IPSAC logoBSAC logoBSAC logo
HomeAbout IPSACDivingTraining

Newsletters

GalleryLinksContact UsMembers Area
header picture

Back to the archive

April 2009 Newsletter

Well its almost April and looks like Spring is finally here ! Let's hope that the glorious weather we had the other week with flat calm seas and blue skies is just a taste of things to come this year. A few brave IPSAC divers have already been in for a dip; I'm told the water is still pretty nippy at 8-9 degrees ! The club boat will be dewinterised later this month and so, weather permitting, diving should be in full swing by the time the next newsletter is out.

In the meantime, social events continue, so read on to find out what's in store this month !

Jayne



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


Visit to HM Coastguard

Last month we had a visit to Portland Coastguard (based in Weymouth) where their Diving Liaison Officer, John Coupe, gave us an informative insight into the role of the Coastguard. Based in their high-tech, yet surprisingly small, incident room, we witnessed a live incident taking place, involving the deployment of the helicopter. We had a demonstration of the simulation software they use to calculate the position of a lost diver/man overboard, based on the tide and weather conditions at that time, and got to see real-time positioning maps of all the commercial traffic in a 'water motorway' in the channel. John spoke very enthusiastically and had a lot of great advice to us specifically as divers, and particularly for skippers.

He was very keen to emphasise that all skippers of dive boats should radio in as they set off for every dive, giving the dive site and number of divers on board. This provides vital information should there be any sort of incident, giving the coastguard additional information on our whereabouts should a distress call be received. All skippers please take note ! The other point made very strongly was to call the coastguard should anyone be in any doubt about a possible instance of DCI, emphasising that the sooner this kind of incident is dealt with, the better. All in all , a great evening.


March Monthly Meal

February's monthly nosh up had to be cancelled but we made up for this in March, with a great turn out at the Cock & Bottle in Morden. We filled their function room and I think everyone was impressed not only with the food but the speediness of the service. Great for everyone to catch up over a decent plate of food and a pint; thanks to everyone who came along.


Underwater Camera & Comms

The full-face mask has been available at all the Saturday evening pool sessions and has been well used, with several members having a go and familiarising themselves with it in readiness for the Under the Pier Show. If you've still not had a go and would like to, you need to bring your dive kit (jacket, regs, bottle and a hood), a buddy, and Chris will supply the mask and a spanner.


Boats !

IPSAC Diver will be dewinterised on 21st April ready for the start of the season. Jane has already given Belle her first outing, and no doubt Neptune won't be too far behind... we look forward to seeing what modifications have taken place over the winter !


Pier Camera

Some of you may recall discussions about mounting an underwater camera beneath the pier with a live feed up top ... ? Well, this may have gone a little quiet for a while, but these things take time and I am pleased to report that the project is now back online. Funding has been secured to cover the costs of the brackets to mount the camera to a pier leg, the brackets have now been manufactured and once the weather picks up, the next step will be to fix the brackets, mount the camera, sort out the wiring... quite a lot ! Is anyone interested in taking on the role of project leader ? If so, or you'd like to know more about what's involved, give Chris a call.



Up and Coming ... details of forthcoming events


Quiz Night

Time to dust off the brain cells and come along to our quiz night ! This will be at the Black Swan, Swanage, on Wednesday 8th April, total cost £8 per person (includes jacket potato supper with choice of deluxe fillings + £2 for the quiz). For those of you who haven't memorised an encyclopedia or watched every episode of QI, don't worry; I promise there will also be some fun rounds not requiring much brain power at all !! If you'd like to come along, please email me by Saturday 4th April so I can give the pub numbers for catering.


IPSAC and PMWR

Emma has been in touch with us about some ideas she has about revamping the affiliation the club has with Purbeck Marine Wildlife Reserve at Kimmeridge. So we're having a get together to give everyone the opportunity to talk about these ideas and discuss how we can improve the links between us and Kimmeridge. Items for discussion include:

What would the club like to be involved in?
Receive as a member?
Benefit from?
Would the club like to be part of an interactive email group; uploading/downloading dive pics, benefiting from new sightings/dive sites.

If you'd like to contribute to this, please come along to the Centre at Kimmeridge on Friday 17th April, 6.30. To make it into a dining event as usual, could everyone bring a plate of food to share. Let me know if you're planning on coming so I can let Emma have an idea of numbers.


Start of Season Meal

Yes, its here already; our traditional start of the dive season get together will be on Wednesday 29th April at the Gurkha in Sandford. This is normally one of the best attended evenings of the social calendar, so I hope to see many of you there; drop me an email if you'll be joining us.


Dive Coordinator Evening - Last Chance

Chris is running one last 'How to be a Dive Coordinator' evening on Saturday 2nd May 7.30pm. Please contact him if you're interested in attending.


Diving

The Dive Plan has been on the website for some time now and many of you have already booked yourselves on dives. If you haven't, its time to start thinking about it, with the first pier dive set for 6th May and the first boat dive 13th May, so just click on the Dive Booking link in the Members Area. And don't forget that if you are a Dive Coordinator, you can go ahead and arrange dives of your own !

If you've already booked on dives but can't quite remember which, you can use the new Dive Calendar feature in the Dive Booking area. This displays all the planned dives in a monthly calendar format, with the same colour coding as on the main Dive Plan.


Skittles... not just yet

For all you skittle enthusiasts, do not fear, there will be a skittles evening this year, but not this month as expected. Thanks to everyone who got back to me with info on alternative venues; these are being investigated for a date later in the year.



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


8th April - Quiz Night, Black Swan, Swanage
17th April - IPSAC & PMWR meeting , Kimmeridge
29th April - Start Season Meal, Gurkha, Sandford
2nd May - Dive Coordinators evening, Chris's
6th May - First Dive ! (fingers crossed!)



Pool Sessions


Make the most of the last few Saturdays at the pool before we get in the green stuff - the pool at Purbeck Sports Centre is available to club members on Saturdays, 8.00 - 9.00pm, up to and including 25th April. Cost is £2 per person.