Now that Christmas is passed and the celebrations are all over we can start to think about diving again. The diving season semi-officially starts on St. Patricks weekend but I hope to get out for plenty of dives before then. In this spirit I thought I would send out an email reminding everyone of the CFT requirements so that you can be prepared for the start of the season.

Before you go diving this year:

• You need to have a current medical. This means that if you under 35 years of age you have had a medical examination in the last 5 years. If you are over 35 years of age you must have a medical examination every 3 years. Either way you need to sign the medical disclaimer in your logbook and have it witnessed by the DO.
• You need to be up to date with your fees and be registered with CFT. The fees for this year are 460 euro. If you are not sure of your status please get in touch with Donal.
• You need to be an active diver (i.e You have dived in the last 13 weeks in irish waters or similar) or have completed and logged 5 snorkels in the last 3 months.

Also there a couple of things I would like you to think about before the season starts.

Equipment Servicing – Now is the time to pull out the dive gear and make sure that it is in fully working order. Check that your regulators are in service and working correctly. Look at the sticker on your cylinder and check to see whether it needs servicing. Remember that a VIP is required every 2.5 years from the date of manufacture. A hydro test is required every 5 years from the date of manufacture. It is also worth pulling out the BC and making sure that there are no leaks and that the inflator is working correctly.

Training – Think about how you would like to progress your training this year. Increasing your diving skills and knowledge can be very rewarding whether it is a coxswain course, a rescue course or perhaps just a club diver test. Our club survives on the skills of the members and increased training enables you to contribute to the running of the club and help out on weekends away, as well as making your diving safer and more enjoyable. Please let myself or Louise know what training you would like to do this year so that we can plan to get some courses organised.

The following courses are being run regionally in the next couple of months. If you are interested please let me know ASAP so that I can book a place as they will fill up fast.

• Leading Diver Brief – Tuesday 23 January
• VHF course – late February
• Coxswain instructor course – 10th March
• Diver Medic Instructor Refresher – 14^th January
• Mon * – theory 27^th January, pool work 25^th January

Mike