Day 1
I had thought about learning to dive while on a cruise in 1991, I had a trydive in the ships pool and my first experience of what I know now to be open water was during a stop on Grand Caymen. When I think back it was probably a very shallow dive but that didn’t matter.
I then didn’t do anything until a local club conducted a trydive session at my gym and I signed up, I was hooked I signed up for training that very night. I couldn’t wait, I went out and bought my mask, snorkel and pool fins and even bought a casio diving watch - I was ready to go. January couldn’t come round soon enough. We all arrived at the pool ready for our first session, we were introduced to the kit we would be using and issued with a 12ltr cylinder, a Buddy Commando BC and US divers regs.
My first sea dives were in the Farnes where I had a little incident, I think I was so excited about the dive I forgot to equalise my mask and the resulting very blown eyes were the result.
During the summer I was having a few problems with my knees so I decided to have them sorted, this put pay to anymore diving for the rest of the year, so it took me until the following February to qualify to what was then BSAC Novice 11.
Since then I have furthered my training through to BSAC Advanced diver and CI, I have recently gained my OWI.
In 1997 I did the IANTD Advanced Nitrox course and I followed this in 1999 with a IANTD Gas Blender qualification.
My diving is what I would consider recreational depths and I rarely dive below 45m. I have recently become interested in underwater photography and I am keen to develop that this year in preparation for a special dive trip next year to the Galapagos.