It would have been extraordinary if Simon had been able to do a repeat performance with the jammed locker unfortunately it wasn’t to be. What is coming to be known as Simon’s Miracle of the Three Maidens will pass into history. Can’t you just see it, in years to come, around campfires all over the world, the village elders recounting the tale to an enthralled group of young warriors as part of their initiation rites. Almost biblical. To move on.
There were two groups for training. Robin started OS2 with Gemma, Ben and Simon, Mick took Anja and Carl for OS1. Both groups did very well and the remainder of each group’s session will be completed next week. Then it was off to the Vic where we were treated to chips and sandwiches by the management. How much better can it get?
The evening was memorable for two reasons. Firstly new members Simon, Gemma and Ben did their first sheltered water Ocean diver lesson (like ducks to water), with Robin, Mick and Hugh instructing. Secondly Simon did what some only dream about, and invited three young ladies into the mens’ locker room. They performed their task with skill and a minimum of equipment, and left with smiles on their faces. Whose locker is going to jamb next week?!!
Dear Reader. There are no photographs available to record this event so hopefully it will be soon forgotten. Not because of the standard of performance of the trainee members; not because of the usual high standard of instruction but because of the weather. Looking up on the ascent at the torrential rain battering the surface it really seemed that it was going to be drier underwater. Wyn and Irfon teamed up with Hugh to do the first dive leader open water practical, the mid-water DSMB deployment. Mick and David teamed up to do some dive leading exercises. The former group emerged from the watery depths into torrential rain in a gale. David and Mick had avoided it by emerging earlier. Thank goodness for the changing room. As we motored back home we felt sorry for all those who had missed such an experience and who were wasting their lives in armchairs in front of a roaring coal fires. Not.
The second group made up of Dewi, Wyn and Cathy with Hugh as Boat Handling Course Instructor and David as assistant instructor, undertook their first practical session. I have to say that the quality of the boatmanship equal to that of the first group and our boat officer will be happy to know that there were no problems with the clutch. The weather was different to two weeks ago. There was a force 4-5 blowing from the NNW which made the rib bumpier at high speed and more difficult to control at low speed. Despite this Wyn managed to pull off rather a lot of high speed, very tight 360 turns while the rest of us hung on tight.
Thanks go again to Andrew for his help with the towing part and to David for his input as assistant. On completion of assisting on the course David will become a Boat Handling Course instructor.
Four try divers are joining up and three will start training next Wednesday. They are Simon, Ben, Gemma and Janine. Janine will start training in December. We also have Carl and Anja who would like to join but who are presently away.
