Tec Rec or I.A.N.T.D etc

[Twix]

Looking to get into tec diving in the north west area. Am Padi DM 100 dives( deep, wreck etc) and i already prefer to dive with a wing. Recomendations for the most appropriate course/agency would be appreciated and any contacts in the northwest would be handy.
Thanks Twix

[Gavin Yates]

<font color='#000F22'>Easy choice,

Andy Hayhurst TDI Instructor trainer, all round nice bloke and is in your area. Well Sedbergh anyway.

See www.dalesdivers.co.uk for more details.

Any questions speak to Andy or contact me.

[Fiona]

<font color='#0000FF'>I did my IANTD advanced Nitrox course with NorthWest Techincal Divers. &nbsp;It was in 1997, excellent instructor. &nbsp;Mike can't remember his surname think it was Wilkins.

Just looked up on search engine, Tel: 01744 814884, email - MIKEW315@aol.com

Lots of skills instructions, like shutting down and gas switching.

[And]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi

I suppose it depends on what exactly you call technical diving.

Once you've decided exactly what type of diving you are talking about then you will know the steps to take. Deep wrecks, caves, rebreathers etc.

As one of the DIR contingent I would recommend you look at GUE as a training agency and the way they build your skills www.gue.org.

Starting at Fundamentals stage you learn how not to be a vertical diver (and believe me, at this moment you ARE a vertical diver), how to learn better buoyancy, the basics you need to be a 'technical' diver, and the importance of knowing how to plan a dive without a computer and of course, all done with a minimalist hogarthian equipment setup. Thats just a few of the skills you learn. Its very intensive and extremely good fun, usually taken over a weekend.

The next step would be a Tech1 course which concentrates more on accelerated deco with stages and also qualifies you for nitrox and trimix to 50 mtrs ish saving you doing several piecemeal courses with other agencies. This is a 5 day course, 40 hours of instruction and I think 8 dives or so.

Andy Kerslake is the GUE instructor in the UK and runs courses all the time, usually only with 2 or 3 students to maximise instructor student time.

I am sure that if you ask other GUE trained divers such as Bob Cooper and Mark Emery they will endorse my comments.

And of course, DIR divers always look the coolest underwater, which is what technical diving is all about surely !

[JohnD]

<font color='#F52887'>to: Wetlettuce
the only website I have for the GUE is Global Underwater Explorers if there is another could you let me know, Also do you know of any GUE instructors in the Bristol/ South West area?

[Mr T.]

Concord fully with Gav Yates on this. Andy Hayhurst can be contacted on TEL: 07702 819381, but you might want to leave it until Wednesday as he's in Menorca as we speak.

[RobK]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (JohnDuncan @ June 02 2003,12:07)]to: Wetlettuce
the only website I have for the GUE is Global Underwater Explorers if there is another could you let me know, Also do you know of any GUE instructors in the Bristol/ South West area?

Hi, I think that's the only specific website that GUE have. They don't have a specific UK one but you can get some info from http://www.underwaterexplorers.co.uk/gue/index.html

Andy Kerslake is the only current GUE instructor in the UK but will travel to run a course.

HTH
Rob.

[And]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi John

Welcome to YD !

Andy Kerslake is based in the south and he is available via Underwater Explorers in the UK. akerslake@gasdiving.co.uk

http://www.underwaterexplorers.co.uk have some stuff on the courses available in the UK

There are loads of DIR/GUE based websites. You'd have to ask what your specific interest is. I might know a more specific location. A few links follow;

http://www.fifthd.com    AndrewG's site, has some info on it and good videos

http://www.dir-uk.org    UK's DIR site

http://www.divetekadventures.com Loads of info here. Click on the pic to go to a whole bunch of stuff. If you click on the link at the bottom right theres a bunch of stuff on scooters and courses.

Hope that helps

WL

[abucksdiver]

<font color='#000080'>wl,

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Starting at Fundamentals stage you learn how not to be a vertical diver (and believe me, at this moment you ARE a vertical diver)...

I take it that this is some sort of DIR/GUE insult... care to explain it, please?

abucksdiver

[And]

<font color='#0000FF'>Hi

Just a generalisation. My interpretation follows;

We are traditionally taught the flutter kick, which means our legs are pretty much straight. If you imagine your body as a seesaw then you can see that a lot of the weight is on the upper part of your body. Your head (6lbs negative) your tanks, your weights etc. which, as your body is pretty much straight will tilt the seesaw head first. To counteract that it is a natural tendency to angle the body upwards in a diagonal type trim, which I call diving vertical, with reference to my own opinion on my diving and many other divers I see. The seesaw still wants to tip head first and so the diver must continually kick to keep heads up. As the flutter kick produces downward energy you will swim upwards and so you will always need to kick to stay at the same level. A pronounced version is watching a novice diver, whos kicking like buggery and also moving their arms about to stop their head hitting the dirt! This is until they find that the secret is to keep shoulders up and knees down and establish their own balance. The only way to stop is to go vertical. It can't be helped if you use a flutter kick. When you add ankle weights to solve the floaty feet complaint to the equation it increases this tendency even more. Just follow a flutter kicker for a while and then follow a GUE/DIR diver and see the difference. To me it was night and day.

GUE teach that the back is arched, head resting against the valves, and a frog kick used with bent knees therefore producing a kick which thrusts horizontally. By changing the angle of your shins (which have the benefit of heavy Jet fins)and head you can achieve a truly horizontal position in the water. Arching your back brings more of the weight to the middle of the seesaw. GUE also place a great emphasis on placing the weight in the right place to facilitate a completely motionless horizontal hover. Thats why backplates and vweights are preferred and the tanks are placed lower in the bands. The hands are also used to blance the seesaw and this results in what I call the DIR prayer position (praying to the great god wakulla ) (I can and do laugh at myself)

It wasn't meant as an insult, just laughing at myself as to the type of diver I thought I was, and how I saw myself on video. I related that to Twix to help him in his question.

Kindest Regards

WL