South Bristol Divers News

Visiting Billy and the newts

2012-05-20T10:43:00.001-07:00

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

2012-05-18T02:38:00.000-07:00

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

2012-04-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

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

UK Diving has started!

2012-04-16T09:54:00.006-07:00

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

2012-03-28T02:55:00.004-07:00

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

2012-03-26T06:18:00.008-07:00

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

2012-03-20T11:12:00.007-07:00

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.

Two New Sports Divers

2011-10-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Andrew and Anna on achieving the Sports Diver qualification.

Training at NDAC last Sunday

2011-10-12T12:42:00.000-07:00

Sports diver and Dive Leader training took place at NDAC last Sunday. We did some depth progression to 35m from where we could see the trumpet! New items to explore were a single decker and a double decker bus.

Vobster Night Dive

2011-10-06T23:08:00.000-07:00

We had a trip to Vobster for a night dive. It was a little later than planned due to the Dive Manager forgetting his suit and having to go back for it - he decided it was too cold to dive without it! This got another type of dive signed up in various qualification books.

Devon Weekend

2011-10-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

Challaborough proved a bit of a challenge on Saturday with surf on the beach but we still managed to launch the boat with Tai's help. Dived the Persier but found we couldn't return to the beach for lunch so went to Mount Batten instead. On Sunday we used Mount Batten slip and dived Scylla, James Eagan Lane and the breakwater where we found the boiler of Yvonne and lots of life in all the nooks and crannies.

New Dive Leader

2011-09-20T05:17:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Jas who is now a Dive Leader!

Party in the Park and Mexican Meal

2011-09-20T05:11:00.001-07:00

The Party in the Park was a little wet but we are divers so not put off! We had a successful day with a competition to win a scuba diver (soft toy) and try dives. Afterwards we all went for a well earned Mexican meal.

Cromhall Training

2011-09-20T05:08:00.000-07:00

Two more trips to Cromhall for Sports Diver training have taken place despite the rotten weather.

Penzance Trip

2011-09-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

Penzance dives included the Bucks, the Helopes, Alice Marie, Low Lee Reef and the Primrose. Alice Marie proved to be flat but an excellent wild life dive with congers, John Dory, lobsters, crabs, bib, wrasse, pollack, etc, etc.

Teignmouth and Dolphins

2011-09-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

We had a great day out at Teignmouth diving the Geffion and the Bretagne. The weather was good to us and the seas were flat. The icing on the cake was the pod of dolphins that played around our bow!

Training

2011-08-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

More successful training took place at Cromhall.

West Bay

2011-08-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Two days of diving took place at West Bay Dorset for two groups of divers. The St Dunstans wreck plus a scenic dive was completed each day.

Fun at the Docks

2011-08-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

A few of us had a fun day practicing boat handling at the docks in Bristol. The sun shone so we went all the way to the far end of the Feeder Canal and had lunch and a drink on the way. We also saw the Pride of Bristol which we have booked to go to Lundy next year.

Photographic Award for SBD Member

2011-07-13T05:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to South Bristol Divers member John Miller for taking 5th Place in the Bristol Underwater Photography Group's "Image of the Year 2010".

John's entry received high praise from the competition's judge, acclaimed underwater photographer Dr Alex Mustard, who commented:

"The main rule with abstracts is that there are no rules. All that matters is that the end product works visually. Which it does here. I like the fact that the processing has pushed the colours in interesting directions... which I think helps the image. Super diagonal, super colours, super saturated. Super!"

To see other images from the competition click here.

Further SBD Qualifications

2011-07-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jas for completing the final exercises of his Dive Leader qualification at Cromhall over the weekend. Hopefully this will be the first of many new and existing South Bristol members obtaining further qualifications during the 2011 season.

Cromhall

2011-07-10T06:31:00.000-07:00

Further progress was made for Sports Divers and Dive Leaders at Cromhall. It was generally agreed that the water was surprisingly warm even for dry suit divers.

Torquay Trip

2011-07-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

At last the weather was on our side (see photos on Facebook). London Bridge with its tunnels was a new and interesting site. The Brantwood Hotel did us proud as usual with a barbecue on the Saturday night and homemade cakes to keep us going during the day.

Vobster and NDAC

2011-07-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Bad weather at sea in June meant two more inland training trips for the Sports Divers, one to Vobster and one to the NDAC.

Pembrokeshire Trip

2011-07-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

The late May Bank Holiday trip was windy but a successful and enjoyable club trip. Some new dive sites, excellent cliff walks, a choice of pubs within walking distance. We will be back!