Newsletter
Issue 6 - 03 June 2007
Club News
The clubs diving season is now well underway, and only a small amount of bad weather reported!!
This Tuesday (05 June 2007) is Big Tuesday with the Vicki Billings kindly placing herself in the spotlight to talk to us all about Norwegian Coral Reefs. Vicki as you may well know is a fountain of knowledge on marine life and this talk looks to be both very fascinating and popular, so be sure to get there nice and early to get the best pew!!
Forthcoming Meetings / Diary Events
05 June 2007 – Norwegian Coral Reefs Talk - British Legion, 20:30 - Speaker: Vicki Billings, Organiser: Deborah Davis
06 June 2007 - Open Water Training / Wraysbury - Organiser: Amanda Radley
19 June 2007 – Little Tuesday/ The Squirrel, Booker
20 June 2007 – Open Water Training / Wraysbury - Organiser: Amanda Radley
23 June 2007 – 2 Day Dive / Poole - Sport Diver - Organiser: Jon Pearce
(The Clubs Full Dive/Event Program is available on the club website)
Meet the committee — Pete Mowatt
Committee Position: Boat Officier (BO!)
Has been a member since: Feb 2003
Diver Grade: Dive Leader
Did you learn to dive with HWSAC?: Yes
What was the best part of your training: Social aspect of diving with other trainees and instructors and being introduced to new experiences
How many dives have you done: 250 logged dives
Best dive you have done: Too numerous to pick one out. Can’t compare a wreck dive in Scapa with a blue water dive in Tanzania or Shark dive in the Galapagos, or Wraysbury…
Funniest Dive: Abortive dive from Kimmeridge shore with Clive Bennett. No viz whatsoever, gave up after 20 minutes or so having been no more than 1m deep!
Why did you take up diving: I was going sailing in the Caribbean and my son Steve (who was a member of HWSAC then) said I had to dive if I was going there.
Best personal diving destination: For me a diving destination is not only about the diving, but about the place and company as well. There are many places I would like to return to but many more that I would like to go to and experience.
What are your other hobbies are: Golf (yawn!), Adventurous holidays.
Dive Review—by Alan Davis
The early May bank holiday saw 11 intrepid HWSAC divers and the Club So-cial Secretary visit Plymouth. The early season water was a respectable 10 - 12 degrees and despite the slightly choppy sea conditions - sea sickness was kept to a minimum. The 10 metre Rhib with it's 400 horsepower engines cut-ting through the waves getting us out to the dive site and back - quickly!
On day one we dived the James Egan Layne in the morning, This is one of the UK 'must do' dives. Sunk some 60 years ago in 21 metres of water, it is the UK's answer to coral reefs - almost completely covered with life. Despite having been on the sea bed that long, the structure of the ship is still evident and it is possible to safely swim through the structure as almost all of the
decking has gone. The plankton bloom didn't help visibility, being a some-what eerie effect - crystal clear water clouded by the dense plankton, but still plenty to see. Definitely one of my favourite dives!
In the afternoon we dived the Glen Strathallen (16 Metres) - although now broken up, still a good second dive and it has certainly helped Jane Mowatt in identification of ships boilers!
On day two HMS Scylla was our first dive. The former Royal Navy Frigate has now been an artificial reef for almost 5 years. Sitting in 25 meters of water, life is beginning to become firmly established on the wreck, and an abun-dance of anemones, starfish and dead mans fingers is evident. In the words of Simon Fennell, our diving officer, there are also stripy fish and non-stripy fish (Marine Identification course recommended!). I guess that in time the Scylla will start to look as the James Egan Layne, it's near neighbour, and eventually become as popular for UK divers. It will become a 'must do' dive and is truly an adventure playground for divers. The wreck can be pene-trated, but being 'purpose built' holes have been cut in the bulkheads and decking so that there is always a clear, accessible exit route. For the slightly less adventurous, swimming along the gangways and decking doesn't detract from the experience. If you have not dived the Scylla yet, your missing something special - So look out for the next club trip.
In the afternoon the weather started to close in a little, so a 10 -15 metre dive in Broady Bay provided the second dive - in a sheltered location. Unfor-tunately, the weather won on Monday, the white horses in the harbour sug-gesting that venturing outside of the breakwater was out of the question - Ah the joys of UK diving and the weather!
On the social side, we have identified a number of Chinese, Thai and trendy wine bars for future club visits. Overall, a great trip and one to be repeated next year?
Messages from the committee
Simon Fennell - (Diving Officier)
Diving done recently:
Search & Recovery SDC - RIB in Portland - 3 students on course run by Gary Howard. All passed after an enjoyable day looking for shot lines, which were all recovered for a change.
RIB Dive - Kimmeridge - May bank holiday weekend had 3 days diving
planned at Kimmeridge with about 16 people diving over the week-end. Only managed one day due to strong winds and rain on Sunday, but managed 24 dives off the RIB on Saturday - thanks to Vicki Billings for or-ganising and Pete Mowatt and Dave Richardson for coxing on the Saturday.
Other stuff:
RIB diving through the summer - a number of RIB dives are being planned, however there may be some late notice dives if weather and availability al-low it. If you are interested in any dates, or would like to help organise a day (or more), please contact either Simon Fennell or Pete Mowatt.
Following poor weather in May affecting a weekend in Swanage and Kim-meridge, we will be looking to rearrange these weekends for later in the year - hopefully the weather will be kinder then. More details will be sent out shortly.
DIVEUKO
Please see the pdf.
Notice from Author
I hope you have found this newsletter informative. Thank you as always to everyone that gave some form of input. Please continue to send me your dive reviews / short stories/ funny photos / jokes / comments / and requests for the newsletter to me at: info@wycombesubaqua.com