October Newsletter

The October newsletter has been posted on the members section of the website. Not that long this month, but articles about the John Dory, great deals on Scubapro fins for club members and details about the borneo trip next year. Click here to go to the page.

Advanced Open Water and Nitrox divers

There were 8 successful course passes over the weekend - 4 completed their PADI Advanced Open Water Courses and there were 4 nitrox courses as well. The group started off in Portland on the the Saturday diving off the RIB, but the appalling weather on the Sunday meant that the whole group had to move to Vobster to finish it off. Many congratulations to Brett, Paul, Thomas, Rob, Pauline and Stuart on passing. Unfortunately Rob and Thomas missed the photo opportunity because they had to get to the Pompey game!

Well Done to all the Great South Runners

There was another great turnout of club members and friends for this years Great South run. The weather was diabolical - just for a change - but it didn't dampen spirits too much as everyone ran for their chosen charity. Well done to, Rt Hon Chris, Rosey, Andi, Kim, Ruth, Lamby, the whole Lamby clan, and Terry. I know I have missed some of you out so, let me know, and I shall make sure you get a mention. Many thanks as well to everyone who helped out, supported, or gave sponsorship money, and a huge thanks to Sue, for looking after all the warm stuff so we had something nice to wear when we finished.

Newly Qualified Rescue Divers

Last weekend saw us running a small Rescue Course. The final scenrios were conducted at Portland providing the opportunity to practice shore and boat rescues. It was good training and worked very well - something we might try again either later this year of next. Many congratulations to Jen, Brett and Kat (finally!!) on successfully passing the course.

Portland Diving

A few of us decided to jump onto the RIB yesterday and go for a couple of dives - well the weather forecast was good so why not. We had 2 great dives on Lulworth and the Bombard unit in the harbour. Sorry it was a late notice shout offering the dives, but we just decided to go on the spur of the moment. John Dories are still about in the Harbour as you can see from the photo taken yesterday. I have posted a couple more images on the gallery. If you havent used the new RIB boat, why not come along on the next club trip. The water is still warm by the way.

New Open Water Students

Last weekend was a bit busy with 9 students qualifying as PADI Open Water Divers. The weather was kind which made it an enjoyable weekend and judging by the amount of champagne we got through on the Sunday evening when they all got back, everyone worked up a bit of thirst as well. Well done to all of you, we look forward to seeing some of you at club events and on the advanced course in the near future.

Galapagos Images posted onto the website

I have posted some images from the Galapagos trip onto the website. There were an incredible number of pictures so I have been pretty random about which ones I put up, except that I have tried to get pictures of most people who were there. If you were on the trip and want to post some pictures onto the site from the trip, please let me have them. Maximum of 5 per person please. To view the Galapagos images click here

Loads of images on the gallery

I have been meaning to upload some of the images from my last Bahamas trip onto the Gallery and have just got around to it. The trip was the final Bahamas shoot for the second programme in the LIFE series and is the end of my work in the series which all started when they decided to sink a wreck nearly 2 years ago. The trip also included a lot of filming for"Inside LIFE" (The CBBC series) and young James Murray finally got to dive on the wreck he helped to clean before it was sunk. I have also stuck up some photos from the shoot that was done here at the dive centre just before we went out to Bahamas. These pics are mainly for James but you might be interested. Click here to go to Gallery.

September Newsletter

Sorry about the delay in the September Newsletter. Galapagos got in the way, and then we were rushing around with loads of new students and then I was oop North for the Great North Run. Anyway, it is now finally finished and if you didn't get the email, then click here to go to the web page. It is mainly a report from the Galapaogas trip but then you might expect that. I hope you enjoy it.

Quick Update Before I Rush Off

Back from Galapagos now and the blog has been a bit on the quiet side. I am just popping up to Newcastle for the Great North Run this weekend but I will be back on Tuesday so will post some updates then.

First Advanced Courses from the RIB

The RIB is getting plenty of use - with 9 Advanced Open Water students on course with us last weekend the whole gang, including instructors and DMs went down to Portland for the course. Working in 2 groups all 9 successfully completed 5 dives from the RIB. Their verdict (and that of the instructors) was that it makes a lot of difference and that the students all got so much out of the training as it was based around boat diving in the sea. So, all looking good - later in October we will hopefully be running some speciality programmes from the boat to make the most of this asset.