Andy Torbet continues his family snorkelling experiment by treating his boys to warm water outings in France and Malta
TORBET ON THE TUBE
PHOTO : BECKI BIGGINS
Keeping a watchful eye on the boys as they practise the duck-dive
Kind of Blue
Andy Torbet continues his family snorkelling experiment by treating his boys to warm water outings in France and Malta
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Giant stride off the pier recently attended the BSAC Diving Conference and , as well as hosting the main stage , did a short talk with Sophie Heptonstall , BSAC ’ s Head of Diving and Training , on snorkelling . In the talk I described snorkelling as a ‘ gateway drug ’, a means of coaxing people into the underwater world who may be intimidated by the time , technicality or financial commitment of SCUBA diving . Snorkelling has proven especially useful for inspiring and capturing those too young to yet learn to dive .
I have seen this up close with my own sons . Now aged nine and seven , we have had them wearing masks in the swimming pool since before they could even swim . Today , donning a mask is part of their standard in-water kit . In recent years we ’ ve introduced fins and even more recently the snorkel .
My boys tried , and then discarded , their fins the first few times we used them . I decided not to push and would rather have them enjoying the water than necessarily adopting the next item of weaponry in the snorkelling armoury . After a few more attempts , they began to see the benefits that come with the extra propulsion . Not only the speed , which all kids enjoy , but they became more confident , happier to be out further from shore and in deeper water , assured in the knowledge they could keep themselves afloat with ease and make it back to the beach without intimidating levels of effort .
This alone allowed us to venture in to more interesting areas and cover much
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