Jamie Heptonstall and Steve Chivers on a rescue skills refresher
Practical Rescue Management in the winter
How do you keep instructors interested?
We keep things sustainable by sharing the load, rotating training roles so no-one burns out. We’ re big on getting trainees into the sea ASAP. Last summer, four made it onto the RIB for their first sea dives at Abersoch, which were shallow, full of life and ideal for building confidence. It took effort, but it paid off. Most of the buddy pairs ended up being inspected by curious seals; something none of them were expecting.
This year, 13 trainees have completed pool and theory and are now getting their
Crawford Currie, sidemount diving on the Honeydew
kit sorted. Next stop: Anglesey. They’ ll be shore-diving, snorkelling, and exploring in inflatable Falco. Nothing too deep or technical, but still very much an adventure.
We try to mix up the training, so our instructors are not just demonstrating skills at six metres every weekend. It takes a lot more organising but it’ s more enjoyable for all.
What about more experienced members?
Qualified members are encouraged to keep learning, whether that’ s boat handling, first aid refreshers, or just getting back in the water early in the season. Our instructors are active, experienced and very good at drawing others in. We focus on safety and skill development. There’ s usually a lot of cake.
Like most clubs, interests shift over time. Right now, we’ ve got a strong mix of photographers, recently retired members with time to dive, and young members keen to get qualified. With some members sitting on thousands of dives, we’ re not chasing numbers. It’ s about doing good dives, safely, with people you enjoy being in the water with. That shows on trips. Hardboat skippers often comment on how well we work together – helping kit up, carrying gear, planning dives. We dive as a group of friends, and it makes everything better.
How do you organise the diving?
Our Expeditions Officer, Kate White, builds next year’ s calendar from a planning meeting in October. The best weekends go fast, so you need to be ready as soon as the BSAC tide tables land. We encourage members to plan trips that suit their experience— and there’ s always someone willing to help make it happen. Trips are organised through a shared trip pack, a live Google doc with all the details, open for members to contribute and refine as plans evolve. Good systems make a
Wanda for the win
Dave Shepherd recalls:“ We had a day at Eccleston Depth to test our training rescue manikin, Wanda Wetsuit, who was created by a member from materials we had in our clubhouse. The torso is a Sofnolime container, limbs PVC piping, all held together with an old wetsuit and lots of bungee. A cosmetic training head from eBay gave her a bit of personality and she can be fully kitted-out in scuba equipment.”
‘ Wanda Wetsuit’ and her creators on a test dive in Eccy Delph
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