December 2003 Newsletter

Welcome to the November/December 2003 edition of the Newsletter

You waited patiently for the last newsletter so we thought it was only fair to reward your patience with another bumper filled couple of pages…..

Christmas 2003 events

It doesn’t sound possible but Christmas is only around the corner and we have started organizing the club events.
Firstly the Christmas club meeting will be on Wednesday 3rd December at the Unicorn Pub in Trumpington not at the Master Mariner and from December all of the club meetings will be held at the Unicorn and no longer at the Mariner, for directions call the shop (but rest assured that for most club members it is easier to get to.) At the Christmas meeting we will have a big raffle, full buffet and of course all of the latest news for the Egypt trip this year and next years excursions, so don’t miss it.
As this is the first time we have used this venue we would like a good response by all club members to make the effort and come for a great evenings entertainment.

We have also booked the Club Christmas dinner, which will be held at the Navigator pub in Little Shelford, where they provide authentic Thai cuisine at reasonable prices and great beer to boot (not to be confused with last years homemade curry in the bar of a naff pub), however we do need to let them know in advance what everyone wants from the menu they have given us. The easiest solution we could come up with was to photocopy a load of menus so that people who want to go can mark what they want and leave a cheque made payable to the navigator. Places are limited to 30 people and we are, as ever, working on a first come first served basis and with 16 places already gone I suggest you get in touch with the shop ASAP.

The best bits of 2003

It never seems possible as we write these end of year articles, that another year is slipping past at tremendous speed and we are planning next years trips.
However it is possible so it’s time to remember all the good bits.

APRIL
Wales kicked off the year and we were very lucky with the weather as the sun shone all weekend and the visibility stayed at a consistent 6 metres.
Graham decided to test his new twin set and side stage cylinders, which we agree is a good thing to do with any new kit, however he did get a few odd looks as he staggered his way down the slipway with enough gas to last 4 hours on the Titanic, to complete a dive to a depth of 3.5m for 20mins. Looked good though.

Every evening we sat down to a few beers, a nice meal and enough chat to set the world right four times over, fantastic.

MAY
We set off for Pembrokeshire where good diving is abound and the sun always shines, not the largest group ever sent, but a great time non the less and after the long weekend it always makes it easier to go back to work. Just what the doctor ordered.

JUNE
It was back to Malta for what is fast becoming the best destination of the year. We were lucky enough to recruit our very own dive guide for the week (Jason) and what a difference it makes when you’ve got someone that experienced to lead the way.
Everyday we were off by 9.00am in the blazing sun to experience wrecks, caves and some of the best scenic dives to be had in the Med and by 3pm we were back swimming in the hotel pool. LOVE IT !!

We were also fortunate enough to ride on the back of a wild dolphin, well when I say wild I mean rubber but who’s counting.
Thank you to everyone how went on this trip as it really was one of the friendliest and easygoing trips we have run. I only hope the children who went (including my own beautiful specimens) aren’t scared for life after being herded up one end of the table so as not to make to much noise. Especially India, who kept asking why her Godparents (Jo & Buzz) wouldn’t have dinner with her and her brother. Only kidding - they loved it.

JULY
No trips in July due to a cancelled Norfolk trip and lots of course weekends.

AUGUST
Cliff took a group back across the Med to Cyprus and the promise of some great wrecks (and I don’t mean the morning after variety).
With the Zenobia and HMS Cricket high on list of dives to do, it didn’t leave much time for many other dives but they managed to fit in a few scenic dives. Although judging by the photos of people laying around the pool drinking beer and Cliff learning the local dance steps in the evenings they did well to fit in any diving at all.
Ask Cliff if you can see the photos.

SEPTEMBER
Due to the Assistant Instructor and another large Open Water course taking up all of the month we didn’t get any diving done… Shame !!!!

OCTOBER
We were back to Oban this month and for a detailed account see the piece written by Cliff further on in the newsletter.

DECEMBER
Never tempt fate, but at the time of writing we are due to lift off on our way to Egypt at 12.55pm 14/11/03 (I think that's 14/12/03 - but who am I to argue - ed). Watch this space for a full account in January.

Planned Club Trips for 2004

For those who are keeping up with current events, you will have already seen that next years trips and dates are starting to appear on the shop calendar - they'll be on the web soon. With this in mind I’m just going to mention Scapa Flow as it is already booked.
We have completely filled one 12 person live aboard boat with the names that were put down a few weeks ago at the September club meeting, however, we have put on hold another boat as we expect many more people to want to come.
The dates are 24th September – 2nd October and the cost will be between £430 -£470 for a weeks diving and self catering accommodation on board, travel by minibus from the Dive Centre to Scapa and back with all ferry crossings and petrol costs included.
To book on this trip (and this goes to all, even those who have already put their names down) we need a £50 deposit ASAP and we mean ASAP as it will book up fast.

You need to be a minimum of Advanced Open Water with British diving experience and a nitrox qualification would be an advantage but not a necessity.
Everyone going will need access to either a pony cylinder or twin set.

FEATURE ARTICLES BY CLUB MEMBERS

Oban In October - By Cliff

All’s well that ends well, as they say.
After the sad demise of Alchemy Diving, whom we have dived with for the past four years, the original Oban weekend had to be cancelled. However, after phoning around the Oban area looking for an alternative, we came across the skipper of the live aboard Kylebhan.
So gritting our teeth we took the bull by the horns and committed to a four day trip. With a severe weather forecast with a low pressure over the Western Isles of Scotland, we set off on Thursday morning. We arrived on the North Pier in Oban to liase with Jim our skipper in the heaviest downpour of this year, good start we thought. However after a couple of pints in the Oban Inn, the rain cleared and we loaded our equipment onboard. The Kylebhan is a typical ex fishing boat, that has been converted to accommodate divers.

Not a negative word could be said about the boat or the skipper. It was clean, warm, and with the foresight in taking our quilts with us very comfortable. The twin rooms were a little small, but with a low turnout of only six club members, we had the benefit of occupying individually a room each.
After breakfast we set off for our first dive of the trip. This being the old favourite Breada. Those of you that know this ship will recall it’s a bit of a treasure hunt, but on this occasion no treasure was found.

After putting our cylinders by the aft onboard compressor, and a chill in the air, we retired to the ward room for a generous bowl of scotch broth, a mug of coffee, not forgetting the bikkies. Now we were really settling into this very relaxing routine.
With the sea calm and the sun out, we prepared for our second dive on the Hispania.

Jim was leaning out of his wheelhouse and giving us the OK when to jump in. Now I cannot think what the confusing word was, Wait or Don’t go yet, but Peter decided to jump in 100m too soon from the shot line, which by all accounts warmed him up nicely. That was until his right wrist seal leaked up to his shoulder, nice.
Once the dive was complete time for a nice cup of tea awaiting us in the wardroom.

We moored up at Tobermory key side for the night, and to explore the delights of yet another welcoming Scottish hostelry.
In the morning, same routine of another hearty breakfast, we moved out to the Steamship Shuna.

We then after lunch, went to the Rondo, where another dive was carried out.
This time we moored at Loch Aline. After a filling evening meal, we were ready to sample some of the local ale.
This was definitely an experience we will not forget in a hurry.
After leaving the Kylebhan, we walked along the darkest length of road you could imagine, passing, much to Mush’s disappointment, a working mans club, and further on to the local Hotel which had a bar. First impression was one of a pleasant bar with a pool table, and a few friendly locals. Anyway one of our number decided it would be a bit of a hoot to wear an England rugby top in a community, that could be compared to that of the backwoods featured in film Deliverance.
Anyway, starts off with us playing pool, at which point the locals decide it’s their table and want to play. After some tweaking of the rules on their part, according to Mark, our pool expert, they win.
Not long after this, the local idiot takes a shine to us sitting in the corner. Well a bigger halfwit you would be pushed to find. It seemed his favourite pastime was to slap his face and head red. His other mannerisms included a perfect impression of Jack Nicholson in One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, by making a lot of grunting noises and jerking movements of his head, or should it be hid. Mush seemed to relate to this fella, by encouraging him with jovial banta. At which point the barman, seeing certain members of our party getting slightly agitated, warned the headcase off. Not long after he staggered off away, hopefully we thought not on route back along the dark road.
Anyway Ian goes to the bar so we might all celebrate the departure of the for mentioned, where the local, very inebriated, ex boxer decides to offer Ian out for a fight, diplomatically turned down, due to the late hour and not long having had his dinner, and the pub closing shortly, he made his way safely back with our drinks. Although Gwyneth, our only female club member, has a reputation of instigating bar room fracas in Llanberis, is now getting a little twitchy, so with our backs to the wall, and covering all arcs, we extricated ourselves out of the hotel and back to the boat. Along the path we came upon the ex boxer who was walking along in a manner that could only be described as severely wandering. We explained to Ian that he had his chance in the hotel, and to leave him alone.
In the morning laughing over breakfast of the previous nights entertainment, we made out to the Thesis, one of the more scenic wrecks, with abundance of marine growth and life.
After lunch and now steaming our way back to Oban, we by popular demand finished our diving by going back onto the Breada.

We moored up at the same place we set off, what seemed weeks ago, with the amount we had experienced.
Having yet another one of Jim’s legendry meals, we set off for our last night in Scotland.
Those of you who have been to Oban, have probably been in the Irish bar. A very good group playing, and the group of what appeared to be Transvestites dancing, we had a great night, that was until we were told by the very tough looking doorman, to get Mush out, as sleeping in a nightclub is not allowed.

We were very lucky with the weather, some good diving, and good company, a great boat and skipper, making for an extremely good club trip for all of us.

Lanzarote - lotty or grotty ? - by Paul Hart. When booking a family holiday I always try and find somewhere that offers some sort of diving as well as the usual beaches and places to visit to keep the rest of the family entertained. This year we opted to go to Lanzarote. Lanzarote is the most easterly of the seven major Canary Islands and lies in the Atlantic Ocean only some 60 miles from the coast of Africa and 600 miles from the Iberian Peninsula. The island is pretty much a giant volcano and is very rocky but does have some very interesting scenery, especially if you like volcanoes. The island grew substantially due to volcanic eruptions over a six year period, 1730-1736, and again during the XIX century, mainly in 1824 and temperatures of 600ºC are still registered at a depth of 10 meters below the surface in the national park. Air temperature has an average of 22 ºC however when we arrived in August they were in a bit of a heat wave due to winds blowing from the Sahara and it was a whopping 50 ºC ! Luckily it did cool down a bit after a couple of days. The water temperature around 20 – 25 ºC depending on the time of year so I opted for my 5mm BodyGlove titanium wetsuit and found it very comfortable. We were staying at the south of the island just east of Puerto Del Carman and there were at least six dive centres in the area. I had a look around on the internet prior to going and decided to leave the final booking until I arrived so I could have a look around the area and see what was on offer. After enquiring about the types of diving available from the different centres – many do not own boats - I eventually booked a 4 day package with the German dive centre that had an office in the hotel. They offered boat and shore dives at various locations around the island, including some wrecks. This cost about the same as the other packages on offer, they were very friendly and would also collect and drop off at the hotel – a real bonus over the other centres.
	So what’s the diving like ? Well it’s certainly varied. The first day was a couple of shore dives – I thought it would be a shallow swim around looking at sand – then I spotted a couple of technical divers kitting up about 20 foot away, twin sets, side slungs, the lot. I asked the dive guide if they were off on a boat somewhere. No, he said, it goes down to 200 metres about 100 yards off shore ! Needless to say we didn’t get quite that far, a short swim out from shore and we were heading down a 45 degree slope to our target depth of around 35 metres. Viz was pretty good, about 20 metres, and there was quite a lot of fish life, I saw a nice ray come out of the sand just beneath me, and a huge grouper at 30 metres – it was longer than me ! The second day we when off to a place called Mala, again it was off the shore, but after the first day that was fine by me. The briefing was interesting as almost everyone was German and the dive guide this time only spoke broken English. However they were a really helpful lot and between the other divers that could speak English I managed to get the jist of it. Basically we were diving from a rocky outcrop used by nudists ! The basic instruction was keeping looking straight ahead when on the shore and enjoy the view during the safety stops. Underwater we went into a couple of small caves and found a really nice Moray (pictured left) and a school of what must have been thousands of shrimps all hiding in the back of one of the caves. Viz this time was even better than the first day and both dives had some fantastic views, if you can imagine flying over the surface of the moon with a bright blue sky then that’s pretty close. Day three and it was out on the boat to some wrecks – three dives. They were all fairly close together in a range of 25 to 38 metres, mainly largish fishing boat type wrecks that had been sunk deliberated as artificial reefs, we saw quite a bit of life including a very nice octopus and a couple of large barracuda which decided to circle the group for about 5 minutes. I took my home made video camera housing on the first dive and got some nice shots (the wreck on the left is from the video). However the highlight of the day for me was to see a catamaran sink in front of the dive boat then to see it diving around the wrecks with us. This strange craft – the SubCat - takes tourists out to the wreck sights on the surface, sinks to show them the wrecks and then surfaces again and zooms back to shore. It’s not everyday you get to dive alongside a 50 foot long submarine and the tourists inside were also having a good time and doing a lot of waving to us.
The fourth day of diving was off the boat again – this time a wall off the east coast of the island near the German Dive Centre. It started at about 25 metres and went down to about 200 metres according to the boat's instruments. I took some photos of lots of fish and three nice morays just sitting there on the wall. I’ve not had the last film developed yet as it’s still in the camera but the morays are on it. After the second dive it was back onto the RIB, then the fun started. The motor wouldn’t fire up – it seemed to be flooded (fuel not water), so the skipper had to call in a favour or two to get another boat to give us a tow. So there we sat for about 40 minutes in the sun waiting for another boat. Eventually the other boat arrived, well I say boat in the loosest sense of the word – it was basically a small rowing boat with a 15 hp outboard. As you can imagine it was slow going pulling a large RIB with twelve divers aboard, but it was better than a long slow trip to Morocco which was where the current was taking us. Halfway back to shore and the skipper managed to get the RIB’s 200 hp engine to fire up so we cut loose the row boat and were back at shore in no time.
A few days later I did a bit more diving as my fourteen year old nephew wanted to do a try dive and I decided to tag along. It was only 5 metres but he had a great time and is now keen to get on an open water course. That's him on the right with the dive guide in the background So what does Lanzarote have to offer ? Well its great place to go on a family holiday, there is lots to see and do apart from diving and the people are really friendly. Hire a car if you can it's worth it. The volcanos are interesting if you like that sort of thing and there is a large market every weekend were you can buy all the normal holiday bargains (or tat, whatever your perspective). You can also have a go at surfing as they run a surf school on the west of the island, this is a great day out. Beach Boys eat your heart out. The diving is varied, and deep ! it's not on a par with the Red Sea or the Caribbean but there are some very nice dives to be had if you find the right people to take you out. Lanzarote - certainly not grotty.

Christmas Club Dive trip

If anyone is interested Paul Hart is organising a Christmas trip to Stoney Cove on Tuesday 30th December. In past years it's always been a jolly outing and a good chance to test out all that new kit you got for Christmas. If you are interested and not too plastered after the Christmas excess, his contact details are on the CDWC Buddy Line or send him an email

Courses Running For The Rest Of The Year

It almost over for this year but check out the training pages because the course dates for next year are now up.

Newsletter changes

This will be the last newsletter that is available on the web without a password. From now on the newsletter will only be available to paid up club members and the password will be emailed out to those on the Dive Club list when it is published. The list will be updated as members join or leave. Old newsletters will be still be available without a password once a new newsletter is published but for the latest version make sure you are on the list. Instead of monthly, the newsletter will be quarterly, mainly because there is not enough to write about every month and we have been doing it that way unofficially anyway.

And finally ....

Thank you!

Finally, it’s time to for the end of the year thanks so here we go in no particular order,

All club members that have supported us throughout the year, we try to be competitive on prices and I know occasionally you can get things cheaper elsewhere, but suffice to say without your continued support everyone would need to find another Dive Centre.

The staff from this year, whose numbers have swelled and are as professional as ever and in my opinion the best out there.

INSTRUCTORS: Buzz, Clive, Gwyneth and Paul
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS: Graham and Barry
DIVEMASTERS: Keith, Mike, Dallas and Paul
Not to mention their respective wives and girlfriends who put up with them going away at weekends and Jo, who makes the best sandwiches ever after the pool sessions.

Finally, all those who have helped out with the Club, especially Paul Benson, who always’ manages to find the majority of the raffle prizes and our BBQ cook Kevin Jacobs. (What a sauce)

But wait .... surely we have forgotten something this month .. No witty banter, no close to the knuckle remarks. Could we possibly finish off the year without a final word by the Fireman of course not (actually yes we could - ed). So here he is, yours truly, mouth on a stick, it's the Fireman.

THE END OF THE YEAR BIT.
By Fireman Sam.

Huzzar!!! Well people, it’s crept up on us again as the title suggests, but how could I leave you all without putting me bit in, (easy!). Oh yes, it’s the one that everyone would like to see on the end of a speargun, (namely the sharp end!), the most eligible one from the dive club with the worlds longest web site address. You know the SP. less barbie, more balls and with a humour drier than happy hour at a Betty Ford clinic. Oh yes! But to start with, some sad news. I regret to inform the club of the tragic loss of a close personal item that belonged to me good self. Yes, the lurve cruiser is now sitting on several supermarket shelves up and down the country holding various foodstuffs for public consumption. I was heartbroken………(translation - I think he means that clapped out old van -ed)

But as they say, you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs!!!! So, exit lurve cruiser, enter Little Puppy! Oh yes, it’s big, it’s beautiful, it’s bloody expensive to run so if you see me with no shirt on me back then you know why (translation 2 - clapped out Frontera ;-) ed). You only live once people so what the hell!
What? What was that? Cut the flannel and give us a story?…. Oh people you’re just too good to me, bless. OK then, let’s have a think. Right then, try this on for size….

I fancied a bit of a night out the other day so, having not been there for a while, I thought I pay a visit to me local club, The Bullet Wound, just around the corner, fantastic. After getting togged up with me jump leads tie, I was ready to hit the bar, the floor and anything else that sounded good. Walking up to the door, the bouncer said, “You can come in here but don’t try and start anything!”……Smart guy! Still, things were rocking and so was I, so much so that the foxy little chinese number across the dance floor giving me the eye was hot to trot! I was in their like swimwear! A short journey in Little Puppy brought me to her pad in a quiet leafy suburb down town. She slipped into something more comfortable, I slipped a couple of viagara and, having not swallowed them properly, ended up with a stiff neck……But it was cool! Things were starting to happen. We moved closer and I whispered in her ear, “Hey baby, how about a little sixty-nine?” “You what!” she said. “If you think I’m cooking at this time of night you can bloody well forget it!”

So there you go people, another case of crashed and burned. At least I can count on you, the lovely hers and sir’s of our fine establishment, for a bit of support. Anyway, I know that some of you have had reason to celebrate this year, like those of you that have completed courses, whatever they might have been. For those of you that have, a big well done from me good self to you all. As always, the shop gets bigger and better every time I stick me head through the door but I’ve been assured that the rumours about the wall being taken down between us and the empty unit next door are just that!

And what of next year, I hear you ask? Well, as far as the big ones go, we’re talking Red Sea of course, Scapa Flow and Malta so I hope that’s got your diving taste buds going. As always though, keep your eyes peeled on the website for dates and info about those and other trips and carry on’s. The address? Oh yes, www.cambridgediveandwatersports.co.uk, (See, I told you it was big!). And of course yours truly will be giving it his all to bring you the who’s, the what’s and the d’you mind if I don'ts for your viewing pleasure. I hope you enjoy reading them as I do writing them.

Time to sign off folks, so where ever you are, what ever your doing or who ever your with, I’ll leave you with this….. From me here to you all out there, have a very Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Take care down there people.

Welcome to the November/December 2003 edition of the Newsletter

Planned Club Trips for 2004

FEATURE ARTICLES BY CLUB MEMBERS

Lanzarote - lotty or grotty ? - by Paul Hart.

And finally ....

Old Newsletters