Cork Sub Aqua Club

Just a quick note on the blog to let people know that I have booked the NMCI pool and a training room there.
Crossover pool training will begin (and hopefully finish) on January 19th 9:00Am to 10:30Am, crossover lectures 11AM to 2PM the same day. This session will be for people with existing qualifications from a different certification agency only, there will be no beginners at this session.
Any people who contacted us in 2007, expressing an interest in joining Cork Sub Aqua Club will have been sent an invite to a Club Open Night Thursday, January 10th.8pm. Soho Bar, Grand Parade, Cork. They will also have been sent the details of the required medical test. We will have a better idea of numbers and grades after the Open Night.

I will try to arrange enough instructors from inside the Cork club, we have about nine, most of whom are active, but at least one will be away, so five or six is the likely number. The plan will be to get all the PADI OW and AOW crossover candidates to CFT/CMAS *, by demonstrating and testing certain pool skills not covered by PADI. I will make provision for people certified by different agencies too. There are also some lectures, for example one on tables because various agencies use different dive tables, same story for hand signals: most are the same but some differ from agency to agency.

Hopefully then if the weather improves we will have plenty of time to get the open water qualifying snorkels and dives done before easter, ready for the good stuff over the sumer.

We can use a half hour by the pool side from 9 to 9:30 for briefing and equipment assembly, but candidates are to be in the pool by 9:30. Everything has to work like clockwork, if some people have problems with some of the skills, or if after our open night we discover that there are too many crossover candidates to cope with given instructor numbers, then we can arrange another pool session on the 26th.

9:00…. Carry up gear.
Get into wetsuit / togs.
9:15…. Brief (try to find out who the slower swimmers are likely to be and put them in smaller group for later).
9:20 ….. Assemble SCUBA equipment with assigned instructor:

9:30 to 9:40.. ish
6 lengths of pool freestyle
2 lengths of pool backstroke
9:45 … ish 30 second breath hold, 5 mins after end of swim.
Out of pool, kit up (helpers needed), buddy check.
10:00 Step entry.

Descend in 2 .5 meter section (people can stand by to put extra weight in BCD pocket if needed).
Mouthpiece clearing and Retrieve dropped mouthpiece
Buoyancy Adjustment, fin pivot.
Buddy Breathing.
Alternative Air source Breathing

10:15 go to 5 meter section.
DSMB deployment, instructor demos, each crossover does once (snorkelers above to help deflate SMBs).
Maintaining Depth at Stop on the way back up.

Towing and E.A.R (expired air recussitation).
Crossover candidate tows instructor and exits, other crossovers follow.
Instructor repeats with each crossover in his or her group until all out of pool.

11:00 Out of pool, shower, disassemble and carry down gear.

Because everyone will already have a dive qualification the lectures should go fairly quickly.
11:30 Introduction to Course and CMAS * (CSAC instructor who couldn’t do pool).
11:55 Hypothermia * 20 min TBD
12:30 Hand Signals * 20 min Dave
12:55 break for coffee. Bring sandwiches if you want but eat them in the cafeteria.
13:15 Dive Tables * 45 min Dave

2PM aim to finish, we can use an extra few minutes for questions, sign off documents, or if a lecture runs over time etc… but 2:30PM is he latest we will leave.

The CFT/CMAS ** crossover lectures: CPR, and Respiration and Circulation; will be done later in the year.