January 17, 2010

Trainee Lectures

The first set of trainee lectures started on Sunday the 17th of January 2010 for the new members of Naas Sub-Aqua Club. Lectures were give by club instructors Barry Lawler, Andrew Murray, Liam Whelan and David Lawler and the venue was Lawler's Hotel, Naas. Lectures covered were Introduction to CMAS/CFT, Hand Signals, Intrduction to Dive Physics, Out of Air, Decompression and Dive Equipment. To put faces to the names here are some of the new members that were in attendance:

 

 

 

Posted by Liam Whelan at 09:41 PM |

January 09, 2010

Search and Recovery

Naas Sub-Aqua Club members made a huge commitment in their Search & Recovery Unit S&R Logo Naas SAC(wp).jpgby recently spending over €7,000 on specialised equipment for Search & Recovery training and operations. The eagerly awaited equipment arrived on the 23rd of December 2009. This specialised equipment consists of 4 x Aga Interspiro full face masks with Buddy Phone,two way communications system complete with Buddy Phone base unit. The bulk of this money has been raised from various fund raising events and contributions. We are extremely grateful to all the local businesses (see sponsors page) and general public that have generously supported us and made this important investment possible.
Over the past two years twelve members have been trained in various Search & Recovery techniques and are now qualified as CFT Search & Recovery Divers. The twelve members completed their course with the very well respected Blackwater Sub-Aqua Club in Fermoy. While further training sessions have taken place over the past year in the Grand Canal, the team badly needed the masks and communications equipment to become fully equipped should they be called out on a search. The new equipment will certainly give great encouragement to the dedicated team. It will also greatly improve their personal safety and effectiveness while training and on active searches.
Scuba diving is mainly a leisure activity but the S&R Unit is also a very important aspect for the club as it is contributing to the local community and part of the County Kildare emergency plan. Plans are also in place to train in conjunction with the Kildare Civil Defence and help them on underwater searches should the need arise. Training will take place at various places along the Grand Canal and river Barrow over the winter months when weather sometimes prohibits other club diving activities. This training will built up the skills of the S&R Team and they will become a valuable asset to the local community in times of need.

Posted by Liam Whelan at 06:30 AM |

January 01, 2010

New Year's Day Snorkel 2010

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The annual Naas Sub-Aqua Club New Years day snorkel was a great success despite the atrocious road conditions. Eighteen members negotiated the badly snow covered roads to make the event at Digby Bridge on the Grand Canal. They arrived only to find the canal frozen over and having to break the ice ahead of them as they snorkelled.
 
The group consisted of seven of the fifteen new trainee members that have joined the club this year. I think the remaining new members did not believe the event would actually go ahead with the Arctic weather conditions we have been experiencing over the past week.
 
 
 
The participating trainees were pleasantly surprised to find that with the proper semidry wetsuits the experience was not as bad as they had anticipated. Taking the initial plunge was the difficult bit. Their smiling faces as they exited the canal was ample proof of their delight at completing their first open water adventure with the club.
 
With beautiful sunshine and clear skies it did not feel as cold as the -3°c temperature displayed on the cars dashboard. With all eighteen snorkelers having completed their first of five mandatory 30 minutes snorkel of the dive season we headed back to Sallins for a well deserved lunch in Boss Byrne’s bar.
 
Hopefully this is an indication of the dedication and enthusiasm of this bunch of new members to the diving club which has made a great boost to the club’s membership numbers this year. Well done to all concerned, especially those other club members that came along to lead trainees on their first snorkel. Next club snorkel outing is this Sunday the 3rd of January in the sea at Sandycove, Dun Laoghaire
 
 

Posted by Liam Whelan at 11:18 PM |