June Newsletter

Well it may not feel like June, what with the wind blowing a hoolie last week and the rain that seems to have returned after such a dry and sunny April, but believe it or not, the diving season has now officially begun ! Time to ease off the social events a little and fill our spare time with diving ! IPSAC Diver is back out on the water and the first couple of dives from her have taken place. Vis not great at the moment, but its still great to get wet again. The new dive booking system seems to be working well, let's hope for good weather in the coming months, and safe diving all round.

Jayne

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

Skittles Night

We've had several events in the last few weeks leading up to the start of the season; first up was the skittles evening at the Drax Arms, Bere Regis. This had an excellent turn out; congrats to Mike who showed off his skills with the skittles, winning both the individual round as well as 'killer'. Pics of the evening are in the Gallery Section.

Underwater Purbeck

Julie & Emma put on a grand show at Kimmeridge with their very informative slide show and talk about Underwater Purbeck. Many thanks to them; shame the warm weather didn't hold for us to get the barbeques out early !

Start of Season Meal

Finally, our traditional start of season meal was held at the Gurkha Restaurant. Well attended, the highlight of the evening was seeing Rosie back on her feet after her operation, and looking fab ! Here's hoping her recovery continues at speed and she's back in the water with us soon.

Seasearch Training

Nick held his first Seasearch course on 22nd April at Kimmeridge; this was very well attended and included 6 club members. Congratulations to Nick for successfully completing his Seasearch Trainer qualification ! If you're interested in finding out more, visit the seasearch website

Training Updates

Congratulations also go out to the five club members who successfully passed their Sports Diver exams in March; they were lucky enough to take these in the comfort of the Ocean Club bar in Sharm ! Thanks to Nick for making this happen.

IPSAC Online Booking System

The Dive Plan has now been published on the web site and this year you can book your dives using the online booking system. Instructions on how to use the system have been e-mailed out and members are already making their bookings for the season. As expected, some tweaks have been required and code has been hastily rewritten to ensure we have enough boat handlers on each dive ! Hopefully most bugs have been fixed but if you spot anything, let us know.

A new feature we hope you'll find useful has been added to the website enabling any member to send an e-mail to either everyone in the club or just the Committee. Just click on the button on the Member's Home page.

Up and Coming ... details of forthcoming events

Training to Rescue Sea Mammals

British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) are holding a training course for rescuing live stranded cetaceans and seals. It is on Saturday 11th August at Charmouth and will cost £30 for the course plus £30 for membership of BDMLR which includes insurance and a very good book. You need to be a member of BDMLR to attend rescues for insurance purposes and the membership fee is an annual fee.

Steve Trewhella is the county co-ordinator for Dorset and in the event of a stranding needs a good team of local people who will turn up and help - we are desperately short of people in Dorset. BDMLR are the people that are called out for these events - not normally the RSPCA - because they have all the latest equipment and training techniques. There's more info on the BDMLR website If anyone is interested in doing the course, they should contact Sue at BDMLR on 01825 765546.

Nitrox Training

Boat Scrubbing !

In an attempt to keep on top of the weed that grows on the underside of IPSAC Diver, and hopefully alleviate the problems this caused last season, the first Wednesday of every month will start half an hour early so we can get in and give her a scrub. So anyone who is able to get to the pier for 5.30pm this coming Wednesday, please do and join in the scrubbing.

IPSAC-wear !

Fancy a sweatshirt embroidered with the club logo ? Want to show off your favourite diving club on a T shirt ? Its several years since the first lot of IPSAC branded clothing was purchased so I thought that its time to think about placing another order. There is a minimum order of 12 garments in total; these include sweatshirts, rugby shirts, fleeces and hoodies embroidered with the club logo or T shirts printed with the logo. Lots of different colours to choose from; prices range from approx £16 for a sweatshirt; £20 for a hoodie, £24 for a rugby shirt. I'll be e-mailing full details out soon.

IPSAC Summer Ball

Keith is once more organising the IPSAC Summer Ball, which will be held in the Old Malthouse School Hall in Langton Matravers on Saturday 21st July. Cost will be £7.50 each, to include a barbeque, beer, and 'Pass the Buck' will be providing the musical entertainment for the evening. Please bring puddings and any non-beer beverages you fancy. The evening will kick off around 6pm; no need to book, just come along !

Social bits'n'bobs

All being well, the Monday barbeques at Kimmeridge will be starting up again shortly, we just need the weather to pick up a bit ! Also planned for the 22nd June is the get together at Chesil Cove, meet at around 6.00pm for a dive, a clamber over pebbles and barbeque.

A reminder that there are no pool sessions now until October.

Club Diving Rates

Evening Dives (Mondays and Wednesdays) £8.00 per person (Guests £10)

Daytime Dives (Tuesdays and Weekends) £20 per person, per day (based on 2 dives)
(Guests £22 per person, per day)

Private Boat Hire
£20 (£22 for guest) per head including fuel. When hiring please ensure that the boat is left ready for use, especially fuel and oil levels topped up. Please see treasurer with fuel receipts for refund.
Any bookings for the club boat should be made with Kate.