Buoyancy And Trim Workshop - 30th March 2013

by Ken

The BTW is a day long course to help divers understand and improve their buoyancy skills, the idea being that once buoyancy is second nature when deploying a DSMB mid water or holding a stop.

Having stayed overnight a couple of miles away, I arrived at Vobster Quay at 8.15 to discover the gates were still closed and a queue of a dozen or two cars ahead of me. Eventually I as let in, handed a plastic tag to use instead of money, and parked down near the water. This was my first visit and I was impressed, mostly because the water is close to everything including the parking.

Asking in the shop I was pointed upstairs to a classroom where Martyn Bowie and various instructors from Southern Region were hanging about. Gradually the rest of the students appeared. They were a mix from new Ocean Divers through to Open Water Instructors and people with more than twenty years diving behind them. We soon got going with a couple of hours of lectures covering the symptoms of bad buoyancy, getting weighting correct, use of bcd vs drysuit and how to adjust your angle in the water (trim) by adjusting kit.

There were twelve students and four instructors so about 11.30 we were split into groups of three students. My task loading was reduced by having both my fellow students called Caroline, I made up for that by diving a configuration I’d never tried before. Since getting a new suit and wing it was the first time I’d dived a single cylinder. I literally had no idea how much lead to use so once we’d been briefed I got in quickly to check whether I had enough lead to get down.

Then we were off for the first dive which concentrated on seeing how our control and trim were to begin with and a couple of exercises to see what needed work. This involved some hovering and keeping still by a small winglet on a sunken plane and then later seeing how we rolled when getting neutral and the keeping arms and legs completely still. Following those we stopped a couple of times on the way up with a proper stop at 5m. This is where my new suit got the better of me. Rather than being nicely horizontal I spent half the stop with my feet pointing at the surface partially upside down! This wasn’t any fun but since I didn’t have an excess of gas in my suit I wasn’t at risk of disappearing skywards but got to practice rolling out of the inversion.

The last part of this dive was to dump the gas from our cylinders and do a weight check, making sure we could stay down in 3m with a nearly empty cylinder.

Once out of the 5C water it was time for a hot drink, some food and some analysis of our issues. One of the Carolines had been being rolled over by her pony cylinder and moved her lead about a bit. I lost a couple of kg of lead from my belt and replaced it with ankle weights hoping to be better able to stay horizontal.

Due to the cold it was agreed that the second dive would be as quick as would cover the evaluation. Thus the dive consisted of a lot of hovering. We trried to keep different stop depths within a narrow band while not having to fin or wave arms about. Once that was over Caroline and Caroline abandoned us, allowing me to redo some horizontal hovering to see how the ankle weights had helped. Finally I spent three minutes dumping 100 bar from a 15l at 4m to be sure I still had enough weight to stay down. Being forgetful I did this in one long purge so managed to freeze the first stage. James has my reg to fit a cold water kit now.

Once out the first priority was to get warm again. Luckily Vobster has the best changing space I’ve encountered, both warm and dry. Then it was debrief time. Caroline was much happier having fixed her rolling problem and Martyn was happy that we had all met the required standard. In fact all twelve students had met at least the ‘Gold’ standard of +/- 0.5 m which is required for courses such as Advanced Decompression Procedures.

This was a very good course. It was very helpful to be able to just concentrate on this one fundamental aspect of diving that is so important for how relaxed you feel in the water.

More details here:

http://www.bsac.com/page.asp?section=3602&sectionTitle=Buoyancy+and+Trim+Workshop

London Dive Show - 23rd-24th March 2013

The weekend of the 23rd and 24th March saw club members venture through the driving sleet to Excel in East London, for the annual London Internation Dive Show. Bermondsey BSAC had a stall, or a "pod", in the BSAC corner of the hall, nestled between Aldershot and Bushey & Borehamwood branches.  Both days went well, with many people enquiring about the poster of our litterpick dive in Canada Water last year, and we received a good number of questions about the club, what we do, where we meet, how often we dive, and what training we run.

Thanks to Mariette, Lars, Dave, Clive, Eddie, Teresa, Victor, Elaine, Alan, Jane, Lee and Brett for setting up and staffing the stall and/or generally helping out.

Buckland Training Trip - 13th March 2013

Lee, Maggie, Jane, Chris, Victor, Bjørn, Peter, Jill, Daniel B and Frank gathered on Saturday morning for training, shakedown dives, and a bit of a bimble. Lee organised and instructed, Maggie provided shore cover and noted air, times, depth etc, and Jane also stayed dry and assisted divers. 8 of us did the first dive, 4 did a second. Due to other groups cancelling that morning, Bermondsey BSAC had the run of the place (or the splash of the place, due to the lake having been topped up by recent rainfall). Jill and Daniel both completed dive 001 - the first Open Water Dive/Lesson of the Ocean Diver training.

Jill

It was a somewhat chilly Saturday, and a brave group of ten souls travelled down to the Buckland lake dive centre to dip their toes in the water. The air temperature was a balmy 9 degrees Celsius and I later found out the water temperature was 5 degrees although I wasn’t sure what this would be like. The last time I had been diving was in Mexico and the water temp was like a warm bath. On my part there was quite a bit of slow movement getting ready to get in the water.

I was buddied up with instructor Victor who went over the pre-dive checks and what we would be doing once we got into the water. By the time we were done, the other divers had already entered into the water, and since there was very little shrieking from the water temperature, Victor and I decided it was time.

It turns out 5 degrees is very much like an ice bath and the greatest effect was a burning feeling on lips from the cold which never went away. Visibility was reasonably good I thought and I could see Victor at all times while following the underwater lines that led us to the platform where I carried out the skills test we had planned. We were in the water for approximately 20 mins and by the end I was very happy to get out.

All in all it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and would definitely go again (although hopefully in a dry suit next time!).

Daniel B

My first lake trip. My first open water dive. My first trip to Buckland.

It was a grey day, a cool eight degrees with a water temperature of four. I was anxious, but quietly hopeful that my history of tolerance to the cold would help me. Well, that and six millimetres of neoprene!

The joviality of the group was infectious and soon everyone was laughing and swapping stories. Then came time for the eight of us that were going in the water to kit up and take the plunge. By the time I had all my kit on I wanted to get in the water to cool off. I took a moment to observe that I was strangely calm given the circumstances but soon lost that thought as I followed my instructor Lee down the entry stairs and into the water.

I was encouraged by the fact that I didn't feel cold, just wet. After struggling at the surface for a few seconds I followed Lee below. The water was murky, with lots of suspended matter spread evenly in all directions. Even so we could see clearly for several metres, which I gather is pretty good.

We found a line heading out to the left from our start point and followed that. We passed several “sites” along the way, including a computer keyboard on a desk, which made me laugh – a very strange experience when one has a regulator in one's mouth. Then, emerging out of the gloom was a wreck – the first I'd witnessed under the water with my own eyes. A fantastic site, evoking all sorts of emotions.

After exploring the side of the wreck Lee and I moved onto a nearby platform and carried out the exercises that were the formal part of the session. It was only when I needed to use my hands to remove my regulator that I noticed just how cold my fingers had got – the rest of me was fine but my hands were painfully cold. So, although I was enjoying my underwater experience, I was glad when Lee signalled our return to shore. Then followed what felt like an age – my fingers unwilling to grasp the clips that released my fin straps. Again Lee came to my rescue.

Upon our return to shore Maggie, our surface cover for the day, informed us we'd been down for 28 minutes – very respectable given the temperatures involved and my general lack of experience.

Firsts are always memorable and I shall take the memory of that day to my grave.

 

Club Committee Meeting – 17th February 2013 – Notes

The new committee (elected at the AGM on 13^th February) met to discuss and agree the following:

 

Apologies

• None

Committee

• Clive is the Chairperson, Brett is Diving Officer, Lars is Treasurer (and will additionally take on Membership Secretary responsibilities), Lee is Training Officer, Ross is Equipment Officer, and Victor is Secretary. Teresa has agreed to be Welfare Officer again.

Training

• Lee suggested having 2 assistant TOs, and will put the idea to potential volunteers – they would need to be willing to do the job, be at least an Assistant Dive Instructor, and regularly be at the pool. Suggested grouping trainees into cohorts, allocated to 1 assistant TO who would be responsible for their training.
• New trainees and try-divers to be received by Victor for induction.
• Lee’s aims for the year are to update the training record, carry on OD and SD training, assist Kim’s Lifesaver SDC and other branch SDCs, and start a Dive Leader cohort.
• Brett will run OT7 on Wednesday.

Data protection

• Approximately 18 months ago the committee decided to not give out or display members’ email addresses in committee messages. This was reviewed and the committee decided not to change this arrangement, however to enable members to email each other, 2 new addresses will be set up – one for the committee to use to email all members, and another for all members to use to email all those other members who have agreed to receive emails from not only the committee. Emails from these addresses will be sent out “blind”, so personal addresses will not be revealed.
• Agreed that the new members form shall include a new section where the member agrees to their contact details being used. The same consent must be obtained from existing members.
• Club needs to publish a privacy statement. Victor to draft a statement based on Branch Officers’ Handbook guidance.
• Lars to keep membership list up-to-date.

Communication

• A standardised, welcoming response email will be sent to new people enquiring about membership, training and try-dives.
• Committee to give some thought to the need for a member taking on responsibility for promotion and marketing.
• AGM minutes need posting online – Victor to draft.

Dive list

• Agreed to use the terms “funded” and “unfunded” to make clear which dives will or will not be covered by the club if a boat isn’t filled.
• Brett to update dive list with an explanation of this.
• Agreed that Divefest shouldn’t be the first dive of the season for trainees or anyone who hasn’t dived for a while.

Kit

• The club currently has 6 full sets of kit. All will go in for servicing before the start of the season.
• With another cylinder and the Dacor regs being brought into use, the club would have 7 sets.
• Agreed to acquire 2 more 12-litre cylinders (possibly part-exchanging one of the club’s 10-litre cylinders). Agreed to spend £350 on kit (any more needs to be discussed again at committee). This means the club will have 7 sets of kit by the end of the latest round of servicing.
• Stabs and regs to be tagged to identify which are compatible with which.
• The small Scubapro stabs should eventually be replaced – this, however, is a future project.

Handover

• Victor to send Branch Details Form to BSAC.

Dive Manager’s Pack

• As well as the name/air/depth/time/etc log sheet, Lars suggested reintroducing a simple DM report sheet, detailing who paid what, section for comments, tick box for letting shore support know everyone returned safely etc. This was agreed. Lars to prepare template. Cost information gathered will be communicated to members, so everyone is clear which dives have been subsidised, and by how much.

Club phone

• Lars to buy cheap (£30-ish) pay-as-you-go phone.
• Brett to delete current branch phone number from website.

LIDS

• Brett has list of dive show stall staffers, but needs more volunteers.
• Stall to have blown-up poster of litter pick, dive list, maps of where we have dived recently (and will dive this year), and crossover information.
• Brett and Mariette working on leaflet.
• Agreed to have bright orange t-shirts for stall staffers.

Medical self-declaration form

• Lars to check whose forms need updating. Brett to bring forms on Wednesday and Saturday for those going on the lake trip.

Next meeting

• April – date to be confirmed.

Annual General Meeting – 13th February 2013 – Notes

 

Approximately 23 branch members met at Cherry Garden School.

Committee apologies

• Mariette

Reports from the 2012 committee

• Dave, Kim, Lars and Brett presented their reports. Lars also summarised Mariette’s.

Club accounts

• Lars distributed a written summary of the club accounts for 2012. The closing balance was £3,834.
• It was noted that BSAC fees are increasing in 2013.
• Lars advised that the current monthly club fees (unchanged for 2 years) are under review. If the club’s outgoings are increased by Fusion, we will unfortunately have to consider an increase.

Communication

• Concern was expressed that members’ email addresses were not visible in messages sent by the committee. It was felt that it would be useful to see all email addresses, so members can see who is receiving information, can keep up-to-date regarding the club’s membership, and can use email addresses to organise lifts etc.
• The committee explained that approximately 18 months ago it was decided not to give out or display members’ email addresses in committee messages, for data protection reasons and to avoid unwanted reply-to-all messages.
• Various potential solutions were discussed. One suggestion was to set up an email address that any member can use to send a message to all members, without members’ email addresses being revealed.
• It was agreed that the new committee review communication arrangements, and put forward proposals/solutions to members.

Constitution

• Various housekeeping changes to the current constitution were proposed.
• There was some discussion about what was included in the current constitution, so it was agreed to post the constitution on the club website.
• It was also agreed that the changes proposed would be sent to all members along with a copy of the constitution, and if no objections were made then the changes would be implemented.

Training Officer’s Report – including Website

• What we did in 2012
• Thanks to all the instructors and members who have helped out with training both in and around the pool and on dives throughout the season.
• Lots of lectures and practical sessions got done, although there still seems to be a few people that don’t turn up and don’t let anyone know. This is obviously very frustrating especially for pool work where an instructor has had to prep and bring all their kit down. Please be mindful of that.
• We’ve worked quite hard this year on recording our dives, both on the logs and as an overall record for the year and so I can tell you that we have managed to dive as a club to depths equal to the Titanic 3 times. Unfortunately we haven’t managed to make it all the way back yet and we have a lot of Deco to do but it’s still pretty impressive.
• We also tried recording air consumption but that was slightly more problematic as that is one thing we as a club aren’t so good at recording but with the growth of our trainees we will be able to get Assistant Dive marshal’s involved taking the records. This would then be useful for us all to see how our air consumption decreases over the year and give us some benchmarks for our individual training.
• We didn’t attend many SDC’s this year. Mainly it was the Dive Leaders doing their Practical Rescue Management and O2 Admin. However, we are planning on running some of these internally and getting to the stage when we can run more.
• How I see us going forward in 2013
• Increasing the number of Assistant Training officers seconded to help out with training. This will hopefully mean that all grades will be getting assistance and encouragement to progress.
• Victor has already taken over the administration of the Training Records Sheet which he will update and with the new Training Officer work to include Instructors filling in lectures and practical’s they have given. Just a reminder that not only is the record a great resource for the Training Team to see who needs what but also acts as a backup in case people lose their qualification books.
• We’ve created an Instructors resource folder in Dropbox so all active instructors can get hold of the latest Visual Aids, Teaching Notes and literature for lessons. This also means that we’re all singing from the same song sheet which can be quite difficult to keep up with as things do change rapidly within the BSAC training regime.
• We’ve already got a volunteer to take the Lifesaver SDC in April and we’ll also be running the Dry‐Suit course again around the same time so that those who need it can attend.
• We have talked about and should implement the running of a Rescue Skills refresher for any and all members who intend diving this year. We are lucky enough not to use these skills regularly so the importance of practice is increased.
• Web Site, Blog and Social Media
• The website is currently looking ok, some updates to do after the AGM but generally we’re looking good. The one comment that we do get is that our website is more current than a lot of sites which to be honest is more good luck than anything else. With that in mind I’m in the process of coercing a couple of people in the club into helping out with content, trip reports, photos and articles to keep it fresh and as other sets of eyes checking things out. I’m also going to create a video gallery as we’ve had a few good videos before but never enough to create a whole page. Following the Litterpick, Bjorn’s Flick and a massive upsurge in people with video capable cameras I think this is going to change so I’ll get on with that. Thanks to Joe, Pat, Paddy and Bjorn for the footage we have so far which we’ll now showcase. However, that does not mean that everyone else can abdicate responsibility. If you see something that you think is wrong, could be improved, needs including, then let us know.
• I’ve also spoken to Simon at SCUBA and said that we’re getting better at writing articles for the blog so he’s going to keep looking at it and if he sees anything he can use then he’ll ask us for it. To that end if you have an article you want to write for the blog then send it over, with pictures. Must be relevant to the sport but can be about a piece of kit, a trip, a course, a wreck...you get the point.
• We now have a Dropbox for members that you have all been invited to. For those amongst you who like the Len Deighton spy books you’ll have an idea what this is but basically it’s an online storage box for things that we all have access to and can add to. Currently this has Critters, Dive Magazines, Dive Sites (wrecks, locations, and accommodation), Photos (in albums), and a Photography Skills folder with some useful tips and hints on taking pics. The beauty of this is also that you can install Dropbox onto your own computer and it will synchronise with the online version every time you connect so you always have the latest information. The system can also be used for anything you want to store and share, not just this but the Bermondsey Members Folder is just for our stuff. If you get stuck or need help then ask. Thanks to Andy for starting the Dropbox revolution back in 2011 with the Lundy Photos and Kim for starting the Club folder.
• Facebook, we have a Facebook group page which we are using quite a bit to share pics and useful snippets on. If you aren’t currently a members then just ask to join. I am also in the process of setting up a Google+ group page for the same reason. We can share our info across all these platforms with just a click which means potentially we’re increasing our internet footprint which could help with membership. I am also looking at a couple of Club websites which just ask you to fill in your details and where people can search their area for things to do and find us.
• So overall we’re keeping up with the technology but this is only possible because you all contribute.
• Trying to do it all by yourself is a full time job and no one person has that kind of time.

Dive calendar

• Thanks to the work of several members, there is an extensive list of dives planned this year.
• There was confusion regarding the colour-coding of the dive list, and which dives would/wouldn’t be subsidised by the club. Brett to clarify this on the club website.

Instructor development scheme

• Brett explained that there is currently a scheme in place for all members wishing to take the Instructor Foundation Course (IFC) whereby the club would subsidise half the cost of the course.
• Brett also proposed that any member taking advantage of this offer should run 10 lectures and 10 practical sessions to qualify for the subsidy. This would be recorded on a card in the member’s qualification book.

Election of committee

• The following members were elected: Chairperson – Clive, Diving Officer – Brett, Treasurer – Lars, Equipment Officer – Ross, Training Officer – Lee, Secretary – Victor. Teresa agreed to be Welfare Officer again.
• Co-opted positions (such as assistant Training Officers) to be discussed at the first committee meeting.

Thanks

• The outgoing committee were thanked for their work over the last year.

Bermondsey BSAC Christmas Bash - 12th December 2012

by Victor Grayson

In a brilliant turn-out on a cold evening in mid-December, thirty-odd club members (plus partners) took over an entire restaurant - the very good Jaflong on Lordship Lane, East Dulwich - for a night of civilised dining and sober reflection upon the year's diving experiences. With comedy Clive compering (and organising), prizes were awarded, some with deadly seriousness, others with none, as follows:

Best trainee of 2012 - Jill.
Most improved diver of 2012 - Bjørn.

Biggest (above the call of duty) contribution to the club in 2012 - Steve (for the Canada Water dock dives, and help with training).
Best buddy pair of 2012 - Alan and Colin (for their eventful dive in Newhaven).
Biggest boo-boo in 2012 - the incurable romantic Navneet.
Best club trip organiser of 2012 - Victor (for the Brussels trip).
Tallest story of 2012 - Brett (for his "massive crayfish" story).
2012 silly kit prize - jointly awarded to Colin, Elaine and Chris.

An impressive array of dive and stationery-related prizes were then dished out in the raffle (Chris won everything), and long after 11pm a merry bunch of revellers ventured on to The Draft House for a few more lemonades before bedtime.

Normal Wednesday meetings at the pool will resume on 9th January 2013.

Nemo 33 Trip - 17th-18th November 2012

by Jane Jackson

Somehow one expects a lie-in on a Saturday at this time of year, so what were we doing crawling out of bed in the middle of the night on this particular Saturday? Answer: going to Brussels to dive a 35m deep indoor pool on the outskirts of the city. 

Sixteen of us (thirteen from Bermondsey, and three from DAGSAC) met at seven o’clock in the morning on an overcast November Saturday at St. Pancras International for a weekend in Brussels, under the excellent organisational skills of Victor. After an uneventful train journey to Brussels and bus and metro ride across Brussels to the hotel (Brussels has an excellent system whereby you buy one ticket which covers your entire journey including changes provided you take no longer than forty minutes). We dumped our bags, and set off to explore and find lunch (pizza and pasta for the group I was with), before meeting up at the hotel to check in and set off for Nemo 33. 

 

The White Hotel is worth a comment, as it had pretensions to display the development of art and design in Belgium since 1945. I don’t know if all rooms had copies of a small coffee table book describing such development, but there was one in my room, along with a cast of a sculpture of a bull’s head. There was certainly a significant effort at style, whether or not successful (I’ll let my fellow divers decide). Other things included a bike in the foyer, and the lifts which were idiosyncratically typical of this type of hotel where the users of the lift have to open the doors, but they also had small representations of human figures variously painted on the doors and wall. Nevertheless, it was a comfortable hotel with a good variety of food for breakfast and served until 11.00, which other hotels could learn from, not that we were able to take full advantage of it, as we had to be at Nemo by then.

 

Back to Nemo 33. This dive centre cum restaurant resides in the outskirts of Brussels, the most significant thing about it being the pit which (according to my computer) was 35.1m deep at the bottom. The whole pool is about 20m square with a temperature near that of warm bath water. There are varying depths, immediately on entry it must be about 1.5m, where everyone mills around putting on fins (as you are not allowed to jump in you have to walk down the steps, although on our second dive, a number of people from the other group diving, insisted on stopping on the steps to put their fins on – understandable if less than 5’4”, but not if 6ft!). Much of the pool is split between 10m and 15m depth, where we were allowed to practice freediving for the first ten minutes of the session. Then back out to put on scuba kit and back in again to explore the rest of the pool. In one corner was the 35m octagonal pit, reached either by swimming across directly to it or through a swim through, which had a couple of underwater caves at either side which could be surfaced. I was diving with Mariette and on the first dive, when it was just our group plus three others, there was nothing to worry about as we all descended steadily to the bottom, variously amused ourselves for the 10 minutes that we were allowed down there, doing fin pivots etc. A nice slow ascent, another mill in the 10 and 15m areas, until the session finished. This was followed by a very pleasant Thai meal in the bar area, quite mild which I prefer. Return to hotel and off to a local bar for a few drinks before turning in.

 

The next day’s dive was a little more exciting as we shared our session with another group of about 30 people with very varying skills. Most of them plunged straight down the pit, and after Mariette and I had suffered being bumped into several times, we gave up and pottered around for 10 minutes or so in the shallow bit with Victor and Ken, who seemed to have come to a similar conclusion. However, as 10 minutes is the maximum time permitted to be below 20m, we just had to bide our time before everyone else came up and we could descend ourselves. The most interesting thing with all those people expelling all that air in a confined space was that it so reduced the water pressure in the pit that it created a significant current pulling us towards the pit.

 

This was followed by a stroll round Brussels, people variously visiting art galleries, museums, finding a nice lunch somewhere, before we all met up again at the Gare du Midi for a smooth journey back to St Pancras, disregarding the tedium of having to go through UK Border Control twice!