What next in terms of my diving?

[Alex85]

Well currently i'm the assistant dive officier at the university dive club, under guidance from one of the area coach as i'm the most qualified diver in the club.

My current qualification is Sports Diver, and have only got to complete my rescue open water lessons to complete my dive leader training. I have also booked myself onto the BSAC Combined Nitrox Course. I have also completed the IFC and am teaching theory and pool skills undersupervision of the instructors who help out on the pool nights.

The problem is at the moment there is probably only 1 maybe 2 divers who are diving at the same level as me, but no-one who is willing to be adventurous with there diving and adventure beyond stoney cold!!!

The sort of diving i am wanting to do is the deeper wrecks around the UK at the moment in the 30-40m range, with the plan to move into more technical diving in the later part of this year, once i have finished purchasing bits for a twinset rig. But would like to gain more experience in that range before moving onto the longer bottom times i could achceive with the twinset.

Having spent some time at home in bath and going along to the santa diving gig, and also spending a day diving with The Duck, at Vobster Quay. I've realised a few things:-

1) First being that i'm not currently doing the diving that i want to be doing
2) My role of ADO is restricting my diving, as i feel like i am having to open up going diving to the club, and end up diving with lesser qualified divers.
3) I wouldn't like to completely leave the club as i enjoying the theory and pool skills, and would like to go for my OWI qualification once i've completed my DL. Also the diving is cheaper with a university club, as the instuctor qualifications are subsidised by the Sports Union.

I'll will be completing my twinset rig over the next few months, and plan to do the TDI Advanded Nitrox and Deco Procedures over the summer.

So really i would like some advice on what people think is the best way to start going about doing the deeper wreck diving i would really like to get into.

And whether you think it is a worth while starting to doing my own diving with people outside the club, but staying with the club to complete my OWI qualification. I am slightly worried that this might start causing problems within the club.

Cheers Alex

[Waskey]

Personally I'd go for it Do your IFC and build some experience and then go OWI. That's where I'm going.
Sod the problems in your club. If people think you're doing things wrong, it's normally because of a lack of knowledge. Learn who to isten to and respect and temper your enthusiasm with their experience (I assume there are non student members that sort your training. It is in our club).
I dive in and out of my club all the time. I have people at home that are PADI and basically non technical. I have the people in my club that are the same but they don't think they are. And then there's possibly four others that I would consider in the same bracket as me. Of those I only really dive with one from a technical standpoint. He is a mentor of sorts but the way I want to develop is possibly a little different to the way he wants to go, which is fine as I have been gleeming a few Proteges myself.
Find yourself someone you can dive with regulary and learn a lot from. Do some diving that isn't training and hone your own skills. Familiarity breeds complacency at times. Don't get caught in the trap of thinking that diving at 10 is any different to diving at 40.

The final word is build it up and don't go any faster or further than you feel comfortable with. The water will always be there.

[nigelH]

Originally Posted by Alex85

So really i would like some advice on what people think is the best way to start going about doing the deeper wreck diving i would really like to get into.

And whether you think it is a worth while starting to doing my own diving with people outside the club, but staying with the club to complete my OWI qualification. I am slightly worried that this might start causing problems within the club.

When you have some qualifications book onto the boats that are doing the sort of diving you want. There is no conflict between diving with your club, of which I do quite a bit, and diving outside, which I also do. The important thing is to balance things so diving stays fun and the temptation isn't just to stay home and watch the TV.

However do feel free to push the ADO job on.

[The Duck]

Go diving.

If you can't find a buddy with the same aims in your club, look outside. On here, the BSAC site etc.

You've got the plan with your twinset and your courses.

You just need someone to get the experience with. So look for trips, boat spaces and post for buddies.

[yazzyfooty]

Originally Posted by Alex85

Well currently i'm the assistant dive officier at the university dive club, under guidance from one of the area coach as i'm the most qualified diver in the club.

My current qualification is Sports Diver, and have only got to complete my rescue open water lessons to complete my dive leader training. I have also booked myself onto the BSAC Combined Nitrox Course. I have also completed the IFC and am teaching theory and pool skills undersupervision of the instructors who help out on the pool nights.

The problem is at the moment there is probably only 1 maybe 2 divers who are diving at the same level as me, but no-one who is willing to be adventurous with there diving and adventure beyond stoney cold!!!

The sort of diving i am wanting to do is the deeper wrecks around the UK at the moment in the 30-40m range, with the plan to move into more technical diving in the later part of this year, once i have finished purchasing bits for a twinset rig. But would like to gain more experience in that range before moving onto the longer bottom times i could achceive with the twinset.

Having spent some time at home in bath and going along to the santa diving gig, and also spending a day diving with The Duck, at Vobster Quay. I've realised a few things:-

1) First being that i'm not currently doing the diving that i want to be doing
2) My role of ADO is restricting my diving, as i feel like i am having to open up going diving to the club, and end up diving with lesser qualified divers.
3) I wouldn't like to completely leave the club as i enjoying the theory and pool skills, and would like to go for my OWI qualification once i've completed my DL. Also the diving is cheaper with a university club, as the instuctor qualifications are subsidised by the Sports Union.

I'll will be completing my twinset rig over the next few months, and plan to do the TDI Advanded Nitrox and Deco Procedures over the summer.

So really i would like some advice on what people think is the best way to start going about doing the deeper wreck diving i would really like to get into.

And whether you think it is a worth while starting to doing my own diving with people outside the club, but staying with the club to complete my OWI qualification. I am slightly worried that this might start causing problems within the club.

Cheers Alex

Alex
I too felt that I was stagnating with regards to the diving I do/did with my club and realised if I wanted different then things needed to change. I therefore started to dive with people outside of the club, mainly divers from YD. I have stayed with my club as I enjoy the regular social side and the occasional dive I do with them.
I feel that my diving has come a long way since joining YD and feel that I am able to bring my new learning to those less experienced and to those that are open to new information at my club.
It shouldn't cause any conflict and as long as you stay diving within your qualification depth then I believe you are still covered by your BSAC insurance.

[Alex85]

Nigel--: Thanks i was worried that if continued with the ADO job, then it might be seen that my interests lie outside the club, and i'm not sure if some members would be happy with that. Although i think you are right about keeping things balanced.

Paul--: Cheers you're right, i think i'm just going to get out there and do what i want.

Yazzy--: Cheers its nice to hear that other people have had similar experience, of club diving. I'm just going to get myself out there and do the diving i want to do, especially as i've enjoyed the dives i have had with some of the YD's.

[ardhill]

Alex, as has been said, there is no reason you can't dive with others outside of your club. I dive with people inside and outside my club, as do a number of members of my club.

Another thought for you as well...

you said you wanted to do your BSAC combined Nitrox, you also said you wanted to do TDI Adv. Nitrox and Deco Proc. Well, once you have your BSAC advanced Nitrox, you will have the prerequisite for doing the BSAC Extended Range course, which gives you near enough the same 'limits' as the TDI combination.

[benpanter]

Hello Alex,

It's a problem that faces many university branches, and there is no easy solution. It's really great that you have taken on the workload and responsibility of being a DO, and I'm impressed to hear that the region is helping out as well.

If you're keen to advance your diving, take every chance you can to get in the water. Even if the dives are not testing you, you're learning muscle memory for all your skills and, by seeing mistakes of both yourself and others, building a problem-solving toolkit for later. The importance of endless repetition of all manner of skills can't be overstated!

As others have mentioned, there are various routes to getting further training outside of your branch - be it a BSAC centre, a PADI school or TDI/IANTD instructor. All these cost though, and there might be a better solution that will also benefit your university branch - join a nearby city branch. You don't need to pay to join BSAC again, just the 'branch' portion. This is usually between £50 and £100 for the year. Not only does this enable you to access their instructors and resources for yourself, but you may find that they are willing to supply instructors into your club - I'm extrapolating from what you've said, but traditionally university branches have a huge number of trainees and a few mildly qualified instructors doing a heroic job to try and qualify the rest, while in the average city branch there are ADI's, PI's and TI's desperate to do more instructing so that they can be confident when they take the next step up the instructor ladder. If you join a local club, you're taking the first step to building a bridge between the two. Handled correctly this is a symbiotic relationship where both parties win - but I agree it's easy to mess up!

If you'd like some help thinking about how to arrange this, or approach the local city branch, please get in touch. I don't read YD that much, but I respond to PMs.

Cheers,

Ben

[The Duck]

Originally Posted by ardhill

Another thought for you as well...

you said you wanted to do your BSAC combined Nitrox, you also said you wanted to do TDI Adv. Nitrox and Deco Proc. Well, once you have your BSAC advanced Nitrox, you will have the prerequisite for doing the BSAC Extended Range course, which gives you near enough the same 'limits' as the TDI combination.

Just an 'off the top of my head' comment to follow this up regarding my nitrox training.

I first did PADI Nitrox diver to give me ability to use nitrox. A nice course and very good for the target audience i.e. dives not doing deco who wanted to use nitrox as a back gas.

I then wanted to do deco and increase the nitrox mix from the 40% max that PADI give you to 50%, so I did the BSAC Combined Nitrox course. I found that this was a great course that went beyond just the nitrox element - due to the instructor. The only down side was the "If you hog-loop you WILL die" mentality (again down to the instructor, not specifically BSAC).

To round things off I ended up doing the TDI Adv Nx and Deco course with Martin Robson. This qualified me to 45m doing deco using nitrox mixes upto 100% O2.

Thus I think that I learned that -

1. If you want just the qualification to get the gas to do the diving just go straight to TDI Adv Nx & Deco [1].

2. If you want to learn about nitrox to get experience doing unaccellerated deco diving first do the BSAC combined course and then do the TDI course later on [2] [3].

3. Doing the BSAC Combined course covers most of the stuff you will do in the TDI Adv Nx, which means that you can go into the course knowing quite a bit. Which in turn allows you to identify and work on any areas that you are weak(er) on rather than having to learn everything in one go.

[1] I'm sure IANTD and others are just as good but as I've not done the course I cannot comment.

[2] No idea what the BAC ERD course gives you - so again I can't comment.

[3] The exclusion of the PAD course in no way implies that there is anything wrong with the course per se. However it is a no deco course and has an upper limit of 40% (or it did when I did it) and as such I do not think that it would fit in this particular situation.

There you go - random beer inspired mumblings. Please feel free to ignore

[Ferg3333]

If you want to be kept informed of any trips warwick uni are running I am more than happy to send you emails about forthcoming trips as the number of people competent in the range you wish to dive is low.

And as we are all students...

pm me or waskey and I'll add you to the list.

Ferg