Saving Leigh - 23/04/2019

Teaching rescue lifts is hard work - for the instructor and the trainee. The only person getting an easy ride is the person who is acting as a body. When we went to Seal Reef, Loch Fyne I had pretty much decided that I'd give my trainee two goes at it. Then we were packing up. 

We had kitted up. I had two assistant instructors and one trainee. It seemed like overkill (it was overkill).

We headed down. Lift 1 went, well, quickly. At the surface we had a wee chat and reset back down at 10m.

This time Malcolm had clearly relaxed and listen to the tips the Assistant Instructors had given him and he took Leigh perfectly to the surface. At the surface we towed and relaxed a little. Before heading out, all ScotSAC Sport Dives complete. 

Basic Instruction - 10/03/2018

I had mentioned in a previous post that onlt two moths ago I undertook my first Assistant Instructoring and my major take away had been the SEEDS acronym. Well today I took the plunge and had my final assessments. They included:

• Instructor session (Wanton was putting up an SMB and leading a dive)
• A rescue lift (Wanton would die underwater and I'd bravely swim up and rescue him)

As ScotSAC club we had our Regional Instructor and Branch Diving Officer Present on a day when, to be honest, none of us would really like to be there.

As such, we kitted up quickly, briefed quickly and jumped in the water. In the dive brief, I remembered my SEEDS (Safety, Exercise, Equipment, Discipline, Signals), I remembered to tell the 'trainee' to behave. That's easier said than done with Wanton.

We went in, and he led a really unspectacular dive but stuck to all the disciplines he was required to stick to. At the end of the dive he successfully inflated his 'sausage' and we exited safely. Easy, so now onto dive two - rescue lift.

Now, I'd practised this the day before and it was alright but a reg knocked out the mouth and a freeflow made it a little tricky. I was hoping for an easier time of it today. As it was, it went swimmingly and I'd nailed it.

Just like that they let me be an instructor. My first new diving qualification of the year. Now I can get back to some fun diving. ;)

The Instructor's Instruction - 06/01/2017

It's my first dive day of the year and I am resolved. Resolved to do more dives in more countries and more new places here in Scotland. I am also resolved to continue where I let off last year and work towards becoming a ScotSAC Branch Instructor, finish my Freediving course and do a Tri-Mix course.

So, as it happened, my first two dives of the year were as a trainee instructor at Loch Fyne's Seal Reef with my club. It was a funny arrangement working with a diver who has been described as our clubs "Scuba Diving Dark Horse", largely because of his pretty humble manner. Our first instruction dive was to be a dive lead and also a rescue skill. It  meant that we had to curiously do three dive briefings for one dive. We all chuckled at the anomaly. It seemed like overkill, but it what is.

My major take away was the SEEDS acronym.

• Safety - what do you need to know to keep you safe?
• Exercise - what is the skill we're looking to do?
• Equipment - do we need any specific equipment for this drill?
• Discipline - what's the plan and behaviours required?
• Signals - what signals are required?

We had mixed success with the actual passing of skills but we did find a lovely little nudibranch and a very pretty macropodia rostrata. So all was not lost on the pleasure front either.