Paul celebrates PADI Master Scuba Diver rating

Paul is one of the quieter members of Sub-Mission Dive Club but nothing can curb his enthusiasm for the sport, he really has caught the ‘Scuba Bug’. His latest achievement is certainly one to be proud of; he has reached the dizzy heights of PADI Master Scuba Diver.

The PADI Master Scuba Diver rating is the highest non-professional certification that a diver can achieve, often stated as the ‘Black Belt’ of diving. This accreditation demonstrates Pauls experience and expertise in several different areas of specialisation. Paul learnt to dive abroad and took the brave step to don a drysuit and jump into Capernwray in February and since then there has been no looking back. He has specialised in Drysuit diving, Peak Performance Buoyancy (which Paul considers to be one of the most beneficial courses that he’s completed), Wreck diving, Underwater Navigation and Deep Diving. He has also recently completed his Rescue Diver Course where he showed that he can be a great asset in an emergency situation both in his decision making ability and his rescue skills.

Pauls name will soon be added to the Master Scuba Diver Roll of Honour board in the Dive Centre with the other members of this very elite group of divers. Congratulations Paul on your hard work and lets hope that 2011 proves to be an equally active year for you.

Four New Emergency First Response Instructors

Phew! It’s been a busy time for PADI Professional level courses and there are just no signs of it stopping with another four students to congratulate. In order to complete the PADI Instructor Development Course; Barry, Simon, Jo and Paul had to complete the PADI Emergency First Response Instructor Course.

They gave up a couple of days to come and complete the course, which will give them the skills and knowledge to teach the PADI Emergency First Response course to divers or non divers. The ability to teach such a valuable course will hopefully lead to some positive outcomes for any students who have to give CPR or First aid in the future.

With that in mind, each of them learned how to structure the Emergency First Response Course as well as their role in teaching First Aid and CPR skills. They were also tasked and evaluated on motivating students and developing their hands-on skills practice, effective skills presentations and scenario-based learning. They each perfected their infant and child first aid and CPR skills as a portion of this program.

They found it nerve wracking standing up and giving a presentation for the first time but accomplished each assessment with ease and eventually confidence. They will go on to provide valuable training for a subject that is very close to mine and Darren’s hearts. Congratulations Emergency First Response Instructors

Darren and Lyndon complete the PADI Tec Deep Instructor Course

After much practice and study, Darren and Lyndon finally crossed over to the Dark Side and came out as PADI Tec Deep Instructors.

As many of you will know, Lyndon and Darren have a keen interest in technical diving and deeper diving and are chomping at the bit to be able to pass on that knowledge and passion to some of you as future TecRec students. But in order to be able to teach the new structure of PADI TecRec they had to first be examined and scrutinised themselves on their dive skills.

The PADI Tec Deep Instructor course that they completed comprised of classroom presentations, Open Water dives including teaching skills and problem solving, demonstration quality skills including shut downs, stage drills and SMB use as well as decompression theory and dive planning exams. They were certainly put through their paces. They both deserve huge congratulations for the hard work that they had to put in to complete the course as well as their bravery in the cold.

So what now? Well now we are going to trial the TecRec programs, put course schedules together and then get you interested in pushing your limits further. The PADI TecRec Programs that Sub-Mission can currently teach are the PADI Tec 40, Tec 45 and Tec 50. These courses each take you one stage deeper and more involved in decompression considerations, diving with technical equipment and planning deeper dives so that you can explore more, spend longer deeper and essentially escape into a different type of diving.

For more information on PADI TecRec Courses come into the Dive Centre, call on 01782 207474 or email katy@divecourses.co.uk

PADI Assistant Instructor Success

As you may have guessed from several starry eyed and grinning faces, we have 4 new PADI Instructors; Barry, Simon, Jo and Paul. But although I wasn’t quick enough writing the blog about Barry and Simon completing their PADI Assistant Instructor Course I must congratulate them as well as Ian and Tim who worked really hard in order to complete the course.

The PADI Assistant Instructor course is one of the most rewarding PADI programs you can do but with that goes an awful lot of time, effort and preparation during the course. Ian, Tim, Barry and Simon certainly deserve recognition for their success.

The course is made up of several components but essentially each one is based around the ability to now teach students. Classroom presentations must be completed as well as pool presentations, skill practice with ‘problem students’, open water presentations, rescue assessments and further theory exams. Each one of the candidates was scored during the process and certainly there was a significant improvement by the end of the course. Ian must get a special mention as he did a fantastic job of overcoming his anxiety of speaking in public and scored highly for his classroom presentations, we're not sure about his giant stride entry from the top of the cliff though!

Barry and Simon went straight on to complete the PADI Instructor Development Course and although Ian and Tim haven’t yet they too will fly through the Instructor process and make fantastic PADI Instructors but for now, we are looking forward to their involvement with Sub-Mission in their new role as PADI Assistant Instructor. Well Done.

January 16th 2011 - Murrayfield Hyperbaric Chamber Dry Dive

Sunday morning; the perfect day for deep diving! You get up early and it’s really cold outside but you’re not worried as you’ll be warm and dry on your dive. 50 metres is your planned depth and you’re looking forward to enjoying the effects of nitrogen narcosis without the worry of acting foolishly whilst diving. Too good to be true? No, we’re on our way to Murrayfield Hyperbaric Chamber (and not in the back of an ambulance!)

Sub-Mission definitely rates the day trip to the Hyperbaric facility as one of the best days out and on Sunday 16th January 2011 the Sub-Mission Dive Club will be visiting the chamber. The itinerary is a presentation followed by a 50 metre dry dive. The presentation itself is extremely beneficial to all divers as topics covered include the facility itself, the mechanics of decompression sickness, signs and symptoms, treatment and how to stay conservative and avoid decompression sickness.

The actual dive itself is one of the most hilarious experiences available without alcohol. Due to the increased density of the gas the vocal chords begin to vibrate causing everyone to speak like they’ve spent the last hour inhaling helium! Combine this with the narcotic and euphoric effects of nitrogen narcosis and you have mayhem. Its laughter all round as you reach 50m and the odd chorus of “Night Fever” strikes up and one of the group begins to dance in the middle. Cameras and microphones allow everyone outside to cringe as you laugh, cackle and giggle all the way back to the surface and everyone wants to back down again.

Dive computers can be put in the bucket and log books are stamped as proof of the dive. The trip is a must for all divers and we’re planning the next day out on January 16th. Make sure you book early to confirm your place!

The minimum age for this event is 16 with the minimum level of PADI Open Water Diver or equivalent. The experience is great value at only £25 per person and as spaces are limited to 15, be quick to reserve your place. Get in touch with Katy on 01782 207474, katy@divecourses.co.uk or come into the Dive Centre.

2011 Course Dates Now Available On-Line

We know that many of you are already planning your diving calendar for 2011, so we hope that publishing our course dates for the entire year of 2011 would give you a helping hand.

Why not treat yourself for christmas & book that PADI specialty that you have your eye on. Or better still, drop the hints to friends and family and they can sign you up on-line today. A convenient way of getting what your want for christmas.

If you're interested in the PADI Rescue Diver course, simply choose your preferred course date and pick up the training pack to give you something to do over the festive break.

2011 is set to be a fantastic year with Sub-Mission, as we introduce exciting new courses including PADI Tec diving programs & the newly revised PADI Divemaster course.

As one of the UK's leading Project AWARE dive centres, we are really excited about next years planned environmental activities, including 3 beach clean-ups, skate tagging & 'Go Free' weeks. So if you want to make a difference in 2011, get involved.

Following up on the huge success of this years dive club 'Gone Diving' activities, plans are already in place to continue this into 2011 with some exciting & new ideas.

Of course this doesn't detract from our busy dive trip & holiday calendar, with trips to Malta & Egypt in the pipeline.

2011 is set to be the most exciting & action packed year to date. Forget about the winter weather & the doom and gloom of the economy and escap it all with Sub-Mission.

Escape In 2011... Dive Sub-Mission

Huge Congratulations To Sub-Mission's Newest PADI Instructors

2010 has been a fantastic year for Sub-Mission dive centre, with more people choosing to do Scuba courses with us than ever before.So it was always going to be difficult to finish the year on a high, but what better way than the fantastic success of 4 new PADI Instructors.

Jo, Paul, Barry & Simon continued Sub-Mission's 100% PADI Instructor exam pass rate. We would like to congratulate them all, not only for passing the 2 day PADI Examination, but for their fantastic performances that make us proud to say that they are part of the Sub-Mission team.

Over the past few months each of them have been working hard to perfect their instructional skills including dive theory, classroom presentations, swimming pool & open water teaching presentations.

The last 2 days has seen all four of them work as a team during the PADI Instructor exam in Rugby & Stoney Cove. To say that they were anxious is an understatement, but nevertheless, they all performed outstandingly and received high marks in all area's.

We wish them all the best for the future & look forward to working with them.

I would like to thank Clive Albon for once again producing some outstanding candidates, I would also like to thank the entire Sub-Mission dive team in supporting us in our efforts to fully prepare Jo, Paul, Barry & Simon.

2011 is quickly approaching & with it an action packed year of new courses & activities to keep them all busy.

Congratulations



Well, how do you top a fantastic year