Not that we constrained our activities to the water - oh no - think of those brave souls who flung themselves out of a plane to skydive, half the cash generated (£750.00) going to the Marine Conservation Society.

Was there something in the air? Or in the water? Either way, there have been some other extra-curricular activities this year too...

Congratulations to Spring and Renee who got married while generously staging a dive weekend at the same time - and even more congratulations on their impending new arrival!

Congratulations to Ishbel and Patrick who got married in December on Bakoven Beach near Cape Town, their daughter Annalise as bridesmaid. They send their love to all in the club.

And there’s more in the offing! First of all Kev and Mel announced their engagement, to be swiftly followed by Ian and Nicky then Paul and Jen! Will they find time in the calendar to get married around the dive trips? Will they take their fins on honeymoon? We all know how stressful and trying marriage planning can be, how tremendous that Susi (new joiner) has noticed the newly relaunched Divegirl website which gives specific advice for all romantics, and particularly honeymooners...

As a club we have had great press coverage (page spread in the Metro, plus our lovely website - cool decorations, Sid), and a record number of new joiners - both crossovers and new trainees. They can look forward to the same level of training in 2004 as 2003. Many thanks to Chris, Christine, David, Ed, Gretel, Helen, Ian, Janos, Katherine, Mark, Mary, Mike, Nic, Nicky, Richard, Shona and Sid who helped organise and deliver training, lectures, pool sessions and SDCs - particularly Phil who seemed to have been in the Shell centre every weekend in December!

And lastly, a thought for our ‘Biteback’ section, which this year has profiled the plight of Right Whales and highlighted maritime dumping as well as helped in the fight to stop Low Frequency Active Sonar. Good quality stuff - please keep sending it in.

So, to sweep up some of the December activities...and on to 2004......

Phil and Shona attended the international yearly get-together for 452 delegates and guests including Michael Pitts (Making Blue Movies - Michael worked on ‘The Blue Planet’, ‘Sea Monsters’, and recent footage of the sardine run in South Africa) and David Doubilet (‘Fish Faces’).

Here are Shona's notes from the conference:

The Diving Officers Conference was held at the end of November in London, and as DO I attended!

Below is a summary of the main points raised, if you want further info etc then there is further info on the conference on the BSAC website - DOC 2003

Skill Development Courses (SDCs)

• Ice diving SDC - piloting in February (in Germany)
• Wreck diving SDC - being written, planned for piloting in 2004
• Boat handling / diver coxon - being updated in 2004 - will gain international recognition and commercial endorsement

New book - ‘Dive Leading’ -to follow on from ‘Sports Diving’ - due out in Jan 2004

Risk assessments - info on BSAC site in New Year, but as far as I could gather it is a tightening up on dive planning / keeping a dive slate up to date. As a club we’re pretty good these, so it shouldn’t be too much of a change. There will be more on this in the new year.

BSAC has got together with the coastguard and other diving agencies to produce a summary sheet for use in emergencies. There will be laminated copies available in the Dive Marshals Briefcase in the New Year.

Boating Guidelines - being updated for 2004 - safety, equip etc ( as for risk assess)

Branch rib registration scheme - incoming in 2004

Last year's Incident Reports have been consolidated, analysed and made available on the BSAC website. Details of all UK diving incidents (BSAC and other agencies) and worldwide incidents involving BSAC divers (either as casualty, or rescuer) are collected via incident reports from branches, newspapers and the coastguard.

• 11 fatalities last year.
• Helicopter involvement at all time high - 35% incidents.
• Dehydration - played a significant role in incidents

So try to avoid dehydration (and increasing your risk of DCI)...

• take still isotonic drinks or water on boat/ to dive site
• Do keep your fluid intake up, even if in dry suit, it’s far less hassle to get out of suit for toilet break, than to get DCI!!
• DO keep alcohol intake down the night before diving, as this leads to greater dehydration (no matter how ‘hard’ you are!!)

Lastly, to assist new, and potential, members in particular, Shona has set up a FAQ on the website this month.

We have details of Global Vision International (GVI), a UK based organization which places individuals in research organisations who need assistance. Projects include Gorilla protection, rainforest schemes, assistance to national parks, and currently they are looking for people interested in going to the second largest reef in the world - from the northern tip of the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico through Belize, and Guatamala to the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras. The aim is to ascertain the ecological health of the region, individuals would be involved in coral reef and fish monitoring surveys, land and sea based marine mammal surveys, nesting site observation etc etc. Equivalent of PADI advanced diving certificate required So Sports Diver or Ocean Diver plus a few dives should be fine. Contact info@gvi.co.uk for further details or visit their website.

...red knickers no, er, inhibitions I suppose! What a fantastic Christmas party we had - many thanks to Kathy for organizing, and to the 35 members who made it a memorable night. The remaining mystery being the pictures which turned up on Ian’s film and caused him a red face in Boots when he picked them up - can you put a name to the these three pictures? See the rest of them on the website.

Rob Brown has been spending an alternative Christmas this year, and all for Charity - and the pleasure of undoubtedly oily fingernails. He has been taking part in the Plymouth-Dakar rally, in which racers (euphemism I’m sure) peddle an old banger to the Gambia, via Bordeaux, Marakesh, and lots and lots of desert - with no back-up, or body bags. He will have been short on turkey then! His chosen chariot apparently failed its MOT and was kindly donated to the cause in exchange for a no more than a couple of lagers.

These pictures were taken outside the The Grove Tavern in Surbiton, shortly before the police started to show a passing interest...

Preparations were laborious, with sand-mats being constructed from bread crates, a sump guard fettled from a road closed sign 'borrowed' from Brick Lane, and an impromptu roof rack being superbly fitted using a big set of bolts drilled straight thro' the roof (combined with the unfortunate loss of the sunroof mechanism.)

This stunning example of French engineering was then ready to rock, and left these shores at 10am on the 19th December, destined never to return.

Check the website - however, I notice there are no text updates - does this mean Rob is still in the desert, walking blindly in a Ralph Fiennes manner back towards civilization? Rob, where are you?!!

Hmmmmm, seems this is a theme for some of our members - an unhealthy interest in bodging and tinkering with bits of stuff (technical terms). Ah yes, spare a thought for poor Pippa this festive season - who probably had her tree lights fashioned into an underwater night-diving lighting system. Or perhaps found her turkey testing Janos’ very own decompression tables in the bath (it died, but was surprisingly perky in the oven). Yes, this is the formal launch of Janos’ shed! A resource for inventers everywhere - and already in the first page of results if you search for Kowalski Torch on the internet!

Lastly, to let you know that we are thinking of extending training into other areas with a series of seminars on loosely related subjects. For instance, navigation and off-shore lore, or photography from a professional (Crispin). Not necessarily 100% diving related, but skills we have in the club from people prepared to share them. For instance, the input from Richard (policeman) and Paula (nurse) on a recent Oxygen administration course was fascinating and added great value to the understanding of the training. Interested? Are you a pilot, nurse, nutritionist, yoga teacher, physiotherapist, teacher? Let me know, we are gauging ideas and support.

Happy New Year!