Pls adv on how much the fee will be? And how long is the training, i.e. how many times and how long will each session be?
Training:
Lectures: 2 or 3 hours of lectures. ( One evening)
Training: 2 hours of pool work. Including fitness test. (Two evenings)
Snorkelling: 5 open water snorkels of 30 mins each. (3 to 5 evenings)
Costs:
CFT affiliation fees and insurance: €50 per year. (€20 for students)
Snorkel Certs are €2 each.
Logbook: €5 or €10.
Once we submit our budget at the next S&S meeting we'll know how much we'll be subsidised by:
Can I just confirm that you need these contact details from all of us so we can proceed with surfing and snorkeling training in July/August?
The contact details are needed for snorkelling only. We need to register each member who's interested in joining the snorkel club with CFT. Alex is organising the surfing training and contact details are not needed for this. There are no plans to train people how to dive from scratch at the moment.
I just want to get some things clarified. Will this be a club for both snorkelling and scuba diving or just snorkelling? If I have a Divers cert with PADI would I have to crossover to CFT as told on CFT's homepage (
http://www.cft.ie/crossover.htm) to be permitted to go scuba diving with the club?
As far as I know, Padi doesn't teach snorkelling techniques. I haven't done a Padi course so I may be wrong. If you have learnt techniques like: Entries; snorkel technique; Surface Dives; Mask Clearing; Forward and Backward Rolls; Ditch and Recovery; 25m underwater swim; 25 swim with mask on forehead breathing through snorkel; 50m tow. Pool test will be given after the training. CFT's take is that you have to complete the training to get the ticket. If you can complete the fitness test and demonstrate all these skills your training could be complete after 30 mins.
For now I can train people to go snorkelling. There's too much time involved in setting up a dive club. As I'm involved with Cork SAC and helping NMCI SAC with their training I can't commit to a third club. To put things in perspective, Cork SAC has a budget of €40,000 to purchase a new boat. It would take many years for a new club to raise this amount of money to purchase a dive boat. To get really good diving in Ireland you need to do it from a boat. Also, it would cost each member in the region of €1,000 to €1,500 to purchase dive equipment.
Reply from Dave:
Someone with a PADI or other qualification, diving or snorkeling as an individual; is different from the same person doing it as part of an organized group, club, or society such as the Apple sports and social club. The difference is the legal liability of the organizers or club officials in the event that something goes wrong.
Personally I would not be involved with a sports organization here that was not adequately insured (Ireland is a very expensive place to get sued). Any umbrella organization offering insurance is going to insist that it's rules and recommendations regarding safety, training and certification are complied with (however crazy these may sometimes seem). Credit is typically given for prior training with other certifying bodies such as PADI, but even so, some experienced people may have to go back to basics for one or more training sessions, and attend some lectures, just to satisfy the conditions of membership. A diver with a PADI OW certification and just four dives logged in tropical waters, is treated pretty much the same by CFT as a diver with PADI AOW and two hundred dives in Irish waters, but those are the rules.
Realistically there are only two umbrella organizations in Ireland that cover a club engaged in diving or snorkeling. One is BSAC, and the other is CFT (affiliated to CMAS). PADI is for professional dive schools and instructors. Whilst their training is excellent, PADI certification does not cover public liability claims against you. DAN insurance covers individuals and businesses, but doesn't cover a club. There are no BSAC instructors in the Apple Sports and Social club (that I know of) but there are two CFT instructors willing to help novices and people with other prior qualifications achieve CFT certification. This allows members to snorkel or dive safely, as a club, without putting the organizers in a potentially ruinous situation.
Mon May 28, 2007 8:32 am