First let me say this, if you are not trained in proper ice diving techniques you should not say i am going to go out and do this with some friends. Ice diving is one of the more challenging aspects of diving and is not for the un-trained. It all starts with learning the proper techniques and proper procedures for conducting an ice dive.

Like I said ice diving starts with a course, Dip ‘n Dive chooses to run it’s ice diving course with SDI (Scuba Diving International), SDI is the recreational side of TDI (Technical Divers International). The first part of the course is a lecture session, usually about 3 hours long, in the lecture a diver will learn things like site preperation, site setup, diving procedures, jobs for those at the surface, line signals and much more.

The next part is the fun part, the actual ice diving portion. Diver’s descend on Windmill Quarry for a day they will never forget. Once everyone has gathered a scout is chosen, the scouts job is to head out onto the ice to make sure it is thick enough, think of this job as the ice thickness testing guinea pig. Once it is determined that the ice is thick enough the group starts the trek of moving all equipment needed for the dive. They take chainsaws, axes, saws, rops, pallets, tarps and much much more. Once all equipment is brought onto the ice the hole is cut. After all preperation is finished all equipment not needed is moved back to land. Divers then prepare to head into the water.

Before a team of divers can go into the water there is a lot that must be set on the surface, first the divers are tied to a line, the line is held at the surface by a tender, a set of safety divers tied to their own line with their own tender must be ready to go in if needed, someone has to be running the dive activities at all times, anyone not assigned a specific task at this point is designated a “gofer”, meaning if someone assigned to a certain task needs something the go for it. Once dives have finished their dive they can head to the changing room to get out of their wet suits, yeah i said wet suits, most divers that take the course are in a wet suit and are actually warmer than if they did a cold deep dive in it, due to the fact there is less compression of the suit while ice diving.

Once every dive team has finished their dive the group breaks for lunch, it provides the body fuel, divers participating in the course can burn a lot of calories on the day, the first time I took the course I fell asleep on the living room floor that night, i was pooped.

Once everyone has finished it is time to head back to the ice hol for the second and last dive of the day, after everyone has finished the ice diving site is packed away, a group photo is taken and the wait begins for next years course.

Hope to see you out there for the 2010 ice diving course scheduled for March 2 (lecture) and March 6 (dive).

Have A Happy New Year

Alex

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Divers looking into the dive master program must meet certain qualifications to enter the program, certified master diver, certified rescue diver and certified in first aid, CPR and 02 administration. Dive master candidates must also pass swimming and snorkeling time requirements, towing requirements, and scuba skill requirements, each skill must be passed by the candidate or they are not allowed to move onto the open water portion. The open water portion contains giving dive briefings, diving with students and dive master shore duties. Dive master candidates must also complete academic work while taking the course, the last part to be completed is a test. Once successfully completing all portions of the course the candidate can register themselves with the organization through which they are trained.

The instructor program is different than the dive master program as this course is more about preparing class lectures than diving skills. Instructor candidates must first take the instructor qualification exam, each section of the exam must be passed to gain entrance into the course. Once the test has successfully been passed the instructor candidate starts to prepare lectures to give to Instructor trainers (instructors allowed to certify other instructors). In this course the candidate must also give dive briefings, show in water performance and pass the final test based on leadership standards and policies.

Like I said earlier these courses are a lot of hard work but are so rewarding. It is tough to explain the feeling of how it feels when taking someone on their first river drift dive or showing them how to navigate. This is why i said not every diver is suited to be a dive leader, divers that want to help people learn are best suited for dive leadership, divers that enter the leadership courses because “it’s the next thing to do”, or “i want to do it for the certification card that comes with it” usually never take full advantage of what being a dive leader is all about. Many dive leaders realize that by becoming a dive leader they are going to do more “work” dives instead or “pleasure” dives, however the ones that truly take to being a dive leader realize that the pleasure comes from the new diver’s excitement after the dive saying how much they enjoyed that dive.

The other reason that some shy away from dive leadership is the costs, no i am not talking about the course costs but rather the yearly costs, like I said earlier dive leaders must carry insurance, the higher the certification the more insurance you need, dive leaders also pay dues every year to the agency they are associated with, if they are associated with multiple agencies than they pay multiple dues each year.

So after reading this most people are going to think that they divers who become dive leaders are crazy, they have to pay insurance fees, dues every year, more work dives than pleasure dives, well i will say this call me crazy, i would not trade this job away for anything. Nothing can beat a new diver’s fresh smile after a great river drift, their loss of anxiety over their first deep dive as we return back to boat and lastly the thank yous they give after having a great dive.

Until the next time

Happy Holidays

Alex

PS. If you would like to know more about becoming a dive leader stop in the store and talk to myself or Joe.

Related interesting posts:

• Ice Diving
• Boy Scouts add new Merit Badge: SCUBA DIVING
• How to Plan a Scuba Diving Trip
• Openwater Certification Dives
• Top 10 Tips for Safe Scuba Diving:

The Boy Scouts of America have recently introduced scuba diving as a merit badge citing an interest from 84% percent of its members. The new merit badge can be earned by any boy scout who has completed their scuba diving course or is in the process of completing the course.

This new merit badge is different from most other badges that scouts can earn, most other badges prerequisites have come from numerous certification agencies such as NAUI, PADI, SDI and SSI.

Scouts wishing to earn the badge must also complete the skills listed below;

• Completion of Swimming Merit Badge
• Show knowledge of first aid for injuries or illnesses that can occur while scuba diving including but not limited to hypothermia, squeezes and decompression sickness
• Identify the conditions that must exist before performing CPR on a person

Scouts who have already completed an open water certification course do not need to be re-certified, they must show a completion of all requirements including the swimming merit bade.

Dip ‘N Dive would like to announce that they now have three instructors who are qualified by the Boy Scouts of America to provide the instruction necessary to complete the course.

If you would like more information please contact Joe (716)837-3483.

Happy Holidays

Alex

Related interesting posts:

• Why to go PRO
• How to Plan a Scuba Diving Trip
• Openwater Certification Dives
• Rescue Diver Course
• Ice Diving