Our club took on 19 Ocean Diver trainees in term 1! We planned to get them qualified in two groups, over two weekends in November. This is part 2 of the Ocean Diver Trip Report.
Days Leading up to the Trip
Trip two was to take place in Pembrokeshire again, but Storm Burt had other plans – we had to make the decision to cancel the trip. Although I’m sure the trainees would’ve loved the 19 foot waves on the surface, we decided to spend the weekend at our local inland dive site instead – the beloved Stoney Cove.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝
Day 1 – Friday
We gathered at our university bus interchange at the unsociable hour of 7am. Everyone was sardined into cars and a rented van, which had been packed with our equipment the night before. Or so we thought. Luckily I had gone to the kitroom after our Octopush session the night before and spotted that none of our regs or dive computers had been loaded, so after a quick detour everyone was on their way to Stoney (the moral of the story is that underwater hockey is great, come to underwater hockey).
The site was relatively quiet on arrival. The Ocean Diver trainees gathered their kit together and they were soon paired with instructors to complete their first open water dives. Our first divers were in the water just before 10, which was a good start to the day! Our Sports Diver trainee focused on completing SO1 and 2. Everyone’s weighting was sorted (and recorded!!!) to ensure the rest of the dives would go smoothly.
After a quick lunch everyone got ready for their second dive. Unfortunately, a couple of trainees experienced leaks in their drysuits during their first dives, but they powered through the day despite the cold. The club’s president, Antoni, went a bit purple due to a very tight neck seal, so we all had a good laugh at him.
By the end of the day everyone had completed OO1 and 2, so the day was a success! We headed back to our uni Sports Hub afterwards to hang up wet undersuits and drysuits and to fill cylinders.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝
Day 2 – Saturday
The weather on Saturday was much more miserable, and so were the club exec. Despite this, we got the first trainees in the water quickly. The Hatch was serving food luckily – I’m not sure what I would have done without my egg and sausage cob. The cobs there are very affordable for students! Stoney’s restaurant was undergoing construction next to the water, so divers had that hazard to look out for, but it made Nessie easier to find!
Most of the Ocean Divers were able to complete both OO3 and 4, which meant we had our first qualified trainees! Some even reported spotting the singular fish that lives in Stoney Cove. The evening was yet again spent filling cylinders, but ended with a couple of us going to our local uni pub Varsity to wind down.
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝
Day 3 – Sunday
With only a couple of lessons remaining, it was time for some fun dives! Trainees qualified the previous day were invited to come along for an extra day, to put their new skills into practice. We explored the Wessex, the Stanegarth and even found the bus which was very exciting. Meanwhile, our Sports Diver trainee finished her final two lessons, pushing through despite freezing in a very leaky drysuit. That’s something for the Glue Boys to sort.
This time we convinced more trainees to join us at Wetherspoons, and we had a lovely evening chatting about diving and getting our money’s worth from the Hot Chocolate free refills. Kit was then very neatly stored in the kitroom…
𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝
The weekend was a success, with 8 Ocean Divers and 1 Sports Diver qualified! With 18 people qualified in the span of a term, alongside completing a degree, I think we can call this a great achievement for the club! We hope each of these new divers will stick around, and keep diving!
Leave a Reply