Monthly Bulletin

November 2008

St. Kilda photo's

The St. Kilda photos from the 2008 expedition are a permanent resident in the Photo Gallery pages of the 'The Club' section of the website. You can also directly access the gallery by clicking here. The monthly photo's which will include the Oban trip, will be updated shortly.

Pool Training & Social Evening

Whilst there was a good turn-out for the Members Meeting (See below), we have been getting disappointing numbers down at the pool. I know that it hasn't been a good end to the season, but now is the time to start getting fit and practising those skills so that when the water starts to warm up again in a few months time you will be ready and eager to get wet! So come on down to the pool and give the club your support. If you want a change in how we structure the pool nights then let your committee know and we'll do something different.

As for the Social Evening at the White Hart, there is again a lack of faces appearing - if you want to know what is going on in the club it is worth your while turning up every now and again to find out!

I look forward to seeing you all at the pool or the White Hart in the next week or two!

Winter Training

Now that the dark nights and cold water are upon us, it's time to do something constructive! So how about furthering your diving qualifications. You could be thinking about climbing the diving grade ladder, or are interested in learning some more specialised diving skills. If there is demand, I'm currently considering putting on an O2 course and Advanced Nitrox Course during the winter. There's also a possibility of sampling the new Wreck Appreciation Course and Buoyancy Skills Workshop before the start of the new season. So, if you are interested in doing any of the above, or if you have taken a fancy to a course outlined in the 2009 BSAC Program of Events (which has just been included in the November edition of Dive magazine), then let Graham know so that we can gauge numbers and work out the logistics. 

October Events

October can bring some good weather with beautiful autumnal colours silhouetted against deep blue skies. Well, it can, but October 2008 was having none of it!! As reported in the last update, the final Club RIB weekend of the year was cancelled due to atrocious weather - mind you it wasn't all that bad as the beach cafe was open was a last Chocolate Extravaganza before we headed for home.

The second event of the month was supposed to be an Advanced diving day to dive on a U-boat sunk off the east coast off Bridlington. Again the weather had the upper hand and this was cancelled as well! It has been a great shame that the second half of the diving season has been decimated by the weather - there's nothing we can do about it and a lot of dive clubs have had the same problem. All we can do is hope that 2009 is a better year!

On a better note, the Mid-Year Members Meeting held at the White Hart was well attended and those that were there had a chance of seeing a slideshow of some of the clubs activities from earlier in the year. Following the slideshow there was a chance for the members to have a say in where we will be diving in 2009. There were a couple of comments, but if anyone does have an idea of where to dive in 2009, then don't be shy and speak up - It's YOUR club and we'll try to go where you want!

November Events

The season rounds off with another 'Advanced' diving day, this time diving from Amlwch aboard the Empress. The wreck has yet to be decided, but will be in the 35-45m range. Hopefully the weather and the visibility will be good so that we can round the season off on a high note. There are still plenty of spaces left for this day (8th November) - if you are interested then let Graham know.

And Finally - The Pilchard of the Month Award!

Well, after a fairly quiet month not a lot has happened so unfortunately the Pilchards cannot be awarded this month. Still, I suppose that this gives an opportunity for a double Pilchard award next month!!! Watch this space.....

So despite a fairly weak month diving wise, there were a couple of nominations.

Nominations for this light-hearted, and much coveted, award must be e-mailed to me (webmaster@saddleworth-subaqua.orguk) by the end of the month in which the 'event' took place. The Webmaster's decision is final in awarding the Pilchards! By the way, this award is being done in the best possible taste - and don't think that if the Webmaster isn't around he won't find out - he will !!