Monday 30 December 2013

2013; A YEAR IN REVIEW

So, another year is gone and tomorrow the celebrations will begin.

Unfortunately, with all the best intentions a lot of my plans for this year (link) never happened, mainly due to Army work getting in the way.  This included finishing my website, teaching at the NEC Dive Show and acting as a Safety Diver at TekCamp.  But never mind.

So far this year I’ve written 22 blogs on my site (link) plus another 2 more to follow tomorrow and have started my new website (even if it’s not finished).  I’ve managed to dive along the south coast in Swanage, Weymouth, Plymouth and Porthkerris.  I was lucky enough to run a BSAC Sports Diver course in Plymouth instead of a quarry.  It was the students first sea and boat dives and I was really proud as after his 18th ever dive he had buoyancy, trim and propulsion skills better than a lot of more experienced divers (see pictures). 

 

I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks in Gibraltar where as part of a team we managed to certify 8x BSAC Sports Divers, 8x BSAC Nitrox Divers, 4x BSAC Dive Leaders, 2x PADI Rescue Divers, 1x PADI Deep Diver and 1x PADI Wreck Diver.  I’ve also managed to run a number of other BSAC, PADI & TDI courses this year along with some one to one tuition and additionally I’ve been active on the BSAC Instructor Training Scheme (ITS). 

Regarding my own personal development I completed the PADI Tec Sidemount course (link) however the highlight was spending 2 weeks in Florida completing my TDI Full Cave Diver (link) and visiting the Halcyon Factory (link).  Most recently I’ve earned my PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT) and Drift, Diver Propulsion Vehicle (DPV), RescuEAN and Self-Relient Speciality Instructor certifications.

Next year, as well a finishing my website my biggest aim is to push TDI training as that’s where I really want to go.  Once I can get a few more Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures (AN/DP) student certifications I will be looking to upgrade to Helitrox instructor with TDI Instructor Trainer Mark Powell.  I would also then like to push for my Trimix Instructor but for that I need to earn my Advanced Trimix Diver certification that I am trying to plan.  I also have the following planned for next year so far:
·       Write some more blog articles.
·      Teaching/assessing on BSAC Instructor Trainer events in the West Midlands & the Armed Forces.
·       Safety Diver at TekCamp.
·       Hopefully another overseas trip to Gibraltar or Cyprus plus Egypt.
·       Attend EuroTek.
·       Start my BSAC First Class Diver (FCD).
·       BSAC SDC teaching at LIDS & NEC Dive Shows (day job depending).
·       Cave diving in France.
·       Plus I also have a number of diving trips booked for Porthkerris, Plymouth and Swanage.

But first I have some one to one training, BSAC Dive Leader training and some Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures course dates to finalise for the New Year.  And remember if you’re interested in any Light-For-Me goodies feel free to give me a shout.

Best Wishes

The boring bit!
All opinions expressed in my articles are my own and may differ to other instructor’s and agency guidelines; by no means are they wrong and I would not wish to disrepute any of them.  This article is for information only and should not replace proper training.

Safe diving!

Timothy Gort
BSAC, PADI & SDI/TDI diver training
l Mob: 07968148261 l Email: tim@rectotec.co.uk l