Ilfracombe and North Devon Sub-Aqua Club – Newsletter

January 2010

Welcome to the first newsletter of the New Year.  Despite the Xmas/New Year celebrations and the snow/icy weather that has caused disruptions for so many, the Club, with many of its members, is still very much active in the preparations for the forthcoming year’s activities.

A successful Quiz Night was held just before New Year, impressively conducted by Ricky on the microphone and exposing the real fans of some very dodgy 80’s music!!!  The Xmas raffle was also drawn on the night; this brought in some welcome fundraising for the Club.  The social side of the Club continues and the next event is planned for Saturday 30th January 2010 when a “Free Bar” night is planned.  Tickets will be £20 to include all your drinks, a bit of food and a disco (free drinks between 8pm and 11.30pm) – look out for the posters at the Club giving full details nearer the time.

Plans for the 50^th Anniversary dinner are well underway – full details to follow but keep your diaries clear for Saturday 17^th April 2010 for what promises to be a really special evening for the golden anniversary celebration.  Another important diary date is that of the weekend 26/27^th June 2010 with the Club planning to host the first ever dive festival in Ilfracombe.  This again is in part a celebration of the Club’s 50 years.  A lot more information will be coming out over the next few weeks but please put this date in your diary – the success of the weekend will be very much dependent on Club members volunteering to help run the event assisting in a wide variety of tasks.

In terms of getting things ready for the forthcoming dive season there is a Dive Planning meeting at the Club on 21^st January at 8pm.  This is for all skippers and competent crew to draw up the 2010 dive programme.  For those new to the Club, the hard-boats will be put back into the water some time in March and the programme for diving will run from then, right through to October when the boats come out of the water again for the winter.  The programme will detail both local and away diving for every weekend and Wednesdays.  Martin Davis is asking for anyone wishing to plan a Rib Away weekend to contact him as soon as possible in order for the details to be included in the programme. 

The trainees have been working hard over the winter – the training team reports that there are currently 12 trainees and 3 cross-over members.  11 trainees have successfully completed the Ocean Diver exam and all the pool training, the next step will be to start diving in open water.  Currently everyone is actively getting their dive kit together – so, if anyone has any second-hand kit they wish to sell, please put the details on the notice board.  Ricky has asked me to pass on his heartfelt thanks to all the instructors and club members who have assisted in the successful running of the training programme.

Piers and Stuart are currently organising a working party to redecorate the Club house and they will be putting a list out at the Club for volunteers to help with the painting – please look out for the list and put your name down if you can help; the Clubhouse could really do with a makeover and it goes without saying that the more helpers available the quicker and easier the task.

Another important and profitable activity of the Club is that of providing Try-Dives at the Golden Coast over the summer months.  This has been organised by Jack over the years and he is asking for a volunteer to take on the task of organising the Try-Dives this year.  Jack has all the experience of what is required for the smooth running of the Try-Dives and will offer his advice and knowledge to anyone who feels they can take on this task – not only does this provide members of the public with their first experience of diving (and who knows, maybe enticing new members to the Club) it is also profitable for Club funds.  Please, if anyone feels they can take on the organising of the Try-Dives, talk to Jack at the Club as soon as possible.

I understand that the new, improved Ilfsac website is shortly to be up and running – a lot of work is currently going into getting Club information on the site and as soon as its ready to go, members will be able to access all Club information, up-to-date news etc. so look out for the website details at the Club for everyone to start logging on.

Finally, February/March is the time for cylinders to go away for testing.  Dave dos Santos will be organising this as usual and details will be put up at Club nearer the time..

As you can see, there continues to be a lot of behind-the-scenes activity in order for the Club to be ready for an active and enjoyable dive season.  Please note that if there is anything anyone wants included in the newsletter in the future, please speak to me at Club on a Wednesday evening and I’ll see what I can do to keep everyone informed of what’s going on.

Fran Hughes.