Dive Planner
The following pages has been designed to help anyone who is planning to organise a dive for the club. While this information is a good starting point, if you have never organised a dive before it is important to get help and advice from other members.
Weather:
You will need to check the weather for the region you are diving in, usual Torquay or Plymouth, although some web sites are more specific than this, any weather site is fine, however here are some good ones:
Rain:
If it’s forecast to rain heavily or has been there will likely be considerable amounts of run off from certain shore diving sites which will reduce visibility. This best option in this case is to choose a site where there are no rivers nearby.
Wind:
You will need to choose a site that is facing the way the wind is going. (ie away from the wind). The reason for this is a strong wind will create a lot of ‘surf’ which is not nice to walk through with heavy kit on, but more importantly, this surf stirs up the bottom and reduces the viability.
Don’t just look at the wind on the day, it is important to know what it has been like over the last few days in order to make the right decision about which site to dive
Tides:
You will need to find out what time high and low water is on the day and also how high the tide is and whether it is springs (large tidal range) or neaps (small tidal range).
Ideally most shore dives want to be dived at high water, however if for Wednesday afternoon dive this is not always possible.
Tide times are usually set to GMT so don’t forget to add 1 hour for day light savings!
The best web site is:
Sites:
Having found out what the weather and tides are like you will need to choose a dive site. When choosing a site there are a number of things you will need to think about:
Aspect:
If there is a fairly strong wind it is important the site faces away from it, in other words for the prevailing South Westerlies of the UK the site needs to be facing East (winds are named by the direction they come from).
Depth:
Depending on those going you might need to think about either getting enough or not too much depth for trainees.
Facilities:
If you are planning more than one dive or to be there over lunch it is a good idea to think about where you can get air fills, food and go to the loo.
All the information you need about our regular dive locations is available on this site either via the site links on the left or by clicking here….
Contacting Members:
Having got an initial idea of the weather the first email wants to be sent out about a week before. This should be set out something like this:
To: eusac-members and eusac-instructors
Subject: Diving at…site on…date
If you would like to join this dive please reply with the following details;
- Name:
- Contact Number:
- Qualification:
- Training(specify)/Fun Dive?
- Car?
- What kit you need(Regs, bcd, tank):
- Are you 02 Trained?
- If you are an instructor, Are you willing to help train?
A couple of day before check the weather again to confirm nothing has changed then send out the second email, which should only consist of those who have emailed you saying they are interested and then cc in the Dive Officer
In the second email you need to confirm where you are going and give directions to the site:
You will also need to include:
- What time you are meeting at the kit cupboard (giving enough time to get to the site)
- Who will be sharing cars; give numbers on this email – if there are not enough cars for divers decide on first come first serve basis
You will also have to make sure someone will have the kit cupboard key – usually the Training Officer, Dive Officer and Equipment Officer will have them – James, Ashley and Rob currently.
Instructors:
If there are OD trainees wanting to go (ie they haven’t finished the course yet) you will need to assign them an instructor (or experienced assistant instructor under the supervision of an instructor). They don’t have to be doing a lesson, they can just fun dive, but they must have an instructor with them. If you don’t have people experienced enough to dive with trainees then they obviously can’t dive.
Instructors are not paid for what they do and it is therefore their choice whether they do it or not. So don’t tell a trainee they can do a lesson without chatting to an instructor about it first!
Anyone above OD who is a member of the club is able to dive with any other qualified member of the club. You may have to assign buddy pairs for these people however often they will decide for you.
Kit:
Having ascertained from the emails what kit people need you will have to collect it, plus other things from the cupboard on St. Lukes, this will include:
- BCDs: enough for each person who needs one plus a spare
- Regs: enough for each person who needs one plus a spare
- Cylinders: make sure they are all full (at least 200 bar)
- Tool kit:
- Oxygen: there needs to be someone on site who knows how to use it
- SMBs and Reels: a couple should be enough
Air Filling:
It is likely the cylinders will need to be filled before the dive. This can be done sometime during the week before, however it is important you check with both the equipment officer and training officer first to make sure it is ok to take the cylinders out and to ensure the full tanks are then not used for training.
It is best, if possible to fill them early so any problems can be sorted out.
PLEASE REMEMBER TO SIGN KIT IN AND OUT WHEN YOU USE IT – OTHERWISE IT WILL GO MISSING!
When you get back. Make sure all the kit is washed down and put back in the kit cupboard.
Payment:
Remind people to bring their money!! Cheque or cash.
- BCD / Regs: £1.50 / item / day
- Air fill: £3.50 / fill
Remember it is not the treasurer’s job, to chase up people who owe money! It is your job so to make your life easier try to get all money on the day and give it to the treasurer as soon as possible.
Dive Logging:
You will need to record, time in / out, air in/out, max depth, and the money people have paid you. The person doing this is the Shore Cover and should ideally be trained to use Oxygen.
It is then important to make sure someone else takes over the shore cover when the first person is in the water.
Eventually you will need to send the dive information (air in etc.) to the Dive Officer by email and write a trip report for the club.
Disclaimer: Diving is a dangerous sport, we recommend diving through an accredited diving organisation and always diving within the limits of your diving qualifications. We make every effort to ensure all the information contained on this web site is correct and up to date. However, due to the nature of the content and collecting it from second hand sources we cannot always be sure that this is the case. We cannot be held responsible for any errors on the site and for any actions you may take after viewing its content. If you find any errors please let us know as soon as possible and we will correct them.