HORIZON NEWS

March 2009 - The newsletter of FIVE STAR IDC CENTRE New Horizons Dive Centre

New member of staff
If you’ve been into the shop recently you may have already met the newest member of the New Horizons team, Charlie Mortimer. Charlie will be looking after the school gear, helping around the shop and trying to keep everything neat and tidy (not as easy as you think!!).

Upcoming Courses

Advanced Open Water – Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March at Stoney Cove
The next step for the Open Water Diver is this fun filled programme of five dives to improve skills and performance under the guidance of an instructor. When you think of underwater adventure, what ignites your imagination? Dive on sunken wrecks; learn more about underwater navigation or journey into deeper water. All of this is possible with the PADI Advanced Open Water programme. This is a practical programme with no classroom work as such, the emphasis is on diving.

Deep Specialty – Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th March at Stoney Cove
This course will introduce you to the techniques and skills of deep diving between the depths of 18m and 40m. The deep diver course is intended as a safe, supervised introduction to deeper diving within the limits of recreational diving. Learn to plan your deep dives. Develop skills of navigation and orientation at depth. Discover how to use descent and shot lines. Observe the effects of pressure on objects and yourself. Practise safety stops and simulated emergency decompression stops.

Wreck Specialty – Saturday 28th March at Stoney Cove
There's nothing quite like the thrill of diving a wreck for the first time. Whether deep or shallow, you may find sunken ships still in tact after over 100 years under the water and wrecks don't have to be ships; in parts of the world, aircraft fuselage are waiting for exploration. Then there's the marvel of how marine life makes these foreign bodies their home. This course will introduce you to the techniques of wreck diving teaching you how to recognise the hazards, learn to research into shipwrecks to increase your understanding, develop specialist skills such as those involved in wreck penetration and find out about wreck conservation and good diving practices.

Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty – Saturday 4th April at Capernwray
This course, completed in one day, will develop your skills of buoyancy control. You will learn to consider your equipment configuration, weighting system and buoyancy checks on the surface as well as your skills underwater. This is the key skill area for all divers who want to dive safely and enjoyably and is essential for anyone considering underwater photography.

Dry Suit Diver Speciality – Sunday 5th April at Capernwray
If you learnt to dive in a wet or semi-dry suit or are not completely happy with your diving skills in a dry suit then this course is for you. This course gives you valuable experience using a dry suit for UK diving and a recognised qualification to allow you to rent a dry suit. The programme consists of a pool session, prior to the open water dive, to familiarise you in the use of a dry suit followed by two open water dives to let you experience dry suit diving for the first time under the supervision of an instructor.

SMB Specialty – Sunday 5th April at Capernwray
The correct deployment and use of Surface Marker Buoys and Delayed Surface Marker Buoys is crucial to diving safely in the sea both in the UK and abroad. SMBs are a very important piece of safety equipment but only if used correctly. This speciality gives divers the opportunity to learn and practise the correct use of SMBs and Delayed SMBs in the controlled environment of Capernwray under the supervision of an Instructor.

Underwater Navigation Specialty – Sunday 5th April at Capernwray
This one day course will introduce you to the techniques of finding your way around underwater. Before the dives you will learn about and practise the art of natural and compass navigation. Then you will be given the opportunity to develop these skills on two open water dives.

Enriched Air Diver Specialty – 7th April at NHDC
This course provides an insight into the safe use of enriched air nitrox for recreational diving and certifies the diver to use EANx with up to 40% oxygen but with an emphasis on 32% and 36% mixtures. The theory modules introduce the diver to the benefits of EANx; the safe use and preparation of EANx equipment; the measurement of oxygen percentage in the cylinder and to the hazards involved and how to avoid them. Following the classroom session you can then select a date to complete your open water dives.

Emergency First Response – Saturday 18th April at NHDC
An innovative First Aid/CPR course strongly recommended for all divers. This qualification meets the prerequisites for the Rescue Diver course. Remember you should renew your EFR training every two years – (SAVE £30 if you complete this as a refresher – using your original materials).

Trip Report

Sharm el Sheikh by Rachel Higgins
While the UK was in the grip of an arctic chill, a group of 17 excited divers & sun worshippers left without a backwards glance for the sunshine of the Sinai Peninsula. For some, it was to be their first visit to Egypt, not to mention their first ever dives, while for the rest it was a welcome break and a chance to experience again some of the Red Sea’s fantastic dive sites.

The sun, as always, rose for us on our first day which was to be spent diving one of my favourites ‘The Gardens’. Cries of ‘what does RNT mean again?’ and ‘how much weight do I need?’ could be heard as 6 of the group prepared for their 1st open water dives and excitement levels were definitely off the scale.

As the week progressed, numerous certifications were tucked under weight belts, and we were delighted by the usual array of marine life….Blue Spotted Rays, Moray Eels, Clownfish etc and it was quickly decided that the big Napoleon Wrasse was everyone’s favourite!!

Our boat, the Kastan Sea, always hummed with excitement, be it due to the huge Fantail Ray on the last dive, the Risso’s Dolphins of the bow or the numerous water fights between the crew & the kids in our group (both big & little, you know who you are).

As the wind picked up through the week so did the array of dive sites, as we ventured further to Tiran and Ras Mohammed. Jackson Reef & Jackfish Alley remain as stunning as I remember them.

So much fun was being had that the whole group opted for a 6th days diving which was planned for the world class sites of Shark & Yolanda and the Dunraven wreck. Unfortunately the wind decided to give us a taste of what we were heading back to in blighty Brrrrrrrrr so, with a hopeful chance of spotting an elusive Whale Shark we headed back to Fiddle Garden. No whale shark, but the 2 elegant Eagle Rays flying in perfect formation finished the week of perfectly!!

My congratulations go to all those who completed courses and I would like to thank everyone, (including our Guide Arnie, & you too Babs & Leia), for making my 1st trip as an instructor one of my most memorable & enjoyable.

Roll on the next one!!!!!!

Important Dates