Why the Blog?
So, what’s this blog thing all about, then?
Back in 2010, my (ex-)girlfriend and I took a diving course with the Water Rescue Association (ÖWR) in Innsbruck. Learning to dive in the middle of the Tyrolean Alps meant a lot of cold water, restricted visibility, high altitudes, tricky shore entries – basically everything that makes diving uncomfortable. Still, it was highly enjoyable, and it became a regular part of our summer outdoor activities.
I carried on doing some more courses with the ÖWR, taking all the exams to become a rescue diver. As most of our instructors were techies, and the best way to improve is to teach, my plan at the time was to progress into technical diving and then become an instructor.
Surface Interval
Life happened.
We stopped diving in 2012.
Even though we talked about going back to diving fairly often, my fitness had deteriorated to such a level that I wouldn’t have felt comfortable putting someone else at risk under water.
More life happened, and I moved back to the UK – on my own. My dive gear (which only consisted of fins, a semi-dry wetsuit, mask, computer and some accessories) moved with me, and carried on collecting dust, the same way it had been doing for the 6 years before. In 2019, I moved again, this time from East Anglia to North Wales, and once again my dive gear moved with me, and carried on collecting dust. My wetsuit also didn’t fit me at this point anymore.
Surface Interval, extended
When I moved here to Wales, I had big plans. I told myself 2020 would be the year that I would get back under water.
We all know how 2020 turned out. I spent most of the year within 5 miles of my front door – needless to say, there’s no dive sites within 5 miles of my front door, nor could I have actually buddied up with anybody to actually go diving. I also didn’t know anybody, so there was that hurdle too.
More life happened, I got back into sailing, I found myself on the path to becoming an RYA Powerboat Instructor. Life was good, I was out in the fresh air, I was on the water, I was hiking in the hills, I was starting to feel good about myself again. In 2021 I thought, “next year, I’ll get back into diving.” In 2022, I thought the same. When I was sorting out my outdoor gear sometime at the beginning of the water season for 2023, I stubbed my toes on my dive crate and thought to myself, yet again, “next year, yes, next year, I’ll start diving again.”
At that point, I realised I’d been tricking myself for a while. Next year, something else always came up that was shinier, fun, more easily accessible and didn’t involve me having to work out how to actually get back into it. I kicked myself, and said, “Simon, you’re being a d$*k. Put a number on it, you fool.”
I re-evaluated what I wanted to do with diving. I realised I was still interested in heading down the techie route. I was still interested in becoming an instructor – my experience over the past couple of years with powerboating has confirmed that teaching other people is the best way to improve yourself. So, with that all in mind, my plan for January 2024 was to work out how to get from a somewhat unfit non-diver to becoming a diving instructor. Preferably, just to make it complicated, in North Wales.
And then came Silfra
In January 2023, I’d decided I wanted a big holiday. An adventure. A bucket list destination. Something unusual. So, not quite on a whim, I booked a ferry for myself and my truck to the Faroe Islands and Iceland in September. And yes, I winced at the cost of the ferry ticket. January until September, that’s more than enough time to plan a trip, right? You’d have thought so, but guess what?
Life happened.
More correctly, work happened, and so I didn’t start planning seriously until about July. In almost the first search for things to do in Iceland, Silfra came up. I dimly remembered an amazing article in a German diving magazine back in 2010 or 2011 that had fascinated us so much that we had decided back then that it was a bucket-list dive – if we were ever to make it to Iceland.
There’s a catch, though (and it wasn’t the cost of the dive, at which I once again winced). I needed proof of either 10 drysuit dives or, better yet, a drysuit C-card.
I had neither.
Duttons Divers to the rescue!
While the dive operators in Iceland offer drysuit courses, that would have meant having to sacrifice an extra day of my limited time on Iceland to do the course. So, I did what any internet-savvy person would do: I had a chat with Mr. Google. Mr. Google recommended I have a chat with Clare of the eponymous Duttons Divers (2024 update, this is now Phoenix Watersports). Clare got back to me fairly quickly and suggested some dates for a course at Vivian Quarry in Llanberis. I don’t think I actually said, “shut up and take my money!” but I was probably thinking it.
The closer the course date came, the more nervous I became. Did I still know how to dive? Did I still know how the equipment works? Could I remember all the hand signals? I wasn’t quite a nervous wreck on the morning of the course, but I was close. I didn’t need to be nervous at all, Lucas was a fantastic instructor, and, oh my word, did it feel good to be back under the water!
Surface interval, completed
After 4088 days, 15 hours and 6 minutes, I was making bubbles again.
“OK, What’s next?”
Lucas asked me that question after the second dive. My answer, “next year, I’d like to be diving again. No, let me rephrase, in 2024, I want to get back into diving.” We had a bit of a chat about places to dive, potential clubs to join, what equipment I’d like and where to source it, etc. He suggested I drop by the dive centre in Llangefni to have a chat with Clare – I needed to get my C-cards converted into the SSI app, and I wanted to pick her brains about equipment anyway, so I hopped in my truck and bumbled over to the little island (aka Anglesey).
After we’d had a bit of a chat about certification recognition, etc. Clare asked me the same question: “so, where’s your diving going to take you?”
We talked about what my plans 10 years ago had been and what my current thoughts were, and she simply said, “leave it with me, I think we can work something out.”
So, that’s what this blog thing is all about, then!
I’d planned to be working out my diving development plan over the course of 2-3 months at the beginning of 2024. However, Clare came back with a suggested equipment list and a course plan that will take me all the way through to becoming a Dive Guide and Assistant Instructor. This time, I did have to think about budget and finances a bit more than for the drysuit course. But within about 3 weeks of breathing canned air again, we had everything worked out, and I’m signed up for all the required courses.
I was excited. In fact, I was so excited, I decided to start a blog and vlog about the whole thing. I think this will be an interesting story to tell, and I’m happy to take you all along with me.
“Hi, I’m Simon, and this is my journey.”
So, this is my journey from a couch potato (sort of) to becoming a dive professional. Stick around, I know I’m going to be having fun and i certainly hope you will too.