Jon and Tom Nicholson:
I thought I would pen my feelings about our trip last week.
For my son Tom and I it was our first experience in the sea, though we got our OD qualification last summer. In fact, we hadn’t been in any open water since last September. So, I think it’s fair to say we were both a little nervous! We’ve been doing our AOD training over recent months, but have not finished yet, though that extra classroom work came in handy.
Nerves were unnecessary – we had a wonderful and truly memorable 6 days diving – 11 dives in total each – missed one as we were pretty knackered on the Tuesday.
I think it helped us not really knowing what to expect – it’s hard work lugging all that gear around, before and after a dive! However, we were so impressed by the team effort, cooperation from everyone, and the really calm and positive outlook everyone had. It’s a credit to the club that everyone is prepared to help each other and cope with inadequacies in some of us!
Special thanks to Joe and Alan for all the hard work organising, finding an alternative launch site to Porthkerris with the weather issues, and running a tight ship each day to ensure everyone had access to enough diving.
And what excellent diving it was – despite not a lot of wildlife, we were lucky to see so much, fondle crabs and crayfish and eat the best fish and chips plus lobster I’ve ever had!
Tom and I both struggled initially with buoyancy and technique in the first dives, but quickly got the hang of it with such patient and engaged dive leads – thanks to Ian C, Alan, Rick, and Ali. It was great to experience different personalities to learn from, with safety as the prime aim for all.
Special thanks to Alan for helping us progress to 25m after being confident in our ability. Must also mention his quick thinking stopping me from zooming to the surface after losing half my weight during the final dive. Quite an experience!!!
We’ve learned so much, and can’t wait for the next trip. I fully encourage new OD’s to get in the sea as soon as they can – we are limited by our busy work schedule and Tom’s schooling but will take every opportunity we can.
Can’t thank the club enough.
Cheers,
