With fellow Exeter members at Porthkerris
Walking on water ? as an instructor , delivering both theory lectures and practical training in the pool and open water .
Clint ’ s diving pedigree is impressive . He qualified as a Commercial Diver in 1976 . He passed his BSAC Advanced Instructor exam in 1980 and qualified as a PADI instructor in 1981 ; going on to run a dive school in Exmouth for 10 years . Continuing his personal development , in 1966 Clint became a Second Class Diver , now known as Advanced Diver . Along the way he operated a local hyperbaric chamber , delivering hyperbaric therapies to a range of patients .
An interest in seamanship led to qualification as a Diver Cox ’ n and then a Cox ’ n Assessor . “ I love teaching boat handling ,” he says , “ Without passing on these non-diving skills , we would be limited to shore diving . I also just love charts and teaching navigation skills .”
This love of boats led to a period volunteering on the local lifeboat crew ; Clint served as cox ’ n of the Exmouth RNLI lifeboat between 1980 and 1985 . He is also a Disabled Sailing Association Skipper .
His diving stats are even more impressive ,
with an amazing 10,889 hours spent underwater so far . When I asked if Clint logs his dives , he told me that , as of 2 August 2024 , he had logged 16,011 dives . “ Recording dives is very important ,” he says . “ I have always tried to log all of them , but I may have missed one or two in over 61 years in the sport . It is very interesting to be able to look back at the logs and see how dive sites have changed over the years .”
We talk about favourite dive sites and I discover that most of Clint ’ s diving is done in Torbay . Babbacombe , Brixham and Beacon Cove are some of the most frequently visited sites in the last few years . For his 16,000th dive , he chose to dive the Helford River with Porthkerris Divers , but he says his absolute favourite dive is Exmouth docks . “ You have to be careful about tide times , but it is always a great dive ,” he says .
When asked what advice he would give a new diver there is no hesitation : “ Go diving ( with Exeter BSAC if you can , of course ), simple as that . Go to as many different sites in as many different conditions as you can . You can only learn so much from a book , practice is the real teacher .” �
SKILLSTIP
“
One thing I always try to do with students is doffing and donning scuba kit underwater . It isn ’ t in today ’ s lessons , but it is a useful skill to master . And a tip for instructors : do your best , think back over each lesson , each trainee , if you can honestly say you did your best , could stand up in court and say that you did your best , then that is all anyone could ever ask .
”
Yellow fins maketh the diver
Become an Instructor !
Sports Divers and up ( for scuba ) and 16 + year olds ( for snorkelling ) can start instructor training .
Scan for more info
Or visit bsac . com / instruct 47