You can also take your chances and just show up on the last Thurs of the month and hope there is a no show and become a walk on into the safety course. When I emailed them in 2014 I received a response of up to one year waiting list. I showed up 3 months after that initial email and became an instant member as a walk on.
Safety course and membership for the year if joining in January is now $391 and it gets prorated depending when in the year you join. So now not too shabby. Used to be over $600 not very long ago(Novemberish) new bod must have reverted some past changes.