ENVIRONMENT
Taking it further
Get more from your down-time
Jane Maddocks has a few tips for how to develop your wreck skills , at the same time enhancing your club and project diving
Learning to dive means that you acquire a skill that is complex , exciting , and possibly means buying lots of shiny equipment using the justification , if one is needed , that it is for life support . For many divers , however , simply the act of going for a dive is what it ’ s all about .
The kit preparation , getting to the site , meeting up with friends , the dive and the post-dive chat and refreshment justify all the training and equipment because it is fun . If that sums up your diving , then all power to your fin strokes .
I meet quite a few divers for whom heaven is diving in their local quarry . It is their happy place , and why they trained in the first place .
However , there are divers out there who enjoyed the training , but have a wish to do something more . When I started , I loved my branch diving , lived for Sunday dives and it was only that moment going down the shot line on to the Mary Rose that I had a sharp intake of breath . I knew at the moment the bronze gun came into view that I wanted more than the Sunday RIB dive followed by the rush to the pub .
As a BSAC member I decided to do all the Skill Development Courses ( SDCs ) on offer . I would still say to any new BSAC diver that the SDCs are a brilliant way to sharpen your skills and develop your diving . I also recommend that you spend time looking at the webinars on the BSAC website .
There is a moment of transition where your diving skills become a marvellous tool that allows you to get involved in projects as a volunteer .
BSAC ’ s Operation Oyster project should be well under way in a couple of months . If you want to get involved , then go to bsac . com / operationoyster . Getting involved does not mean every dive looking for oysters – just once or twice on a dive look out for our native oyster , Ostrea edulis . It is important to start finding out where they are , and how
many . Empty shells are also important . Britain used to be famous for its oysters , but they are a vanishing species . The next big project is different . Northern Scotland has some Royal Navy wrecks protected at Control level . This means that you cannot dive them without a licence issued by the Ministry of Defence . The Nautical Archaeology Society ( NAS ) is applying for a licence to dive one of those wrecks to produce a condition report .
The focus is to report on unexploded ordnance , the security of its fuel bunkers and a report on the general condition of the hull . The Royal Navy needs this information , and it looks like recreational divers with extra qualifications in how to do these assessments are well placed to be involved .
This project is about to be announced by the Nautical Archaeology Society ( NAS ) and will be something just a bit special . Currently , it is open to NAS members only ; but what a great reason to join the NAS . If you are an NAS member and this appeals , then keep an eye on the website .
To take part , you should be a member of the Nautical Archaeology Society , have done your NAS Foundation Qualification and done the new course on ‘ Identifying Environmental and Explosive hazards on Wrecks .’
Currently we are looking at opportunities for BSAC members to do some of their further training during the project . We have Nationally Qualified Instructors on the project team , including several Advanced Instructors . For more information email projects @ nauticalarchaeologysoc . org
I hope this type of project may run for several years . It will be an exciting way of expanding diving horizons . It will give so many opportunities for using the skills you have acquired through BSAC , and will certainly make your branch diving just that little bit more exciting and may end up with you running projects of your own . �
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