CLUBFOCUS
Being an inland club , one-day trips are difficult , and are normally restricted to Stoney Cove and Gildenburgh Water . Being a familyoriented club , most diving is to recreational depths on single cylinders . Some members do deeper twin set diving . We have been doing a weekday trip to the Farne Islands with the fabulous Farne Diving Services every year for around 30 years . Other than that , locations change from year to year , ranging from UK shore diving , to the Scillies , the Isle of Man , Shetland and overseas .
Dining in Croatia
What are your training aims ?
To provide steady skill development . We try to move all new Ocean Divers on to Sports Diver as part of a planned progression and experience-building programme . For our expanding junior section , with several parents and their teenage children , we have planned a programme of weekend trips designed to progressively develop their experience . During the winter of 2019 / 20 we used the pool to provide an introduction to skills in higher grades , such as teaching Ocean Divers basic navigation , SMB and dSMB skills and line-laying , which has proved popular . Also , we work on buoyancy and manoeuvrability training , using hulahoop slalom courses .
What has BedSAC achieved in the past year ?
With the restrictions due to Covid-19 , very little recreational diving has been done but the club has achieved a remarkable amount of diver training under very difficult circumstances . Using Skype and days spent at Stoney Cove ( a logistics nightmare ), two instructors managed to take on the training plans made for 22 trainees with six instructors in mind .
What were the results ?
Fortunately , quite a lot of our trainees had completed their sheltered-water training before pools closed and we were able to carry out open-water training when restrictions were relaxed . In two and a half months , six Ocean Divers and six Sports Divers were certified . One OWI made 18 visits to Stoney Cove ; 11 in September ! Skill development training plans morphed into a series of online sessions on a range of topics including : all the theory sessions for each level ; the Round the World underwater video for junior members ; and specialist sessions on wreck diving , fish identification , safeguarding , and tides , charts and navigation .
Where would you dive in normal years ?
What is the club planning for the next few years ?
We need new members and to build our instructor base as we have lost a few . Unfortunately , three instructors moved out of the area and we are now struggling because although we have three of our experienced Sports Divers doing Dive Leader training and planning to attend the Instructor Foundation Course , the lack of courses for over a year , with none scheduled anywhere near us yet , is holding them back .
How would you sum up your progress ?
The breadth of the club is part of our strength . We welcome everyone interested in diving , even though they may not be able to participate . One of our swimmers , Sue , says : “ Over the years I have watched so many trainees enter the water that I think I have become quite the expert and love to watch them improve their skills over the weeks . Having experienced a few try dives , I am very happy to be classed as a swimmer rather than a diver , although I like to use my snorkel and fins . It ’ s fun to meet people in town and say , ‘ You do look different with your clothes on .” �
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