Helmet training for Frontier and Central TV
Object of Desire
The Fenzy ... it was revolutionary because when I started diving there were no buoyancy aids . We just had simple harnesses on our Aqua-Lungs ; you had to be very careful how you weighted yourself , aiming to be neutrally buoyant at about 10 feet ( 3m ) on the way back to the surface .
The Fenzy was a horse collar life jacket that could be inflated at the surface , it had a little separate cylinder for emergency use . You could put a little bit of air in it at depth , but that was tricky . Soon after , Seaquest introduced direct feeds , which you could put into the inflation unit of the Fenzy . That ’ s how AP valves got started ... Alan Parker , who lived in Coventry at the time , invented the AP Buddy , then
Scubapro introduced the Stabiliser Jacket , the first jacket-style BC , which gave us the phrase , Stab Jacket . These were all great refinements in buoyancy .
Pensive between dives in Madeira
How has diving has affected your life ?
Right now , I ’ m sitting next to a big chart of Mafia Island in Tanzania . If I hadn ’ t been a diver , I wouldn ’ t have visited so many incredible places , with so many wonderful people . After the Roatan expedition , I was asked in 1989 if I would be the Diving Officer for Frontier Expeditions at Mafia Island , Tanzania . With Frontier , I have done about 20 trips to Tanzania , and five others to Madagascar and Fiji . I only stopped doing them in 2015 . We had all sorts of fun ... I managed to turn an inflatable over in the fringing reef at Mafia Island on one of the early trips .
There were plenty of challenges along the way – at Pemba Island to the north of Zanzibar , we got news that two divers had been shot ; some bandits from Mombasa had heard about the camp and attacked it , robbed the divers and shot one of them . They had to evacuate the camp and get everyone back to Swahili Divers . Then about three days later I was sent to close the camp down , and get all the kit shipped back to Dar es Salem . Never a dull moment !
What does it mean to be a BSAC member ?
I relish the fact that I can go everywhere and anywhere , and find dive buddies . I haven ’ t been able to get into diving up here yet , because I ’ ve been renovating a house . But I know I can pick up a phone up and say “ I ’ m a BSAC member ”, and go diving with a local club . I ’ m fortunate to have BSAC friends all over the place .
How did you get involved with the Scouts and diving ?
It started in 1984 , on a reconnaissance expedition to the island of Roatan , Honduras . There were 16 divers , and I was the principal Diving Officer . We were looking for pirate shipwrecks and we located three ready for the operation to go back the following year .
We ’ d taken two Venture Scouts with us as gophers , and it seemed cruel to take them all that way and not teach them to dive . In fact , that whole expedition started its life at Lutterworth Sub-Aqua Club . We came up with the idea of starting a branch purely for the Scouts . And that ’ s how Leicestershire Scouts Sub-Aqua Unit came into being . I think it may be the longest branch name in the BSAC empire !
Halloween in Stoney Cove !
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