Iain Tindall recalls his first dive as a fully-fledged BSAC Instructor, which took place off Brighton
COMPETITION
Brilliant bimbles, marvellous milestones
Iain Tindall recalls his first dive as a fully-fledged BSAC Instructor, which took place off Brighton
Briefing: It’ s listed as dive # 147 in the old BSAC logbook I occasionally flick through in the loft when putting the Christmas decorations away or fetching the camping gear down for the summer holidays. According to my notes, my buddy was Simon Wallace and we were exploring a mark called South West Rocks off Brighton on a calm and sunny 28 April 2010.
The dive: We plunged to an impressive 12m with better than average 5m viz, deployed our blobs, carried out a couple of CBLs then drifted over the chalk reef, encountering clouds of pollock and pouting, then spotting a random lost anchor. The highlight was having our gloved fingers cleaned of debris by shrimp, while large congers looked on menacingly from their dark holes behind the cleaning station, eyes shining in our torchlight.
Why would I pick this shallow bimble in frigid UK waters above all the others? Why not mantas soaring above me in the Maldives; or stingrays eating out of my hands in Grand Cayman; or turtles off Cuba, giant Tarpons in Barbados, Normandy wrecks, Norwegian fjords, Namibian shark encounters, Shetland kelp forests? Why not the awesome wreck of the Cita off the Scillies, the Thistlegorm or the Rondo at 43m in the Sound of Mull in December 2009, the first proper outing for my freshly purchased Inspiration CCR.
The answer is that this was my first dive as a qualified BSAC Instructor, having been signed off by Dennis Wigg at Capernwray in December the previous year. Although nothing is written down, I do recall the quite momentous feeling of being fully in charge for first time in the briny deep, with a real live student. I don’ t recall if Simon was nervous or if I exuded so much natural confidence and charm( stop sniggering at the back) he felt supremely safe in my hands. Perhaps if he’ s still diving he might let us know!
I can’ t imagine many of us believe, when we start our sub-aqua journeys, either at the municipal baths or on a hungover holiday dive in Thailand, that we will one day be put in sole charge of a wide-eyed novice taking their first steps into a new and potentially dangerous world. We were all novice divers once without a scrap of knowledge or experience, completely reliant on our instructors to give us the benefit of theirs.
I like this dive because it reminds me that teaching is the best way to learn almost any subject. I use this knowledge in my work as a rope access and rescue assessor. I noted that I was a kilo light, possibly because I was using open circuit again, so I was still making mistakes. I still do every day( just ask my two children).
After taking a break for several years, I am now back at the municipal baths helping to instruct the next generation of BSAC divers at Adur DC in Worthing. We are a tiny club currently bringing a handful of kids from 12 to 16 through their Ocean Diver course, with open water dives planned at Vobster in April. Being a youth club has it’ s particular challenges but all the difficulties are worth it to see kids becoming aquanauts for the first time.
Debrief: I’ ve already taken my youngest boy Reuben shore diving off Shetland last summer. Another milestone dive for me. I know for a fact he’ s got the bug and will be sticking with it. Being a natural diver has given him a massive boost in confidence and self-esteem when school is difficult. He even put up his hand in front of hundreds of experienced divers at the recent Go Diving show and asked Steve Backshall a pertinent question about shark diving in UK waters.
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