DSAC - Have you got something to say?

EGM

2010-09-12T16:03:00.003+01:00

Please remember that it is the EGM tomorrow, 13th September 2010. Here are the two motions we will be discussing and then asking the club to vote for, or against.

1. Motion - The club supports the Committees recommendations to continue to have a boat; in that we will continue to run Dunstable Diver until such time as there are sufficient funds available to purchase a new (or newer) RHIB.

Dependent on the outcome of the above motion, the second motion that we will be putting to the members is

2. Motion - The club supports the objective of purchasing a boat with the following specification, with the understanding that this is a generic specification which provides a framework to work towards

approximately 6 metres in length

a wider boat than we currently have

single engine with a back-up (donkey) engine

four stroke engine of 125-150bhp

expenditure of £15,000 - £19,000

The meeting will start at 19:30.

Please be there to have your say and exercise your vote.

Lots of Bubbles

Val Harrison (Chair DSAC)

2010-08-29T11:23:00.003+01:00

Not posted anything for quite some time (slapped wrist - no committment!). We are now fully into the diving season and there is probably quite a lot that I could put in here. However, that would be too much and would use up all the blog space.
I think I should just look at what has just been and a little at what is coming up.
The weekend of August 21/22 saw some of us making a long journey over to Pembrokeshire. We were diving from a RHIB (Big Bertha) and hoping to see loads of flora and fauna in the National Park area there. Unfortunately on the first day, the vis was not good and I think most of the sea life were in hiding. The second day was better and we had a great dive on the wreck 'The Lucy'.
After this dive we had some discussions about the maxim 'Plan the Dive and Dive the Plan'. My buddy and I had agreed that as he was on twin 12s and I was 15/3, we would do 20 mins or 100bar whichever came first. Well 20 mins came first and I was still on 110bar . We had racked up about 7 mins deco time. But I was enjoying the dive, the wreck etc so much, I didn't want to come up. I signalled to my buddy '3 more mins!', with the intention that we could add another 3 mins deco and I would still be ok for air (wish the filling station had had nitrox). He understood and agreed. So we went to 11 mins deco when I had to give in and go - more because it was going to be boring hanging around for so long at 5 metres. I still came out with just under 80bar and the pony. But the lesson here is that although we adjusted the plan, we both agreed the adjustment. Had my buddy been unhappy with that adjustment then, we would have stuck to the plan. We both knew that we could make that adjustment and still keep within safe limits.

Then when we got back onto the boat, we saw DOLPHINS! Loads of them. It was difficult to know how many there were as they were hunting and there were some far out, circling and herding the fish in and then those in the middle that were actually feeding. The Skipper was great and managed to get us right in so that we had them coming up right by the boat. We could see white flashes on the underbelly, which identified them as Common Dolphins.
They were magnificent.
Hopefully we will post some photos and maybe some video soon.

The second wave of divers unfortunately did not get to see the dolphins but they did get to see a Sun Fish. Again, I hope we have more photos of this to put on the gallery.

Things coming up:

Monday 6th September Diver Leader course participants. Please be at the leisure centre for 19:30. We need to look at what still needs to be done to complete the course. Bring log books and student qualification books to check what you have attended and what dives can be signed off.
We will also do the Biggest Loser weigh in, on Monday 6th Setember, probably just after 8pm
13th September at 19:30 - EGM re the boat and plans going forward. Please ensure you read the motions sent out by Sandy, think about them and if you wish to have your input, ensure you attend the meeting.

I think thats enough for now. Look forward to seeing all of you at the club on the 6th (remember no meeting on the Bank Holiday)

Lots of Bubbles, Val

Charts and More..

2010-02-07T13:02:00.003Z

Well, I missed a week but back now.

Surprisingly, for this time of the year there are still things going on. Mostly, with the idea of getting ready for the new dive season.

This reminds me that the London International Dive Show will be on at Excel on the 27 and 28 March 2010. Tickets are available pre-book and if you order through Julia, and we manage to do this for 6 or more tickets, they only cost £6.50 (otherwise, £7.50 for less than 6 pre-book or £10.50 on the door). I am going and will be looking for a good deal on some manifolded twin 12's. Maybe a new reel and SMB after the loss of my other set on an extremely different drift dive off the IOW. Those who were there will remember... But its good to go and have a look round anyway.

We started the chart work sessions last Monday (1st February 2010) and it has been most informative. I learnt a lot from this first session and I am sure there will be more to come. The group of us that were there raised and bounced questions around that brought out other things I had not considered before. So, I am looking forward to the next session at 19:30 this Monday(8th February 2010). It will be great to put this into practice when getting Dunstable Diver out again this year.

There is even some diving going on. Brian and Alan asked me to remind you all that if anyone would like to go up to Stoney Cove or Blue Lagoon during the week, they can be free to do this. The water is still cold at the moment - I think Rickey and Dave had 3 or 4 deg last Monday at Stoney, but it is fantastic vis and there are less trainees about to silt it all up.

There is also an open invitation from the Training and Diving Officers that should people wish to go for a night dive, the next one is planned for the 17th February 2010. Please let either of them know if you wish to go. You may want to make a full day of it; the latest news is that you can go up for the day and do not have to pay again for the night dive. We are awaiting confirmation of this because that does make it that bit more cost effective. Again, Brian and Alan may possibly be up for a couple of dips, if you ask.

We are now heading full tilt towards the diving season and we need to get deposits in for up and coming dives. Please ensure that these are paid as soon as possible, so that it does not deplete the club working funds too greatly, when deposits for accommodation and hard boats need to be paid.

So, thats it for this week. I will see many of you at the club tomorrow.

Lots of Bubbles

Val

(Chair, Dunstable SAC)

2010-01-24T20:02:00.003Z

Unfortunately, the diy got to me first this morning and so I apologise for the lateness of this posting today.

Some of you may have noticed the absence of our dear DO, from the meeting last week. Rumour has it that the 'man flu' has turned into something not so good and the Training Officer is also suffering (if she wasn't before, from his moaning about having man flu). Get well soon, both of you!

Talking of the Training Officer and the DO, there have been some updates in the picture galleries from Karen and Phil. Some from various outings on the club rib, some from the Christmas dinner and some from their recent holiday in the Maldives. I would also say check out the Manta video clip from Karen. It is amazing just how close she was to them. Fantastic!

Earlier this month Alan and Brian had the opportunity due the the freezing weather, to do a proper rope dive under the ice at the Blue Lagoon. I have tried to upload the the video Alan made but unfortunately it seems to only want to upload the opening sequence. The unedited master version, without an intro was available on the disk but at some 800+MB, I don't think it would have left any room for any other video clips in our area. Watch this space though, as we will see if we can get some edited version up there for you to see. It looked blummin cold and how no one fell over fully kitted, I will never know... but well worth a watch.

Now tomorrow 25th Jan, we have the photography tips starting at 19:30 in the meeting room at the leisure centre. Followed by more fitness training in the pool. This is going really well and it is good to see more people coming along to it.

John T and George and James C (and possibly Rickey) are heading out to Sharm from the 18th to the 25th March. Apparently some really good deals to be had. If you really want to go and get some sunshine to warm through your bones, then get the details from John T. But hurry these offers go up in price as they fill up.

Otherwise, we are thinking of running a club trip to Nemo 33 in Brussels (see pics in the gallery of when Mr H, Mr I, Mr K, Rickey and myself went there in August 2008). This is a dive research facility that has a deep pit going down to 30 metres. It is filtered spring water and so you cannot take any of your own kit in there other than mask, computer and swims. They provide everything else. There are also areas where they pump air in and so there are airspaces at 12 metres. Seems strange to stand up and take your dv out and your computer is still registering you at 12 metres. We will keep you updated on this.

Now next week, I shall be on a course and so the post won't happen until about this time - er if at all. It may be if I pass the course, that I shall be celebrating with some of my pals. So, don't be surprised if there is nothing posted next week. I apologise now but passing will mean a lot to me and my friends.

Lots of Bubbles to you all

Val

(Chair, Dunstable Sub-Aqua Club)

Circuits and bumps success and more

2010-01-17T09:13:00.004Z

Sunday morning and a quick update before I start the obligitory diy. The circuits and bumps started last Monday and it was great to see the guys getting into it, doing sit-ups, press-ups and squat thrusts. I joined in a little with a short length or so of tired diver towing and a minutes hands above head treading water. Maybe this week, I might try some of the other stuff. It cannot be denied, it will certainly get you fit for the new dive season.

We had the first committee meeting since the AGM on Thursday night and we will be publishing the minutes soon. The next is set for 22 April 2010.

Some new dates for the diary:

Monday 25 January 2010, Photography tips, start at 19:30 in the meeting room at Dunstable Leisure Centre.

We are running a Peak Bouyancy skills course, starting with a lecture on 12th April 2010 (19:30 in the meeting room) followed by pool work. Further pool work on Monday 19th April and open water work at Stoney Cove over the weekend of 24 & 25 April. Please sign up for it using the list on the club notice board.

Social nights set for Fridays the first 3 will be on 19th February, 19th March and 16th April, at the Crown Carvery (the old Red Lion) on Bidwell Hill, Houghton Regis. Apparently a really good carvery meal can be had for under £5.

Monday 26th April 2010, will be the practical knots and ropework session. Again, this is for all who may use the boat as well as a refresher for boat handlers and diver coxswains.

Talking about social nights etc. it is great to have close connections with other BSAC clubs in the region. So it was lovely to get an invitation to join Luton SAC at their annual dinner dance, on 6th March 2010 at the Old Palace Lodge in Dunstable. So far, there are four of us from the club joining them; myself, Chris, Phil and Karen . They have a couple of live bands playing and it looks like being a great night. The invitation is to all of the club, so if you want a bit of a night out and meeting more local divers, please let me know and I provide Helen at Luton, with the numbers and deposits etc.

So, that is it for now. Please keep your eye on the club schedule for up and coming events and future dive trips.

Lots of Bubbles, Val (Chair, Dunstable SAC)

Getting ready for 2010 dive season

2010-01-10T19:02:00.006Z

Here it is 2010. And as I chomp away on the last of the chocolates left over from Christmas, I am reminded that Alan and Brian said something about getting fit for the 2010 dive season.
They called it circuits and bumps, or something. Essentially, you swim a length of the pool, then get out and do one press-up and one squat thrust. Then you swim another length and jump out and do two press-ups and two squat thrusts. I think you carry on until you fall over but it does sound like good stuff.
If you wish to join them they are starting this after the meeting on Monday 11th January, in the pool at 9pm.
I might just swim a few lengths and watch until I've got the hang of the complicated logistics...

Also, some things coming up...

Duncan has agreed to do some more lectures on chart work. So dates for these are 1st and 8th February. All welcome who may be interested.
Some tips on underwater photography - tentatively set for 25th January but to be confirmed. It will go onto the calendar once confirmed.
Ropework and knots - for all! This is for anybody who uses the boat, as well as boat handlers and those wishing to get their Diver Coxswain certification. Date(s) TBA
First Aid and use of defibrilators - Any refreshing of first aid is always useful. We wouldn't use a defib on a boat but you never know, some day... 'be prepared', is not a bad motto. Again dates TBA and will be posted on the calendar.

Val Harrison (Chair etc DSAC)

RIB Diving and the Highland Brigade

2009-07-13T13:31:00.001+01:00

I took out the branch RIB last Sunday (5th July). Me, Karen, Ricky, John and Julia aiming to do the Highland Brigade and the Luis, both just South of the Isle of Wight.
It was going to be a long day with a 5am start from Dunstable and a likely finishing time of around 11:00pm. This didn’t really appeal and when Ricky announced that he had a 5 man self erecting tent it seemed like a good idea to go down the night before and see just how well we all got on together.
This was the first time that I’ve taken Dunstable Diver on a trip without Alan, our trusty boat officer, to hand so while I spent the previous week checking out the dive details, (height of tide, positions, slack water etc) and sorting out the boat, everyone else sorted out food, campsite, air (there isn’t any!!!), transport, and all of the other things that I forget.
And so it was at around 8:30pm on Saturday, Karen, myself and Dunstable Diver arrived at “Rickys Place” to be greeted by Ricky, John and Julia doing all sorts of useful boy scout and girl guide type tasks and trying to ensure that Rickys tent stayed up all night. Things seemed to be going well – I hesitate to say “to plan” as, apart from the diving plan we hadn’t got to creating one. John and Julia decided to go hunting for food, Karen and I unloaded the table, chairs, hammock, bath, wardrobe etc from my trusty Focus (or Tardis as it seems to have become) while Ricky learnt how to operate his car keys (with tuition from me) and scouted the local area for dangers…. By the time that everything was ready at base camp John and Julia had located, killed and cooked dinner, - fish and chips.
With a few beers and a bottle of wine the witty banter continued into the evening until at about 11:30 it seemed a good idea to get to bed. Miraculously we all got a good nights sleep although I did at one stage have to kick Ricky in the head to stop him snoring.
06:00 Sunday. I get up and scramble out of the tent only to discover that the electronic keycards that let you into the toilet block only seem to work once and you have to wait cross legged until someone else arrives.
Returning to base camp there is little sign of life from the others so being an early riser I take the cover off the boat, power up the electronics and start to play. Having downloaded the GPS manual from the internet I spend half an hour finding out how to do things and inputting positions.
By this time tea and coffee is on the go and and Karen and Julia have lit the Aga for breakfast. Sausage and Bacon butties. The smell is sheer temptation and any thoughts of being on a diet disappear completely. Breakfast over I go back to the boat while the others clear the campsite.
We leave the site a little later than anticipated, but no worries the slipway at Eastney is only half a mile away. Rickey and I, Karen and the boat head for the slip. Miraculously, John and Julia, with John at the wheel, get lost – and their mobiles are off….
Reunited 15 minutes later we pull up together at the slip, get the boat ready and our diving kit loaded. Time is beginning to get a bit tight. I have also underestimated how long it takes to get from boat on trailer and kit in car to boat and kit on water and divers on board. 30 minutes turns into around an hour and the fudge factor in the dive plan is seriously eroded. Never mind with a calm sea and a good run we can still get two waves of divers in the water during the 70 minutes of slack water. At this stage Luton club ask to tag along as their GPS has stopped working and they need a hand to find the Highland Brigade.
With Karen at the controls and everyone else hanging on we start the 12 mile trip South. Karen follows the little highway on the GPS screen and all seems to be going well. Then, after about 2 miles the outboard decides to take a rest. For some reason it (she?) thinks that 3500RPM on a Sunday morning is a bit fast so she drops to around 1000RPM for a couple of minutes before getting her second wind and charging off again at full speed. She does this a couple of times and by now we have completely lost the fudge factor in the dive plan. Despite Karens best efforts we are going to miss the first part of slack water. I decide to change the plan. If we put Karen, Ricky and John in together they should still get a good dive and Julia and I can look after the boat. We are still not sure what the problem is with the outboard so I will stay on the boat and think….
When we arrive there are three other RIBS on site, so after exchanging pleasantries we use the shot line that is already in and put our divers in the water. They have a really good dive, in slack water and good visibility. Julia and I play with the boat, do bombing runs with echo sounder and GPS and ponder the outboard which is now running OK.
With everyone on board we head to Shanklin where Karen and I know a good ice cream shop, for lunch and a sunbathe. We have 3 hours to kill before setting off for the Luis and the afternoon low water slack. Ricky goes for a swim without his suit on.
Ricky and I take the boat for a quick spin to see if we can diagnose why the outboard was wheezing earlier and come to the conclusion that it is probably fuel starvation, maybe dirt in a filter or a blocked breather in one of the tanks. She is running OK now.
Julia and I are first to dive on the Louis, once again using a shotline that another boat has put in. It’s the first time that we have dived together and we have a good
30 minutes exploring the wreck and following the propshaft. Karen then dives with Ricky and has another good dive with Ricky finding a shell that, owing to “insufficient tools” he just can’t shift.
All are recovered into the boat and John takes us East along the southern edge of the Isle of Wight before Ricky takes over on the high speed Northerly leg of the journey. Having shown him how to use his car keys earlier I gently suggest that the throttle on the boat has more than just two positions…….
We recover the boat at low tide using a rope from the trailer to the front of my Focus and reversing up the slip with Ricky lifting the nosewheel of the trailer to keep it from digging into the sand.
Boat recovered, everyone dekitted and dressed we head home via a very nice carvery and arrive at the boatsheds about 11:15pm to put her to bed. On Tuesday evening she gets a hose down and the engine flushed with fresh water. A good time was had by all.

So why expend all of this effort on using the RIB when you can hire a hard boat for a similar cost? Two reasons really. The first is that the idea was only suggested on the previous Monday and I was asked to plan it. You can’t hire a hard boat at short notice and they tend to go where they want to. With the RIB we are in control. There is additional work and planning involved but tides and weather permitting you can do what you want to do.
Secondly, it is an adventure. There are times when I am a diving tourist (Red Sea, Maldives etc) but I have never been someone who just wants to sit around and be taken places. Even on hard boats I like to know where we are going, what the tides are doing, look at the chart plotter etc. I don’t just want to be a passenger. On a RIB dive you, and the people around you make it happen. The whole weekend was full of things to do, banter, laughing, learning opportunities and excitement. Virtually everyone drove the boat, we all had at least one dive and everyone enjoyed themselves.
And when it was all over, and your head is about to hit the pillow there is this wonderful sense of achievement. We did that!!!

Phil Wells

DSAC Training

2009-07-13T11:23:00.001+01:00

Greg, Hilary and I went up to Stoney on Tuesday 23 June and I was quite excited to read on the noticeboard that there was 5m vis ………. in their dreams. Why has it been so poor this year, or is it just when I visit? (please don’t answer that). Anyway after a quick practice of the tow and rescue we dived and I am pleased to report that Greg obtained a signature for his Sports rescue but even more pleased to say that Hilary did really well handling the SMB as we repeatedly went up and over and around the Nautilus, actually much more challenging than doing it around the Helicopter – the original plan that was changed when we saw the vis. She, for almost a second, did think about following me under the pub but very wisely declined and waved the reel in my face. Despite the vis we saw lots of fish, had a great day and 2 signatures were deservedly earned.

Haydn

Deflated

2009-07-11T14:13:00.002+01:00

Ok where has it gone, there was no way out but still it escaped!
In Scapa I noticed my SMB kept going down on me ;-)
Just found out the little round seal in the valve is missing grrr......

Paul

Scapa Flow June 09

2009-07-08T16:56:00.001+01:00

Well this was my big event, which could have gone wrong in a monumental way.
I decided to book this trip last year, having always wanted to dive the German Fleet in Orkney. The plan was formulated with 10 out of the 12 flying to Aberdeen and the other two driving a van with all the gear, at this point we all board the ferry to Kirkwall in Orkney. We started at Luton airport, all looking good, the van was on route having left early that morning. The first hiccup was our plane that we had just boarded, we were told that the engine was about to fall off or something similar and we would need a replacement plane. We all assumed the worst, but good old Easyjet had a spare at Luton, so 30 minutes later we were on our way. I must say I breathed a sigh of relief when we were all on board the ferry with all the kit. After that the week was fantastic, surely I am never going to top that weeks diving? Needless to say every one had a fantastic week and all arrived home safely with plenty of stories from the deep.

Tim Martin