene' managed to pass. Bridget kept her bikini top on whilst getting changed this time much to everyones disappointment.
The 8 students on the Open Water course all passed with flying colours so well done to them as well. Although Vobster Quay is a bit of a trek away it's proving to a superb location for Open Water training with 2 platforms located at a perfect depth of 6 meters to do the skills on.
Finally, yesterday saw 12 of our Instructors, Dive Masters and shore covers attend a free CPR refresher training session. They also completed a course in Advanced O2 administration. Safety is paramount on our courses so having staff properly trained and current in First Aid and O2 administration is something that we insist on.
Congratulations to all the students who passed their Advanced Open Water course last week!
I am on my way back from the Bahamas. The first 5 days were spent working on the CBBC "Inside Life" programme and I am happy to report that James successfully dived onto the wreck after some training. Well done James. The trip for the LIFE team was extended in order to get some more footage so I ended up staying a bit longer than planned. Unfortunately I have to get back for a big IDC and the summer ball, leaving the rest of the crew behind. 12 months after we sank the wreck it looks totally different. Shoals of fish have moved into the cabin area and the boat is covered in invertebrate life - one of the main things that the producer was looking for. Mike Pitts has got some amazing results and Sinclair Stammers a micro and macro camera specialist has got up close with cameras attached to microscopes. That is probably the end of my work with the LIFE programme. It is now a case of waiting until next year to se the results of this amazing series.
We saw many amazing things on the Malta trip. What was amazing was that we also found out a bit about our selves and our ancestory! Take Becci for example:
Well we all came back from Malta yesterday after a thoroughly good holiday - trip report coming soon, but we'll leave out the gross bit about Chris eating the beetle, not convinced that survival training skills were a neccessity in Malta! - and came back to 4 students finishing their PADI Advanced Open Water, 8 finishing their PADI Open Water course and yet more students in the pool starting their Open Water Course. Congratulations to you all!
Last weekend saw 17 club membersa fly off to Malta and 7 new open water divers!
We forgot to mention this .... Last Thursday when the beeb were here, our good friend Simon from Oceanic rocked up in his nice new van. And a lovely van it is as well - covered in great images, loads of stock and with a bit of sponsorship from PADI thrown in. Simon (who we have to admit takes a bit of stick when he comes to visit) has eventually passed his driving test and with a Yorkie bar in one hand, the steering wheel in the other, he can now be seen eating up the miles around the country.
It has been a bit manic this week with various things including courses, first aid training, and the BBC - so time for a bit of a catch up.
Our six IDC candidates all arrived in Bristol for the Instructor Examination, all somewhat apprehensive not unaturally given the occasion. James turned up having come off a night shift at 4 that morning which was not ideal! Throughout the weekend all the candidates did extremely well and worked incredibly hard, just as they had during the IDC. Unfortunately, a bit of bad luck, exam nerves, whatever the cause (ironically to probably the most experienced candidates in the group) meant that 2 of the group will have to pop back in a month to resit one of the sections. No great shakes, it happens and we will be with them and supporting them at the next IE. To the other 4 candidates it was plain sailing and we wish you every success in the future. The whole team will be back this weekend for speciality instructor training. The whole team also qualified as EFR instructors during their IDC , during which they used their skills and knowledge to good effect. This allows them to teach the primary and secondary care, care for children and the "add-ons" (because they are not stand alone programmes) of AED and O2.
The BBC came to visit on Thursday for a morning of filming ahead of the Bahamas in July. The aim was to get some footage showing how the star (known as the "contributor") learned to dive ahead of his trip when we will take him to dive the amazing wreck we sank last year. The fiming went really well; James remembered all his stuff from his course and the Director was happy enough. We will let you know how the Bahamas bit goes in August when we get back.
Horsea was a sea of inflatables this morning when ten club members took advantage of the first workshop of the year and learnt all about using and deploying SMBs. Workshops are free to club members and there will be more coming up this year including Bouyancy, Rescue and Equipment Workshops. The Bouyancy workshop will be on 15th June. Please contact the dive centre if you'd like to join in.
Congratulations to all 10 students who passed their PADI distinctive speciality in Scientific Diving Techniques. The course was originally designed for the university as part of the marine biology course, but its popularity has spread to a whole load of other faculties. It offers the chance for recreational divers to have an insight into some of the things that commercial and research divers get up to and they get to have a go at some of the techniques. There are spaces on the last course of the year which starts on 31 May and runs over 2 weekends. You dont have to be a university student to do, it so if you want to try something different, and gain a pretty unique PADI cert, why not give it a go.
