BUDDIES MEETING

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who attended:-

1. Angie
2. Sara
3. Debs
4. Sue & Zak
5. Richard
6. Dave
7. Natalie
8. Ray
9. Ken
10. Allison
11. Andrew
12. Steve
13. Alan
14. Richard Garrett
15. Chris Douch
16. Ian
17. Miranda
18. Phillip Dempster
19. Glenn
20. Wallace

Plus apologies for absent were recieved from:-

1. Matt
2. Arek
3. Mick A
4. Steve W

The agenda was as follows:-

• RIB DIVES ARE COMMENCING FROM END MARCH - THEY WILL BE GOING FURTHER AFIELD THIS YEAR DUE TO THE POWER OF THE ENGINE.
• DIVER BUOYANCY CHALLENGE OVER THE WEEKEND OF 7TH & 8TH MARCH. FOR THOSE PARTICIPATING MEET AT DIVE CENTRE 10.00AM.
• PADI PRO SEMINAR IS ON MONDAY 23RD MARCH – DOORS OPEN @ 6.30 – SEMINAR STARTS 7.00PM Location: Brighton Pier (signs will be put up directing you to the exact meeting point).
• EFR AND EFR UPDATE ON SATURDAY 28TH MARCH 2009.
• DIVE SHOW AT EXCEL LONDON OVER THE WEEKEND OF 28TH / 29TH MARCH - CALL THE OFFICE IF YOU REQUIRE TICKETS. ALSO, STEVE FROM OCEAN OPTICS WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE BUOYANCY CHALLENGE.
• RED SEA LIVE ABOARD TRIP 24th JULY 09 – MY GELEN (NEW LUXURY 5* LIVE ABOARD WITH AMRO) – SPACES AVAILABLE.
• NEW INTERACTIVE WEBSITE BEING DESIGNED – LAUNCH DAY & PARTY TO FOLLOW COMPLETION.
• CAMPING TRIP TO KERNOW DIVE FESTIVAL 20TH / 21ST JUNE WITH RICHARD AND SUE - NEED TO CONFIRM NUMBERS AT NEXT MEETING. LOTS OF INTERESTS ON THIS ONE. CALL THE OFFICE FOR DETAILS OF TRIP, ALSO IF YOU DONT HAVE A TENT WE HAVE DETAILS ON RENT A TENT AT VERY REASONABLE PRICES.
• PADI PROJECT AWARE GOLF DAY (2 Teams or more for this year) 10TH AUGUST 2009 More details to follow in the spring…. Or just come along for the meal and auction – its real good fun…
• ALL NEW OPEN WATER STUDENTS NOW RECEIVE A ONE DAY KIT HIRE FREE OF CHARGE UPON PASSING. THIS IS TO ENCOURAGE THEM OUT DIVING ONCE QUALIFIED.
• VERY IMPORTANT – ALL DIVERS MUST ENSURE IF DIVING IN THE MARINA THAT THE ROPES ARE FITTED ACROSS AT ALL TIMES.
• ONCE AGAIN – IF DIVING THE MARINA YOU MUST HAVE DIVE PERMIT PASSES – AS SECURITY WILL BE CHECKING.
• PROJECTAWARE:- INK CARTRIDGES - ENVELOPES IN THE OFFICE.
• I NEED SOME VOLUNTEERS – TO HELP CEMENT THE GNOMES AND TO START THE UNDERWATER FEATURE.
• WE WILL BE PLANNING SOME BBQ/ BEACH DIVES OVER THE BANK HOLIDAY WEEKENDS (DETAILS NEARER THE TIME).
• FOR THE NEW WEBSITE WE NEED PHOTOS OF ALL DM'S AND ABOVE - OTHERWISE WE WILL BE PICKING YOUR PHOTO'S FROM OUR OWN PHOTO'S THAT WE HAVE OF YOU.
• NEW UNDERWATER PHOTO'S OF MARINA DIVE SITE FOR THE NEW WEB SITE.
• ANYONE WISHES TO PLAN ANY OTHER TRIPS – FEEL FREE
• NEXT MEETING IS TO BE HELD ON FRIDAY 17TH APRIL 2009.

THE DIVER BUOYANCY CHALLENGE - UPDATE

As per our previous post - Sunday 1st Feb, we have now managed to filled all 8 places for the Diver Buoyancy Challenge.

I have spoken to Steve and he has confirmed our spaces and time slots and said that he is looking forward to seeing us all again, especially M.

Will post names and itinery nearer the time. Special thanks to those that volunteered.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS - JANUARY 2009

We would like to congratulate the following on this months achievements:-

OPEN WATER

• Adam Cobb
• Victoria Lea-White

DIVEMASTER

• Andrew Brotherton

SPECIALITY - WRECK DIVER

• Chris Burns
• Paul Burns
• Wayne Smith

SPECIALITY - DEEP DIVER

• Chris Burns
• Paul Burns
• Wayne Smith

Well done to the above on this months achievements .

BUDDIES CHRISTMAS DINNER

Christmas Party

Xmas Meal

"OUR VERY OWN EYE CANDY" - RED SEA NOV 08

Red Sea Trip Nov 08 (3) - Pauls Photos

This album is for the girls that are getting bored with looking at the fish................

Pauls photos.

MORE RED SEA PHOTOS

Red Sea Trip Nov 08 (2)

MY RED SEA PHOTOS - BY ANGIE

Red Sea Trip Nov 08

EMERGENCY OXYGEN USE - INSTRUCTOR COURSE

Margarett has ran her first Padi Emergency Oxygen Instructor Course yesterday with Cengiz. This is a brand new course which she will be running over the winter months for anyone with Divemaster or above, so if anyone wishes to book this course and become an Instructor for this speciality - call the office for further info.

Also the Emergency Oxygen Use course will also be run over the winter months for all divers as a speciality - if you have previously done this course as a DAN Oxygen Provider - it is basically the same - so check your certification cards date, as they are only valid for 2 years. For more information on this course call the office.

STUDENT TRAINING @ BRIGHTON MARINA 19TH OCTOBER 2008

A few photo's taken from training on Sunday 19th October 2008.

CITY OF WATERFORD - SAT 11TH OCTOBER 2008

*Permission to publish these photo's has been granted by all those involved*

Below are the photo's taken on Saturday 11th October, City of Waterford.

Just to put every one's minds to rest, Kim and Steve were airlifted to the Haslar Hospital, Portsmouth and upon arrival it was felt that they did not need to be put into the decompression chamber but were retained there for observation only and released a few hours later.

We would like to point out that the heath and safety of all our divers is our number one priority and the call was made as a precautionary measure.

We would also like to thank the Portsmouth Coastguard Rescue Team for their professional and speedy response.

City of Waterford Rescue -

CHRISTMAS DINNER LIST - SO FAR.....

1. Margarett
2. Peter
3. Codfather
4. Ally
5. Angie
6. Suet
7. Richard
8. Ray
9. Debbie
10. Andrew
11. Andrew Guest
12. Allison
13. Arek
14. Roger
15. Roger Guest.
16. Alan
17. Debbie
18. Steve
19. Kerry.
20. Ken
21. Derek
22. Josh
23. Alan
24. Jennifer.
25. Richard G
26. Vicky G
27. Kim
28. Tas
29. Tracie L
30. Timmy (Alan)
31. Sara B
32. Matt G
33. Mick H
34. Carol H
35. Alice
36. Alice Guest
37. Dave G
38. Nat G
39. .
40. .

STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENTS - SEPTEMBER 2008

We wish to congratulate the following on this months achievements.

OPEN WATER

• Ian Cottenham
• Jaroslav Zibrun
• Toby Pettifor
• Alice Atkinson

ADVANCED OPEN WATER

• Kim Dawes

Well done to all the above........

HURGHADA REPORT

RED SEA REPORT - BY ANGIE

As many of you know (and from what I had heard, many of you found it funny) we were stuck in Hurghada due to the collapse of XL airways but are now back safe and sound (sorry Sue to disappoint you).

Amro and crew were on top form as usual - and for those of you who remember Ferres he is hoping to come on The Valerie for the November trip.

The weather was fantastic with temperatures 96f-98f most days - sea temperature of 26c - as to Hurghada well it is growing bigger than ever - the New Marina Boulevard is now open and worth a visit with approx 100 outlets there, they have entertainers along the boulevard in the evening and there is also a Rocket Bungee for the thrill seekers (didn't think my back would hold out though). You can check out the marina for yourselves:- http://www.hurghadamarina.com/

As usual the sea was spectacular with lots of sea life even for those who just want to snorkel. The worst part of my trip was the de-lay at the airport and having to wait for the CAA (cival aviation authority) to send out a flight to pick us up - which at one point we were told it was going to be a Monarch Flight (which didn't turn up) - so we had another de-lay whilst they sent out an Astreus Flight to collect us - but thanks to Amro we didn't have to sit it out at the airport, he collected us from the airport and dropped us back to the appartment. Cheers Amro.

All in all - this is still my favourite destination in the world. And my Arabic is coming on bundles so watch out Margarett.

CHRISTMAS DINNER - WEDNESDAY 10TH DECEMBER 2008 @ THE GOLDEN PALACE

Come and join the festive fun.

Christmas Dinner has been booked for Wednesday 10th December @ 7.30pm at The Golden Palace - Seaford. Could you please let me know if your coming, or place your name on the list in the shop.

THE UNDERWATER CHANNEL.TV - LAUNCH DAY

LAUNCH DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED 01/09/08

Click the following link:- http://www.theunderwaterchannel.tv/

COVENTRY CLUB - WEEKEND DIVING WITH NEWHAVEN SCUBA CENTRE

Newhaven - August 2008- Shopping & Scuba Trip!!

As a club our diving requirements are pretty basic, a boat, a skipper and willing divers.
Well - in the instance of this weekend, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Out of 12 divers who made the pilgrimage from the centre of the country to the outland known as ‘Newhaven Scuba centre’ only 4 were willing to force ‘Richard’ into skippering the club RIB out into the gentle force 5 that blew steadily from the South West.
The remainder of the party electing to ‘go shopping in Brighton’. (Mostly females I hasten to add!!)

Once the 4 of us had loaded the boat we headed out to the harbour entrance, amongst regular requests from ‘Richard’ of “are you sure you want to go boys?” and “I’m not sure how good the viz will be”. We naturally assured him by repeatedly singing such well loved classics as, “rolling along on the crest of the wave”, “two little boys”, “Hernando’s hideaway” and “trail of the lonesome pine”, until we arrived at the dive site (City of Brisbane). All the while ‘Richard’ was noticed at regular intervals shaking his head while repeating almost under his breath, “They are mental”.

Once the wreck was shotted (right by the boilers we discovered) we kitted up and ‘went for it!’ At the bottom, the wreck was perfect 5-8 mtrs viz AND loads of fish.

The trip back to port was uneventful, other than a repeat of the repertoire on the way out, but with the addition of the theme from Hawaii five-o, as we were now riding the rollers like a surfboard. With ‘Richard’ once again repeating his repertoire while shaking his head.

After we had beached for an hour to fill bottles, we attempted to con, sorry tempt ‘Richard’ to take us back out. He made up some excuse about “deteriorating conditions” and a “worsening front” he even got one of his chums to put out a coastguard gale warning on the transistor radio on the boat. We graciously accepted the compromise and proceeded to get totally “wrecked” in the nearest hostelry.

The following day the weather had worsened. ‘Richard’ escorted us to the harbour wall where some of his co-horts were observed throwing large buckets of water over the wall from the south west; at this we were reluctantly Coventry bound.


YOU DON’T FOOL US THAT EASILY RICHARD
WE WILL RETURN

HAR! HAR! HAR!

WRITTEN BY: - VERNON

THE UNDERWATER CHANNEL TV

Launch day is nearly here..............

It's the final countdown...

Click the following link for more info:-http://www.theunderwaterchannel.tv/

BANK HOLIDAY BBQ - MONDAY 25TH AUGUST 2008 WITH THE BUDDIES AND MacD DIVERS

BANK HOLIDAY BBQ

Wow, another great turn out, on yet another miserable Bank Holiday Monday.

Thanks to everyone who helped out with all the preparation and a special thank you to head chef Jordan who done all the cooking.

PADI EMERGENCY OXYGEN COURSE

A couple of photos taken from the 'New' Padi Emergency Oxygen Use course held today.

Margarett will be running this course over the winter months if you wish to do this speciality - also, for anyone who wishes to teach this course, the Instructor Course is scheduled for October.

For more information on this course call the dive centre or leave a comment on the blog.

RED SEA TO BE PLASTIC BAG FREE BY JANUARY 2009

HEPCA is working with the Governor of the Red Sea, to support his decree that the Red Sea will be the first plastic bag free Governorate in Egypt with effect from 1st January 2009.

This decree represents a considerable step forward in tackling the many issues caused by excess rubbish and in particular plastic bags in the Red Sea environment. Plastic bags pose a massive hazard to birds, turtles, dolphins and other marine creatures that are killed in alarming numbers each year after swallowing or becoming entangled in plastic bags blown out to sea.

Turtles easily mistake plastic bags for yummy jellyfish. Once in the stomach, the indigestible plastic wraps itself around the intestines of the creature and it slowly starves to death. This year, HEPCA has seen an increase in the number of dead turtles washed up on the shores of the Red Sea. Plastic bags and other rubbish are undoubtedly to blame in many cases.

Typically plastic bags are used for only 20 minutes before being thrown out; but they will each take up to 1,000 years to rot away. During their long decay millions of bags litter and pollute our streets, the desert, and are blown out to sea where they become a toxic plastic soup that threatens the existence of marine and wild life.

The Red Sea campaign follows many high profile campaigns in Europe to limit this most damaging form of pollution.

HEPCA will be working alongside the Governorate to suggest practical solutions and alternatives for plastic bags. As part of the campaign in support of this decree we will also be undertaking education initiatives and lobbying activities.