Congratulations!

Well the long cold winter months would never stop our intrepid hellfins forging forward bravely grabbing those qualifications and SDCs. As long as it can be done in the safety of a nice warm classroom, eh guys?

VHF Radio Course: Paul Birkin, Jen Birkin, Shona Price, Robert Russell, David Plume

OD Theory Exam: Kathleen Arbuckle, Richard Banner, Julian Horsley, Emma Dubey, Bev Holloway, Ewan Henderson

Instructor Foundation Course: Mark Whittaker-Axon, Julie Shanahan, Dee Ward, Sarah Malone, Paul Adams

Outboard and Boat Maintenance SDC: Paul Birkin, Ian Dorward, Andy Grant, Chris Warner, Helen Fieldhouse

Practical Rescue Management SDC^*: Ian Arnott, Andy Harries, Simon Pritchard, Ruth Reinicke, Katie Lindsay, Heidi Popperwell, Dee Ward, Lee Johnson, Robert Russell, Rob Petersen, Andy Grant, Paul Adams ^*Thanks to FAYE for running the course

O2 Admin SDC^**: Tony Monckton, Ian Arnott, Andy Harries, Alan McLean, Paul Adams, Andy Grant, Rob Petersen, Robert Russell, Simon Pritchard, Ruth Reinicke, Katie Lindsay, Heidi Popperwell, Dee Ward, Lee Johnson ^**Thanks to JANOS for running the course

Silly Scuba Olympics Tue Jan 17th
by Shona

Hellfins were invited to join some other London clubs (Holborn divers, Clidive, Islington 333 & maybe Y-dive) for the 2nd Silly-Scuba Olympics at Ironmongers Row pool.

The team fighting for the reputation of Hellfins were Faye, Helen, Jenny, Robert, Shona & Sid.

We spent a pool session seeing who was least bad at each event and having a go at synchronised swimming (or sinking in my case!).

On the night it turned out we had taken things a little less seriously than the other teams, and I’m very disappointed to admit our spectators had no signs to cheer us on!

The final results panned out something along the lines of...

• Scuba egg & spoon - Sid & Robert - unplaced (it’s not as easy as it sounds!)
• Three-legged swim - Helen & Faye - second (great work girls)
• Feet-first backstroke - Robert & Sid - Robert fourth (but it was close)
• Underwater surfing - Robert & Sid - Robert first (the headless man- see pic)
• Underwater scuba sprint - Faye & Shona - Faye third (but disqualified, booo)
• Synchronised swimming - Faye, Helen, Jenny & Shona - third (but we looked great! Spot the matching waterproof eye-shadow and lippy! You can’t say we didn’t make an effort!)

Out of the three clubs fielding a team in the synchronised swimming we were the only team not to use the James Bond music as the soundtrack, so we’ll need to bear that in mind for next year! We were, however, elegant, graceful, stylish and synchronised... ok, ok, we were synchronised!

We then all retired to the pub over the road for sandwiches, and more importantly Beer!

We think Hellfins retained their honour, but we’d better start practising now for next year!

Outboard and Boat Maintenance SDC Sat Feb 25th
by Helen

It's too cold to dive in February (for most of us anyway) so five from Hellfins went on the SDC Outboard and Boat Maintenance.

This is one of the best SDC's I've ever done. Not too many lectures, loads of hands on stuff, and even the girly lads get a go too!

The day kicked off with a short lecture on two and four stroke engines and the basic principles of how they work. This was followed by short lectures on boat electrics, trailers and towing and how a RIB is built. As one of two women on the course, the lecturers made a point of making sure I understood what they were explaining, in the nicest possible way.

After an early lunch we went straight into repairing the hull of a canoe. This involved a fibre glass kit from Halfords and a few pop rivets and plastic. I feel confident that we could repair a fibre glass object although how neatly and quickly I couldn't say!

Next was electrics and we spent a little time paring down wires and soldering on connections and shrink wrapping them. I enjoyed this so much I was desperate to go out and buy a small gas fired soldering iron. It's on my birthday list!

Then it was time to get our hands dirty. We were shown round a typical trailer and the instructor pointed out areas prone to rusting and how to repair them as well as explaining the difference between steel and galvanised steel and their chemical effect on each other. We also got to play with a wheel drum, pull it apart, then re-assemble it. Glad to say brakes, springs and bearing all went back and there were no parts left over!

Finally, back to the engines and we were shown the differences between two and four stroke engines and the differences between different types of two stroke engines.

Much reference was made to the Boat Handling SDC but I didn't feel that I missed out not having done Boat Handling first.

I can thoroughly recommend this course. It teaches you that some things should only be done by a professional, but there are quite a few things you can do for yourself. Attending in February is perfect as it its in well with most Boat Officer's plans for pre-season boat prep.

Christmas Party '05 Sat Dec 17th '05
by Paul A

Hooray to Katie for organising a fantastic gig. We all had a great time, not least by enjoying the marvellous cuisine of our very own Mr Clegg. Hats off to you Cleggy - you're welcome round my gaff any time!

Gozo Trip 23-30 Oct '05
by Paul A

Gozo was the last big trip of 2005 and it was a corker - well done to Ellie for organising!

Read all about the trip, which even includes the inadvertant go1den shower... trip report.

Book Review: The Last Dive    Bernie Chowdhury
by Helen

This was the first dive related book I ever read. It was also the first time anyone had recommended a dive book as a good read!

This is a story of a man and a boy, a father and son, both of similar personality and both passionate about diving. The story told is one of adventure and discovery, of acceptance into a hard core of East Coast divers and the effect the duo had on the other divers on the dive boats.

There are also details on the advances made into deeper diving, with the advent of mixed gases and fuller understanding of decompression methods and narcosis prevention. It also covers the similarities between cave diving and wreck diving and how methods can be adapted to suit different dives. This is not a technical volume – it is an adventure story, with a sad ending. Of all the things I took away with me from this book, two things stood out like sentinels;

• Deep diving requires proper training - the effects of DCI are horrific
• Andrea Doria - a fascination with wrecks began

This is not a ‘divers’ book. All references to diving are clearly explained but not to the extent of patronising. This is a modern adventure story of the kind RL Stevenson would have been proud of.

Available from AquaPress Ltd, Amphibian Watersports