Bristol Scuba Club formed back in 1993 with only 8 members, this year there are 40 active members. The club is made up from people with different diving qualifications - PADI, BSAC, NAUI, SSI, etc... We are not about who is the best diving organisation, but how to have fun whilst being safe divers. We meet at the swimming pool at Kingswood Leisure Centre, Bristol on Friday nights (9-10pm), at various dive sites along the Dorset and Devon coasts on a weekend, and other dive sites in the UK and the rest of world whenever we can.
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7 February 2012
Shipwreck Conference - 4 February 2012
The Shipwreck conference took place in Plymouth on 4 February 2012. There were talks on a wide variety of subjects all linked to shipwrecks, from diving them to preserving them to the legislation affecting those diving them. The chairman of IMASS introduced proceedings and presented some of the achievements of those involved in the organisation and its predecessor NAS South West. Rex Cowen stirred up the audience with a debate on how the new maritime legislation was potentially driving a divide between the diving community and archeologists. Rex's presentation overran and this proved a theme throughout the day with some presentations being cut short as others ran over their allotted time. It was a shame that presentations by Sean Fisher and Brett Phaneuf suffered premature finishes. This was also the case at the end of the day when the audience virtually demanded that Peter holt present more of his slides on SHIPS project on Plymouth Sound. By contrast, Mark Eyllatt gave a presentation on his expeditions to the Lebanon to find HMS Victoria (see left). His videos and pictures showed the wreck in all its glory but his tails of fishermen using dynamite on the wreck, and jets straffing the land whilst he was at sea demonstrated that the wreck is a truly challenging adventure both logistically and due to its depth (between about 80m and 140m as it is nose down in the sea bed). Other presentations by American Sean Fisher on the Attocha treasure, Brett Phaneuf on surveying shipwrecks in Norwegian glacial lakes as well as updates on the activities of the Marine Management Organisation and English Heritage made for an interesting diversity of information. The audience was a mixture of archeology students, academics, divers and the experts in their respective fields, and the presentations were of a high standard. |
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30 January 2012
Yet More Links!
There has been much interest in marine conservation related sites appearing in our links. We have therefore revamped the whole page, removing out-date-sites and including many new ones.
Shipwreck Conference - 4 February 2012
There is a Shipwreck conference in Plymouth on 4 February 2012. If your interested, checkout their website. This is an annual event. A couple of members are going down for the day: if you are interested and want to share the fuel bill, contact Andy Lewis.
29 January 2012
New Links
New links have been added to the website for Dreamscape divers, DM Scuba Training and Dive Monkey Club. These are all sites run by club members.
Rather embarrassingly, DAN have not had a link on our website. This has now been corrected. Also added are Dive training organisation PSAI - they provide technical dive training at NDAC, Chepstow which has also been added. Finally, Vobster Quay, a quarry near Radstock, has been added.
Please provide any comments on new or old links to Andy or Debra.
New Secretary
We have a new secretary, in case you didn't know, and her name is now spelt correctly below!
25 January 2012
Annual General Meeting - 22 January 2012
The Bristol Scuba Club AGM was held at Kingswood Leisure Centre on 22 January 2012 and was very well attended. Many thanks to all those who contributed to the meeting, we have much to take forward this year. Official minutes will be available in the next week or so.
The results of the Club Officer elections were:
- Chair -John Hammond (re-elected)
- Vice Chair - Andy Lewis (re-elected)
- Secretary - Debra Andrews
- Treasurer - Mike Lewis (re-elected)
- Social Secretary - Jeanette Hacker
Congratulations to all of them. Aileen has stood down as secretary to pursue other priorities; many thanks for her secretarial support over the last year. Actions from the meeting (diary of events, etc) will follow in due course.
Diving
A couple of divers are heading for Vobster Quay on Friday 27 January 2012, feel free to join us.
There is a dive weekend at Portland on 18/19 February 2012, staying at Aqua Hotel with diving to 30m. There are 3 places left. Contact Paul Dowding or see him at the Pool on Friday.
There is a trip to Falmouth booked for 14/15 July 2012. Several divers are looking to arrive on 13 July (Friday) to pitch tents and perhaps take a dip off a beach nearby. There is also the possiblity of some advanced open water diving off the North coast (Hayle) on the 16 July (Monday), weather permitting.
There are still spaces available for the Isles of Scilly trip on 18 to 25 August 2012.
More events to follow and the events diary will be updated as soon as possible.
Portland Diving
Our spy in the Portland camp (thanks Trevor) advises that Portland will be off-limits to divers between April and September this year as it is the venue for the Olympic sailing events.
Mike's Bristol Dive Store
The dive shop in St. Anne's has reopened as Mike's Dive Store and is busy re-equiping. Air fills are not yet available but a compressor is expected on site soon.
Bristol Scuba Club Awards
To add some dive club interest to the summer party, and subject to there being enough interest, there will be an award ceremony. See the new Awards page.
8 January 2012
Annual General Meeting - 22 January 2012
The Bristol Scuba Club AGM is at Kingswood Leisure Centre on 22 January 2012. It starts at 2pm in the old bar.
The agenda has been emailed to all members who have previously provided an email address and paper copies will be available at the Pool on Friday for those few who did not provide an email address.
Elections for Club Officer posts (Chair, treasurer, Secretary, etc.) will take place at the AGM so if you are a member and interested in getting actively involved or want to nominate someone, let us know or just turn up. We would also like to know if you have particular ideas for diving events or activities for 2012 and we will be looking at whether we are content with the Club as it is or whether we should introduce changes. Views of all members are encouraged.
If you have anything for the AGM, please contact the Chair, vice-Chair or Secretary.
New Year's Eve Diving
This year's end-of-year dive took place in relatively warm, calm and clear conditions, which was a revelation after several years of zero visibility and washing-machine surf! There is a significant amount of sea life at the moment, which is probably due to the mild weather conditions. A carpet of anemonies, many crabs (edibles, velvet, hermit), some young scallops, a pipe fish and a seal were all spotted during the dives.
A significant number of (hard-core?) divers and non-divers enjoyed a morning on the beach with an hour's diving for many and breakfast in the cafe afterward. All this and still back home for the New Year's Eve parties. Pictures are available on facebook.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Other News:
Facebook
There are two Facebook pages, one open to everyone and one for members only. Look in regularly if you want to keep up with other members, events, dives etc. Members can sign up by emailing the club Secretary.
Wednesday Club
Anybody interested in some mid-week diving should contact Andy Lewis or John Hammond.
Old News
Previous news can be found in Old
News 2008 and Old News 2009
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