SCUBACHAT
His skill at bringing out the best in pupils and instructors alike was later demonstrated during his 11-year tenure working at the Joint Services Sub Aqua Diving Centre ( JSSADC ), at Fort Bovisand , Plymouth . Frank appreciated that adventurous diving within a Service environment helped to enhance a service person ’ s ability and self-assurance , but it had to offer elements of fun and relaxation too .
On leaving the Corps , Frank , or ‘ The Boss ’ as he was known , arrived as the Officer in Charge at JSSADC in the summer of 1994 . He soon realised that if the centre were to survive , it would need a major makeover . New dive boats were acquired and a fully equipped workshop was built . A new compressor was installed in a clean environment and when nitrox courses were introduced , extra space was acquired for a dedicated gas blending facility . These improvements were a boon for service clubs , who travelled from across the country to run diving expeditions from the Fort .
Just four years after he arrived , Fort Bovisand gained BSAC School status , followed by Premier School status a year later and in 2001 it was made a BSAC Centre of Excellence . Service adventurous diving had been reignited and was thriving . By placing it back on a firm footing , it endorsed the Centre ’ s subsequent move into the Naval Base .
After getting the centre on a firm footing , Frank devoted his spare time to achieving his other lifelong ambition – obtaining his Private Pilot ’ s Licence in 2002 . To mark that milestone , his staff lined the harbour wall at Bovisand as he flew a celebration flight over the Fort .
His love of diving continued with trips out in his Humber RIB , named ‘ Sallymallymeeno ’, a word created years before by his toddler daughter , Claire . Having dived for over 50 years , Frank concluded that the age of 70 was the time to stop diving . Typically , he made this tough decision alone and on his last dive never mentioned to his buddy it would be his final one . He consoled himself with the continued pleasure he and his wife , Jane , got from snorkelling off the Devon coast .
Throughout his retirement , Frank also provided unstinting support to Jane , a serving Royal Navy officer . He encouraged her to follow her dreams , with the most recent adventure being her 5,500 anticlockwise solo charity walk around the coastline of mainland UK .
On 30 December 2020 , Frank collapsed and died suddenly , leaving Jane , Philip , Claire , many friends and former colleagues from the world of diving and the Royal Marines stunned . Without exception , everyone agreed Frank Allen had lived life to the full , on land , in the air and underwater . With thanks to JANE ALLEN
Phone rescue SDC ?
ONE OF THE DANGERS FACED DURING any rescue training scenario is the risk of a flustered trainee diver ( or instructor ) flinging their expensive smartphone into a flooded quarry , or else dropping it into the surf of a gently sloping beach ! With that in mind , I have seen everything from spare snorkels to soggy wetsuit booties used as a pretend phone for the all-important ‘ raising the alarm ’ stage of any well-rehearsed rescue demonstration or practical scenario .
During lockdown , however , I discovered that my grandmother had kept every mobile phone she has ever had since her Nokia 3310 from the turn of the millennium ! Having explained the predicament ( see above ), I convinced her to part with two of the oldest exhibits from her prized museum collection to further the cause of BSAC diver safety training .
First , I wiped the memory and removed the SIM cards . Then I arranged for the batteries and charging cables to be disposed of responsibly for recycling as WEEE ( Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ).
Log , not blog
After that , I carefully glued the battery covers back into place and filled any openings and ports with two-part epoxy resin . This was to make the units more robust , less likely to fill with water in damp marine environments , and hopefully less likely to fall apart when inevitably dropped onto a hard surface .
Finally , it is important to ensure that any ‘ dummy ’ equipment used for rescue training practice can ’ t easily be confused with real emergency equipment . I printed out some clear ‘ DUMMY PHONE ’ stickers and stuck these to the screen , sealed over with clear plastic film to make them waterproof .
The end result was a couple of worthy additions to our training kit , to be kept alongside our CPR Resusci Anne and training AED ( automated external defibrillator ). Not only will this add some further realism to our rescue training , but we have also up-cycled two otherwise redundant electronic devices .
Remember , iPhones are not Vobster-proof ! LEON R SMITH , Severnside Sub-Aqua Club , Bristol
I READ WITH INTEREST YO-HAN CHA ’ S ARTICLE ON PAPER LOGBOOKS , AND GRINNED . I put my hands up to being an old-fashioned logbook user , a process I take further by pasting photos into my logbooks . I have a small instant printer purchased especially for this purpose !
These logbooks are my dive journal – my journey through my training and coming out the other side , then gaining experience and accumulating so many memories . I like to include plenty of detail and on many occasions , I am asked : “ How on earth can you write so much about that dive ? I hardly saw anything .”
I love technology , to the extent that I am possibly addicted to wanting the next gleaming toy , but online logbooks just don ’ t cut it for me . I even make my own paper logbooks , having found no shop-bought one suited my needs . At the end of the day , I love sitting with a beer , filling in the pages and discussing what we saw . Looking back on them brings to many memories . So far , I ’ ve done 555 dives , paper-logged all of them and will continue to do so . THERESA HENLEY , BSAC Direct