I have not sent out a newsletter for what seems like an eternity (some will perhaps say it was only 2 minutes ago!) and with some friends and students using ‘social media’ to keep in touch it might seem unnecessary but I thought this might be a good way of keeping a few more of you up to date.I am fairly sure everyone knows about my little incident but I am back diving full time again and have already taught an OC Trimix course, an Advanced Recreational Trimix course at diver and Instructor level and a CCR Trimix course.I have got a few Sidemount courses between now and the end of the first week of May when I am off to Florida to teach a some Trimix Cave/Deep Cave Diver programmes and then it is Rebreather Forum 3.0. I am both speaking and am Chairman/Moderator of the CCR Communities Panel. If you see me there do come up and say hello. Even if we haven’t met just introduce yourself, it is always good to meet new faces from the dive community.
After Rf 3.0 I am staying on to run a CCR Cave course then have just a few days at home before the warmth of Thailand beckons for PADI CCR Instructor and IT courses.
We have got Tek Camp in July and then I am in France running Cave Diver courses and Cave Instructor courses for 3 weeks or so. I think there is still one space on a Cave Diver course if anyone fancies it.
I am already looking forwards to the traditional winter cave trip to Florida. This year we are planning for November. Nothing is set in stone yet but if cave diving is something you are keen to get trained in then do please get in touch, either via this blog or drop me an email.
Category: Latest News
Having finally arrived back in the UK I thought I would pick up the story where I left off………
Written by Vikki Batten, PADI Tec Diving Division
Date – July 2011
Location – A secret hideaway (ok, I’m getting carried away already – it was PADI EMEA HQ,Bristol!)
Event – (This bit really was exciting) Three rebreather instructor trainers completed a week’s intensive training with PADI Technical Diving Division Staff as well as rebreather manufacturers including Ambient Pressure, VR Technologies and Poseidon.
The result of this intensive training was that three experienced rebreather instructor trainers became PADI’s first ever Rebreather Instructor Trainers.
Martin Robson, Christian Heylan and Vikki Batten will launch the PADI Rebreather Courses by running a series of Instructor training and crossovers as well as Instructor Trainer courses.
Martin Robson has been diving rebreathers for 30 years and is an instructor trainer trainer on lots of different rebreathers as well as for open circuit and cave. Martin has worked with PADI as a technical field consultant and BETA tester for the rebreather and sidemount courses as well as leading the rollout of the rebreather courses.
Christian Heylan is an instructor trainer for technical diving including several different makes and models of rebreather. Christian also regularly teaches PADI Instructor Development Courses as well as running a busy tec diving centre, in Egypt. Christian is excited to be working with PADI to launch the new rebreather courses.
Vikki Batten is a Trimix Instructor Trainer and Cave Instructor. She is also an Instructor Trainer on several rebreathers and has run her own tec diving centre. Vikki now works for PADI as a member of the Technical Diving Division and Rebreather Advisory Team and has been involved in the development and rollout of the rebreather courses.
If you would like to teach PADI Rebreather Courses look out for an event near you.
Very excited to have been invited to speak at the next OZTek.
http://www.diveoztek.com.au/
http://www.diveoztek.com.au/speakers73.htm
The excitement started before our Designated Instructor Trainers, Martin Robson and Vikki Batten, had even left the UK. Arriving at London Heathrow they discovered the new “PODs” that transport you from the car park to the terminal are just as high tec as rebreathers and make kit transport a piece of cake!
Poseidon hosted the event and early on the first morning Poseidon’s New Director of Sales for Asia Pacific, Holger Pfeilmaier, escorted Martin and Vikki by to the Poseidon factory.
The facilities were excellent with a classroom right next to the pool and deep water test tank. The pool is every rebreather diver’s dream, not only is it deep enough for rebreather divers but looks really cool because it is lined in metal!
James Roberton, Sverker Palmblad and Jorgen Nilsson welcomed all the participants to Poseidon and kept an eye on us throughout to make sure we never wanted for anything.
Over the next two days, Martin and Vikki orientated our eager instructors and trainers to the new PADI courses and they in return showed us their rebreather skills and knowledge.
Feedback from the course has shown our participants to be eager to start teaching their first courses so look out for a rebreather diver or instructor course near you!
Now that PADI’s eagerly anticipated recreational rebreather courses are here you can be a part of this exciting new opportunity, just like the instructors and trainers who came along to the program in Gothenberg. For more information email info@eau2.com
VR Technologies have come up with an easy payment plan to allow you to purchase a new Sentinel CCR without having to pay in full in advance for your unit. The payments are split in to four chunks to help you spread the cost of your new rebreather and to get you diving sooner, rather than waiting until you have paid for the whole thing 
VRT Sentinel LSS
This is great news for anyone thinking of purchasing a new Sentinel! For more information on this great deal please drop me an email. Don’t forget if you purchase a unit and the training Eau2 will do a special price for both.
So here we are again in Florida for another few weeks of Cave Diver courses. We will be here for some time running Cave, CCR Cave, Sidemount Cave and even Cave Instructor courses until late November, with a short break in a couple of weeks to attend the DEMA show. Hopefully you will be able to follow some of Eau2 students at all levels including, our Instructor candidates as they progress through their courses.
Date – July 2011
Location – A secret hideaway (ok, I’m getting carried away already – it was PADI EMEA HQ,Bristol!)
Event – (This bit really was exciting) Three rebreather instructor trainers completed a week’s intensive training with PADI Technical Diving Division Staff as well as rebreather manufacturers including Ambient Pressure, VR Technologies and Poseidon.
The result of this intensive training was that three experienced rebreather instructor trainers became PADI’s first ever Rebreather Instructor Trainers.
Martin Robson, Christian Heylan and Vikki Batten will launch the PADI Rebreather Courses by running a series of Instructor training and crossovers as well as Instructor Trainer courses.
Martin Robson has been diving rebreathers for 30 years and is an instructor trainer trainer on lots of different rebreathers as well as for open circuit and cave. Martin has worked with PADI as a technical field consultant and BETA tester for the rebreather and sidemount courses as well as leading the rollout of the rebreather courses.
Christian Heylan is an instructor trainer for technical diving including several different makes and models of rebreather. Christian also regularly teaches PADI Instructor Development Courses as well as running a busy tec diving centre, inEgypt. Christian is excited to be working with PADI to launch the new rebreather courses.
Vikki Batten is a Trimix Instructor Trainer and Cave Instructor. She is also an Instructor Trainer on several rebreathers and has run her own tec diving centre. Vikki now works for PADI as a member of the Technical Diving Division and Rebreather Advisory Team and has been involved in the development and rollout of the rebreather courses.
If you would like to teach PADI Rebreather Courses look out for an event near you.
In the evening of Day 3 Rich Stevenson and I gave a joint presentation on ‘Expedition Diving’, but from two very different perspectives. I lead out with the emphasis on Cave Expeditions, followed by Rich’s fantastic talk on Wreck Expeditions. The ‘double act’ and having the same topic covered from alternate view points for comparison seemed to go down well with the audience. A big thank you to all those TekCampees and our fellow Instructors who attended.
One of the images used during the 'Cave' presentation
Day 3 was another bright sunny day. After the morning cups of tea and daily briefing we all set to work. For me Day 2 and the following days had me predominantly running sidemount try dives. Apparently this had become one of the most sought after try-dives and workshops so the TekCamp organisers certainly kept me busy, which was great. Of course the highlight was the fact that everyone who tried sidemount finished their dive with huge grins, asking for more and wanting to get trained on sidemount as soon as possible.
Setting up sidemount kit
(The photos are reproduced with kind permissio of jason Brown of Bardo Creative http://www.bardocreative.co.uk)
