2012; THE YEAR IT ALL STARTED

So, another year is gone and a new one has just started.  Some of you may be reading this fresh faced and some a little worse for wear; regardless I thought I’d write a few words to summarise my year.  I’ve decided this will be an annual event so my ramblings will continue for (hopefully) years to come.

I’ve been an instructor since 2007; initially a volunteer as part of my BSAC branch (RESDA) and professionally since 2008.  I was teaching and assisting for others, mainly free of charge and loved every minute of it.  I love being in the water and I love teaching.  This showed recently during my trip to Egypt (here) when I missed out on doing some exploration dives to help teach.  Anyway, I decided it was about time I made some of the £££ I pay every year to the various diving agencies, insurance companies and doctors, as well as allowing me to certify more divers which will help me gain extra instructor ratings which will in turn make me a better diver.  rectotec was born.

It's been an interesting first year for rectotec; trying to decide on the name, design a logo, advertise, design the website (which still needs work) just to name a few.  Aside from my own diving, I completed GUE Fundamentals, I’ve assisted some well-respected TDI instructors (Mark Powell and Mark Skelton), co-taught some PADI courses & delivered some BSAC training; both in the UK and abroad. I also was lucky enough to teach at LIDS & NEC Dive Shows, attend EuroTek and TekCamp, and gain my SDI RescuEAN instructor qualification.

As for next year, I’ve got the following planned so far:

·                Finish my website.
·                Write some more blog articles.
·                I've got 2 weeks at Peacock Springs in Florida in May completing my TDI Full Cave with TDI instructor Guy Wallis followed by a week’s diving in Florida Keys.
·                2 weeks training BSAC Sports Divers in Gibraltar in September.
·                Teaching/assessing on BSAC Instructor Trainer events in the West Midlands and the Armed Forces.
·                Complete my Disabled Divers International (DDI) instructor.
·                Start my BSAC First Class Diver (FCD).
·                Complete a Support Diver course with leading cave explorer Martin Robson (day job depending).
·                Obtain my TDI Helitrox instructor (if I get the required number of student certifications).
·                Obtain my PADI TecRec instructor (if I get the required number of student certifications).
·                Teach at LIDS & NEC Dive Shows (day job depending).
·                Be a safety diver for TekCamp (day job depending).
·                Plus a number of Plymouth and Lundy private diving weekends.

First things first, a BSAC Sports Diver course on 12 Jan followed by PADI Enriched Air Diver and Emergancy Oxygen Provider Speciality’s a few weeks later.  I do hope the weather improves in 2013, less diving weekends are cancelled and you all get in more dives than you did in 2012.

The boring bit!

All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.

Safe diving!