Category: Training

Selsey Rhib – 5th July 2021

In mid July, 5 members of Putney BSAC took the RHIB to Selsey to dive the cuckoo and mulberries. We couldn’t have asked for warmer weather, calmer sea or better visibility. As well as being fun, it was also an educational trip. 2 of the members had never dived off the RHIB and we did a brief chart workshop down at the HYC the week before. We also ticked off a sports diver and dive leader lesson, whilst our chairman got more experience coxing. A fabulous day was had by all.

Credit – Emma (Training Officer and Trip Organiser)

Boat Handling – 19th June 2021

In June, 5 Putney BSAC members did the boat handling course run by our very own Boat Officer Nick. We are fortunate to be able to run this inhouse and try to offer it once or twice a year.
On the first day we covered all the theory and boat prep work, on the second day we took our RHIB out on the Thames. The rain held off and we all had a wonderful time doing launch and recovery, practising ‘man overboard’ skills, figures of 8, docking, three point turns and general boat etiquette on the water. Other highlights include stopping off on the embankment for lunch and witnessing a drama about the Sex Pistols being filmed on the water.
Credit – Emma (Training Officer and course organsier)

Putney BSAC in the time of Corona – March 2020 until TBD

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and lock-down, Putney BSAC has remained active in the last couple of months. During difficult situations, people rally round and this has definitely been the case for us with members giving up their time to provide talks and lectures via Zoom. We have finished off sports diver and dive leader theory sessions virtually to our trainees and will hopefully be signing off exams in the coming weeks. On top of these we have given lectures on decompression theory, marine life, how to organize a RHIB trip and tsunamis with more topics to follow. Although we can’t wait to get back to the pool and pub, these virtual get togethers are becoming one one of the week’s highlights for some of us.

O2 Course

On 26th January we held our annual oxygen administration course at the Hurlingham Yacht Club. There was a good turn out of 5 instructors and 10 trainees. Over a mixture of practical and theory sessions we covered basic life support, casualty assessment, oxygen administration and diving incidents. Though we hope never to have to use these skills, the club encourages all members to keep up to date with them. A fun day was had by all, however Resussi Annie was exhausted at the end.

Training report

On a sunny day in July a group of instructors, students and those roped in to help went to Vobster for some open water training. As well as teaching ocean and sports diver lessons, we were able to run the ‘rescue management scenarios’ for some of our dive leaders. A good day was had by all; the mock casualties survived, everyone got signed off and Ante has now completed his ocean diver course.

It has been a successful year of training for the club with trips to Wraysbury, Vobster and Stoney Cove. Overall the weather has been good, bacon butties great and visibility variable!! So far this year we have provided: 12 ocean diver, 14 sports diver and 3 dive leader open water sessions to students, we’ve had 3 sports divers and 1 ocean divers qualify while others are very close to finishing their training. With exciting trips still in the pipeline for 2019, there will be opportunities for our newly qualified ocean divers to experience diving in the sea. A huge thank you to all our instructors for their time and effort in making these training trips happen

O2 Administration course – 23rd February 2019

On 23rd February, 8 students and 6 instructors were joined by Resussi Annie and friends for our annual oxygen administration course. As part of diver first aid training, the course is hugely important and the club encourages all members to keep up to date with these skills.

The day included a mixture of practical and theory lectures with a break for buffet lunch. We covered basic life support, diving incidents, casualty assessment and oxygen administration, as well as role plays, performing chest compressions on our mannequins and setting up the oxygen administration kit. Though we hope we never have to do this for real, what we learnt could make a difference to the outcome of a diving incident. At the end of the course, all Resussi Annies survived and subsequently students were signed off their oxygen administration or corresponding dive leader theory lectures.

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Vobster Quay – 17th February 2019

Keen to get the diving season started early in 2019, six members of Putney Sub Aqua Club, headed up to Vobster Quay bright and early on 17th February for a straightforward (but cold) first dive of the year.

At a brisk 5 degrees Celsius, drysuits were the order of the day for all, except Pradeep who we hope has now defrosted after his first and only dive of the day.

A great day out, with all who attended raring to go for the rest of the year!

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Boat handling course

Second only to diving off it, the most fun you can have with the club boat is driving it (is that the right choice of verb?). With that in mind, 9 brave PSAC souls made the decision to take the BSAC Boat Handling Course to increase their usefulness to the club and give them the freedom to take the boat out on the open waves. The course is split into two sections, a day of classroom teaching, and a day of hands on teaching on the Thames.

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Training at Vobster Quay

On 2nd July 7 of us got up at the crack of dawn, or before for Leszek, and made it to Vobster Quay for a day’s training.  William and Marc completed their Ocean Diver open water training and for Marc that completes his qualification.  Leszek, Dale and Iris played with lifting bags and delayed surface marker buoys as part of Dive Leader qualification.  Sarah, Steve T, Steve G and Simon instructed.