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Club Diving Officer.
Mike Watkins has been re-elected as D.O. for the coming year (2006/7). As usual please note the following:
1 All diving must be in accordance with SAA guide lines
2 The Max depth for any club dive is 50m
3 Only divers with the relevant qualifications are permitted to use alternative breathing mixes
4 All dive plans must be reported to the DO or appointed representatives to be recognised as club dives.
Our 3rd party insurance cover does not cover Non club dives. Club members authorised to approve dive plans are: Mike Watkins, Derek Gittins, Martin Williams & Sue Williams
Other members will be permitted to authorise dives as appropriate qualifications are gained.
Appointment of Club Officers.
The clubs AGM was held at Splott Pool, Monday October 9th. At which the following officers were appointed:-
Chairman - James Colcombe
Vice Chair - Mat Pritchard
Treasurer - Louise Deeley
Secretary - Mackinder Singh Dosanjh
Diving Officer - Mike Watkins
Equipment & Training Officer - Dave Pring
We would take this opportunity to thank Hannah Pring who stood down as Vice Chair this year for all the effort put into the club over the past year.
Many thanks to those who attended.
Medical
Members should be aware that from February 2002 the SAA no longer requires you to undergo a normal diving medical. The system of self-declaration now exists. You are all therefore required by the club to complete a declaration form for the coming year.
ALL MEDICAL DECLARATION FORMS MUST BE COMPLETED AND RETURNED TO MIKE WATKINS. THIS WILL COVER YOU FOR THE YEAR (2006/7). YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITED TO DIVE IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED AND RETURNED THE FORMS.
If you are unable to attend then you may vote by proxy. Proxy votes need to be submitted in writing to the secretary before the meeting.
If you have any queries please contact James or Mike.
The issue affects every type of user, from divers in RIBs to the crews of motorboats, speedboats, yachts and sailing dinghies.
Andrew Freemantle, RNLI Chief Executive, said that many incidents were taking place which were avoidable given proper training. If sea users did not improve standards voluntarily, the Government could consider various forms of compulsory training and qualification.
Charging for call-outs in emergencies borne of incompetence is another possibility. This is already done in some other European countries, including France.
Freemantle told The Times: "The sea is one of the last unregulated areas of our lives...It would be a great shame if we lost that...What worries us is that if people don't take care and prepare themselves for going to sea, then the pressure for regulation will rise."
Mark Criddle, a West Country RNLI coxswain, said errors ranged from simply forgetting to check fuel level to fundamental lack of knowledge about tides and weather.
"A lot of it could be avoided with a simple bit of training," he told The Times. Referring specifically to divers, he said: "There are some quite inexperienced guys doing 'extreme diving', down to 50m or 70m, without really being aware of the tides or anything."
A comprehensive range of boat handling, seamanship, navigation and VHF radio courses exists, created by the Royal Yachting Association and taught at schools around the country. All are voluntary, except for radio use which requires certification.
Edmund Whelan, RYA Legal and Government Affairs Manager, told Divernet: "I would certainly agree with Andrew Freemantle of the RNLI when he warns of possible regulations being a Government response to falling safety standards among recreational boat users.
"Proposals for legislation have been forthcoming from various quarters, including MPs of various parties, pressure groups etc, since at least the mid-60s, but each time, after discussion, the all-party consensus has been re-asserted that legislation is not the appropriate response.
"The RYA is a strong advocate of 'Education not Legislation', and over the years we have continued to believe that the voluntary approach is the best. However this approach depends on the boating public agreeing to be educated, and once educated, to act responsibly in equipping, maintaining, and using their boats.
"In the past the RYA and others (including the yachting press which is very influential in this regard) have promoted the culture of self-reliance and responsibility afloat; however if this culture is eroded by the easy accessibility of the rescue services, then the Government may well be moved to take action."
Why have so many divers lost their lives at Dorothea quarry? The question has caused widespread speculation about the site, with many sensational and ill-informed press reports describing the site as a 'death trap'.
Coroner Dewi Pritchard-Jones, who has presided over the inquests into a number of the diver deaths at Dorothea, examined three recent fatalities and concluded that nitrogen narcosis was a common factor in all three.
Henry Le Coz, Michael Gott and Jon Hepherd all lost their lives in diving incidents at Dorothea, and inquests recorded the outcome as accidental deaths. In all three cases the deaths were largely inexplicable, and avoidable. All three divers failed to take simple measures which would have saved their lives, such as dumping weightbelts or breathing from an offered alternative air source.
In each of the deaths, the divers were diving well below 30m on air, the depth at which nitrogen narcosis has a noticeable impact on the reasoning ability and judgement of most divers: Hepherd 58m, Gott 50m, Le Ccoz 65m. The maximum BSAC recommended depth for air divers is 50m.
Factors which increase the impact of narcosis include cold water temperature, darkness, and bad visibility. Dorothea is frequently used by divers in the winter months, when the temperature can fall to 4 degrees and below. At depth, the water is dark, and visibility can often be limited.
"It
[nitrogen narcosis] affects the ability to deal with emergencies, and
what can be a minor incident becomes major. I think the most important
thing that should be highlighted is the danger of nitrogen narcosis"
commented Dewi Pritchard-Jones.
DiverMAG
Emergency services were called to the scene after the diver was reported to have experienced a rapid ascent from the wreck. Police believe that she was diving with a Cheshire-based dive club at the time of the incident from Scapa-based dive charter boat Radiant Queen.
The group had already successfully completed a morning dive on the Kronprinz Wilhelm, and entered the water for a second dive on the Dresden.
The dive boat was met by ambulance crew at Halton Pier, where efforts were made to revive the unconscious diver. Unfortunately she was pronounced dead a short while later.
A post-mortem examination is being carried out to determine whether the fatality was a result of rapid decompression, or some other cause, such as drowning. No details have been released about whether the fast ascent was caused by loss of buoyancy control or an out-of-air incident. The diving equipment used has been retained as part of the police investigation. DiverMag
SCYLLA READY FOR DIVERS TO EXPLORE. 30 March 2004
Britains first articificial reef, the frigate HMS Scylla, will be ready for divers from 5pm, 29 March, after a 48 hour settling-in period and an inspection by Navy divers.
Scylla was successfully sent to the bottom by explosives on Saturday 27 March in Whitsand Bay, close to the position of the James Eagan Layne. She is reported to be upright on the seabed in 21m, exactly as planned.
The project has been successfully realised by Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium, using government funding. The explosive charges were detonated by environmentalist and diving celebrity David Bellamy, and a 12-year-old scuba diver, Daniel Green, who won the honour in a competition.
The 48-hour settling-in period allows the wreck to stabilise on the seabed; large pockets of air, still trapped inside, need the time to escape. Navy divers will carry out an underwater inspection before recreational divers are given the go-ahead.
The lost diver's buddy came to the surface and raised the alarm.
The emergency services were called, and the buddy was taken for to hospital for precautionary medical treatment. He was later released, with no injury. Divers on the scene searched for any sign of the lost man, without success. The police underwater search team used a remotely operated vehicle to locate and recover Dean's body on Sunday 21 March.
Dean is the 21st diver to die at Dorothea quarry in the last ten years.
The quarry has been at the centre of controversy over diver deaths for a number of years. It is a completely unregulated site, with no facilities, and local people have made a variety of attempts to deter divers from visiting the site, for example blocking entrances with large boulders and shooting the buoys attached to downlines put in by divers.
The site's owner, Glynn Small, has specifically requested divers not to use the quarry and has put the site up for sale. This latest death is likely to prompt renewed calls from the North Wales police and local MP to ban diving at the site.
DiverMag
PHAL send out a press release on 13 March announcing the decision, taken after they had looked at the results of their survey of the Hood. According to the release, "the state of the wreck gives cause for concern and that it is continuing to deteriorate in ways and to an extent which cannot be predicted."
John Bennett, first scuba diver beyond 1000 ft, lost during salvage dive. Reports from Korea indicate that John Bennett was lost, and is presumed dead, after a 45m trimix salvage dive on a wreck on Monday.
DiverMag
"Powergen will not site any wind turbines on wreck sites. We have to carry out a detail archaeological study of the area before deciding whether or not to submit an application for a wind farm at Portland Harbour and we would neither want to, nor be allowed to, disturb wreck sites if we decide to go ahead" Powergen spokesman Jonathan Smith told Divernet.
"Dive boats would be allowed to approach the turbines and would be allowed to tie up to the turbines - subject to safety requirements" he added.
The key problem for the Portland diving community is that the interpretation and implementation of 'safety requirements' will be made by Portland Port Authority (PPA). Local dive operator Bob Elliot's question "Are Portland Port looking to ban diving in the harbour?" reflects a growing suspicion that the interests of the diving community, and other recreational users of the harbour, may conflict with the wider, commercial interests of PPA.
While Weymouth and Portland small businesses depend upon the income from divers and other recreational users, PPA derives maximum profit for it's directors and shareholders from large-scale commercial contracts - the Powergen proposals being just one example.
PPA began introducing restrictions on diving with the introduction of charges for permits, and the requirement for 3 days advance notice before diving certain of the harbour's wrecks. The latest restriction has been an outright ban on diving the Hood - Portland's most popular wreck - introduced abruptly at the beginning of January 2004.
The
Powergen statement also contained reassurance for sailors :
"There is no question that sailing would be prevented in the harbour
and we shall be carrying out detailed modelling based on the topography
of the harbour, together with sea trials to ensure there is no impact
on the sailing community should the wind farm go ahead."
DiverMag
A woman from Cambridgeshire died in Leicester Royal Infirmary after apparently running out of air during a dive in Stoney Cove on Saturday 21 Feb.
Fatal shark attack at Sharm. A snorkeller died of blood loss after being bitten by a shark in Coral Bay, Sharm, Egypt.
Dive boat explosion kills 3. A schoolteacher from the Cairo American College and two 16-year-old college students were killed in a suspected Calor gas explosion on a liveaboard dive boat moored at Ras Umm Seed dive site, Sharm, Egypt.
The Clwb Dan-y-mor web site has been awarded a Golden Web Award for excellence in design and content by the International Association of Web Designers. The I.A.W.D. are an independant body set up to promote excellence in design for use on the world wide web.
Dr Penny Spikins was learning to scuba dive in the North sea when she identified carved flints on the seabed and realised that she was sitting on top of possibly the oldest archaeological site in the UK.
The flints were from a Mesolithic settlement - a Stone Age village dating back 10,000 years. At that time, much of the shallower parts of the North Sea were above sea level.
The scuba training was taking place to allow archaeologists from the Submerged Prehistoric Landscapes Project to research possible settlements; noone had expected the results to be quite so speedy or decisive.
"I noticed lots of pieces of flint beneath me on the seabed. To the average person they would seem like ordinary stones you would find on the beach, but to a specialist they were something very exciting indeed," Dr Spikins explained.
The site is in 8m of seawater, close to the mouth of the river Tyne. According to a spokesperson from English Heritage, the find could change our understanding of the earliest occupation of the British Isles. "We know that there is a prehistoric Atlantis beneath the North Sea where once an area equal to the size of Britain attached us to the continent and where prehistoric people and animals roamed. It is potentially an area for exploration and this discovery by the Newcastle University team gives us a stepping stone into this unknown world," commented David Miles, chief archaeologist for English Heritage.
DiverMag
Herne was diving with a group of nine British divers, but appears to have separated from the others and entered the wreck, contrary to the dive briefing.
His body was recovered by police divers. He was found inside the engine room doorway, at some considerable distance inside the wreck. His cylinder was described by a police spokesperson as 'almost empty'. It is believed that he became lost and was unable to find his way back out of the wreck.
The
Zenobia is a huge, 10,000 tonne modern liner and has been a popular dive
since she sank on her maiden voyage in June 1980. The wreck has claimed
a number of lives, and witnessed some dramatic rescues, as divers feel
inclined to swim into the huge interior of the ship, without realising
how easy it is to get lost.
DiverMAG
Information about where the tagged lobsters are turning up gives some interesting clues as to how the population distributes itself over time.Divers finding a tagged lobster should phone 01872 322642 with the tag number, size of lobster and position of the find. Further information is available from Phillipa Hoskin at Cornwall County Council on 01872 323 558
DiverMag
The body is believed to be that of 19-year-old Jemma Stevens who was lost while diving the same wreck at the beginning of April. Avon and Somerset police dive team, diving from Poole-based charter Loyal Helper recovered the body on Tuesday 13 May after rough conditions had prevented the recovery on Monday.
DiverMag
The man was a qualified Open Water diver on a recreational dive to try out a new drysuit. The alarm was raised after he failed to ascend with his buddy. A divemaster who had already completed a dive at the site went back down to carry out a search, and found the man unconscious at a depth of 22m.
Two ambulances and a rescue helicopter were called to the scene and paramedics continued the efforts of the rescue divers to resuscitate the man, but he failed to respond. He was taken to Lorne and Island General Hospital in Oban where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
More info about diving in Loch Fyne here.
DiverMag
Both divers and the skipper of diveboat Pegasus act as crew for North Berwickshire lifeboat, so the rescue went 'textbook style', according to John Mayston from Forth Coastguard who was on duty when the incident occured.
"Firstly, the skipper Gary Lawson had contacted us to let us know where the group were diving, so we were aware of them. He informed us 10 minutes after the divers became overdue, which helps us enormously because the time factor is critical in these rescues. The incident happened at 8.09pm so we had the added pressure that we were losing the daylight."
With an accurate position and timing for when the divers went in, the Coastguard were able to use their Search and Rescue Information System (SARIS)- which uses realtime information to analyse current weather conditions, sea state, currents and tides - to calculate the likely position of the lost divers.
Two lifeboats and a helicopter were already on their way to the search area when Forth Coastguard contacted the skipper to give him their projected position for the divers. Within 3 minutes, the divers' flags had been sighted. "The divers were carrying flags, surface marker buoys, strobes and torches, so we had every confidence that if they were on the surface, they would be found. If we lost daylight, the helicopter is very able to spot a light source." Mayston told Divernet.
The entire rescue was achieved in 23 minutes and demonstrates the benefits for divers of close liaison with the Coastguard, early reporting of any problem, and carrying the correct surface visibility kit.
DiverMag
The 1,800 tonne vessel which is registered in Antigua and Barbados, ran aground on Sat 22 March, and a quantity of diesel was lost overboard. Efforts by the Coastguard and a Dutch salvage company resulted in most the remaining pollutants being removed over the following days.
After an inspection by a survey team, it has been decided that the vessel cannot be refloated, and work is underway to remove the cargo of scrap plastic.
The area around Lands End is popular with divers, with sites such as the Runnel Stone and Longships Rock.
DiverMag
A
man in his 30's was reported missing on Sunday 23 March after diving on
the wreck of the Medoc out of Plymouth. Charter boat Cee King contacted
Brixham coastguard and reported the man missing after his buddy surfaced
in distress. The lost diver appears to have been using mixed gas to dive
the 55m wreck and had reportedly switched onto 100% oxygen for his final
decompression stop when he was seen to convulse and sink rapidly. The
diver and his buddy had not returned to the shotline with the rest of
the group, but were decompressing on surface marker buoys when the incident
occured. Local dive boats and clubs joined in the search for the lost
diver while his buddy was taken to DDRC.
The fatality is the first UK diving death of 2003.
DiverMag
DiverMag
• The Marine Conservation Society made its plea as PM Tony Blair prepared to meet fishing fleet leaders to discuss the beleaguered industry's future.
• The MCS's Good Fish Guide explains the science of fish stocks, how fish are caught and the industry's environmental and social impacts.
• Cod numbers are at their lowest ever levels and still falling.
• A row broke out last year after EU fisheries ministers rejected scientific advice warning of a crisis.
• Scientists recommended a total ban on cod fishing in the North and Irish seas and waters west of Scotland. EU ministers last year rejected calls for a total fishing ban and opted to cut quotas after being warned certain species faced extinction in EU waters.
• Fleets trawling for cod face a 45% reduction in their catch, and boats will be restricted to just 16 days at sea per month.
• The moves angered fishing communities which said their whole way of life was under threat. The Marine Conservation Society has advised consumers to be vigilant to help save depleted fish stocks.
• It advises shoppers only to buy cod caught in Icelandic waters where stock levels are sustainable.
• It also advises people to avoid Atlantic salmon as their wild stocks have fallen by 50% in the past 20 years, and the Chilean sea bass, which is threatened with extinction. Environmental pressure group the Marine Conservation Society is hoping to persuade supermarkets to review their fish sourcing policy.
• About 80% of fresh fish is supplied by supermarkets, and some retailers have agreed to remove threatened species from their shelves.
• Neither Marks & Spencer nor Waitrose sells cod from the North or Irish seas where stocks are low.
teletext
Vobster Quay, near Frome in Somerset, opened in December 2002 and has already seen hundreds of divers take the plunge. The new site is larger than Stoney Cove, reaches similar depths, and boasts the wreckage of sonar testing equipment and an 18m long tunnel. "We've got air and nitrox fills, and catering. The dive shop is opening up shortly and we should be starting training courses in March." Said a spokesman for the centre. Entry to the site is £10, and an open day is being held on Sunday 9 Feb offering half price admission, a pig roast and underwater competitions.
DiverMag
The diving services based at Fort Bovisand, Plymouth have been evicted after the accountants acting as liquidators for the owners - the Ministry of Defence - obtained a court order for possession and changed the locks. The move follows months of argument about the status of the leases and viability of existing businesses based at Bovisand, which had continued to trade despite the demise of the main leaseholder Fort Bovisand Underwater Centre in 2000. The accountants managing the liquidation had encouraged trading to continue on the basis that this would help preserve the value of Bovisand as an asset, particularly because the diving school has a world-wide reputation. Unfortunately in December 2002, one of the main businesses based at the site, Marine Contractors Ltd, went into receivership. As this was one of the parties negotiating to take over the running of Bovisand, the owners took the view that it was no longer possible to keep the site functioning. The centre is likely to be sold on the open market, but accountants Begbie Traynor are still interested in hearing from businesses, including diving concerns, who may want to take it on.
DiverMag
EXPLOSIVES
SQUAD CALLED IN AFTER DIVER TAKES ARTILLERY SHELL HOME.
15
November 2002
A diver from Swindon called the police after she became concerned about a 4 inch long shell which she had retrieved from the seabed on a dive out of Plymouth. Police surrounded the house and officers from the explosives squad carried out a controlled explosion on the 4 inch long, brass artillery shell after the woman contacted them, fearing that the shell was unstable. Many WW1 and WW2 shells contain explosive chemicals such as cordite and phosphorus, which can become unstable as they dry out and come into contact with air. A spokesperson for the police advised any divers coming across ammunition underwater to leave the item in situ, and notify the coastguard of the position.
DiverMag
CYLINDER CHAOS OVER NEW REGULATIONS.
Divers around the country are faced with conflicting advice, and refusals to fill cylinders as misunderstandings about the new rules on cylinder markings begin to bite. HSE regulations on the correct marking of cylinders which came into force on 1 September are apparently being interpreted in wildly different ways around the UK, with some dive centres refusing to fill any cylinder that doesn't have the new sticker. Other dive shops are demanding that divers pay for a new sticker before they can take their cylinder away. The new black and white stickers are compulsory on all cylinders tested after 1 September. If a cylinder was in test before that date, it is perfectly legal to have it filled without the cylinder having a new sticker. "As far as we're concerned it's business as usual." commented Deep Blue diving in Plymouth "As long as a cylinder is in test, we'll fill it. Only newly tested cylinders must have the new stickers." Divers wanting to adopt the new marking system can buy the stickers for existing cylinders, but it is not a legal requirement. Many dive centres do not yet have supplies of the stickers as they must either be purchased from IDEST, the cylinder testing authority, or printed by the dive centre
DiverMag
INCIDENT REPORTS. .
Incident Reports Under part of our agreement for the Lottery Funding for SAA clubs, we are working closely with the British Sub-Aqua Club in their role as our sports governing body, to make diving a safer pastime. Part of this campaign is to report all diving related incidents for compilation into one database. This will enable the diver training agencies to build a complete picture of what is happening within the UK. It is very important that you complete an incident report form for all incidents that you are involved in.
Let me ask you a question. Has the mouthpiece ever slipped off your regulator during a dive? Did you report it? I doubt that anyone did, consider that if we had received 20 or so reports of the Acme Divestar* having this problem, we could contact the owner Whyle E Coyote* and he could organise a recall. Those reports could save a divers life. In line with the joint initiative we are now using the BSAC incident forms, available free of charge from head office, or downloadable from the web. Later this year we shall be launching an online incident form, for those who prefer it. Please remember that the purpose of reporting an incident is to learn from the events, not to blame or persecute anyone. What appears minor in isolation, may be the tip of a trend that can be avoided, and a life saved. Earlier in the year I asked all clubs to complete a return of the total number of dives carried out so that we could establish how many dives the SAA did, against the number of incidents. We still do not have all those returns in, so if you have not completed yours, please send it along as soon as you can. As I said in the letter to the clubs, we seek to prove that the increasing number of fatalities related to diving is simply because there a more of us, hopefully we can show that the number of divers is increasing faster than the number of incidents.
Paul Johnson-Ross - Ross National Diving Officer
*Obviously these are made up names, I do not wish any manufacturer to think I am accusing them of producing a sub-standard product.