I qualified as a PADI Dive Instructor (M.S.D.T.) in 2008, and I am looking forward to teaching diving all over the world.
It is something that I have wanted to do ever since I was on my Open Water course with Katy and Darren from Submission in Newcastle, and
now I am finally here, I am now looking forward to a life of sun, sand and diving all over the place.
I have managed to see some pretty amazing sights, and travelled to Egypt, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia to go diving, and it has
given me the opportunity to meet some fantastic people, and go to some beautiful places, on shore dives, from day boats and on liveaboards.
I urge you to travel far and wide and see what you can while you can, and dive, dive, dive!!!
Below is a video that I have strung together of the recent Malaysia trip. This was shot whilst I was on a trip as a guide for three weeks from
Koh Tao in Thaialand round the Malaysian Peninsula to Singapore, and then back up to Phuket.
Here is a clip taken of us getting into the water at a freezing cold Capernwray on the 15th March, 2008.....
Shark Diving in South Australia!!
I went on the dive trip of a lifetime on the Neptune Islands in South Australia in January, 2008. I got
on board the Princess 2, and went cage diving with the Great White Pointer, the tour being run by Rodney Fox. Rodney was
attacked at Aldinga Beach in 1963 by a White Pointer, and nearly died as a result of the massive injuries he sustained
(over 450 stitches!!), but now is one of the worlds leading Shark Researchers, and is a wealth of knowledge of white pointer
sharks and their makeup. We got 8 different sharks in total over the three days that we were out there, and also managed to
swim with a very friendly bunch of New Zealand Sea Lions on the way out of Port Lincoln (Hopkins Island) as well. Whilst the trip was
a bit pricey, it was well worth every penny, and the crew and the food were excellent. I have a clip embedded below of some
of the video that was shot of the trip by their on board videographer, Jennifer Taylor. Man, those sharks were huge....
I found this video on the HSE Website that is quite interesting, about a guy that nearly died
using a re breather incorrectly whilst diving, and nearly got poisoned by CO2 gas. It shows how difficult it is
to recognise symptoms, and reminds you what to look for. It is below for you. You can view this full screen from
the toolbar below the DivX player.
Research on Dive Boat Medical Kits
Here is a research article that was done by Jacqui Pye in 2007 involving
an array of Medical and Dive Professionals to decide what Medical Kit should be carried on board a dive
boat when you are out at sea. This was born of several medical emergencies and incidents that had
occurred to both Jacqui and many of the people concerned doing the research. Lets face it, when you
are diving at Daedelus Reef in the middle of the Red Sea, there aren't a whole lot of floating hospitals to be
seen there, and to get airlifted out of a situation in Egypt has to be done by the military out of Cairo, so
you will be waiting a few hours for that if you are lucky, and often, steaming flat out back to shore is quicker!
That is unless, of course, you have a medical kit on board which is described in this PDF. (Click on the icon
to download).
Bill Bradleys Pics
I have added pictures of
some of the work of a photographer called Bill Bradley was going to do for my magazine. He
has a great eye and an even better camera (!), and these are just some of the images that he has taken and
let me use. He dives with BSAC Salford Club, and has been diving for ages. There is a link here to
purchase his work at Aquascopic
should you want to do so, I am sure he would be delighted. Fantastic shots though...
