Emergency First Response Course - 3rd December This is not just for divers, although every diver should complete this course, as this covers everything from minor scrapes and burns to full CPR with defibrillator training. One day out of your life might just save someone else’s. £79 Christmas Club Night - 6th December Just a reminder for your diary’s that the first Wednesday in December is the Christmas club night, where we have a full buffet, large raffle and a drink with all your new diving buddies. Not to be missed and partners etc are all welcome. Egypt 10th-17th December Our annual winter trip leaves the dark and damp shores of the UK behind and heads off to the near perfect climate of Sharm-El-Sheikh for a week of relaxed diving on the coral reefs of the Red Sea. Flights, transfers, B&B accommodation in one of Sharm’s finest hotels and 5 days spectacular boat diving are all included on this trip in December and what can you write about this trip that hasn’t already been written as one of the worlds favourite dive destinations. Don’t forget that none divers can enjoy the relaxed atmosphere in and around the hotel while the divers disappear for a few hours each day, only to return each afternoon in time for a few cocktails before heading off for the evening to sample the delights that the town has to offer. Limited spaces left, so don’t delay in letting us know if you’re interest. £599 Christmas meal - week commencing 18th December We need suggestions before the November meeting to arrange the night out the week before Christmas. Last year 38 of us descended on a local restaurant for a good meal and a few drinks, so we have the option to do something similar this year, although Simon has come up with a suggestion to go bowling at the ten pin bowling alley near the Dive Centre and an optional meal after. Let me know what you think. Christmas Club Dive - Stoney Cove - 29th December Yes, your last chance to get wet in Stoney Cove in 2006 with the dive club. This now infamous trip promises to sort the men from the boys (ladies welcome to !). Last year we had snow so a shortie is optional and a dry suit is recommended. £Free except for the Stoney entrance fee Thailand 31st March - 14th April 2007 We need to book the flights for those that wanted to come to Thailand next year so it’s time to get the deposits in. All of the details are on a separate sheet available tonight, at the Dive Centre and on line, but from as little as £1073.00 for 14 days of luxury and plenty of diving we expect this to be the trip of 2007, making it imperative you let us know if you’re interested. FEATURE ARTICLES BY CLUB MEMBERSWales Trip by Paul Hart Ian Tasker and myself decided to take the Friday off and get an extra dive in Dorothea in the afternoon and then meet the others in the pub later in the evening. This would give us time to have a shallower try out dive with all of our kit prior to the deeper dive on Saturday. Graham, Michael and Andy where also going to do some diving and Cliff, Richard and Dallas were coming along to do a bit of walking, which turned out to be more like mountaineering, in the snow capped peeks around Snowdon.
Ian's car was heavily loaded and we had a few delays on the way so we got to Dory at around 5:00. The weather was not too bad but it was a bit grey by the time we got into the water at 6:00. Vis was about a foot, like a green soup, however we stuck with it and descended down the road where the water started to get a lot better and we now had about 6-7 metres visibility. The layer of murky water above us, added to the lack of sunlight meant it was dark - very dark. At one point I wasn't sure if we had actually swam into an overhead environment by mistake as there was barely any light above us. After around 40 minutes we decided to call it a day. Sure enough it was raining back on the surface. Then we had to face that hill - luckily we had a sack barrow to drag the twins up the slope (this is what it looks like in the daylight) - it's about 30 degrees !
We met the others in the pub and after a few drinks, a few stories and a good meal it was off to the bunk house. This one was new and was warm and clean. However the 'bed' was just nine mattresses side by side so it was a bit cosy. Nobody wanted to sleep near Dallas as the male rape stories had been 'leaked' to the new guys but eventually we all settled down for the night. Yes, the boffin in the foreground is Cliff, just getting in a few paragraphs of geology, or something similar, before bed.
The following day the walkers headed for the hills while the rest of us headed back to the water. Graham, Michael and Andy were diving together and, as they hadn't dived at Dory before, planned to stay in the shallow area. Ian and Myself went off to do a deeper dive. Visibility in Dorothea seems to get better the deeper you go and we weren't disappointed. It was virtually pitch black but with very good vis, and the torch beams shone out into the darkness just lighting parts of the cliff face, looking down we could see the cliff descending below us into the 90 metre area - way off limits to us on air. Pretty soon it was time to start our ascent. 20 minutes of deco stops later and we were back on the surface. A cracking dive site so long as you stay within the limits of your training and carry plenty of gas. Graham and his group were already out and I was hoping for some help getting the twins and 7 litre deco cylinders back up the hill. No such luck, Graham was happy to let us struggle - cheers mate ! Their dive had been green soup the whole way so they weren't doing another one. Pity they didn't go a bit deeper as it was much better but as Graham didn't know the lake he didn't want to swim off a cliff in zero vis - good call. We packed up and headed for the pub to meet the walkers and hear about their exploits in the snow up the mountain. Sunday we headed for Vivian, stopping off at Pete's Eats for a bit of breakfast first. Michael was going to do his Dry Suit dives while Graham and Andy went off on their own. On our last dive of the day Michael and I took the scooters in for a bit of a play. Something about them makes me want to hum the James Bond theme. That's the first time I've managed two circuits of Vivian in 20 minutes on about 50 bar of air. Pretty soon it was time to leave and it was raining again so we packed up and headed for home. Another weekend of good diving, good food and good company.
And finally ....I've asked before, but I'll ask again. If you are going on any club trips then please take a few snaps and write a bit about the trip and send it to us for the newsletter. It doesn't need to be a novel, just a few paragraphs and will give us a chance to produce more newsletters. Pretty soon I'm going to have to rename it 'Paul's Dive Trips'. |
||||||||||||
|
|
April 06
December 05
April 05
November 04
September 04
April 04
|
Newsletter Email If you would like to |
