Easter Weekend Swanage Trip - 7th April

It's Easter weekend and we're not diving!  What is going on?

That was the thought that ran through my head when i finally worked out Easter was coming up!  Unfortunately by that time most people already had plans which meant that it was probably going to be me, myself and I and threesomes can be problematic!

However, to the rescue came Clive and Steve who were equally up for a dive over the weekend sometime.

We decided on Swanage as, despite its distance, its fairly easy to do as you ring up, book a space and then turn up.  The weather looked like it could be ok so it was all systems go.

Steve collected me at 3:40 and then we tore off to Clive's to find him loading up the car ready to go, although without any bacon butties.

Clive, can we get it in the car?

As expected the roads where fairly quiet and we got down to Swanage and ended up 5th or 6th in the queue.  We were then treated to 2 car loads of muppets who decided to join the queue in reverse and when the gats opened they actually reversed all the way down the pier...right up to the point where the banksman stopped them for us to do a three-point-turn and reverse into a tidy little space by the shop.  the expressions on their faces was priceless.

The Railway Children

We had a fair bit of time before the dive so we went up the road for a wander and were inexorably drawn to the railway station where we paused for some quiet reflection and pictures of the steam crane.  Then it was back to the Seagull cafe for a coffee and finally a bacon buttie.

Around 9:00 we started kitting up and were at the end of the pier ready to load onto the Skua at about 9:15 (yes a little bit early) for our 10:00 trip.  We loaded the boat and it ended up with 12 of us, 2 rebreathers and the rest on singles.

Steve and Clive waving at the camera!

It was a short trip out to the Kyarra and then we were in!  I can only say at this point that I'm glad that Steve and Clive had yellow and orange suits on respectively.  Otherwise we'd all have been diving solo. we got to the wreck together only because we went down the same shot but at the bottom the viz was about a metre although it was a very short, dirty metre.  We had a good bimble around but it seemed that even the fish weren't up for it as there was very little life free swimming, it was all sheltering under the plates and wreckage, nearly ever piece of plate we looked under had something hiding under it.

We held out for 30 odd minutes and then decided it really wasn't going to improve so headed up.  Once on the boat, freezing cold (wind had picked up) and contemplating a drift in similar viz we decided not to do the second dive and just get some lunch.

All told the day was a good laugh and as we all know a day with a dive is better than one without!

The strategy of organising Branch Diving within Bermondsey 42

This is a document to describe to the wider membership the strategy adopted for branch diving this current year, and hopefully for years to come....

Dive boats are booked firstly a year in advance in some cases. Rarely can boats be booked at the last minute. The odd dive spaces however often appear at the last minute on other clubs charters, but with a branch as active as ours we cannot operate that ad-hoc.

The criteria used are:

Tides – I will aim mainly for neaps. Some charters such as “Dive 125” out of Eastbourne helpfully provide information on whether the tide is flowing or ebbing, whether the surface interval will be a few hours of as many as 4 hours.

The day – Based on the above, I will also aim to provide a mix of day dives that will be Saturday's and Sunday's.

Somewhere different! - In order to keep things interesting, I will try out new boats. The "same old, same old" really doesn't inspire does it? It is not a valid argument either to state "we always go there". Diving should be a challenge. To see new sites, new wrecks, new reefs, new pubs even! Keeps things interesting!

Filling boats! - Historically we have never been good at filling boats. Sometimes we do, but over the past few years, it has only been bad weather with a skipper "calling it", that we have avoided some big losses. To mitigate this we tried a "joint venture" with Dagenham BASC last year. The year before that we booked some spaces on some RIBS. This year we have a number of boats where the limit is 8 rather than the normal 12. Next year, with more trainees ready to compete for dive spaces a different strategy again might be required.

Weekends – I will try and put some weekends in the mix too. This year, because of the Olympics we chose to avoid Weymouth, but a number of weekends have been booked.

We are returning to dive a long weekend at Mevagissey. Formerly known as DiveFest (now defunct), those going decided to make it work regardless. This is the 3rd year we have been there. In 2010, just 4 of us went. In 2011, there were 5, but this year 12 are going for 4 days of hard boat diving.

We are also committed to diving equally further afield in Salcombe over the August Bank Holiday. This is a new location, that will give access to some sites we reach from Plymouth, but a few new sites will be available too.

We also have two weekends in Swanage, but I’ll talk about those specifically below in the Training section.

Holidays – A branch tradition that was revived a good few years ago, with a branch trip to Malta. Followed by a couple of trips to the Red Sea, the Scilly Isles, with other private trips to Norway, Micronesia, the Orkney and Shetland Islands. A loosely applied logic is that destinations would alternate between a UK based location and a warmer clime location every year. This year a trip is organised to Scapa Flow (and probably wont be returning for a good few years). Next year, further trips are planned back to Micronesia and also to Antarctica.

Training – We are a vibrant club. Any visit to the pool on a Wednesday will be a witness to the activity that takes place. We have many trainees, some of whom have completed their pool training, some still undergoing. These will be the Diving Officers and Chairman's of the future. It has always been stated that maintaining a commitment to training is the lifeblood of any branch. We don't need to look too far afield to see branches that have given up on training and membership dwindles to nothing. Members move away and aren't replaced. Financial commitments change priorities. Bermondsey BSAC is approaching 56 years of existence and is looking more healthy now than ever. With a limited number of dive spaces available for trainees (after all half the spaces would need to be Dive Leaders!), we have booked a number of training weekends in Swanage. The Dive Leaders get their own decent dive first thing, with the remaining day filled with “get 'em wet” diving, whether by boat to an easy location or “under the pier”. With so many trainees a radical solution is needed. Some training day dives have also occurred at the nearby lakes of Kent.

Dives organised by others – I would firstly argue, why does it HAVE to be organised by the DO? The answer is that it doesn’t, but it is usually left as the “DO's job”. So if any diver wants to arrange there own diving that suits their own needs then GO FOR IT! All that matters is that the diving is organised to the level of competency of those going, and that the Code of Safe Diving Practices is followed, and the DO is advised. If you dont tell the DO, and ignore Safe Diving, then you are at risk of not being covered by the BSAC Insurance should something happen. It would also be helpful to not book anything that clashes with the branch list.

What the DO does not do! - The DO does not book dives to satify the needs of any particular individual.

What the DO does do! - The DO endeavours to achieve a balanced dive programme that reflects the needs of as broad a spectrum as can be achieved. The DO will never satisfy everybody....!

If anyone wants to repond with comments please do!

Diving from Shoreham 1st April 2012

by Kim Thomas and Pat Connelly

The day started sunny, but still quite cold outside with the external temperature sensor on my car reading 4 degrees C at 8am, when it was time to set off. However by the time we all arrived in Shoreham at 9.30, the sun had risen far enough in the sky to start improving the outside temperature.

It may have seemed like an April fools day joke when it appeared on the dive calendar but the day turned out to be anything but.

The Buccaneer is a new destination for us, and based at the Sussex Yacht Club in Shoreham along the coast between Brighton and Worthing, and a different part of the South coast to our usual haunts giving the chance to try some new wrecks. It isn’t a large boat, with bench seating on one side only. It became clear why the skipper limits the boat to 8 divers. In fact we were only 6, so we were able to test out the boat with relative ease.

Parking is “wherever you can between the boats”, with 2 trolleys available to transport kit down on to the pontoon and then onto the boat. “Ropes away” was at a leisurely pace at about 10:15 with tea and coffee being handed out. We met at the civilised hour of 10am, parking was right by the pontoon, and the sun was shining and the sea flat calm all day.

It was a “blast from the past” for Kim. The skipper Chris and his crew Dave were members of Brighton BSAC when he was also a member, so it was great to see them again after some 23 or so years.

We were given the safety briefing before we departed, including how to use the head and where the O2 set was….. We were also briefed on the skipper’s routine for the anchor. He uses a grapnel, and the first pair would use a piece of string at the end of the rope to tie the anchor line to the wreck. They would then unhook the anchor chain and send it up on a lifting bag. The subsequent pairs would come down the tied off rope.

The dive pairs would be Kim/Ken; Pat/Victor; with Barry and Maggie diving together.

After a short steam out we kitted up for the first dive on the “Pentrych”; sunk by U-Boat torpedo in 1918 in 21m of water. Jumping in with usual anticipation we were not disappointed. The first thing we all noticed on the “Pentrych” was the amazing viz which was well into double figures. You really could wander off and still see your buddy. With amazing viz you could really see the splendour of this wreck. It was stocked with plenty of fish life which with the sun shining offered some good photo opportunities. The wreck itself is broken up with the boilers exposed, ribs standing up in a few places and plates scattered about. The wreck is small enough to go around it twice in the 40 minute dive the viz being so good you could recognise where you were on the wreck

Barry brought up a crab (too small, so thrown back), and a nice Plaice. Pat brought up a bigger crab, but berried, so also thrown back too. A good few lobbies weren’t coming out to play.

After a short surface interval we dived on the inshore wreck of the “Miown”, a concrete barge. This was a trip down memory lane for Kim as this was his first ever sea dive in 1985. The wreck is very broken up and not really recognisable as such, with a few plates and lumps of concrete forming a new reef. The tide had turned and visibility was reduced to about 3m, life on the wreck is more of the small variety, starfish crabs and fan worms. After half an hour we called it a day and surfaced.

Once back in port a post dive de-brief was held in the conservatory of the yacht club where we all agreed that on April fools day the joke was on those who thought it was too early in the season as we had enjoyed what will be one of the best dives of the season.

LIDS 2012 - Maybe LIDS lite would have been a better title...

A good number of the club membership went to the London International Dive Show this year but after speaking to most of them the general consensus seems to be that it was a little sparse.

If you didn't get a chance to go then take a look at the picture and see for yourself but there just seemed to be a lot of space between the stands and the stands themselves were very small.  After speaking to a few of the exhibitors it seems the cost for a stand has gone up quite a bit.

There were some good presentations going on, Mark Powell talking about Solo Diving, Paul Rose (yes the bloke from TV) talking about his diving life and then various others ranging from filming Crocodiles in the water to How to win Photography competitions.

We did meet the skipper from the Newhaven boat we've booked for a couple of trips this year and he seems a really nice guy and I think we all got some ideas for where we could potentially dive next year as well.

The Southern Region team very kindly put some of our cards out on their table and quite a few went which is always a good sign.

There were a few bargains to be had and some of our newer members took advantage but after the success of the Big Scuba Show last year it just didn't seem to stand up.

What did you think?

Buckland or Bust! - 24th March

by Victor Grayson
Following on from last week’s training day at Holborough Lakes, today the club ventured out to another Kent dive site – Buckland Lake, near Cliffe. 14 of us – including 6 who have joined the club in the last year – arrived early for a day of training, testing kit and getting a few shake-down dives logged, ready for the start of the dive season.

The morning fog disappeared not long after we arrived, and the sun was blazing by the time everyone finished their first dip. Most reported a good dive – better visibility and slightly warmer water than last week, more Ocean Diver skills completed, and interesting things to see underwater (although the famous shark was away being repaired, apparently). Lee and Chris logged the longest dive of the day at an impressive 41 minutes, despite Chris being (but not freezing) in a wetsuit. Dave and Joe found a mysterious new gelatinous species in the bottom of the lake. Brett continued his foray into documentary filmmaking, and Maggie made the surface all fizzy with her free-flowing regulator, before sensibly terminating the dive.

Buckland Lake has a raised decking area with picnic tables which – being south-facing – proved to be a real sun trap, and pleasant enough for sunbathing (in March!). During our surface interval, divers made use of the tea-and-burger van, ate not-space cakes, and gave the resident dog a tummy rub.

The second dive was shorter for most of us, but also enjoyable. After packing up, we were ready and gone before 3pm, with one dry diver making use of the sunny afternoon to explore Cliffe Pools and the Saxon Shore Way nearby. Buckland Lakes is a decent dive site – easy to get to from southeast London, well organised with numbered kitting-up benches for each club, a clear briefing, and enough space. Kit hire seemed steep, and there’s a downhill/uphill walk between the car park and lake, but trolleys made this easier.

 
And so - next week Shoreham! Our first trip to the seaside this year!

Holborough Lake - 17 March 2012

By Pat Connelly and Mariette Ferreira
The great bit about cold water diving is it makes you appreciate how warm a drizzly day in March in the UK really is once you get out of the water.

With this in mind 12 hardy souls gathered at the lake at 9am for a morning of character building training and kit testing; whilst everyone was kitting up those with dry suits explained to those in wetsuits the water would be warm enough to take your breath away. The computer as well as various body parts confirmed it was a refreshing 8 degrees.

Colin who turned up with a note from himself claiming to have a cold was pressed into keeping the dive log and duly noted everyone’s times and declared he would be on the next one.   

There were a number of other divers at the lake and we were the second group in.  Fortunately the visibility was not bad provided you kept off the muddy bottom and our divers in there pairs began a tour of the lakes attractions.  These included several small boats, a transit van, some large tyres and a couple of training platforms which were used for various training exercises.

The conclusions from the first dive were that Peter now thinks the pool is warm; Richard is looking up the ‘How to fix leaks in Joe’s old suit’ course whilst everyone else appreciated the cuppa the dive centre rushes into your hands as you come out of the water

After a break for refreshments the second dive was conducted repeating the tour and completing further training concluding a successful first outing of the season.

-     Clive & Jane - Clive was a little rusty, but Jane luckily had a tube of KY handy. She sorted him out!  

-     Steve & Richard - Went well. Richard was comfortable and competent in the water, but could probably work on his kit-up time.

-     Victor & Pat - Victor practiced DSMB deployment and distance line use, which both went well.  Victor was appointed as Assistant DM and efficiently delegated all his duties to Colin. Future Club Chairman in the making!

-     Lars & Peter - a few unplanned surface intervals, but went well overall. All skills for OO1 and OO2 completed comfortably. Also did AS and CBL.

-     Mariette, Grant & Brett - Grant was very comfortable in the water with good buoyancy control. All skills for OO1 and OO2 completed successfully.

-     Colin - had a cold so couldn't dive, but helped with surface cover.

We have another session booked for 24 March at Buckland for anyone needing open water training or would just to like a shake down dive before we start diving for the year to make sure all you kit still works.

Committee Meeting Notes - 8 March

We had another Committee Meeting on 8th March and the following points and actions were discussed:

- A Dive Manager's Pack containing details relevant to the dive and the club phone will be put together - to be circulated to each dive's DM 

- Dive Managers will be appointed now for the rest of the season based on the dive list to give members visibility in advance

- All members should contact the club phone the evening before a dive to find out whether the dive is still on. The DM will keep the club phone. Club phone number: 07518398845

- The website has been updated with Hints & Tips, Training Schedule, updated joining fees, new committee details and updated Dive Schedule (thanks Brett!!)

- Dive list for first dive of the season (Shoreham - April 1st) was reviewed

- Attendees and instructor support for the open water inland dives in March (17th & 24th) were discussed

- James from our favourite dive shop, Amphibian, was invited to join us one Wednesday evening to show off some of his new kit and to give new members the opportunity to ask questions and get advice about kit. Wednesday 11 April has been provisionally agreed for him to come down

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, ideas or offers of support (always welcome!), please get in touch with any member of the committee.