North Wales Sub Aqua Club

Maritime Archaeology Presentation

2010-01-28T19:56:00.008Z

We are pleased to anounce that we will be hosting a talk by Mr Ian Cundy of the Malvern Archaeological Diving Unit on Saturday 20th of March.

Date - Saturday, 20th March.
Time - Doors open 7PM, Presentation begins 8PM.
Location - Llandudno Sailing Club*.
Entrance - Free.

The talk will provide an introduction to Maritime Archaeology in general and the Nautical Archaeology Society. Ian will also talk about the work he has been carrying out on the protected wreck "The Diamond" in Cardigan Bay. This event promises to been extremely to anyone with even the slightest interest in the waters around our country.Mr Cundy has been a diver for 17 years, the presentation will be by a diver, and aimed directly at divers. He lives in Malvern in Worcestershire, where he runs the Malvern Archaeological Diving Unit. MADU is a loose group of divers that have an interest in archaeology.

"We take on maritime archaeological projects ourselves, and turn out to assist anyone who needs help, advice or assistance in the field of maritime archaeology. Several members of MADU are also tutors for the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS), and in this guise we run one and two day courses on 'Foreshore and Underwater Archaeology' predominantly for divers."

Ian has been working on maritime archaeology sites, both in the UK and abroad for appriximately 12 years and in recent times has held various licences both from English Heritage and CADW for the Welsh Assembly, to work on protected sites off Lundy Island and in Cardigan Bay. He also holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MA in Maritime Archaeology.

Could all those interested in attending this event please contact either Dave or George so that we can gauge numbers.

*Scroll down for Club address.

Hogarthian Equipment Configuration

2010-01-15T10:20:00.013Z

As I'm sure some of you may be aware BSAC recently made a change to their policies specifying that their instructors are no longer allowed to teach students using, what is commonly referred to as, a Hogarthian equipment rig. Fortunately the SAA have made no such policy change and a divers equipment configuration is at the individuals discretion. In case some of you are not familiar with the Hogarthian equipment configuration I approached technical diving instructor and author Mark Powell who gave his permission for the following article, originally published in Sports Diver magazine in 2008, to be reproduced on our website. I hope you find it as interesting as I did. Original article images courtesy of Gareth Lock.

Hogarthian Equipment Configuration

If you are on a boat with a group of technical divers you are likely to notice a great deal of similarity in the way their equipment is set up. It doesn’t matter if the diver was trained by one of the major technical training agencies or any of the other smaller agencies there is likely to be a lot of similarity. In many cases their equipment might not just be similar but identical. The reason for this is many technical divers adopt an overall approach to their equipment philosophy. This can be summed up by the phrase KISS which in addition to its traditional meaning of Keep It Simple Stupid can also be interpreted as Keep It Simple and Streamlined. A more detailed approach to equipment configuration is known as the Hogarthian approach and increasingly UK divers are using this approach when setting up their equipment.

The Hogarthian equipment configuration developed out of the North Florida Caving community. The very formal sounding name of “Hogarthian” is in honour of Bill “Hogarth” Main who is credited with bringing together the major parts of the System. Main tried to develop a safer and more efficient system of diving than the confusion of styles that was present at the time. He adopted the technique of breathing from a long hose from cave diving legend Sheck Exley and from this basis Main began applying the "safer and more efficient" philosophy to every component of dive gear. He reduced the amount of gear taken underwater, he removed unnecessary D-rings and clips, and he rearranged his gear to promote efficiency and safety to the extreme. He examined every assumption and convention, and if they were found to be inadequate he changed them. He was one of the first to propose a standardised system where each diver wore the same configuration. This gives the advantage of greatly simplifying repair and allows for swapping of equipment. In addition if your buddy is sing the same equipment as you then you instantly know where everything is and how it works. However Main did not intend his system to be permanently fixed with no allowance for flexibility. Rather he developed his philosophy to be dynamic so that new developments could be incorporated into the system. He also recognised that there is no single configuration that will work in all situations and that the proper configuration for a warm water cave dive, for example, is different than that used for a cold water wreck dive in the English Channel.

The Hogarthian style was quickly adopted by most of the Florida cave diving community and now most cave divers in this area dive in this style. It also began to spread beyond this starting point. Many other cave divers around the world started to adopt the same system. Other areas of technical diving including wreck diving also started to adopt some are all of the Hogarthian system. Wreck penetration diving has many features in common with cave diving and wreck divers also started to adopt this style of diving. There were some exceptions. On the North East coast of the United States a different configuration style had been developed and there were a number of discussions of the merits of a “cave style” versus “NE wreck style”. However the advantages of the Hogarthian style gradually won round a large number of divers and it is now considered the norm in many US diving communities. The UK was also a different story. UK cave diving is very different from US cave diving and the equipment requirements are also very different. For this reason UK cave diving could never adopt the same style of diving which meant that there wasn’t the same foothold for Hogarthian diving to break into the country. As a result UK technical diving equipment initially developed along quite a different route. It wasn’t until communications within the technical diving community improved through dedicated newsletters and in particular the internet that awareness of the Hogarthian system began to be noticed. It was the introduction of the Do It Right (DIR) movement in the UK that brought the Hogarthian system more into the limelight. The DIR group are the most rigid followers of the Hogarthian system and this has led to the incorrect assumption in the UK that the Hogarthian style was introduced by the DIR group. In fact most of the leading Technical Instructors in the UK use the Hogarthian system irrespective of the agency they teach for.

The Hogarthian style is focused on simplicity and efficiency. It focuses on carrying sufficient safety equipment without carrying unnecessary clutter and as such is more a philosophy than a recipe book. However there are some key components that make up a Hogarthian configuration.

Rather than a traditional BCD the Hogarthian configuration uses a backplate, wing and harness. This type of setup has a number of advantages. A suitably sized, unbungeed wing provides buoyancy in the same location as the twinset and so is more effective at counteracting the weight of the twinset. Having the buoyancy behind the diver but next to the twinset helps to support the weight of the twinset and lifts the twinset off the divers back. All of this means that a wing is usually considered a more comfortable way to provide the buoyancy required for a twinset. A simple one-piece harness made from a continuous length of webbing is used. This reduces the clutter around the front of the diver when compared to a standard BCD and increases their streamlining in the water. The harness should be properly fitted and adjusted so that the diver can easily reach heir manifold in order to be able to carry out a shutdown if needed.

Single cylinders can be used for shallow recreational dives with a Hogarthian configuration. Single cylinder wings are available and the backplate and harness configuration will be unchanged. However for deeper dives and any decompression dives a manifolded twinset is preferred. Manifolded twinsets are preferred to independents due to the complexity of air sharing rules when using independents. The use of inverted cylinders is also discouraged due to the complexity of configuring the hose routings.

One of the most distinctive aspects of a Hogarthian configuration is the use of a long hose on the primary regulator. A typical recreational diver will have their main regulator and then an ‘octopus’ regulator which can be donated to their buddy in case of emergency. This octopus reg is often, but not always, on a slightly longer hose than the main regulator. The Hogarthian configuration uses a much longer hose, from 1.5m to 2m in length and it is placed on the primary regulator rather than the octopus. There are a number of reasons for this. In an out of air situation in a wreck, cave or even during an ascent on a decompression dive the use of a long hose enables you to be slightly further away from your buddy. If you try to ascend while breathing off your buddy’s short hose, you will need to be very close together. Sending up a delayed SMB, controlling the ascent and holding a safety stop are much more difficult when you are very close together and ‘in each others faces’. Combined with the stress of the initial OOA this can be enough to turn a difficult situation into a full blown incident. A long hose gives you the space to perform all of these tasks with enough room to remain comfortable and composed. Once you have passed over your regulator and deployed your long hose you can maintain your normal in-water position and the ascent is then no more difficult than if your buddy was breathing their own regulator.

The long hose could go on the octopus but the Hogarthian configuration puts the long hose on the primary regulator. This is because in the case of an out of air situation the diver would plan to donate the regulator in their mouth. This is not what the majority of divers were taught on their entry level course so why this method should be adopted? The first reason for donating the regulator in your mouth is that you know this regulator is working. The out of air diver will be under stress and putting a working regulator in their mouth is the quickest way to calm them down. Another reason is that many people believe that an out of air diver is more likely to take the regulator from your mouth rather than hunting around for an octopus.

The last reason is that technical divers frequently carry multiple cylinders. These cylinders carry gasses which are only breathable at certain points of the dive. If you breathe the gas at the wrong depth then Oxygen toxicity could be a very real risk. We know that the regulator in our mouth always contains breathable gas and so by donating this regulator we are ensuring that the out of air diver is getting a safe source of gas.

Of course if we donate our regulator then that leaves us with no regulator in or mouth. This is not a situation that we want to be in for very long. If we now need to start hunting around for our backup, ensuring that we don’t take a deco gas regulator by mistake, then we are just moving the problem along from the out of air diver to ourselves. For this reason a diver using the Hogarthian configuration does not store his backup in his pocket, dangling by his hip or clipped somewhere on his chest but instead he stores it on a bungee around his neck. This means that once they have donated their primary it is just a question of ducking the head and putting the bungeed backup into their mouth.

The excess length of the long hose is stored by “wrapping” it around the body. The hose passes down behind the wing on the right hand side, around the right hip, across the chest from right to left and behind the head. There is a common misconception that it goes around the neck. This is not true as it would be dangerous to have the hose fully around the neck. By having the hose on the back of the neck it id held in position but can be released by ducking the head and/or flicking the hose off the head. This method of storing the hose is known as a Hogarthian loop or it is often shortened to “Hog Loop”.

The use of a long hose is closely associated with technical diving and is often seen in conjunction with a twinset. However a long hose is not restricted to a twinset and it is possible to use this configuration even on a recreational single cylinder set up.

Other equipment and accessories should be firmly attached to the body or stored in pockets. This is to avoid any dangling equipment that could get snagged or damaged. Dangling consoles, regulators, DSMBs, reels or any other equipment are to be avoided. A single pressure gauge, as opposed to gauge consoles is used and this is attached to the left hand hip D-ring by a boltsnap.

Hogarthian divers use torches for signalling and so require a powerful primary torch. A canister torch is preferred as this allows a small light head to be carried easily. A Goodman handle is used so that the diver can hold the torch in his hand without loosing the ability to use that hand for other tasks. The canister torch is mounted on the waist strap on the right hand side of the body. Backup lights are also carried and should be streamlined by attaching to the shoulder D-rings with a boltsnap and are then held in position along the harness by surgical tubing or inner tube.

The idea behind the Hogarthian configuration is to try to be equipped to deal with realistic emergencies rather than prepare for every possible emergency. This is based on the view that most accidents don't happen as a result of equipment failure. Instead most accidents are due to the diver failing to adequately prepare. This can be as a result of not properly cleaning and servicing their equipment, or by overweighting themselves with too much equipment, or by configuring their equipment in a manner that is confusing, or by failing to practice basic skills. This means that the Hogarthian configuration is not just about the equipment configuration but the attitude that goes with it. Being properly trained for the type of diving you are carrying out, strong buddy or team diving skills, good buoyancy control, regular practice of basic skills and maintaining a good level of fitness are as much a part of the Hogarthian approach as simply adopting the equipment configuration.
__________________

Article written by:
Mark Powell
Dive-Tech: Technical Diver Training
http://www.dive-tech.co.uk
Deco For Divers by Mark Powell A divers guide to decompression theory and physiology

Images courtesy of:
www.techdivenz.com
www.sfdj.com
Gareth Lock
www.imagesoflife.co.uk

Happy New Year

2010-01-14T19:14:00.003Z

Happy new year everyone!
Firstly I'd just like to let you all know that the club's AGM is to be held on Sunday 14th of February at 8pm in the Sailing Club. Ofcourse all members are welcome and if anyone has any issues they would like raised could they please present them in writing to the club secretary, George Robinson atleast 28 days before the meeting.
Also we'd just like to thank Gary Williams, Carl Jones, Dave Robinson and Cliff Brown for braving the cold last Thursday night getting all of the cylinders ready to send to CTS for testing. A special thanks to Cliff who took a few hours off work to drive them all the way there. Also Carl, Andrius, Dave and Andy took advantage of the lack of cylinders in the shed and extended the back wall to allow for more storage space. We also have a posh new floor in there and an enormous shelf, perfect for stacking old junk on.
Please remember that if you're cylinders were included in the collection sent to CTS in Liverpool for testing you will need to write a check for the amount owed when the cylinders are returned. We will have an itemised invoice outlining exactly what is owed on each cylinder.

November 29th - Club Dive - Menai Strait

2009-11-20T08:52:00.002Z

Martin Adshead, club DO is organising a dive at Menai Bridge on Sunday 29th of November. Please ensure you have organised cylinder fills before arriving at the clubhouse, contact Cliff Brown or Gary Williams for more information regarding cylinder fills. All buddy pairs will need a compass for this dive. Maximum depth, approximately 15m.

Meeting at 9:00am at the clubhouse to organise equipment and transport.
Location - Menai Strait.
Date - 29/11/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Please post comments here to confirm dive or contact Martin Adshead on 07768 883342 for more information. It is essential Martin is informed as soon as possible if you wish to join this dive.

Halloween Party - 31st October

2009-10-19T19:55:00.004+01:00

Well All Hallows' Eve is almost here! The party starts at 8pm in Llandudno Sailing Club on Saturday 31st of October!
Fancy dress is optional but recommended, tickets are £5 and include entry into the spooktacular halloween themed quiz and loads of food including home made Ghoul-ash. See what I did there?! And ofcourse there'll be drinking and dancing until late! Everyone is welcome, so tell you're friends and family! For more information regarding tickets contact George.
And now ladies and gentlemen, for you're viewing pleasure NWSAC presents The Monster Mash....

The Cove

2009-10-13T09:24:00.004+01:00

This is probably something we should all see.

The Cove begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right after a long search for redemption. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the 5 dolphins who played the title character in the international television sensation “Flipper.”

But his close relationship with those dolphins – the very dolphins who sparked a global fascination with trained sea mammals that continues to this day -- led O’Barry to a radical change of heart. One fateful day, a heartbroken Barry came to realize that these deeply sensitive, highly intelligent and self-aware creatures so beautifully adapted to life in the open ocean must never be subjected to human captivity again. This mission has brought him to Taiji, a town that appears to be devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the sleek, playful dolphins and whales that swim off their coast.

But in a remote, glistening cove, surrounded by barbed wire and “Keep Out” signs, lies a dark reality. It is here, under cover of night, that the fishermen of Taiji, driven by a multi-billion dollar dolphin entertainment industry and an underhanded market for mercury-tainted dolphin meat, engage in an unseen hunt. The nature of what they do is so chilling -- and the consequences are so dangerous to human health -- they will go to great lengths to halt anyone from seeing it.

Undeterred, O’Barry joins forces with filmmaker Louis Psihoyos and the Oceanic Preservation Society to get to the truth of what’s really going on in the cove and why it matters to everyone in the world. With the local Chief of Police hot on their trail and strong-arm fishermen keeping tabs on them, they will recruit an “Ocean's Eleven”-style team of underwater sound and camera experts, special effects artists, marine explorers, adrenaline junkies and world-class free divers who will carry out an undercover operation to photograph the off-limits cove, while playing a cloak-and-dagger game with those who would have them jailed. The result is a provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery that adds up to an urgent plea for hope.

The Cove is directed by Louie Psihoyos and produced by Paula DuPre Pesman and Fisher Stevens. The film is written by Mark Monroe. The executive producer is Jim Clark and the co-producer is Olivia Ahnemann.

Training Programme

2009-09-28T10:08:00.004+01:00

Hey everyone, you may notice that our Club Calendar is now filling up nicely with dates for Training Dives and Lectures. If anyone has any major issues with not being able to attend for any length of time could they please contact either Andy Richardson or Martin Adshead. For the training dives could all instructors and divers qualified to assist please contact Dave Robinson so we can gauge the numbers available.
Also could members wishing to go to the Dive Show at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre please pay a £10 deposit to either Dave or Cliff.

September 5th - Quest Diving

2009-09-06T17:07:00.002+01:00

Location - Wreck of the Mermaid and Puffin Island, Anglesey
Date - 05/09/09.
Type - Boat.
Divers - Martin, Chris, Andy, Keith, Eamon, Dave.

We left Menai Bridge at 10:30 and were told the wreck would be decided upon once we were out of the Straits. The sea was absolutely bouncing but to be fair to Scot he kept going and dropped us in right on top of the "Boiler Wreck" about 3 miles North West of the Great Orme, which is thought to be the old steamer "Mermaid". We weren't hanging around at the surface either due to the swell, just in and down to get out of the boats way. The wreck is basically just the metal bits of the boat now so lots of piping, bits of engine and, as the name suggests a huge boiler. There were lots of Anemones, loads, and I do mean loads, of Pouting and Poor Cod, some really large too. And ofcourse the obligatory Conger stashed inside the boiler. We also spotted atleast a dozen large lobsters, but it seems everyone had forgotten their theiving bags so no lunch was retrieved. Vis was pretty good at anywhere between 3 and 7 metres down at the wreck itself.

For the second dive we headed into the shelter of Puffin Island. Myself and Eamon decided to head to the shallows at the tip of the island to see if there were any Seals about. We spent the whole dive in around 3 metres of water, this is what we saw:

August 29th - Club Dive - Menai Strait

2009-09-01T09:46:00.002+01:00

Location - Menai Bridge, Anglesey
Date - 29/08/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - George, Andy, Carl, Zoe, Dave.

Another dive from the concrete platform just West of Menai Bridge. We headed over to Platters Reef and found it teaming with huge lobsters (some the size of Alsations) and lots of spawning edible crabs, also the rocks that make up the reef were absolutely carpeted in gorgeous sponges and anemones. We stumbled across some of the remains of the HMS Conway which consisted mostly of old brass pins sticking out of the sea bed.
We entered the water around 15 minutes later than we'd hoped to and found the tide really starting to run towards Bangor during the last 10 minutes of the dive. The visiblity in the deeper areas was a pretty impressive 5-7 metres while, predictably in the shallows it was much worse.

August 19th - Bull Bay

2009-08-22T09:54:00.002+01:00

Location - Bull Bay, Anglesey
Date - 19/08/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Dave, Zoe.

With a Southerly wind blowing the North Eastern corner of Anglesey was about the only sheltered spot available for a dive so we decided to try Bull Bay. We arrived to find the bay totally deserted, which wasn't that surprising considering it was a Wednesday morning. We kitted up and headed in along the left wall. Maximum depth was around 10m and the visibility was quite good along the edges of the bay. As we crossed the mouth of the bay the vis decreased quite significantly as did the quantity of marine life. There were plenty of small Corkwing Wrasse, a few Shrimp and lots of Plumose Anemones, along with the usual man made litter, especially around the rocky outcrops to the right of the slipway. Overall dive time was just under an hour and the water was a balmy 17*c, there's also plenty of space for kitting up and a very handy public toilet near by.

August 16th - Club Dive - Menai Strait

2009-08-16T15:21:00.003+01:00

Location - Menai Strait, Anglesey
Date - 16/08/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Martin, Carl, Dave.

With the tides looking good we got to the Menai Bridge dive site for around 9:30 and amazingly, managed to get parked. It didn't take long for a fair few vans to turn up though.
We decided to try the concrete steps down to the shore on the East side of the bridge and head straight out towards the HMS Conway. Maximum depth was around 15m and vis was a relatively decent 4m or more at times. There was a lot of life in the deeper sections with dogfish, shoals of launce and more crabs than you could shake a stick at. Overall it was a really enjoyable dive with warm water and pretty good visibility.

August 9th - Club Dive - Dorothea

2009-08-05T08:11:00.002+01:00

Meeting at 8:30am at the clubhouse to organise equipment and transport.
Location - Nantlle Quarry.
Date - 09/08/09.
Type - Quarry.
Divers - Post comments here to confirm dive or contact Dave Robinson.

Max depth 40m with a possible second dive much shallower for trainees depending on numbers of divers attending.

August 1st - Chili and Pub Quiz night

2009-07-29T22:26:00.004+01:00

Well the Chili and Pub Quiz night is almost upon us. We all just want to say thanks very much to all those who have donated prizes. Looks like we're going to have a cracking turn out, so let's hope it's the first of many social nights!
There's still a few spots left so if you're in the area and dont have a ticket feel free to turn up and pay on the door, hopefully we'll have made enough Chili!
Well folks, hope to see you all on Saturday night from 7pm onwards, I get the feeling we won't be diving too early on Sunday.

July 26th - Club Dive - Porth Ysgaden

2009-07-20T09:36:00.004+01:00

Looks like the weather is against us I'm afraid folks. 20mph+ Southerly winds and raining all day.

Please ensure you have organised cylinder fills before arriving at the clubhouse. All divers will need a compass for this dive. Maximum depth, approximately 15m.

Meeting at 9:30am at the clubhouse to organise equipment and transport.
Location - Porth Ysgaden.
Date - 26/07/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Post comments here to confirm dive.

July 18th - Sailing Club Barbecue

2009-07-20T09:30:00.002+01:00

A few members of North Wales Sub Aqua Club joined the Sailing Cub members for their summer barbecue last Saturday evening. Although the weather wasn't fantastic the evening itself was. We'd just like to say thank you very much to Llandudno Sailing Club for making us feel so welcome! We all had a great evening and really enjoyed ourselves, the food was fantastic by the way, especially the coleslaw.
We hope to see much more of the Sailing Club in a social capacity in the future. Looking forward to the next barbie!

August 1st - Quiz and Chili Evening

2009-06-29T10:09:00.005+01:00

On Saturday the 1st of August North Wales Sub Aqua Club will be holding a social evening. The event will take place at Llandudno Sailing Clubhouse on the promenade in Llandudno, North Wales.

For the meager sum of £5 new pounds you will be entitled to:

Entry into our pub quiz, including a music round, with some fantastic prizes up for grabs.

A bowl of Zoe's chili. This is not a euphemism, we are talking actual chili! It will not be made to radioactive standards as usual, due to varying levels of chili tolerance, however sauces will be issued along with health warnings at patrons request.

Cheap drinks courtesy of our well stocked bar.

A raffle with loads of prizes up for grabs.

Basically this is a fund raising event for our club and also a way of socializing with other divers who may be local to the area or just visiting. Everyone is welcome, families included.
Entry is by ticket only, so if you need tickets contact Dave either by e-mail or on 07841 846865.

June 28th - Club Dive - Menai Strait

2009-06-24T08:45:00.002+01:00

Please ensure you have organised cylinder fills before arriving at the clubhouse. All divers will need a compass for this dive. Maximum depth, approximately 15m.

Meeting at 11:00am at the clubhouse to organise equipment and transport.
Location - Menai Strait.
Date - 28/06/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Post comments here to confirm dive or contact Martin Adshead on 07768 883342 for more information.

June 21st - Try Dive - Llandudno Swimming Pool

2009-06-16T20:25:00.006+01:00

We are holding another Try Dive session at Llandudno Swimming Pool on Sunday the 21st of June at 6.30pm. The cost is £10 for an hour long session explaining the use of SCUBA equipment and trying it out in the pool.
If you fancy having a go just to see if you like diving then get in touch with the club :

Training Officer Andy Richardson on 07785 184388
or
Dive Officer Martin Adshead on 07768 883342
or
Secretary George Robinson on 07740 478841

June 14th - Club Dive - Trefor Pier

2009-06-16T20:11:00.003+01:00

Location - Trefor Pier, Llyn Peninsula
Date - 14/06/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Martin, Carl, Andy, Maggie, Alby, Eamon, Dave, George and Kirsten.

We met as usual at the clubhouse to organise equipment and gas at 10:00 and also met Kirsten who was joining us as a guest for the day. We set off in convoy and expected the journey to take around an hour and a half.
We arrived in Trefor to find the main car park was jam full so we had to use the shore side car park instead, not surprising considering the weather and also the fact there was a local football match taking place just up the road. At the breakwater maybe 20-25 divers were already assembling kit and preparing to enter the water using the steps inside the breakwater at high water which was 13:30. So we decided to get in the water a little earlier than planned and dropped in to the West of the pier at 13:15. Viz was upwards of 5m but under the pier itself the heavy traffic of divers made it a bit murkier.
We saw plenty of life including wrasse, pipefish, pollock, tompot blennies, small plaice and the usual spider crabs. Care had to be taken as a few anglers were fishing from the end of the pier. Maximum depth was 7m and the water was a toasty 15*c. Maximum dive time was agreed prior to the dive to top out at an hour, which proved to be just enough. A pleasant day was had by one and all, and to top it off the ice cream van turned up just in time!

June 14th - Club Dive - Trearddur Bay / Trefor Pier

2009-06-10T14:31:00.003+01:00

Please ensure you have organised cylinder fills before arriving at the clubhouse.

Meeting at 10:00am at the clubhouse to organise equipment and transport.
Location - Trearddur Bay or Trefor Pier dependant on weather.
Date - 14/06/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Post comments here to confirm dive or contact Dave Robinson on 07841 846865 for more information.

June 14th - Club Meeting

2009-06-08T09:33:00.003+01:00

The club meeting has been set back a week until Sunday 14th of June due to the Try Dive that took place on Sunday 7th of June. The meeting will begin at 8pm.

June 7th - Holyhead Harbour

2009-06-05T18:58:00.004+01:00

Location - Holyhead Harbour, Anglesey.
Date - 07/06/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Post comments here to confirm dive or contact Martin Adshead on 07768883342.

We have a club dive planned for Sunday 7th of June at Holyhead Harbour.

Depart Club - 8:30am
Arrive at site - 9:30am
In water - 10:00am

If anyone needs kit or air this should be arranged prior to the day.

We intend to dive the South wall where there should be better visibility than the main harbour area. Maximum depth will be around 15m.

Dive Site Map

2009-06-03T16:06:00.005+01:00

Our dive site map is now live and can be found here. Dive Site Map. The current labeling policy is Inland dive sites are blue, Sea dive sites are yellow and the clubhouse is red.
For instructions on how to contribute to the map please contact Dave.

June 7th - Try Dive

2009-06-01T09:15:00.007+01:00

We are holding a Try Dive session at Llandudno Swimming Pool on Sunday the 7th of June at around 7pm. The cost is £10 for an hour long session explaining the use of SCUBA equipment and trying it out in the pool.
If you fancy having a go just to see if you like diving then get in touch with club Training Officer Andy Richardson on 07785184388.

May 31st - Porth - Y - Pwll

2009-06-01T09:08:00.007+01:00

Location - Porth - Y - Pwll near Trearddur, Anglesey.
Date - 31/05/09.
Type - Shore.
Divers - Zoe, Dave, George.

We arrived at around 2pm and it wasn't that busy at all, compared to Trearddur itself which was rammed full.
We spent an 65 minutes bimbling around the bay up to the Western headland and it was great. Vis was around 7-8m and the water was a toasty 13*c. We saw tons of Ballan and Corkwing Wrasse, quite a few Pollock, a big Blenny and a Fan Tail Pipefish. There was quite a bit of fishing line near the headland and we ended having to cut ourselves out once or twice.
After we'd gotten out of the water and dropped our kit off a few more divers surfaced who were on holiday from Carlisle, nice friendly bunch, however it turns out they'd spotted a rather large Conger Eel sat out in the open in around 2m of water right in the middle of the bay, which some how, we had managed to miss. Seemed like a great bunch of people though, and they certainly got the weather for their weekend away.

In summary, a cracking day and a cracking litle dive. ***It has come to our attention that the bay may actually be called "Porth - Y - Pwll" and is visible on Google maps here.