NewsLetterIssue4 April-June10.indd - RIS stories

DIVING AT RIS
The 2009/2010 year was a great year for scuba diving at RIS thanks to the efforts of the Aquatics Department,
Mermaid Dive Center and PADI IDC Staff Instructor Jeff Sanow. Raha Del Rosario Mortel, Director of the
RIS PE Aquatics Department made certain that the facilities and classroom were ready to be used by the diving
students. Scott Jackson from Mermaid Dive Center brought all the necessary equipment to RIS and assisted Jeff
Sanow, husband of Middle School teacher Renee Sanow, in the pool and open water instruction. As a result of
their collective efforts, 22 members of the RIS community were certified as Open Water scuba divers.
As a year-end treat, Shirley Seiverling from
the High School organized a liveaboard dive
trip over the Songkran holiday to the Similan
Islands in the Andaman Sea. The picture of
the sleeping spotted puffer fish below was
taken by Renee Sanow on a night dive on
that trip.
In preparation for a great dive trip, several
RIS divers completed a Buoyancy Clinic
at Astra Pool. The objective of the clinic
was to review the basics of fin pivot and
hover, then put them into practice. Thruogh
a series of exercises and games, the divers
all greatly enhanced their buoyancy skills,
making them better, safer divers. The final
skill was to swim through a hoola-hoop
holding a ping-pong ball under a spoon.
The following picure shows RIS Physics
teacher Marc Sabb concentrating on the
final skill.
RIS’s intrepid explorer/
teachers dove on a submerged
temple close
to the Burma/Thai border.
The above photo
shows one of the insets
on the wall of the
temple.
Fall 2010 promises to offer lots more scuba diving opportunities for the RIS family. In
preparation for participation in the International Beach Clean-up in Pattaya, 18 September,
there will be a buoyancy clinic tentatively planned for 11 or 12 September. There will be at least two trips
to dive the sunken temple in Sangklanburi plus classes for people to become PADI Open Water certified
divers. An added bonus for summer 2011 will be a marine biology summer program being jointy developed
by Jeff Sanow and John Stiles HS/IB biology teacher.
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NEWSLETTER Volume 3, Issue 4
For more information on scuba diving in Thailand, contact Jeff Sanow at 081-923-8426 or jeff@sinbadscuba.com