Last Dive of 2006

14 dive club members braved the wind and rain for a last plunge of the year in Vobster on 29 December. With hardly anyone there, viz was superb with about 15m even in the more usually silty areas of the lake. As we could actually see things, I have produced a short 5 minute video of all the attractions for those of you who have not quite managed to see them in the gloom. The next club dive will be on 4 January to vobster again. Contact Chris in the dive centre if you want to come along.

Santa goes to Rainbow Centre

Once again we sponsored the Rainbow Centre Christmas party with a donation of £600, which (coupled with a further £500 which was raised from the London marathon I ran - money still coming in somehow!) all meant that a great party was had by all. Donk and Tina kindly helped out by standing in for Santa and Elf (they were away on business - busy time of year apparantly) and Katie who looked absolutely wonderful in fairy outfit wings and wand! There are a few photos in the Gallery.

Christmas Ball Photos in the Gallery

For those of you who can't remember the Christmas Ball, I have posted some photos on the website in the Gallery section. It was another cracking night and a sell out with 131 members and guests turning up for a evening of frivolity. Click here to go to the Gallery

Christmas Ball - the morning after......

Well the Ball was another outstanding success. There was drinking and dancing a plenty for 130 people and we also raised over £1400 for the Rowan's Hospice. With all the Triton staff staying at the Royal Beach that night (to help assist club members of course, had absolutely nothing to do with excessive drinking till 4am), for the first time in years the shop wasnt open by 08:30......when we all crawled into work at 10:30 we were met by a queue of customers standing outside in the cold.....oops!.......sorry guys!.....

Anyway hair of the dog and all that, once it had turned midday we thought it only proper to banish the hangovers with a bottle of bubbly. Photos from the night will be in the gallery soon, until then here's a photo of Bill, Jean and David looking slightly worse for wear!

She's back!!

....and looking very suspicious!

This latest image was captured aboard a boat in the Red Sea. The constrictions of land based travel have been over come. It seems that no where is safe.......

Mark Rogers

It is with deep sadness and regret that we have to tell you that Mark Rogers recently went missing on a dive to the Blue Hole and died as a result of the incident. Mark was a dive guide and instructor at Poseidon Divers in Dahab and was well known to many members of the club who have visited the centre over the past couple of years. He was extremely popular with everyone he met because of his friendliness, energy, enthusiasm and huge sense of fun. Our thoughts, and those of everyone in the club, are with his family and friends at this time. We will miss you Mark.

Now even Daleks want to learn to dive ....

"There is a Dakek at the front door" was the call. And true to form there was. Club member Rob Thrush popped into the dive centre ... with a Dalek on the back seat of his car. .... complete with flashing lights and voice effect machine. Well it is not often you get a visit from outer space so we thought we would invite it in for a photo. The Dalek can be seen this evening at Gunwharf raising money for Children in Need.

First Aid at Work Course

Many congratulations to all 9 candidates who recently passed their First Aid at Work course with us. The course runs over a 4 day period and is recognized by the HSE. Anyone interested in this training should contact the centre.

Water Watch Week Makes the PADI Undersea Journal

Some of you may remember that back in June we encouraged local schools to take part in Water Watch Week. We also produced a website in support of the programme (www.waterwatchweek.org). Well our efforts and those of the children involved have not gone unnoticed and this quarter we have got a mention in the PADI Undersea Journal. The magazine goes out to all PADI professionals around the World and is this is the second time we have been featured.

New Baby!

Congratulations to Sharon and Tony. Keira Marie Oliver was born on 4th November to the sound of fireworks at 19:21 weighing 7 lb and 12 oz. Mother and baby are doing well and have left hospital and are settling in back home.

Halloween Party Photos in the Gallery

It was another epic party with some great costumes, excellent food, atrocious dance moves (except from Kevan of course!) and sore heads the following morning! Photos from the night have been published in the gallery.

Well Done to All the Runners ...

Well done to all the dive club members who ran the Great South Run this morning. 2 members had to drop out at late notice but it was a still a good showing. Conditions for the race were pretty appalling with strong Southerly winds and lashing rain - the last mile was a real treat! So if you have sponsored myself, Catriona, Kim, Chris, Andrea or Wyndham now is the time to get in touch and let them have your pledges so that we can get all the money to the Lifeboats. We will let you know how much we raised in due course. Thanks as well to all those club members who stood in the rain to cheer the runners on - it was much appreciated.

New First Aid Instructors

Many congratulations to Tina, Jenny, Alex, Ian, and Paul, who passed their EFR Instructors course on 18 October.

Gozo refreshes parts other holidays cannot reach

Touch me ..... I' is chilled right down to the core. And Gozo is just the place to do it. Hard working Neal relaxed so much that his hair saw some remarkable growth in just a short period of 7 days. We even have the photographic evidence to prove it as you can see in the before and after shots above. Whilst Neal is quite proud of his new flowing locks he intends to have a cut straight away as the dog didn't recognize him when he got home!

Gozo Report Published

I have published a eport from the Gozo trip onto the website (click here for link) for all of those who want to know what they missed. Photos just being resized for the Gallery.

The BIG October Sale - 14/15 October

Once again we are having a big sale during dive show weekend on 14/15 October. So why bother spending time and money going to Birmingham, paying £6 to park, paying to get in, paying a fortune for a coffee and a sandwich and then realizing that the deal was not such a good one in the first place. Instead, just pop along to the Dive Centre on either day and pick up a bargain. At least 20% discount across the board and over 50% on some items. The sale only lasts over the weekend so make sure you get in early. As usual they are a bit of a a social event and food and drink will inevitably be available. We look forward to seeing you.

......and they're off

......on the right day this time

18 club members left for Gozo this morning. All a bit deja vu for Ben and Emma. Internet cafe willing, we'll post some details of what we're getting up to from Gozo.

Gozo Trip Gets off to an "Early" Start

The conversation went a bit like this ...... "morning Ben and Emma. What are you doing at the centre today? Morning David, going to Gozo. Not until tomorrow you're not. Oops!" Promised I would get it on the blog before you got back to Gosport! See you both tommorow morning.

A Clean Sweep at the PADI Instructors Exam

All the hard work during the IDC finally paid off at the weekend for our 4 candidates at the IE all of whom passed with flying colours. There was plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth though ..... having successfully managed not to get the hover (not his fave!) Paul was mortified to find it appeared as one of the 5 skills required in the skills assessment. And who decided to put that question about Spencer wash outs into the presentations! Doh! However, so well prepared were the candidates that they even managed a classy night out in Staines on Saturday evening! Well done to all 4 new instructors. We look forward to seeing some of you working in the dive centre soon.

Beach Clean - 17 September

Many thanks to everyone who turned up on Sunday for the anual Beach Clean. There were about 25 club members and members of the public who turned up on the day and there was plenty of rubbish to collect. The results of the clean up have been passed on to MCS and Project AWARE. Thanks to Katie for her hard work in coordinating the event.