Brrrrrr!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to our newest Ocean Diver. Will put up with ice and cold water to complete his last two qualifying dives. What a hero. I think the fact that he can now come with us to the Red Sea in March might have something to do with it!

Torbay Weekend

A great time was had on the Torbay weekend. We were based at Babbacombe on Saturday and Brixham on Sunday. Between us we saw cuttlefish, John Dories, many different types of crabs, blennies, wrasse, etc, etc. The B&B were great as always supplying us with cakes, biscuits and cream teas as well as cooking us a meal and letting us hold a quiz on Saturday night. Chris' Harem won! Many thanks to Dave for organising the week end and Jerry for the quiz.

M2 at last!

We did it - we finally dived the M2! For those of you not in the know, we have been trying to dive the M2 submarine in Lyme Bay for about two and a half years. The trip has been blown out every time until the glorious 12th! We had a fantastic day - sunny weather, calm seas and a great dive. So many fish and the congers were massive. Well worth waiting for.

http://www.divernet.com/Wrecks/wreck_tours/159473/wreck_tour_5_the_m2.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSMEkZNec7c

Diving the Scylla

We went to Plymouth on Sunday to dive the wreck of the Scylla. We based ourselves at Bovisand and dived the nature trail as well. A bit of a swell but we managed to take the boat out to Whitsand Bay twice. Thanks to the Dive Manager for making the day go so smoothly.

Henry V at the Zoo

We few, we happy few (8 to be exact) went to see Shakespeare's Henry V being performed at the Zoo on 19 July. We all had a great time. The weather was cool but dry and we saw England win for a change!

Oban trip

We dived Oban on the Western coast of Scotland. Wonderful wrecks, lots of interesting marine life, good viz, lovely scenery in and out of the water. Followed in the evening by drinks, meals and games with excellent  company. Even the weather was with us!

Another new diver

Helen has now followed in Chris' fin strokes and has entered into the depths of Cromhall Quarry. Another happy new diver!

New Diver

Congratulations to Chris who completed his first open water dives yesterday.

Jubilee Celebrations

We celebrated the Jubilee week end by staying in and around Bristol diving Cromhall and Vobster quarries and having a barbecue.

West Bay seagulls strike again

Diving took place at West Bay on the final weekend of May. We had wonderful weather, accommodation, food and company but the diving was spoilt by poor vis. Even so we saw plenty of life on the Baygitano and the reefs in Lyme Bay.

Last time we were here the seagulls threatened to take our sandwiches, this time one showed it’s disgust at not getting any food from us by discharging all over our diving officer. It’s meant to be lucky so let’s hope for some better diving in the future!

Visiting Billy and the newts

We had a trip to Cromhall quarry yesterday. The deep end is in use again now that we've had some rain. The newts were out on the top of the axles and the mine. Billy was under the platform and had been seen getting very friendly with Ghost so maybe we will be seeing lots of little Billies in the future!

Warm up dives at the NDAC

We went to the NDAC last week end to get some warm up dives and depth progression ready for the Westbay week end.

New Dive Leader

Congratulations to Mark who has now become a Dive Leader. Great news for him and South Bristol Divers.

UK Diving has started!

We have finally got the season started with two groups going diving. One group took Tenbar and dived out of Mount Batten Plymouth taking in the Scylla and Mewstone. The others did some dry suit training at the NDAC Chepstow.

Ocean Diver Course

We welcomed our new members and started an Ocean Diver Course last night. It's great to know we are introducing more people to our favourite pastime (scuba diving that is not the pub).

Boat Checks

Yesterday we spent a beautiful sunny day at the docks checking out the boat as it has just come back from being serviced. We also took advantage of the situation to get some boat handlers reacquainted with it. They tied themselves in knots (literally) with bits of rope but managed to master the art of mooring up in the end. Another step closer to being on (and under) the sea.

Starting the Season

Apart from a couple of intrepid members that dived in January (brrrr!!!), we have been a little slow on going diving this year. However we have finally started with 12 of us going to Marsa Alam for a week of sun, diving and all inclusive! Now all we have to do is dive in Britain.