Kayaksurf Event 2

April 25th and 26th saw the 2nd Kayaksurf event of the year take place.
All met early on Saturday morn where spots were discussed and we all eventually ended up in Strandhill, Co.Sligo, conditions were big and messy and not ideal for the event so a decision was reached to postpone the event til the next morn where wind and weather would provide a better wave.

Sunday arrived and a nice clean wave was present. The wave was clean and not a bad size, it was also easy to get out back. The day saw Long and Short Boat competitors for both men and women.

The clean surf saw some nice rides throughout the day and all entrants seemed quite happy with how things were going.

After a long days surfing everyone said their goodbyes and all are looking forward to the next event.
It was great to see good numbers at this event. both old familiars and new faces were present showing that SurfKayaking is beginning to grow in popularity.
Big thanks to the event organizers and the supporters of the event.
For more info on surf kayaking check out www.paddlesurf.ie and also the MDAC surf boat section
Photo credits: MickeyB and Brendan Barry

The TACT Snorkelling Trip

It was a beautiful sunny day that had the TACT team bring a group of lads to Bullens Bay for a snorkel.

From left to right: Managing to get only into half of the picture is Sandra (Sorry! blame the photographer), we then have (hopefully I've gotten the names right) Scott (Mono), Ross (Kellogz), Dean, Maria (Hippy Farmer), Trevor, Ian (Gizmo), Ciaran (Scrawny), Jonathan (Marvin), Paul (Hot-Shades), Kathy (Piglet), Pat (Water Baby), Dunny, James (Shark Bait) and Jamie (Pot-Hole).

Good laughs were had by all, from the high pitch voices of the lads to the whimpers of some. I have no idea why??? - the water was lovely and warm :)

We found some interesting life on the snorkel and took one of the dogfish we found back to the pier to show the land-lubbers what a small shark looks like.

The afternoon just got better and better, with the sun really coming out and warming the place up. The tide also came in, meaning the lads took to jumping off the pier instead of going for the snorkel. Era... it's all good. They seemed to have a good time.

A big thanks to Ger for bringing the gear and taking the photos. He was a bit camera shy himself, but the day wasn't possible without him. We can only hope that we didn't drive him so loopy that he won't be there for the next trip.

MDAC's 1st e-Learner

A momentous occasion... as Conor McCarthy has been certified as the centres first PADI Open Water e-Learner.

Conor has met all the requirements of the PADI Open Water course, except he hasn't gone through the dribble of me lecturing... he did all the theory online.

He's certainly after catching the bug that is present in so many divers out there as he's already signed up for the Advanced Open Water.

He did some of his dives at Lamb's Head Pier, Caherdaniel, Co. Kerry. And finished them at Roberts Cove, Cork on the 28th of March. He's since returned to Lamb's Head to start raking up the dives to count for the Rescue Diver course.

We'll be seeing a lot of Conor around the centre in the future. How bad! :)

http://www.padi.com/scuba/

https://www.padi.com/elearning-scuba-registration/default.aspx?tid=eLearn_homepg_static_bannr

DFR Course

It was the 14 and 15th of February that saw the first DAN Diving First Responder course for Munster Dive and Canoe.The course involves a number of modules - Automated External Defibrillator (AED), Hazardous Marine Life Injuries (HMLI), Oxygen Administration for Scuba Diver Injuries (O2) and Advanced Oxygen Training (AdvO2). Trying to make the training as fun and enjoyable as possible, as well as making it serious, a number of scenarios are created to help with the learning.

DFR candidates for the course were Kevin McCarthy, Derek Bolton, Ritchie McKinnie and Aaron Doyle. Mark Crosbie was present for the EFR course (Primary, Secondary Care with AED for Adult/Child/Infant) on the 14th. A DAN Basic Life Support (BLS) was also done on the Saturday as CPR training is a pre-requisite for a DAN O2 course. It was a good weekend, and a great start to the years training.

http://www.emergencyfirstresponse.com/english/ https://www.daneurope.org/eng/english_.htm