Trainee Thoughts - Gerry Gilroy

Are you mad? What would you want plunging into the deep damp water with a cylinder of air strapped to your back? You'd hardly see anything down there would you? These are some of the questions you can be prepared to be asked by friends and family when you join a sub aqua club But if you have a hard neck and want to find out more about the sport, I hope this article will be of some use , it should give you a flavour of what is entailed as regards training, the sequence of the training, and equipment you might need ,and what you can expect to get out of your first year with the Club.

Well there are many Scuba diving assoc ions worldwide these would include P A D I, and B S A C,amongst others but the Ennis club is affiliated to C F T (Comhairle Fo Thuinn, or the Irish Underwater Council) founded in 1963 this body represents Ireland in the World Underwater Federation (C M A S).

Our club has approx 40 liquid loving (both inside and out) members.

I along with three other candidates Kevin Allard, Shane Devitt, Audery McEnery reported for duty at the start of training in the Ennis pool in late October last year. The sessions were for one hour on a Saturday night 7-8pm.

Gerry Shannon ,Training Officer for the Club took us under his wing. Gerry was blessed with having endless patience (but I'm sure we stretched this on occasions.).
He gave us a rundown on the basic entry requirements (see the other article for training sequence and details, but first to let you know you don't have to be superman or superwoman in order to join, there are a few basic requirements that ensure you are sufficiently fit in order to take part in the sport, mind you it won't hurt if you practice your pool lengths in advance of the course starting. Over the course of the winter, little by little ,the training will progress until at the end ,you should be able to accomplish the requirements with ease. I even managed it!

So what will I eventually see on a dive?
I was concerned that the visibility might be bad in Irish waters, however its remarkably good and improves as the season goes on ,with no problem in clearly seeing objects 20-30 feet distant on an average dive. I was amazed at the amount of wild life down there (and I'm not talking about my dive buddies) quite honestly I didn't realise how unique the West coast of Ireland really is, It's like being in an giant aquarium and every time you dive you come across different species of fish so don't miss out on this unique opportunity.

The landscapes are also unique with every dive looking and feeling different. Don't worry, you start off with shallow dives and gradually build up, and you are always accompanied by a more experienced diver or "dive buddy".
The average duration of a dive depends on dept but normally this is 30 -40 minutes. You will start off at 5-10 meters dives and over the season build up to 30mtrs.

The first part of your training will involve Pool Snorkel Training, the entry requirements are that you should be able to :
A) Swim 8 lengths of the pool on your preferred stroke without stopping.
B) Swim 2 lengths on your back without stopping and
C) Hold your breath underwater for 30 seconds.

This snorkel training is considered by some to be harder than the actual SCUBA element of the training and runs up until Christmas. During this time you will be trained in:

There is short test on the above prior to moving on to Scuba training in our case this was just after Christmas.

Scuba training

After Christmas you undertake a series of one hour safety lectures at the pool covering a wide rang of topics, these include lectures on amongst others:

After the lectures there is an hour of scuba training in the pool. These pool sessions include:

The training is designed so that you are prepared for all circumstances, and when you hit the open water these things are second nature to you.

After the pool sessions we start to move out of the "class room" to the sea around Mid March.

This involves an open water snorkel swimming ,for us it was out to Crab island from Doolin Pier. This was a bit of a laugh and we all made it safely across and back. It's followed by instruction in diving off a boat and getting back on board . In the case of re-boarding this is probably the first time that you will truly feel like a fish, -and in our case it was a similar feeling to that of a whale being hauled onboard a fishing boat .I'm afraid I scored Nil points for stile and composure during this little exercise.

Another task is to duck dive down to a diver that is in position six meters below the surface. This is not all that hard if you have yourself correctly weighted, again with all the pool training you'll have built up this task.

You are now ready for your first dive and are considered a trainee *.On completion of 25 dives you can complete the club divers test.


Club membership fees are €300.00 payable before the end of December. This is one of the lowest membership fees in the country and entitles you to pool training sessions, affiliation to C F T, Log books and magazine, diesel for the all New snazzy boat. You may also be required to give a dig out at fund raising events, flag days etc.

Around end of Jan/February, in advance of the dive season you need to get a dive suit. (If you have a wet suit for occasional use e.g. playing on the beach- this will not do. Most of us trainees bought semi dry suits 7mm thick. These come in a variety of styles but the most popular is the full length undersuit with rubber seals at the shoulders and ankles, over this is worn a jacket usually with a hood. The jacket will also be around 7 mm thick and this gives a combined insulation thickness around the Torso of 14mm .
You'll feel like a trust up turkey in these but at least your warm, try wearing them around the kitchen and you may draw admiring glances from your partner. Make sure it's a tight fit, I personally had no problem filling every little crevice in mine.

You may need get a weight belt, and some Lead weights for the pool SCUBA training, so you might as well get enough weights at this stage to do you for sea diving as well. I needed 7 for sea diving but this will vary from person to person. Your training officer may be able to advise you on this.

Costs: Wet suit €320.00 Approx
Belt & Weights and retention clips €50.00
You may also need dive gloves at €30 to approx-€40
And for safety on board the boat a life jacket approx €75.

Most of the rest of the gear can wait until later.

A medical is needed in February prior to commencing diving, this includes a Chest X-ray, we found getting the x-ray read in the hospital to be a slow process (having it read that is ) so make sure you organise this early. Your doctor is required to fill out a form supplied by C F T .The medical will centre on whither you have any form of ailment such as asthma or lung problems and any difficulties with balance and or your inner ear, as well as your overall level of health.

There are various requirements regarding the frequency of medical checks with the frequency increasing as you get older.

Equipment and Costs

I enclose here a guide to the equipment that you may need and some its functions.
Ennis Sub Aqua Club provide you with enough basic SCUBA equipment
i.e. a Buoyancy Control B C (or STAB) jacket, Air Bottle, & Gauge this should get you through your first season, There's a refundable deposit of €100.00 for this gear. This gives you sufficient time to look at the variety of equipment out there, so you can find what best suits your needs, we found that buying the odd diving magazine, available in places like Eason's Limerick and O'Connor's (Market Square in Ennis) and browsing through them gives you a good visual idea of all the various pieces of equipment.

If you want to you can go mad and melt the plastic card, but I feel you are best advised to build up your gear slowly and talk to others in the club. There are loads of internet sites also which you can also check out. The costs I set below are the average new cost for the basic equipment that you'll need., but you can also purchase second hand (If you do this ,I advise that you get an old hand from the club to help in evaluating it.).There are two main local "shops" for us in the Clare region:

The Dive Centre in Kilkee 065 9056707 located beside the Pier.

Pat O'Brien in Inagh. 086 2447908

There is also a multitude of Internet sites and of course Buy & Sell and Ebay if you want to source some gear second hand.

Before you commence your pool lessons you will need Fins Mask, & Snorkel. These as often sold as a snorkelling package and consequently work out cheaper.

Club Equipment

Well the club is acquiring a brand new boat which is currently being fitted out. It's a semi-rigid inflatable with an inboard diesel engine. It should be capable of carrying a load of divers and gear with ease. Our older boat is also available at present equipped with a 140 HP revamped engine, It can carry a dozen divers with ease and it's no slouch either .The club is also in talks about getting a jeep to tow these boats around. So next year promises to be very exciting indeed.