On the 27th of July I met Jamie in town for a a quick catch up. He was speaking to Auckland University Underwater Club (AUUC) that evening. The talk was to be geared around GUE as an organisation and training options within the curriculum as well as reasons to approach more technically focused training.
We had discussed prior that it would be a great opportunity for me to deliver a second sub talk after the initial presentation where I could explain about my recent exploits over seas in May.
As we arrived in Shadows bar we were met by representatives of the club. Steadily people started to make there way into the area set aside for the talk and soon there was a good crowd waiting for the introduction. The clubs president broke the ice and spoke a little about their up coming SCUBA "lympics" event in Taupo, Then it was over to Jamie who began to go through his power point with all the hall marks of someone who has done a lot of presentations before.
As the talk went on my nerves began to twitch a little. I am reasonably used to talking to small groups of people in a course environment but I have never spoken in front of an Audience before! I counted almost forty people in attendance from my perch beside the screen and I would be lying if I said I was confident in my abilities to deliver an interesting talk and project backwards of the bars tables to reach those standing at the back!
All too soon it Jamie closed out his talk and summarized what he had discussed. Then after a short rest break I was on the floor. I thought the best way to start was with a laugh so decided to admit my historical failing of mumbling whilst talking and offered the audience to reprimand me if it occurred. This seemed to go across well and before long I was into the body of my talk which was to explain the side benefits of being trained with GUE.
The first point was that we have an international base of qualified divers. This means that through mail and connections its possible to go wherever you want and dive as though you were with your most familiar buddies. I always use the example of making a Cave 1 dive with Kati who spoke almost no English. Despite a language boundary we traveled a distance of about one kilometer linear penetration! This is a great example of why standardized training is so important. It can make a massive difference to your diving. All of our divers operate in the same way so you can get stuck in with anyone from anywhere and know what to expect! Less talky more divey is ultimately the goal as far as i'm concerned.
The second point was that there are projects globally to be involved with. I have been lucky enough to be involved as part of the MCEP science projects on three occasions now as well as one project here in NZ. To dive not only for your personal pleasure but to provide real and useful data whilst doing so has revolutionized my own diving and is something I am now passionate about. I feel it all too common that training is separated from the opportunity to conduct science and citizen science initiatives.
I closed my discussion with a question? What can we do in NZ? This country has such rich natural wealth and diverse and fragile ecosystems. Imagine what we could accomplish if we started more Project baseline monitoring stations here!
Its great to talk to people who share a common interest in the underwater world. We had a good Q&A session after and It was great to meet so many new friends. I didn't mumble and got a few laughs along the way so as far as I am concerned it was a success for me. A number of members have signed up to take the Fundamentals class and I am looking forward to spending more time with new blood ready to extend their diving journey into exploration and conservation!
I would also like to thank Alison Perkins and Michael Batey for supporting photos for the talk. this is another great example of GUE divers sharing resources to accomplish a common goal. I have put a link underneath to an excellent blog that Ali runs so check it out! Thanks also to AUUC for giving us the opportunity to present to the club. Cheers Guys!
