|
MANTIS SCUBA CLUBThe latest issues and happenings
|
|
MANTIS
SCUBA CLUB - NEWS & CURRENT EVENTS
LATEST NEWS
HOMER SINKS MV SIMPSON - That's how several marine industry insiders see it. Due to Homer's past histroy, red flags have also gone up with insurance investigators, so a payout may take several years and involve returning to court. It will also be interesting to see how the safety investigation pans out. Assessing competence and delving into a significant medical issue laden history should throw up some interesting information. One lesson those of us on boats can all learn from is to always drop our anchor when drifting out of control near a reef! Then again shouldn't that be a no-brainer? Doh!
SERVICE PARTS FOR MANY REGULATORS - Have just been restocked. This week alone various parts for Zeagle, Sherwood, Genesis and even Dacor regulators have arrived, with more to follow. Our main regulator technican recently went down to Sydney to attend the 2008 TUSA level 2 service course and has brought back some new knowledge and skills. An order has also been placed for some updated equipment for our service area. A new ultrasonic cleaner as well as a new combination Magnehelic and IP gauge is on the way from the USA to replace the older units we have here. Our US supplier has also turned out to be a great supplier of service tools as well, most at 50-75% discount to the cost buying locally.
BEWARE THE FISH AND CHIP SHOPS - The economic woes the world is presently going through have, as they always do, affected some of the Australian dive industry. In this case it will put lives at risk not to mention cause divers to spend more money. In the scuba equipment industry a fish and chip shop is one where proper regulator servicing has been replaced with a bucket of vinegar and an old toothbrush. Instead of stripping and fully cleaning your regulator, replacing all consumable parts and then rebuilding the regulator. Some operators are just leaving the entire regulator, fully assembled, to sit in a bucket of vinegar for a while. They then give it a scrub with a toothbrush to remove any remaining surface verdigris before washing the vinegar off and giving you the regulator back 'as serviced'. Why do they do this? Money, why else! When you fully strip a regulator you must replace some parts as they will never seat corrently when re-used. It costs money to purchase these parts. If they can save $75-$150 on parts they make more money on the 'service', if they don't need to spend 1-2 hours physically servicing you regulator they stand to make $200+ for the cost of $6 of vinegar and 10 minutes labour, and the vinegar can be re-used several times. In the last 2 months we have had to re-service regulators that had supposedly been fully serviced a matter of a couple of weeks before they failed. In both cases we found thick verdigris where it should not have been if serviced properly. We also found that no parts had been replaced, yet the divers had been billed for replacement parts. If you are concerned for your own equipment, there is something you can do to see if your dive shop is a fish and chip shop. Buy some clear nail polish and lightly brush it on to several places on the 1st and 2nd stage where the equipment can be taken apart. When you get the regulator back look for the nail polish. If the 'seal' you applied has not been broken you have just been dudded. The nail polish will not damage your regulator and can't be removed with vinegar.
REGULATOR TECHNICIAN TRAINING - Is something we get asked about on a regular basis. Many senior divers as well as diving leaders want to know how to strip and service scuba regulators. Some want to be able to service their own equipment whilst others want to be prepared to attend and pass a factory certified technicians course. We have now pleased to announce that we will be running regulator technician training courses from now on. See first hand how to strip, clean, rebuild and tune/adjust scuba regulators. Learn how to source service schematics as well as specialist tools and repair parts, all at reasonable prices. Please see the courses page for further details.
SEQ SINGLE TECHNICAL/DEEP DIVE TRIPS BACK ON - We have already booked several trips between now and June down at Tweed Heads and most already have 3-4 divers booked in. We intend to limit the trips to a maximum of 8 divers (sorry no SCR or CCR diving allowed). See the Calendar page for dates. The skipper has instigated some new requirements due to incidents with other operators. The main thing is that we are responsible for the skills/abilities of any diver we put on the boat. This means if they stuff up or loose it on a dive it will cause us to loose access to further technical/deep dives. To this end all divers wanting to come on these trips must be pre-assessed before being allowed to book on to the trip. C-Cards mean stuff all these days as various incidents involving supposedly trained and certificed technical divers clearly demonstrate. So a double drift dive in the Tweed River will be mandatory for divers needing to have their technical/deep dive skills and abilities pre-assessed. There is no charge for this pre-assessment nor is there a way around it. Show us you have perfect buoyancy control, can follow a run time, use your equipment and demonstrate competence with basic emergency procedures and you will be welcome on our technical/deep dive trips. If you can't perform in the Tweed River we have no intention of taking you to 50m.
RECREATIONAL DEEP DIVER - Course dates have been posted for our new recreational NAUI deep diver specialty course. Unlike the PADI course or any other locally offered Deep Diver course for that matter, our course requires 8 certification dives, 4 of which will be 40m dives. That's right no single dive to the St Paul followed by two dives at Curtin or Comby for us (some courses require even less). All students will be required to use a back plate, wing and harness (available for hire) and become experienced in carrying and using a stage cylinder (included in course cost). Initially you will do 4 shallower training dives to become comfortable with the equipment and techniques then you will be taken on 4 x single 40m deep dives. This course is a true advanced diving specialty course not just a 'card in a weekend' special. Only 4 spaces are available on each course. The deep dives can be completed on deep dive day trips over a period of 4 months or completed on a single weekend trip on MV Reef Connection.
THEY COME AND THEY CONTINUE TO GO - The SEQ dive industry has lost some more operators with possibly another couple soon to follow. One operation, up for sale unofficially for some years, was advertising openly in the paper for a buyer, with no success. Another dive shop found out their building was due to be resumed for road widening, causing the sale of the business to fall through. If your thinking of buying an existing dive operation here in Australia then please do your due diligence. It was not so long ago that $1+ million was lost on buying a SEQ dive shop. If the buyer had done some basic, but specifically focused research he would most likely have not bought the shop and would still have his $1+ million. We would be happy to suggest some things a potential buyer needs to consider when carrying out research into purchasing an Australian dive operation.
RECESSION PROOF YOUR DIVING AND TRAINING - Rumors abound of struggling dive operators down under. A fixated focus on sales rather than training will prove to be the downfall of a number over the next year or two. As we have seen with major retail shops like Harvey Norman closing branches and laying off staff, retail sales are taking a massive hit and will stay down for the forseeable future. Dive operators that do discount, learn to dive courses hoping to make up the loss with $1000 profits on the sale of each equipment package will discover the error of their ways. Instructors only earning $40 per student will no be able to rely on the sales to boost their pay packets each week. Where do you the customer come in? You need to be sure the money you spend on dive equipment is reasonable and not subject to a ripoff. When you can buy two of the same dive computer from a retailer in Singapore for the same price you'll get one computer for here in Australia, that's a ripoff. When you can buy a 'brand x' regulator for $1100 and get the exact same regulator from 'brand y' for $660, that's a ripoff. When you sign up for a PADI dive training and the shop does a crossover to SSI make sure you have a choice of keeping your training with PADI or getting a full refund. Just because the dive shop needs to save money on training materials and certifications is no reason for you to be held to ransom. Pay by credit card is also good, if the operator fails to deliver on the training as sold then your bank will refund your money and then they will go after the dive operator. With cash, you're on your own.
STUDENT ACCOMMODATION - Due to the number of leadership and technical candidates we get from overseas, interstate and intrastate we have now sealed the deal for some good, clean and safe local accommodation for up to four diving students. The charge per diver will be $22 a night for the accommodation and $44 a night for both accommodation and all three meals, internet access is also included but you need to bring your own lap top. Accommodation booked through us will only be available for students enrolled in a Mantis Diving course or a NAUI sponsored workshop.
2009 COURSE CHANGES + ADDITIONS - In some cases the fees have needed to increase due to boat fees, agency certification materials and equipment prices rising. New courses have been added and some course requirements have changed. Dates for many courses have been added from now up to June 2009. Remember that many courses with no fixed start date can be run when you want to do them. We have the ability to run many things concurrently and should be able to slot any theory and diving you require into our existing schedule.
|
|
