A bit of an update

We have really struggled a bit with the internet out here especially loading images. So here is a bit of an update. The day at Turneffe South was amazing .... flat calm seas and 3 superb dives. We were treated to Eagle Rays so many times it kind of got a bit boring! Turtles were also out in force. The day after we took a break from diving and headed inland. A water taxi and nice air con van saw us standing on top of Xunantanich Mayan ruins. Miguel our guide gave us a great history of the Mayans and from there we went to Chaa Creek, a resort I last visited 21 years ago. It has changed a great deal and far from being the no electricity resort I remember it is now very luxurious. And I managed to get the rooms for $50 a night ... its who you know, but then what would you expect from the premier dive club in the South! We paddled up the river to see Toucans and Iguanas in the tree before sitting down for dinner ... which was even included in the price.
After a relaxing evening the following day we went cave tubing. An experience. You sit on a rubber innner tube and follow the river through the cave system. Great fun. Steve T fell out at the first set of rapids and managed to lose his glasses.
Then it was back to Caye Caulker for more diving. Turneffe north brought the same number of Eagle Rays and turtles.
On Wednesday we took a bigger boat to the Great Blue hole. 120m to the bottom the dive took everyone to 40m as they swam through stalactites and stalagmites millions of years old. At the exit we were met by inquisitive Bull Sharks and huge grouper who just came to have a look. Dives on 1/2 Moon Caye and Long Caye were spectacular with coral growth better than I have ever seen.
The last day of diving was a local dive with even more sharks, rays and turtles.
So here we are, our last night in Belize. There were a few sore heads this morning after Neil's birthday bash last night and no doubt we will have a few tonight before heading back home via Houston. It has been 10 years since I was last here and it remains one of the best dive locations in the world and a great place for a trip. Another fantastic club trip. I will be writing a bit more info for the newsletter when I get back and wil try and sort out a full trip report for the website.
So cheerio from Belize, see you in a couple of days and looking forward to 38 of you joining me in Egypt in November.

Belize Trip: Dive Days 2 and 3

Two dives at Spanish lookout were pretty good. The weather was getting calmer and the viz was improving (not that 20m is shabby anyway). We then ventured north to Ambergris Caye and dived in the area of the Hol Chan marine reserve. Shark alley was just that, loads of coral alleys full of swimming nurse sharks. A real treat. The second dive in Cyprus tunnels was also great fun, huge groupers and some long swim-throughs. Lunch on San Pedro gave us the chance to walk on something other than sand for the first time in days. Next stop is a 6.00 am departure to the Elbow at the south of Turneffe Atol.

Becs gets hungry!

Becs! Lobster tails are nice but is this really necessary?

Hurricane Felix Heads South

It was a near thing and we had contingency plans in place but the hurricane headed South and we are now all sat in Caye Caulker. As we all packed our things to go to Belize my eyes were on the web sites that had hurricane Felix heading straight for the small island that was going to be our home. We had additional accommodation booked and ready in San Ignacio if we needed it, organized by my good friend John from Sea Sports Belize, but as it turned out we didn't need it.

The plane was delayed for 2 hours before take off because they couldn't start the engine and had to do it "manually" - anyone got jump leads! The end result was that we missed our connection and had to spend the night in a swish hotel in Houston. The cayes off Belize had all been evacuated so we would not have got there anyway so nothing lost. In the morning it was an early flight to Belize, clear blue skies and not even a hint of a storm!

So here we are! Went for the first dive yesterday and heading off to Spanish Caye today for a couple. We all splashed out on Lobster last night - well it was only $10 so a bit rude not to!

I will give you more updates as and when they happen.

It's Official

It's official. Having ginger hair when your name is Timeeeeeeee makes trees grow out of your head.

Monty Halls Night a Huge Success

Over 100 people turned up to the Monty Halls presentation at the Royal Beach Hotel last night - a sell out. The event was initially organized for the club and we then decided to invite the other dive clubs in the area so there were also members from Portsmouth East, Portsmouth West, Southsea and Cockleshell Divers. PADI and BSAC divers all crossing over to the dark side for this fun event. Monty talked about his second series of Great Ocean Adventures providing some hilarious anecdotes and unseen footage. He talked for just over an hour and managed to sign off some of his books before we all sat down to Steak and Ale pie. It is the first time that so many clubs in the area have got together and on the strength of it, will not be the last. The event also raised £500 which we donated to the Scuba Trust at Monty's reqeust. Many thanks to everyone for supporting the event - we hope to see you again soon.

August Newsletter

I have published the August Newsletter on the website for those of you that don't receive it by email. Includes a report on the BBC work in the Bahamas. Click here to go to the web page.

I'm Back - and Greeted with Speedo Action!!!

Just got back from the Bahamas - full report will follow in the newsletter, but essentially, the boat went down (after some diplomatic wrangling), it landed upright (phew) and the film of the sinking looks fantastic. However, in a weekend that saw 4 new nitrox divers and 10 open water divers I was horrified to find some rather offensive speedo action going on. Has the Bootneck taken over from Timmy in the dodgy underwear photo department?

Congratulations to new OWSI's

Congratulations to Jules, Rob and Tim aka Ginge aka 'Timmy' for passing their IE this weekend. They have all put in a tremendous amount of hard work over the last few weeks which showed in the outstanding high scores they all received.

A message from the Bahamas

Just wanted to say, well done to all the IDC candidates who finished today. A lot of hard work, lots of contacts, values and non-diving training aids. Many thanks to Dale at F&B for finishing the training for me as I had to rush out here at short notice to do some prelims for the Bahamas film shoot. Been with Mantas today so just thought you might like to see what I have been getting up to by posting a photo. Will tell you all about it when I get back.

Quick as you can!!

Congratulations to all the students that passed their Open Water Course this weekend. With loads of sunshine and laughs it was a thoroughly enjoyable course........especially the bit where Wyndam's dry suit leaked catastropically leaving all his clothes drenched.....and the bit where he tested the students powers of observation by turning up with his Tshirt on inside out....oh and the constant micky taking of the weekend's catch phrase, 'Quick as you can'.....

Fire Station Open Day

Well it was certainly the weather for it! Yet again we put the pool up for Somerstown Fire Station and 50 people had the opportunity to see what Scuba Diving is like. Thanks to everyone that helped make the day such a success.

New AIs and EFR Instructors

Its been a busy week in the Centre. 4 new AIs who now move on to join the OWSI programme and 6 new EFR Instructors. Well done all of you. I will stick the course photos in the Gallery when I get back.

Oops, forgot to mention the Rescue Course

What with planning for overseas trips and running an Instructor Development Course this week, I even managed to forget to tell you about the Rescue course successes. Well done to all 6 students who completed the training. We hope to see you join the ranks of the DMTs soon.

Childrens BBC Filming

Crikey .... here's me about to dash off to the Bahamas to start filming and I havn't told you about the CBBC that happened on 3 August. All good fun. Plenty of lights, cameras and action, thoroughly enjoyable ... eat your heart out Rosey! Anyway, gotta go, flying to Bahamas tomorrow morning. More next month when I report back from Nassau.

Club Newsletter for July

I have published the latest club newsletter onto the website for your delectation. Click here to go to the site.

A Busy Weekend and Plenty to Cheer About

It was one of our busiest weekends of the year over 28/29 July. With Advanced Courses, EFR and 2 Open Water courses all finishing at the same time (20 students in total) it had the potential to be slightly chaotic. However, with 5 instructors and a plethora of excellent DMs and Trainee DMs helping out, everything went smoothly. Well done to all the students who completed their training - we hope to see you all again soon.

Advanced Course Success

Many congratulations to our advanced course students who completed their course on 22 July. Advanced courses seem to be on the increase with 3 planned in the space of a month. If you are interested in increasing your skills and becoming an advanced diver, give us a call at the dive centre.

SMB Workshop

The weekend saw 7 club members participate in the latest SMB workshop at Horsea. The workshops are a great way to practice skills under the guidance of an instructor without forking out a fortune for a course. As always we will be running more workshops over the next few months.

Hair Colouration - it must be the weather

As I get slightly longer in the teeth the thought of the odd bit of hair dye has crossed my mind on more than one occasion I have to be honest. I am happy to admit that advancing years brings out the grey (distinguished) flashes to the side burns. However, recently we found out that the sun can turn your hair ..... ginger! So the enterprising young big girly DM from Chichester who made this claim (he of the arse baring episode in Dartmouth) decided to dye his before this could happen. The end result - yellow and ginger hair. The top shot of the head proves it! Excellent!

Open Water Course Success

What with the Summer Ball, it was a busy weekend at the dive centre. However, training still goes on and another 6 students passed their Open Water course. Many congratulations to all of you. We look forward to seeing you soon at a club meeting or another training programme.

Summer Ball

Another successful ball over and hangovers all round. Last night was pretty much what you'd expect from a club ball, lots of laughter, a few too many drinks and loads of dancing...... looks like maybe we should start a line dancing club too. All the evidence is now in the gallery. We were also visited once more by the mystery woman ......but this time she wasnt alone...... is this the beginning of an invasion?

Checking out the BBC Cameras for Bahamas

When the vehicle arrived with 5 containers we all naturally assumed they were checking out all of the cameras we would be taking to the Bahamas! Actually we were wrong - this was the storage for one of the latest HD units. It took about 45 minutes to put the whole thing together and then we had to create a vacuum in the housing which showed whether it was watertight by using an altimetre of all things. Well, with a value of just shy of £100K it would not be good to get a leak! Even in the "cloudy" water of Eastney it achieved some amazing results. Next stop Nassau .....
(Picture shows the producer Neil with "the Mother of all cameras"

June Newsletter

The club Newsletter for June has been posted onto the website. Click here for a link. Sorry it was a bit late being published .... too much going on.

Weekend Dive!

Sunday RIB Dive!

The O2 is available on Sunday 15th if anyone fancies getting thier feet wet!

Dive and time to be confirmed once we know numbers. (Looking at an 11am ish start)

If you fancy it give the shop a call.

Weekend Update

Congratulations to the students who passed their Rescue Course this weekend. Those of you booked on the Belize trip should recieve your itineraries through the post soon AND the beginnings of the Dartmouth photos are now online. I say beginnings, because as those of you who were on the trip know, there are many embarrassing videos too which we are yet to publish!

Offensive Wellies - Be Warned

A word of warning to the wise - the dive boat in Dartmouth last weekend was infiltrated by an offensive pair of blue neoprene wellies. The owner was heard to say "yes they may look a bit bad but they are dry and warm". Nooooooo, that is not the point. Be on the look out - they could turn up on any dive boat. You have been warned.

Wind, Rain, Fun and Course Success

It might have been the start of July, but it was hardly summer was it? Still, no matter. We still managed to have some fun with a great club trip to Dartmouth and a full Open Water Course finishing at Horsea. Dartmouth brought about some good diving, interesting sea states, nudity, spicey food .... and the occasional bucket of vomit! (So much more to tell you on that one!!!!!!!) Horsea brought about smiles and champagne. Many congratulations to our newly qualified divers - we hope to see you again soon either at the club, on a dive trip, or on another training programme.

Wednesday Evening Diving!

Wednesday evenings will now be Triton 'dive evenings'!

Regular Wednesday evening RIB dives will be scheduled on the o2 to various local dive sites -so if anyone has any preferences let us know and we will do our best to accommodate!

The next scheduled dives are:

• Wednesday 4th July diving the Landing Craft. The RIB will leave from the ECA at 1800, so arrive in plenty of time to kit up.
• Wednesday 11th July diving the Camswan. Times to be confirmed.
  All dives will cost £25 payable at Triton.

Call in to the shop to put your name down for the dives.

Rain ..... who cares about the rain?

The forecast was never any good with heavy showers expected throughout the whole weekend of the Waterfront festival at Gunwharf. However, it didn't matter as even more club members dived the lock and loads of kids took advantage of the opportunity to do a try dive. Over 20 club members took the plunge. There were some great "moments to remember" throughout the 10 days we were there - the RNLI jumping in to cool off, our oldest try dive aged 74! ... Ruth doing a dying fly impression on the lock, 3 radio interviews, 2 newspaper photographers and some great publicity, using some 45 year old regulators and appearing slightly nervous (well so would you be).

We also had a giggle watching Phil Smith manage to pull down his DSMB (how much weight did you have on mate) and basically messing about and doing what we are good at ... putting on a professional show and having fun at the same time. It is important that I also thank all the willing volunteers who gave up their free time to help out make it such a success and such fun. Especially Jules, Mandy, Donk, Tina, Ian, Cam, Rosey, Lorna, Melons, Ruth, Andy, Sarah, Brenda, Nigel, Andrea, Ken, Gavin .... and anyone else that I might of left out (please dont be offended. Could'nt have done it with out you so many many thanks.

More Radio Interviews

It was Ocean FM and Original FM last weekend at Gunwharf. This week it was Express FM who had a long chat about diving, training, opportunities and ..... well us really. Well what else would you expect from the premier dive centre! We think it was on the air this morning but as Ian is a bit of a Chris Moyles fan we kind of missed it. So, first it is the radio ... maybe TV later this week - we shall have to wait and see.

VHF Radio Course Success

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, or was it just an urgency rather than distress? The dive centre was ringing with the sound of digital distress alarms from the radio simulators as 5 students went through their VHF GMDSS Radio courses on 20 June. None of that "10/4 big daddy, got a smokey bear on ma' tail" thank you very much Ian, but plenty of fun, especially when the routine messages starting asking for passage information on a naturist boat! (you had to be there to understand fully!) Well done to all the students. The course is a requirement if you want to operate a marine radio on a boat, so if you need a qualification, give the centre a call.

Helping out local schools - who then have a try-dive!

We recently gave some presentations to a large number of students studying leisure and tourism. The invitation came from the Education Business Partnership at Portsmouth City Council. It is the second year that we have helped out, however this year was a bit different with some of the students not only learning about the Scuba diving industry but, taking advantage of the pool up in Gunwharf, actually having a go. Several of the students took the plunge and we hope to be running some try dives for thos schools that didn't, in the near future.

Waterfront Festival gets off to a Fantastic Start

This weekend had a bit of everything! A lot of sun - unfortunately a bit of rain, 5 students at Horseas doing their open water course and many more club members down at Gunwharf to dive the lock or help out with try dives at the Waterfront Festival.

The lock dives all went well and we were all surprised by the viz and the amount of fishlife in there.....and the lack of rubbish. The Waterfront Festival was really busy as well and we have a prime spot down at the waterfront so please come down and see us. Our friends at the RNLI joined us for a dip in the pool. The marquee looks great, thanks to the efforts of many club members over the last week. Many thanks to all of you, especially those of you who are helping run the stand both weekends.

Other things that happened .... well you may have heard us on Ocean FM and Orignal FM radio, both of whom wanted interviews about what we were doing. Blatant plugging about being the best dive centre in the South. We will be down at Gunwharf all week and next weekend. Next weekend as well we are hoping to get some of the old hysterical diving society gear out - some twin hoses and maybe even a hard hat if we can get hold of it. There is also an opportunity to dive the lock if you have not already done so, so please contact the dive centre if you'd like to go for a dive.

Waterfront Festival all Ready to Go

The pool is up, and filled thanks to the Fire Service - we owe you another one chaps. The marquee is looking good and we even have a visual audio system this time around. So why not pop along to gunwharf - you can do a try dive or dive the gunwharf lock for charity. Give us a call in the dive centre

Gas Blender Course Successes

Not everyone thinks of gas blending as one of those specialities you really should have a go at ...... but then, if you are a DM or and instructor or you simply have an interest in the "dark art" of getting the fills correct (it is magic honestly), then it is probably something you should do. Many congratulations to the 5 candidates who have become our latest newly qualified "blenders". (ps picture will go up when I find the card with it on!)

Fiji Holiday Prize Winners Choose Triton

Annette Stocks and Shaun O'Brien had never been diving before. They never thought they wanted to learn either. However, Annette has a hobby - entering competitions. So when she saw the £5000 diving holiday to Fiji come up in Dive magazine she bought a copy and entered ...... and won! A stroke of luck really as she and her boyfriend were planning to get married and here was the ideal opportunity to tie the knot and have a great honeymoon. The only slight hitch was that they didn't dive. Living in Swindon, they contacted their local dive centres in the area, slowly moving further afield as they did not get the response or the service they wanted. They gave us a call even though we were 85 miles away and were so impressed that they booked there and then. Two weekends later they had completed all of their pool work and theory and were on their way to Fiji. Shaun said, "of all the schools I contacted you were the only one that replied and gave me a specific date. The assistance given to my partner to pass her training was fantastic." We wish Shaun and Annette all the best for their wedding, honeymoon and their future diving.

Diving t-shirts - Special offer!!

Ladies and Mens T shirts only £10 each!

Variety of colours, sizes and styles available.

I.Q, Seven Tenths, Fourth Element and many more diving brands.

Oceanic Dive Computers.

Special Offer!!

The Atom 2:
Features:
· Digital Watch, Air, Nitrox, Gauge and Free Dive Modes
· Wireless Air Integrated Technology
· Switch between 3 independent transmitters, with up to 3 nitrox mixes to 100% O2
· Buddy Pressure Check™ allows you to receive and monitor your "Buddy's" air pressure
· Advanced watch functions including alternate time zone, stopwatch, lap timer, daily alarm, and countdown timer
· Adjustable safety stop time and depth
· History Mode

Only £318 (without transmitter)
£500 (including transmitter)

VT3 - a next generation dive computer!

Features:
· Air, Nitrox, Gauge and Free Dive Modes
· Wireless Air Integrated Technology
· Switch between up to 3 independent transmitters, tracking up to 3 Nitrox mixes or your buddy’s tank pressure
· Patented Air Time Remaining Algorithm
· Audible Alarms with User Acknowledgment
· SmartGlo® Backlighting
· Advanced User Settings and Options
· Adjustable safety stop time and depth
· Use With or Without Wireless Transmitter
· Diver-Replaceable Batteries

Only £318 (without tranmitter)

£500(with transmitter)

VEO 180.

Features:
· Air, Nitrox and Gauge Modes
· "Hockey Puck" module is the same size as most depth gauges for easy and inexpensive console upgrades
· SmartGlo Backlighting
· PC Downloadable with optional OceanLog PC Interface
· Audible alarm with flashing LED warning light
· Automatic Safety Stop Prompt
· Water or Manual Activation
· Diver-Replaceable Batteries
· 24-Hour Fly Countdown and Calculated Desaturation Time
· 24 Dive On-Unit Log Book

Only £180!

While stocks last.

Monty Halls Presentation - 30 August

Monty Halls has accepted an invitation from us to give a presentation on 30 August. He will be talking about his new book and television series, Great Ocean Adventures. Monty has spent many years travelling to far flung parts of the world seeking out exciting things beneath the sea. He has presented a number of television programmes and written 4 books. The plan is to hold the presentation in the Coast Bar of the Royal Beach hotel, but we are going to be opening up the talk to other dive clubs in the area and so this venue may change depending on numbers. There will be a £5 charge for club members which will all be going to charity. Non-members will be £10 (£5 to cover food and £5 for charity). Although there is some time to go until the event, we expect it to be very popular, so please let me know as soon as possible. More details in the next newsletter.

She's Back

Last seen in Kenya. More strange photos coming soon!

May Newsletter on the Web

The May newsletter has been sent out to all club members. For those of you who do not get it by post, it has been copied onto the members area of the website.

Rain what rain

Braving the great british weather over the weekend, another 8 Portsmouth University students passed the PADI distinctive speciality Scientific Diving Techniques. Well done. Congratulations to all 24 students who have succesfully completed the course this year.

In more drier conditons, 8 students succesfull completed the academic and confined components of the Open Water Diver course. Watch this space for further details of their progress.

Dads and Lads

We 'teamed up' with City Boys school and gave some of the pupils and their dads a taster of Scuba diving. As the photo shows they thoroughly enjoyed themselves with a couple signing up to complete the Open Water Diver course. Well done guys.

Triton undecided whether to buy shares in Threshers

With 10 students completing their EFR, 8 students in Horsea doing their Open Water and 8 students doing their Advanced Open Water, the local Threshers did very good business this weekend providing celebratory drinks.

Another Scientific and Technical Speciality Course finished last weekend. Well done to everyone that completed the course.....in the wind.....rain....and odd bit of sunshine.

Bahamas Update

The boat for the Bahama's project has now been found. So we are now going out to the Bahama's to look at sites to sink the boat, and to organise it to be cleaned etc. Once the site has been found a camera team will be going out in August to capture the sinking of the boat. More news when we return from the Bahamas.

Enham Try Dives

On the 10th May we took another group from Enham for trydives. All had a thoroughly enjoyable time and also as a result of previous try dives for Enham two of the students have completed their open water this month.

Scientific Techniques Speciality Gets Underway

It was fun and frolics at Horsea last weekend with the first of our Scientific Diving Techniques speciiality courses taking to the water. The course is unique and has been designed for the university to support the marine biology, environmental science, civil engineering and sports science degree level curriculum.

The 4 day programmes covers a range of topics including survey, report writing and construction, as well as traditional subjects like search and recovery. About 30 students have booked onto the course this year.

April Newsletter on line

The April edition of the Newsletter is available for download if you didnt get one through the post. Click here to go to the web page.

Charity Donations

Just to let you know that this week we have sent off cheques to the following charities:
Lifeboats - £500
Rowans Hospice - £1000
Rainbow Centre - £1000
Project AWARE - £500

And many thanks to everyone at the club night last night who helped us raise another £94 for good causes.

May 2007 Club Night

Well monthly meetings seem to be all the rage sudddenly and it was another good club night at the Royal Beach last night. Numbers were slightly down at 60 but it was still a good social gathering with excellent food and company. Monthly club meetings are a great way to meet up with like minded people for a chat and a few drinks so why not pop along if you havent been yet. Dont forget that plenty of food is laid on free of charge for club members (and only £5 for guests) but we ask that you let us know if you are coming so that we can make sure there is enough. The next monthly club meeting will be on 7th June. See you there.

Does my bum look big in this?

New mystery man spotted at a Dive Master trainee session. Be afraid be very afraid!

Trip to Portland

With the viz in the Solent about 1m, some of the club members decided to have a little trip to Portland. We 'teamed up' with Fathom and Blues who looked after us a treat.

The first dive was on the Countess of Erne with viz of about 7m and water temperatures a balmy 11 degrees. Second dive was a drift at Durdle Door; viz was about 5m with a 2 knot current.

Unfortunatly due to a misjudgment in breaking distances Phil had to 'team up' with the AA to recover his car on the way home!!! Nice!

Wednesday Night is Pool Night!

Wednesday pool night is back on for all club members!

Come and use St Edmunds pool whether it be for testing out your new kit, refreshing those rusty skills, the use of the pool is free on a wednesday evening from 8-9pm.

Pop in to the shop or give us a call to reserve your place as spaces are limited.

Speciality of the Month!

Search and Recovery!

There are still spaces on the Search and Recovery speciality this weekend!

A challenging adventure that will enhance your navigation skills as you learn how to find that mask that inadvertantly 'fell' overboard. Find out about planning search and recovery dives and learn how to use lift bags to retrieve sunken objects.

A speciality suitable for all levels of divers.

Only £129 for club members for the whole weekend.

Call in to the shop to pick up your manual

Lights, Cameras ....... and Action!

Hollywood here we come. Triton provided actors and equipment for some in water and underwater filming for Discovery Chanel at the weekend. The filming was for an episode of "True Heroes" about a group of fishermen in Florida who rescued some people from a car after it crashed into a river. Naturally the 5 club members and staff who volunteered could not miss the opportunity to fly over to Florida to rub shoulders with the stars .... ah, yes, it might well of happened in Florida, and the local footage was taken a few weeks ago, but on this occasion we just need a lake where we can dump a car and stage some rescues. ..... So Horsea lake will be fine! Ok, so Horsea was not exactly Florida as far as film locations go, but with a few special effects I'm sure you won't know the difference. The day was full of luvvies and darlings, cries of "where is my trailor", "I cant work in these conditions" and "I am an actooooor dont you know". With Ian hamming it up so much he needed to be reprimanded for over acting, and Julie's big moment resulting in something that you will probably see on a TV out-takes in a few years it was a day of fun. Far from just hanging around in the background, the guys were all very much in the action. I have posted some images from the day in the gallery and there are a few in the slide show below .... and will let you know when the programme goes on air. Bunch of posers!