December 2007 Newsletter

December is here already and this newsletter seems to have come around very quickly ! December means its time to get your glad-rags out ready for the club Christmas dinner; hope everyone is looking forward to it !

Sitting here with the rain & wind lashing against the windows is a bit different to where some IPSAC members were a week ago; in the warm Egyptian sunshine ! Another successful club trip to Sharm happened last week; see below, and keep an eye on the gallery section where no doubt some photos of the week will appear shortly.

As he mentioned at the AGM, Chris would like to involve everyone in the dive planning process this year, giving YOU the opportunity to request your favourite dive sites or suggest new ones. See below for full details on how you can have your say in what's dived in 2008.

If I don't see you at the Christmas party, have a Happy Christmas.

Jayne

Update ... what has happened in the club since the last newsletter

Bonfire Night Social

Our monthly get together for November was at the Scott Arms in Kingston where we enjoyed a lovely meal, finished just in time to nip outside to watch the fireworks. Not sure if it was Poole's or Bournemouth's displays that we ended up seeing, some may say the fireworks going off in the adjoining gardens provided more entertainment, but at least the rain held off !

Club Trip to Sharm

Eleven IPSAC divers spent last week in Sharm on the third club holiday we've had there this year. This time we treated ourselves and stayed at the Hilton, which was a very different experience to the Ocean Club ! The weather was good, with little wind and some of the calmest seas ever seen at Tiran, allowing us to dive the back of Woodhouse where some of us were lucky enough to spot some white tip sharks. And of course, between dives we lived up to our dining club name ! It was especially good to have Rosie along with us and great to see her back in the water again. And once more a big thank you to Terry for organising everything.

IPSAC on TV!

Well, the club may not have got a mention, but it was still nice to see two of our members, Tracy & Colin, on the telly in an item for BBC Inside Out about the trigger fish off Kimmeridge. We understand that almost 7 hours were spent making the piece, some of the filming being done from Neptune with Chris's help, and the final piece was condensed into a snug 10 minutes or so ! Picture here was taken from the BBC website; you can read the article about it here :

BBC Inside Out

Want to get rid of unwanted kit ?

I've heard several members recently wanting to pass on surplus dive gear, so here's a reminder that the club web site has a For Sale page which is ideal for this ! Remember that this page is only viewable by club members so any personal information entered is safe. Any donations to the club from sales always welcomed !

Up and Coming ... details of forthcoming events

Christmas Party

We've had a good response once more for the Christmas party to be held at The Lookout at Durlston on Friday 14th December. Doors open at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm start. There'll be a complimentary glass of bubbly on arrival, please feel free to bring your own beverage of choice to have with your meal (no corkage will be charged) though there is a limited range of beers and house wine available also. As is tradition, the IPSAC Christmas raffle will take place while we digest our turkey and pudding, so please bring along a raffle prize to add to the entertainment. See you there !

Dive Planning

From your Chairman:-
Since I launched Neptune in these southern waters I’ve slowly been gleaning local knowledge and building up a list of my favourite sites and then annually I’ve hosted the informal planning meeting that lays down your diving for the season. If my memory serves me correctly the first meeting was just Robin and myself, subsequent ones never involved more than 5 others – not really representative so how about a change!

Thanks to Peter S. we’ve got all our sites on the automated booking system and he has shown me that with a few tweaks he can now allow everyone to take part in the planning process. Could I ask you to nominate your top 15 dives that you fancy for next year and also to nominate your favourite pair of main dive days? From the received data I will do my best to put the program together that fulfils the majority of your requirements however………..
……some things are sacrosanct and not to be messed with. Kimmeridge Monday and the Pier Wednesday are set in stone and if Margaret was back in number 10 I don’t think that even she would try and change them!

Obviously there will be flexibility as the season progresses, maybe even a third dive day but I’ve got to start somewhere so your input will be appreciated. Anyone with new ideas or anyone with dates of priority 1 fixtures eg.UTP show please mention them. It’s your club use your votes! Make your desires known!

The '2008 Dive Poll' is now on line ready for you to enter your dive choices by clicking here :

DIVE POLL

Try Dives

Our try-dive night takes place this Saturday 8th December at the Purbeck Sports Centre. You've still got a couple of days to spread the word to friends, family and colleagues ! Anyone who might be interested, either in try-dives or just joining the club, should contact Chris.

January Meal

Unfortunately yours truly will be away for most of January so unable to organise the monthly meet up; if anyone else would like to organise a get together, please feel free to do so !

Dates for Your Diary ... a summary of what is planned

Every Saturday Evening Swimming pool sessions at Wareham swimming baths, see below for details.

8th December Try Dive night Wareham Swimming Pool

14th December IPSAC Christmas Party at The Lookout Cafe, Durlston

Pool Sessions

Don't forget that the swimming pool at the Purbeck Sports Centre, Wareham is available on Saturday evenings, 8.00 - 9.00pm until the 26th April. We're still waiting notification of any 2008 gala events; will e-mail these once known. Sessions are £2.00 per person. Please try to come along and support this.