After a few weeks off following Christmas and a busy few weeks at work, I finally got back into the water at the weekend.........and boy was it bracing.
The weekend I joined a couple of instructors running a PADI Advanced Open Water course at Dosthill Quarry, near Tamworth, in Staffs, UK.
Despite the cold waters, I had a cracking time.
AOW is a great course to help run - particularly when divers sign up for a January course, as you know they are going to be keen and excited with the underwater world.
Okay, the 5C temperature of the water had the potential to be a bit of a dampener but we all had a good time, with six dives over Saturday (dry suit, wreck and peak performance buoyancy adventure dives) and Sunday (deep, navigation and peak performance buoyancy adventure dives).
Sadly, the deep dive at 20m proved a bit of a challenge on Sunday after the bottom-dredgers in their twin sets and ponies had stomped over it.
Sometimes I wonder if its even worth giving them fins the way they walk over the silty bottom and I do wish they'd learn some buoyancy control to avoid turning the viz into pea soup for everyone else that follows.
Maybe they should have watched our students, who quickly grasped control of their buoyancy and fine-tuned it brilliantly over the weekend. Unlike my AOW course.
It might be in the distant past but it's still fresh in the mind. On my first dive (dry suit adventure dive) I remember seeing the back shelf at eight metres, then the surface......then the back shelf......then the surface.
Graphing my dive profile on my computer, it looked like a really toothy Jaws was about to jump out of the screen - but that's entry-level dry suit diving for you. Now I wouldn't be without one.
While the DM's job can be the busiest when it comes to logistics of the weekend (issuing kit, sorting out problems, getting people ready for the dive) it's also the most rewarding, particularly by the end of Sunday when the four smiling faces collected their certificates.
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