As most of you will know, your dive club committee meets once a month to discuss all matters relating to the dive club (and many things which aren’t). Just so the rest of you don’t all feel left out, here’s a summary of what’s going on at the moment and what’s coming up soon.
Far away in the tropical waters of the Caribbean, two prawns were swimming around in the sea - one called Justin, and the other called Christian.
The prawns were constantly being harassed and threatened by sharks. Finally, one day Justin said to Christian, “I’m fed up with being a prawn. I wish I was a shark, then I wouldn’t have any worries about being eaten.”
A large mysterious cod then suddenly appeared and said, “Your wish is granted”, and lo and behold, Justin turned into a shark. Horrified, Christian immediately swam away, afraid of being eaten by his old mate.
Time passed and Justin found life as a shark boring and lonely. All his old mates simply swam away petrified whenever he came anywhere close to them.
While swimming alone one day Justin saw the mysterious cod again, and he thought perhaps the fish could change him back into a prawn - he missed his old life so.
He approached the cod and begged to be changed back, and, lo and behold, he found himself a prawn once more. With tears of joy in his tiny little eyes, Justin swam back to find his friends.
Looking around the gathering at the reef he couldn’t see his old pal. “Where’s Christian?” he asked. “He’s at home, still distraught that his best friend changed sides and became a shark”, came the reply.
Eager to put things right, Justin set off to Christian’s abode. As he opened the coral gate memories came flooding back. He banged on the door and shouted, “It’s me, Justin, your old friend. Come out and see me.”
Christian replied, “No way man, you’ll eat me. You’re a shark - I’ll not be tricked into being your dinner.”
Justin cried back “No, I’m not. That was the old me. I’ve changed - I’ve found Cod. Now I’m a prawn again, Christian”.
Boom boom.
Thanks everyone for a superb trip. I really enjoyed it and I hope you all did too.
Here are a few photos I took over the weekend. More will follow from other people, and Phil has been pressganged kindly volunteered to write an article for the blog.
Ready to go diving. From left to right: Alex S, Hannah, Joe, Chris and ‘Big’ Jim.
Here are some details about the upcoming Plymouth trip. Hopefully you will find everything you need to know right here; if not please let me know. To those of you who have been to Plymouth many times before I apologise for my verbosity.
People going and accommodation
21 people have their name down for the trip. Most people are staying in the Mountbatten Centre with others arranging their own accommodation.
Borringdon Arms: Morgan & Hannah. Unfortunately I couldn’t get enough rooms in the Mountbatten centre so we had to move elsewhere. We will be about 10 minutes walk from everyone else.
Mountbatten Centre: We have two triple rooms and four twin rooms booked. It would be sensible for the three women (Nikki, Nadia and Megan) to share a triple room. Please leave one double room for the two driving the Land Rover (Jim Moroney and Alex Marshall). Otherwise sort your own rooms out.
The weekend of 24-25 March saw three of our new trainees experience diving in the sea for the first time on an early season training trip to Portland. Despite some issues with the weather, cold water temperatures, lack of viz and lack of marine life, a good time was had by all ;). Trust me guys, it’s all good from here…
Joe
Here are a few photos taken from Chesil Cove.
Chesil Cove Read the rest of this entry »
Hannah and I are attending a “Marine Mammal Medic” course run by British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) on Saturday 21st April. It is a one-day course run in Bewl Water, Kent.
Marine Mammal Medics are used by the BDMLR to help rescue stranded and injured marine life. You will have seen them in action with the “Thames Whale” and they are currently helping to rescue oiled birds from the beached container ship MV Napoli.
Details of the BDMLR and the course are at http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/.
The first part of the course comprises lectures about dolphin-spotting and the various first-aid techniques used to help marine mammals. The second part is made up of practical sessions practising rescues of seals, dolphins and whales using life-sized water-filled balloons.
If you are interested in doing the course please contact the BDMLR directly. I’m sure the course will be very entertaining and it would be good to have a few more friends along. Don’t be put off by the fact that nearly every high-profile rescue involving the BDMLR has resulted in the casualty’s death. This course is geared towards practising first aid and rescue, not euthanasia. I doubt water-filled models would respond too well to clubbing.
Morgan
What do you have planned for the Easter break? Scuba diving, of course!
Everyone who has been around London No 1 for more than a year knows that Easter means Plymouth, and this year is no different. Divers will be struggling to remember which way on their BC goes, realising that their cylinders are out of test, prodding sleepy Dogfish and giving a sharp intake of breath as they take their first dip in UK waters since last summer.
I have 12 places booked in Plymouth Mountbatten from Thursday night (5th April) to Sunday night. With the help of a little Global Warming (keep using those aerosols) we will be diving Friday through Monday inclusive. Come and experience the delights of a “Platters” fish supper, the rustic interior of the Dolphin Public House, and sample the delicious Ling (sorry, Pollock) at the New Inn.
There will already have been three day’s diving before the Plymouth trip this year: a one-day inland quarry trip and a weekend in Portland. This should mean that we will have no ‘virgin’ divers this year – everyone should have had at least a few dives in open water. Therefore we ought to be able to get some good diving in.
There is a sign-up sheet in the club room. Several places have already gone so if you want to come, get in touch as soon as you can!
Morgan
Is anyone interested in joining me to do a Sea Survival course on Saturday 3 March? It’s a RYA course, but the points covered are pretty transferable to sailing - capsizing, floating around in life rafts etc and some theory stuff too. Details are all on the attached webpage; near Limehouse basin, costs £85.
http://www.firstclasssailing.com/da/25333
If anyone fancies it, call Charlie at Firstclass directly to book and let me know!
Megan
Hi All
Just to confirm this Saturday 31st March at 09:30 for a 10:00 start. Whipps Cross Hospital Decompression chamber for a dry dive.
Whipps Cross hospital is Whipps Cross Rd, E11. the nearest underground station is Leytonstone on the Central Line. There will be a charge of £40 each. This covers the use of the chamber and a small donation to the friends of the Hospital. It will take about 2 hours.
This will include a dry dive (it is quite big so there should be plenty of space). Also a presentation by the staff (an ex London Branch member) on the subject of decompression illness.
There are still a few spaces so if you are free & wish to go please email me.
For some newer members who perhaps did not know about this, it’s an oportunity to visit a working chamber.
While it’s best not to need one at all. In the event a visit is required in your diving career it may reduce the stress.
There is no minimum qualification required so please feel free to come along. There is a very large Pub near by that the medical staff use. Just need to have numbers for bums on seats. So far I have Chris H, George V, Joe H, Alex M and Keith G.
Jim
