Charnwood Saltz BSAC 934

Teignmouth August 2009

Well Teignmouth was going to be Lowesoft until we got the call on Thursday night with the news that we had been blown out so a quick bit of re-planning by Leigh and Teignmouth it was, so after a good drive down and a not to bad night camping we set about getting the club boat ready for the water the first time in a couple of years. Everything seamed to go well on our first run out my self and Dave having chance to get used to the boat under the experienced eye of Leigh,

RYA Boat Handling Course 2010

A boat handling course will be taking place in feb/March 2010, the exact date yet to be arrange. The course will teach you the basic boat handling techniques you need to skipper a diving RIB. The course is reconised by BSAC which will come in handy for your diving qualifications.

The venue will be Swansea and it is to be held over two days, the two days being a Saturday and Sunday.

I would encourage all club members regardless of diving qualification to consider this course, it is a great weekend and a great set of skills to obtain and enjoy.

The price of the course is £90 per person. In addition to this accomadation, travel and food need to be considerd. Once I have numbers I can start to look at accomadation, I do have some contacts in Swansea so it should be cheap.

To book a place or ask a question please call me

Pete Nicholls

English Channel

Having completed the ERD course over the winter it was time to put my new skills into practice, and venture some 20+ miles out from Littlehampton to dive three fantastic wrecks over three days.

Someone aboard had brought the weather with them, which made the two hour journey out to the Moldavia an almost tropical experience. It also gave me plenty of time to get to know my buddy with whom I would dive with for the next few days. His calm manour and readyness to pass on his knowledge put me a ease which was what I needed before commencing my first 50m dive at sea. New boat, new people, new dive site and pushing my skills further put me back in touch with the feelings we've all felt in our early days of diving. A very humbling experience.

Swanage

August wasn't the best of the summer months so with fingers crossed we made the journey to Swanage to meet our Welsh friends and indulge in some of the wrecks the area has to offer.

Sunrise on Thrsday morning gave way to a flat sea and bright skies so before we knew it we were decending the shot line to the midships of the Kyarra. With 4/5m vis it was a perfect introduction to wreck diving for the guys who had come along to gain more experience at depth and futher the skills learnt over the long winter months. A 32% mix gave us a nice long bottom time with plenty to explore on our way from the boilers to the stern. On releasing the DSMB it was clear to see and feel the reason this wreck is only dived on a slack.

St Abbs 2009

All packed and ready to go, 12 members of Charnwood Saltz SAC descended upon the unsuspecting harbour at St Abbs, Scotland. At just about the half way between Berwick and Berwick upon Tweed, on the east coast, the monolithic journey from the ‘borough was over.

When asked in January, on a cold Wednesday night, about the preferred accommodation for a diving trip in Scotland in May (which seemed all too close, and therefore probably would still be cold!), it is only understandable that people with less hardy skins might take the offer of a cottage complete with proper beds, albeit shared rooms, over the lure of any campsite. For a reasonable fee these less hardy types enjoyed an incredible luxury: being able to roll out of bed and straight into the dive boat at our Skipper’s designated time of departure. Those of us camping had the arduous 5 minute car journey to cope with! So as you can probably tell: nothing was going to be stressful this weekend- provided the weather kept its end of the bargain! I don’t know who he paid, or what kind of rain dance he did, but in organising this trip Jeff had obviously inadvertently charmed the weather Gods, as nothing but hot, hot sunshine rained down onto our now slightly pink skins all weekend!

Plymouth

Arriving at Bovisands in the dark and driving rain it seemed the diving season had begun were it had left off last year but what a difference a few hours of moonlight can make, early Saturday morning we arose to a glorious almost summers day and we were to be blessed by the weather for the remainder of the weeekend.

With a heavy swell, head into the wind and the sun on our back we beat our way out to the HMS Scylla for our fist sea dive of the season. Four divers decended onto the wreck, greeted by some 10 meters of visibilty they finned off in their buddy pairs to enjoy a fantastic 50 minutes on what is now fast becoming a wreck that belongs to the sea. With Dead Mans Fingers and Plumose Anemomes carpeting her sides and Pollock patroling her decks, the cheecky Wrasse flitting about the Scylla seems to be gaining some sort of character that is a must for any wreck to enable her to live on whilst on the sea bed.

St Abbs Weekend 22 to 25 May 09

We have 12 divers and a full boat for St Abbs! Participants are Martins Luck and Crewe, Luka, Lydia, Jeff, John, Pete and Faye, Tim, Alison and Phil and myself. That's 3 OD trainees, 1 OD crossover, 3 OWI/CIs and 3 Assistant instructors/Dive Leader trainees - a good mix of trainees and experienced divers/instructors. The 2 Martins, Luka and Lydia should gain relevant experience in Stoney Cove soon. Please see your instructor or Tim (DO) asap to arrange.

Regards

Graham

New Dates Added to Calendar

18 March Night Dive Stoney Cove Contact Tim or Sue

1 April AGM followed by Curry Contact Maria or Tim

4/5 April Bovy Sand Trip Contact Leigh

25/26 July Venue to be decided Contact Pete

27/28 Aug Swanage - Advanced Divers Contact Pete

29/30 Aug Swanage – All Levels Contact Pete

Also Jeff is trying to arrange a Level 2 power boat handling course in Pembroke if you are interested please can you contact him.

ERD Course

After a long journey down the M5 I arrived at Chepstow NDC for a weekend of extended range divng instruction. With the instructors being Jack Ingle and Andy Hyat I was eyes and ears open and looking forward to the next few days.

The Extended Range Diving course is about giving you the skills to dive deeper for longer on air using different mixed gases for excellerated deco and the use of twin sets and stage cylinders. Along with correct dive planning and effects and dangers of deep diving.

With day one starting with a session on kit configuration straight away my attitude to what I was wearing, how I was wearing it and how I was using it was completely transformed and that was only the first two hours.

Club Competition

We have 2 tickets for LIDS 2009 to be won. Its a simple competition open to all club members.

Simple email your answer to the below question to info@charnwoodsaltz.org.uk before the 17th March and we will draw the winner from all the correct answers on the 18th of March.

Question: Who will be speaking in the The Underwater Centre A Career in Commercial Diving Seminar? (check out www.diveshows.co.uk to find the answer)

GET YOUR 2009 SEASON OFF TO A FLYING START AT LIDS 2009

This year’s London International Dive Show on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March aims to put the smiles on visitors’ faces again, by gathering an impressive list of over 200 exhibitors and top names from the diving world over a sparkling weekend.