Published: 12/01/2009 00:00 -
Updated: 14/01/2009 10:36
FEAR and excitement were conflicting emotions before my first experience of try-diving with Stortford Divers British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC).
Although I am a competent recreational swimmer, this was completely new to me and I had worries I would completely mess up.
My nerves were allayed by the club's diving instructor Ian MacKay when I attended one of their training sessions at Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre in Bishop's Stortford.
Anything novel can be daunting but MacKay was calmness personified.
He knew how I was feeling and the 35-year-old explained the equipment methodically.
Wearing the scuba equipment underwater was strange.
At first the fins left me struggling and it felt like a cross country run going through deep mud in mid-winter as I sloshed all over the place.
The regulator (attached to the cylinder on my back) took a bit of getting used to but MacKay was patient as I grappled with the breathing techniques.
Various hand signals allowed me to indicate whether I was OK or struggling, or whether he wanted me to come up to the surface, and this gave me added confidence.
We built up from lying on our knees to lying down on our front at the shallow end to moving down the pool. The key is not to flap your hands about but to keep them hugged in and let the feet do the work.
It was an exhilarating experience but I realise that this was only an introduction and I must not get carried away.
Over the winter months, the Stortford club is offering a range of dive theory and practical training courses that will appeal to complete novices and qualified divers. From springtime onwards the club organises dive trips to the coast and lakes as well as organising an annual trip overseas.
There is a social side to the club which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Members meet up at the town's cricket club in Cricketfield Lane for a drink after the sessions.
MacKay, who lives in Thorley, took up the sport seven years ago and loves the feeling of freedom it offers him. "It's a liberating experience and you are in an environment where few people are," he said.
"Seventy per cent of the planet is water. You can see things other people cannot see. There is a lot of maritime history around the UK. You can see shipwrecks!"
He added: "You have to be fit to get out of the water [with all the equipment you have on]."
His partner Nicky Martin emphasised the good social life and said: "You get to see places all round the UK and that's a really good experience."
Experienced scuba diver Rick Jenkins has been involved with the sport for more than 30 years.
The 62-year-old from The Street in Takeley started with a Harlow diving club before joining Stortford in 1985.
He said: "It's nice to see life in a different form, exploring all the wonders of the ocean. I have dived all over the world. I have been to Sipadan [South China] and gone down 65 metres. I would look for hammerhead sharks."
Howard Baynes, one of the club's founders in 1984, relishes the experience of scuba diving.
From a young age the 53-year-old adventurer identified scuba diving, parachuting and ski diving as pastimes he wanted to pursue when he was older.
"You can get lobsters, crabs and get around shipwrecks. I have caught a bronze bell [dated 1677] from a shipwreck [in South Wales]," he said.
Stortford's diving club chairman Philip Morley is equally enthusiastic. He said: "BSAC offers the highest standard of training and great diving in good company. Stortford Divers is a real community club."
To find out more about the club call its try dive coordinator Kay Frankcom on (01279) 503160.
My nerves were allayed by the club's diving instructor Ian MacKay when I attended one of their training sessions at Grange Paddocks Leisure Centre in Bishop's Stortford.
Anything novel can be daunting but MacKay was calmness personified.
He knew how I was feeling and the 35-year-old explained the equipment methodically.
Wearing the scuba equipment underwater was strange.
At first the fins left me struggling and it felt like a cross country run going through deep mud in mid-winter as I sloshed all over the place.
The regulator (attached to the cylinder on my back) took a bit of getting used to but MacKay was patient as I grappled with the breathing techniques.
Various hand signals allowed me to indicate whether I was OK or struggling, or whether he wanted me to come up to the surface, and this gave me added confidence.
We built up from lying on our knees to lying down on our front at the shallow end to moving down the pool. The key is not to flap your hands about but to keep them hugged in and let the feet do the work.
It was an exhilarating experience but I realise that this was only an introduction and I must not get carried away.
Over the winter months, the Stortford club is offering a range of dive theory and practical training courses that will appeal to complete novices and qualified divers. From springtime onwards the club organises dive trips to the coast and lakes as well as organising an annual trip overseas.
There is a social side to the club which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Members meet up at the town's cricket club in Cricketfield Lane for a drink after the sessions.
MacKay, who lives in Thorley, took up the sport seven years ago and loves the feeling of freedom it offers him. "It's a liberating experience and you are in an environment where few people are," he said.
"Seventy per cent of the planet is water. You can see things other people cannot see. There is a lot of maritime history around the UK. You can see shipwrecks!"
He added: "You have to be fit to get out of the water [with all the equipment you have on]."
His partner Nicky Martin emphasised the good social life and said: "You get to see places all round the UK and that's a really good experience."
Experienced scuba diver Rick Jenkins has been involved with the sport for more than 30 years.
The 62-year-old from The Street in Takeley started with a Harlow diving club before joining Stortford in 1985.
He said: "It's nice to see life in a different form, exploring all the wonders of the ocean. I have dived all over the world. I have been to Sipadan [South China] and gone down 65 metres. I would look for hammerhead sharks."
Howard Baynes, one of the club's founders in 1984, relishes the experience of scuba diving.
From a young age the 53-year-old adventurer identified scuba diving, parachuting and ski diving as pastimes he wanted to pursue when he was older.
"You can get lobsters, crabs and get around shipwrecks. I have caught a bronze bell [dated 1677] from a shipwreck [in South Wales]," he said.
Stortford's diving club chairman Philip Morley is equally enthusiastic. He said: "BSAC offers the highest standard of training and great diving in good company. Stortford Divers is a real community club."
To find out more about the club call its try dive coordinator Kay Frankcom on (01279) 503160.
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