So, another year is gone and tomorrow the celebrations will
begin.
Unfortunately, with all the best intentions a lot of my
plans for this year (link) never
happened, mainly due to Army work getting in the way. This included finishing my website, teaching at the NEC
Dive Show and acting as a Safety Diver at TekCamp. But never mind.
So far this year I’ve written 22 blogs on my site (link)
plus another 2 more to follow tomorrow and have started my new website (even if
it’s not finished). I’ve managed to dive
along the south coast in Swanage, Weymouth, Plymouth and Porthkerris. I was lucky enough to run a BSAC Sports Diver
course in Plymouth instead of a quarry.
It was the students first sea and boat dives and I was really proud as
after his 18th ever dive he had buoyancy, trim and propulsion skills
better than a lot of more experienced divers (see pictures).
I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in Gibraltar where as
part of a team we managed to certify 8x BSAC Sports Divers, 8x BSAC Nitrox Divers, 4x BSAC Dive Leaders, 2x
PADI Rescue Divers, 1x PADI Deep Diver and 1x PADI Wreck Diver. I’ve also managed to run a number of other
BSAC, PADI & TDI courses this year along with some one to one tuition and
additionally I’ve been active on the BSAC Instructor Training Scheme
(ITS).
.JPG)
Regarding my own personal
development I completed the PADI Tec Sidemount course (link) however
the highlight was spending 2 weeks
in Florida completing my TDI Full Cave Diver (link)
and visiting the Halcyon Factory (link). Most recently I’ve earned my PADI Master
Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) and Drift, Diver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV), RescuEAN
and Self-Relient Speciality Instructor certifications.
Next year, as well a finishing my website my biggest aim is to
push TDI training as that’s where I really want to go. Once I can get a few more Advanced Nitrox and
Decompression Procedures (AN/DP) student certifications I will be looking to
upgrade to Helitrox instructor with TDI Instructor Trainer Mark Powell. I would also then like to push for my Trimix
Instructor but for that I need to earn my Advanced Trimix Diver certification
that I am trying to plan. I also have
the following planned for next year so far:
· Hopefully another overseas trip to Gibraltar or Cyprus plus
Egypt.
· Cave diving in France.
· Plus I also have a number of diving trips booked for
Porthkerris, Plymouth and Swanage.
But first I have some one to one training, BSAC Dive Leader
training and some Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures course dates to
finalise for the New Year. And remember
if you’re interested in any Light-For-Me goodies feel free to give me a shout.
Best Wishes
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!
Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI & SDI/TDI diver training
