Club training day at Vobster September 2022

By David Parker

One of the beauties of being part of a BSAC club is the range and depth of training that is offered to club members and Newbury Scuba Diving Club is no different. So on a beautiful autumn day in late September, eleven members of the club met at Vobster Quay for a training day organised by Andy, Matt and Ben. The training was varied and five instructors helped cover lessons from Sports Diver, Dive Leader and even some Wreck Appreciation SDC exercises. 

The conditions at Vobster were perfect on that busy Sunday morning, with toasty warm water down to the 15m thermocline and vis exceeding 10m in places, so even the few divers in wetsuits did not suffer too much. There was also the occasional chance to experience some low vis diving when you got a bit too near to a couple of the more popular attractions where perhaps some divers (obviously not NSDC members) had struggled with their buoyancy control.  All the training objectives were met, many log books ticked off and universal agreement that it had been a very good, productive day.

The rewards from training are two way and not only do the trainees get one-to-one tuition, but the instructors also help hone their own skills, or practice essential rescue techniques. Like most instructors I still get a buzz out of working with other divers to help them gain a new skill or to improve a technique. Instructing isn’t for everyone but it can be very rewarding. The BSAC IFC is a brilliant course as an introduction, so if you are interested, speak to the Training officer who will be very happy to talk you through it.