10 Years as a TDI It for Mathew

Congratulations to our own Mathew Partridge who recently celebrated 10 years of Instructor Training for TDI (after originally qualifying as an IT in 2003!).

Winding back 10 years to 2005 there were a few significant events, the original YouTube website was launched (although it was a little while before it gained the popularity it enjoys now), Lance Armstrong retired from cycling (as a model athlete...), Pope John-Paul passed away and Benedict was elected, Hurricane Katrina devastated several of the southern US states, Saddam Hussain went on trial and the worlds first partial face transplant was completed.  These events seem a long time back now but even back then Mathew was a key part in producing the TDI instructors of the future.

Mathew is able to teach the following TDI courses at instructor level, and is also the only Hammerhead CCR IT in Asia and a IT for the PADI TecRec courses:

• TDI Nitrox
• TDI Intro Tech Instructor
• TDI Advanced Nitrox Instructor
• TDI Decompression Procedures Instructor
• TDI Helitrox Instructor
• TDI Extended Range Instructor
• TDI Trimix Instructor
• TDI Advanced Trimix Instructor
• TDI Advanced Wreck Instructor
• TDI Cave Instructor (OC or CCR)
• TDI Rebreather Instructor
• TDI Sidemount Instructor (Basic & Advanced levels)
• TDI Technical DPV instructor
• TDI Gas Blender Instructor (Nitrox &Trimix)

If you're interested in becoming a technical instructor feel free to drop us a message to 'info@protech-ph.com' or check out our website at www.protech-ph.com.  A full list of professional courses we offer can be found at http://www.protech-ph.com/courses/professional/

March 2015 - TDI and DSAT Technical Courses

In March we held technical courses under both TDI and PADI, with Marie and Pavel finishing off their Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures courses and Cesar continuing on his Tec45 programme.

The ideal technical dive team size is the group of three so having three divers at similar course levels in the water is a please to teach in terms of team awareness and communication, as well as watching how individuals respond to a different team dynamic.

With everyone using the same Shearwater Petrel computers it was also good to be able to spend the last dive focusing on decompression diving using a computer and the importance of gas planning before the dive and monitoring the required deco gas reserves during the bottom phase of the dive.

Pavel also got to try out his new custom made to measure Santi eMotion drysuit which fit like a dream and came in very useful with the water temperatures still hovering at around 24C.

Congratulations to Marie and Pavel on completing their TDI Decompression Procedures and Advanced Nitrox courses and looking forward to their TDI Extended Range course next month.  We'r also looking forward to seeing Cesar again in April for the final part of his DSAT TecRec Tec45 course.

Colour Coding of Standard Gases

We've decided to start using a colour coding system for all of our decompression and bail-out tanks as part of our annual stage tank overhaul.

The intention of this isn't to use the colour coding underwater, but to make visual recognition of tanks much easier on the surface, especially then having tanks passed town from boats on while donning tanks at the shoreline.

The colour coding also provides a quick visual reference underwater (we only used colours at the end of the visual spectrum - i.e. black, white, greens and blues).

We normally use standard gases for all our courses;

Black on White - Oxygen for Decompression from 6m upward
White on Black - 50% Nitrox for Decompression from 21m upward
White on Blue - Trimix 18/45 from 67m upward
White on Green - Trimix 10/70 from 130m upward.

The only other standard gas we use tend to use for decompression is Trimix 35/25 which we tend to make specifically for dives rather than have as a pre-filled standard gas.

February 2015 - Cesar Tec 45 Course

February saw a former recreational student, Cesar Teng, return for his Technical training.  Cesar had previously completed the DSAT TecRec Tec40 course in Puerto Galera and 3 of the 4 Tec45 dives in Moalboal; both of these previous course were completed in Sidemount - as Cesar wanted to also complete Tec50 we decided it was best to switch to the more suitable back mounted twin tank configuration in preparation for two deco gas dives.

Being new to Twin Tank diving is someone most of us don't remember fondly, we spent a few days covering the core skills and standard procedures we use for planning dives.  Despite a niggling back pain Cesar's enthusiasm for learning is just as strong in technical diving as it was in recreational diving and it's great to work with him again.

We're looking forward to having Cesar back shortly to close out his Tec45 course and move onto the Tec50 course.

January 2015 - Piotr TDI Extended Range Class

To start off the year we welcomes returning technical Diver Piotr Sliwakowski who completed his TDI Extended Range course having previously completed entry level technical courses with us in 2014 while based in the Philippines.  Piotr was visiting from Europe on this occasion and took the opportunity to further his technical diving knowledge.

The water in Anilao can be cold in January/February but this year has been particularly cold with water temperatures at 23C and below 20C at 50m!  Having made quite a few dives in twin tanks with stage bottles while in the Philippines, Piotr had no worries in closing out the course and completing his training.

Congratulations to Piotr and hope to see you back on your next visit for some Trimix diving!

The future is always full of new challenges and adventures, with that in mind we felt MDA Tec had grown close to it's ultimate potential and a new challenge was in order.  As of December 2014 MDA Tec will cease to be, in it's place Pro-Tech Philippines will rise.

To keep up to date with the latest news we've decided to keep open the blog, but under the new Pro-Tech branding.

More updates coming soon!
never stop exploring...www.protech-ph.com

Planning the Dive 1 - The Weather!

The wet season is well and truly upon us here in the Philippines, this makes planning diving trip a little more tricky – local typhoons are pretty easy to tracking coming and going but strong winds, normally induced by further afield storms can still result in rough seas even though the rest of the weather can be great!

We've tried a lot of different ways to track the weather conditions in the past few year – by far the most accurate and successful to date has been the use of the Wind Guru website.

Wind Guru gives a simulated forecast for pretty much every major costal location in pretty much every major landmass with a coastline.  Our regular ‘home’ dive spot in Anilao has it’s own dedicated forecast which can be found at the link below:

http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?go=1&vs=1&sc=9433

The most useful features we find are the wind and wave direction arrows, and the wave height estimates.

One of the real hidden gems of Anilao is the ability to dodge the winds and waves by choosing the right locations.  The Anilao landmass is basically a peninsular with three coast orientations; unless there’s a storm very close it’s normally calm on at least one of these orientations.

The wave heights given are swells out at sea, so don’t expect to see shore waves quite that high!  Our quick guide for the wave heights is as follows:

0 to 0.5m – Flat and calm

0.5 to 1m – A little choppy in the afternoon, can make boat rides bumpy in one direction

1 to 1.5m – Rough!  Still divable but expect bumpy boat rides and some sites to be un-accessable

1.5m to 2m – Very Rough, diving may be possible from the shore or in sheltered locations by boat but elsewhere will be too rough to dive safely.

Over 2m – Very, Very Rough.  In short, don’t dive – it’s not worth the risk.

Next time you are planning a dive give it a try, Wind Guru plans a full week ahead and is updated several times a day so gives a good idea of what to expect before arriving at the dive site!