(An early) February Newsletter

February's Newsletter comes to you slightly early as your social secretaries will shortly be off on their first Red Sea trip ! But despite the excitement this has generated, we've still found time to organise some events to keep us busy until the weather's warmed up a bit here and we can get wet again.

The new website is now live and most members have registered to access the Members Only section. We've had some really good feedback about the site; thanks very much to those of you who've said nice things, its much appreciated ! If you can think of any additions/changes to the site, let us know.

Seems like ages since our Christmas party; hope you've visited the Gallery section of the website to see some photos from the evening. Nice to see lots of other photos being added there for everyone to share.

Events for the coming months include a quiz night, skittles evening, the monthly dining club of course, and an opportunity to visit Steve Etches' impressive fossil collection. Hope you will be able to come along and support these events, read on for details ...

Jayne

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

Christmas Party

Our party at the lookout Cafe was a big success, very well supported by members. Many thanks to Sally and her team at the Lookout for transforming the cafe into a really welcoming venue and serving up great local produce. Nick provided the entertainment for the evening with his IPSAC Oscar ceremony and the raffle raised a decent amount of funds for the club. Thanks to everyone who came along and donated raffle prizes.

New Years Day Dive

What better way to start 2007 than with a quick dip ? We had a few mad divers jumping off the pier into near 0% vis; some bumped into pier legs a few times, others ended up out in the bay, but it was fun ! And plenty of people (of the more-sane variety) turned up to watch. Check the gallery for some pics of the goings-on. The meet up at the pub afterwards led to a Red Sea trip being arranged for 10 club members... reports to follow in due course !

Pizza Night

January's monthly meal took place at Piccolo Mondo, with the usual gang postponing any new year diet ideas to feast on pasta and pizza. Apologies to those present not joining the Red Sea trip for having to endure much discussion about it ...

Training

Nick held a Sports Diver training day at Kimmeridge on 6th January, completing the theory lectures for six trainees.

The first Try-Dive took place last Saturday; slightly disappointing as not all those who'd registered an interest made it on the night, hopefully the second session planned for 10th February will attract more interest. Please direct any interested parties to Chris for further information. Thanks to all the members who turned up on the night to help. Particular thanks go to Nicky for her artistic arrangement of pool-side kit.

Up and Coming ... details of forthcoming events

LIDS Competition

We spotted a competition open to all BSAC clubs in the latest issue of Dive magazine, offering 2 free tickets to the London International Dive Show (LIDS) so we went for it !

We have a prize of 2 tickets, the question you have to answer is : Where is LIDS 2007 taking place?

All entries will go in the red Jacques Cousteau hat and the winner will be drawn on 1st March. Good luck !

Monthly Meal - February

For February's meal we go oriental; the White Lotus in Swanage is booked for Wednesday 7th February at 7.30 pm.

Quiz Night

For those of you wishing to exercise the grey matter, we're having a quiz night on Friday 23rd February at The Antelope in Wareham. The evening will include a basket meal, cost is £9.50 per person. Food on offer is as follows :

Scampi
Half a roast chicken
2 jumbo sausages
2 vegetable samosas ..... all served with the compulsory chips !

Please e-mail us with your menu choices by 14th Feb; we'll be collecting money up front at the chinese meal and also at the pool on 10th Feb, or you can send a cheque to us.

Fossil Evening

Steve Etches has amassed a very substantial fossil collection which he holds in his garage in Kimmeridge. Robin has kindly arranged for a small group of us to visit this amazing collection and hear Steve tell his stories about some of the unique pieces he holds on Wednesday 14th March. Examples include fossilised bones with teethmarks .... and the teeth to match ! Numbers are limited to 20, so please let us know ASAP if you would like to attend what is sure to be a fascinating evening. Small charge of £2.50 per person.

Skittles Night

Now changed to 13th April

Fancy a go at skittles ? The Drax Arms at Bere Regis is booked for a skittle night on Friday 13rd April. Cost is £8 per person, to include their 'deluxe buffet' which I am told includes pudding ! Drop us an e-mail if you'd like to come along by 14th March.

Photo Competition

As some members are already using the new gallery feature in the website to share their photos, we thought we'd run a photo competition. There will be four categories as follows:

1. Underwater Photo - UK Waters
2. Underwater Photo - Overseas
3. On The Surface (diving related)
4. IPSAC (anything that captures the essence of the club!)

All photos entered must be taken in 2007 and the judging will take place at our Christmas Party at the end of the year. Happy snapping !

Caption Competition

In a similar vein, but just for fun, we're also launching a caption competition. The first picture to be captioned can be found in the gallery, or just click HERE. E-mail your captions to us and the best one will be displayed in the gallery.

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

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

7th February - - - - Monthly Meal at White Lotus, Swanage

23rd February - - - - Quiz Night at The Antelope, Wareham

14th March - - - - Fossil Evening, Kimmeridge

23rd March - - - - Skittles at The Drax Arms, Bere Regis

26th March - - - - Red Sea Trip (see holidays link above for more details)

Pool Sessions

The pool is booked for Saturday nights until the end of April, except for 27th January and 3rd March 2007.

The sessions are from 8:00 pm until 9:00 pm.

Cost is £2 per person.