2002 AND ALL THAT
The View from the Chair

The Club was very active in 2002, both on the diving front and socially. Membership is continuing at a level state with the usual comings and goings.

Having spent money on the RIB the previous year 2002 saw other Club equipment such as regulators and BCDs given some attention. All the regulators that are used in open water are now fitted with consoles containing contents gauges, digital depth gauge/dive timers and compasses. Other regulators have been upgraded where appropriate. More BCD's have been acquired albeit second-hand. Providing dive computers was considered, but the Committee felt that, for what the equipment was mainly being used for, i.e. training/experience dives, that the dive timer option was probably better. Diving equipment upgrades and maintenance is an ongoing exercise and Mike has certainly taken this seriously to the extent of obtaining a set of the HSE regulations for professional diving. These although not legally applicable to our sport do give useful guidelines. As a result Mike's maintenance regime has, we believe been adopted by the HSE as prospective model for amateur diving organisations.

The Club's dive marshalling has been improved. Although formal marshalling on every dive is the ideal it is not always practically possible and it was agreed at Committee that we should encourage marshalling wherever possible but not make it mandatory. The information available to Dive Marshall's is now far more comprehensive.

The new RIB engine continues to perform well. We were concerned about the potential inflow of water over the stern, but decided not to change anything until we had a season of experience. Having the transom professionally raised a little was investigated, but the cost was prohibitive. In any event, with experience, it has not been too much of a problem but still something to be wary of. Other RIB work includes providing a new bottle rack to replace the existing one which is deteriorating rapidly and a professionally fitted VHF radio to replace the ageing and unreliable hand held units. Still to be actioned are repairs to the A Frame which is being carried out over the winter. The boat trailer also received attention in 2002

There is the possibility of the Club becoming an associate member of Draycote Water, enabling us to use their facilities more. We started to investigate this but felt it more appropriate to start early next year. It has long been felt that there is a big jump between the relative ease of Stoney Cove diving and RIB/boat diving in the sea. The use of Draycote as transitional diving environment pitched somewhere between the two could be seen as beneficial Draycote is also useful for training courses such as PRM, which can now be run in Branch.

2002 saw some discussion took place on the future (or not) of What's Bubbling and it was a pretty overwhelming view of you the members that it should continue.

The year also saw the Club taking part in BSAC events such as the National Try Dive Week and Snork Week. Snork week was not a success for us. Despite being one of the few Clubs in the area participating and some interest from distant scout groups where BSAC concentrated its publicity, we had no attendees. The try dive as ever was a big success.

The year saw a very active social scene with darts and skittles, gliding, gone to the dogs, clay pigeon shooting, barbecue an annual dinner to name but a few. Meanwhile, thanks to Margaret, took part in a charity dive at the Sealife Centre in Birmingham in aid of Cancer Research UK and the night raised something like £1,600.00.

On the BSAC front the big thing was the updated training scheme. The theme is evolution not revolution and it is pleasing to believe that they have actually listened to the membership and taken on some of our views in putting it together.

Finally, October 2003 will quite likely see some major changes taking place at Committee as some of us will have spent 3 years or so in our respective positions. Not that 3 years is the limit but it is often enough. So if you feel you can offer something valuable in helping with the management of the Club why not get yourself involved. Volunteers can shadow committee members to grasp the reins. If you want to know more about a particular Committee position and what is involved, talk to the present incumbent or come and talk to me - we don't bite! Fresh blood is always good for committees, as they can get stagnant. So come on, throw your snorkel into the pond and don't sit on the fence.

Bob Kempton

...And from the (ex) DO...

2002 saw hard boat trips to Egypt, Spain and the Farne Islands; and RIB trips to Kimmeridge, Portland (3 times), Plymouth (Bovisand), Cornwall (commercial hire not club RIB), St Abbs and Bridlington.

Meanwhile, shore diving has continued regularly at Stoney Cove. The club days of the third Wednesday of the month from April to September are very popular, as are the barbecues. However the club days on the 3rd Sunday of the month during the remaining months were less well attended and some were even called off. This is probably a combination of the overcrowding of Stoney on weekends, the cold and familiarity with the site. It was however noted that members continued to turn up at the Stag and Pheasant for the après dive.

There were no incidents in the Club in 2002. The overall standard of all of our dive conduct continues to be very high and based on common sense, incident avoidance and a street wise feel for potentially dangerous situations. We have also spent to increase the safety factor adding depth timers and compasses to the clubs' open water regulator sets.

Two members who have had an operation to remedy a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO). This condition we now realise is more common than we thought. I know that most diving related head aches etc are in fact more often beer related however if members do suffer regularly after diving they should consult one of the BSAC medical referees. If instructors and dive leaders are asked by other members about their situation then please encourage them to consult a medical referee. This is even more important than before because of the Self-Assessment medical. Remember the worst thing that can happen if you consult a Referee is you may have to give up diving (though both our members who had can now dive again) If you don't see the medical referee and carry on diving, you could be cripple or worse.

During the year the Club has run 2 free BSAC try dives, 3 Experience Scuba courses, 2 Club Diver courses, a Sports Diver course and a Diver First Aid skill development course.

Our standards of instruction remain very high and there is no doubt that we produce very competent divers, capable of diving in UK waters, at all levels.

Though the numbers attending the Try Dives and Experience Scuba courses are up at the levels we have had in the past, the numbers on the Club Diver courses seem to be getting smaller. As far as overall membership is concerned this is balance by quite a few new members transferring in from other training agencies as well as other BSAC branches. They are all very welcome, and must be made to feel so from the very start.

Fletch