YO-HANCHA
The brain drain
Yo-Han Cha is worried that we may be witnessing a slow death in UK diving services , but he has a solution ...
When I last wrote optimistically about being out of lockdown , some of us were indeed released for a week or so before we were all locked down again . You ’ ll have to forgive me for not holding my breath until we ’ re actually free again !
This must be longest surface interval I ’ ve had for many years but ultimately diving ’ s not my day job and I ’ ll be able to muddle through whatever the pandemic throws at me next . However I do worry about those who do depend on diving as their main source of income – the local dive shops and skippers , all of whom had a torrid 2020 . So here ’ s hoping that between this current lockdown and the vaccines , 2021 will be much better for them .
The diving industry in the UK appeared to be shrinking even before the pandemic started . There are no definitive numbers , but more skippers seemed to be retiring ( or threatening to ) than there were new skippers coming onto the scene . At the same time , dive shops were ( and still are ) under pressure from online sales , but even the online outlets have come under huge pressure during the pandemic .
I appreciate that online sites can often sell items cheaper , but what they can ’ t do is fill my cylinders , something I find rather essential before I go diving . If you ’ re a member of a club that owns a compressor , you ’ re lucky , as not every dive club can offer this facility . So basically , I ’ m becoming worried that I can ’ t go diving like I used to . It ’ s admittedly very selfish and it ’ s not just about being worried about my friends in the industry , whose livelihoods have been badly affected .
Once a skipper or a dive shop closes , it can be a massive loss ; more often than not , there ’ s no-one to replace them . You really feel it when they are the only people serving an area . Yes , it ’ s true that this is where the club RIB comes into its own , but not all clubs have RIBs . You aren ’ t just losing a service , you are losing a huge repository of hardearned knowledge about a part of the UK .
Take the example of Andy Tibbetts , who used to take people diving around the Knoydart Peninsula , a naturally isolated part of Scotland only accessible to vehicles by sea . A few years ago , I heard on the grapevine that it was going to be Andy ’ s final year of taking divers , and a space was available on a trip being organised by my friend Gail .
Discarding what self-respect I had at that point , I begged Gail to allow me to join the trip . You see , it was Gail who I had pranked some years previously , when her husband and I drove off and left her fuming at a layby in the Highlands . For a laugh . She didn ’ t find it funny at the time , still doesn ’ t see the humour ( we did go back to get her , eventually ).
I think her husband , Colin , must have taken most of the flak for that , because Gail graciously added me to the trip participants .
Knoydart was and still is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Scotland – the diving was fantastic . I ’ d love to go back , but someone ’ s going to have to talk Andy into taking divers again . Having lost our diving access to such a magical place , I ’ d hate to see the same happen to other diving locations .
When it comes to UK diving services , the message is stark – use them or lose them . So when we ’ re allowed to , let ’ s go diving . And let ’ s go diving in the UK . �
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