News

trydive! an splendid chrismas gift

Southwick Rescue Training

Diver rescue training, members take turns going limp and being resuscitated.
Essential skills beng practiced for any diver.

Photo action on the indiana

Sunday the 2nd was a fantastic dive on the indiana, Mr Tony T getting a bit of dive leader under his belt and taking Gabby and Bob j under his command.
Lush dive, good vis, great company and tasty sangers on return to the surface, what more could you ask for?

Pictures © G.Beeny.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE: Reporter goes scuba diving

Published on Tue Aug 16 15:00:16 BST 2011

EVER since I tried snorkelling on holiday, I have wanted to have a go at scuba diving.

However, I always think of it as a summer pastime to be enjoyed abroad, rather than a year-round hobby in England.

I have been proved wrong.

Brighton British Sub Aqua Club 007, based at the Sussex Yacht Club in Shoreham, has a dedicated membership group which is always on the lookout for new enthusiasts to join its rank.

For my first try dive I was taken to Worthing's Aquarena – not the most glamorous of places, but then again, diving is not a glamorous sport.

In my swimming costume, old t-shirt (to stop the equipment from rubbing) and a pair of old socks (to help keep the flippers on) I already looked "interesting" as I waited by the side of the pool.

Add to that, the goggles, flippers, and all the breathing apparatus and I definitely resembled an alien.

The breathing apparatus is surprisingly heavy and, at first, I was very intimidated by all the equipment.

Yet, open water instructors, Christine Bohea and Alison Dack, slowly took me through everything and explained what each dial and mouthpiece did.

I slowly descended the steps into the large pool and it was with great trepidation I went under the water.

With all the heavy equipment on my back and trying to remember how to breathe, I did suffer from a pang of nerves and claustrophobia.

It took me a while to get used to the air bubbles shooting in front of my face every time I breathed out but after a couple of dives I found it easier.

The next stage was to try to swim underwater.

By letting air out of my diving jacket I was able to sink to the bottom of the pool and slowly make my way along.

An hour later and I felt I was really getting the hang of it and it was only due to the cold water that we stopped.

Diving was not as easy as it looked but the try dive was certainly very enjoyable.

I had a few moments when I couldn't sink – yes I am full of hot air – and there were times when I was almost stuck to the bottom of the swimming pool, but, overall, I felt I did well.

Scuba diving is a very sociable sport as you never swim alone, yet it was also very relaxing and peaceful.

The Shoreham dive club is very willing to help "newbies" become hooked on the pastime and once you have got the hang of diving in the pool the group carries out dives at sea both locally and abroad.

Buying the equipment does come at a price, but once you have got that you are ready to go.

I would definitely recommend scuba diving.

It is a lot of fun and, quite literally, opens up a whole new world for you to explore.

Strange things found while diving, no 18: A CBDA mask.

Found on a club dive to the wreck of the shirala, an old royal navy rebreather mask.

More info on the mask here and here.

007 @ paddle round the peir

007 on Land & Sea at Paddle Round the Pier

Brighton BSAC 007 supported the event for the 4th year running. We had a great time at this years event with a stand on land & offshore with our 8m RIB Black Pearl.

On Sea we provided the official diver cover for the main events "Paddle Something Unsual" & "Paddle Round the Pier".

On land we shared a stand with Sussex Yacht Club where we are based & were able to show off a brand new dive capable RIB that we will have access to "SYCO Safety".

We'll let the pictures do the talking....

New undersea antics vid

Club prez the Dave lee has uploaded a vid of some splish splash action in Egypt

Peep it in the videos section.

Archive shuffle no:24

" Hi BSAC 007

We should be sending today our Best Wishes to His Royal Highness on his 90th Birthday.

He was President of BSAC , now many years ago.

He came to Brighton to meet us all back in the 60's when we comissioned our new
dive boat, MV Blue Dolphin.The original boat was an Admiral's Pinnace -the spelling
is right! An open boat with a bit of a open wheelhouse originally,stripped back to the hull
,decked ,with berths below,a wheelhouse above.All as can be seen in the photo in the
compressor room.

A photo attached shows us at the time of HRH's visit showing him round the Boat. Note
the diving dress of the time,in particular the life jacket - no armchair stab jackets then!

We took this boat overseas, quite a few times. You know - french canals! , but also
many times to Alderney.Navigation was almost by the stars. Our dear member
Arthur Ridout,Lt Commander,RN retired,assisted us in going over navigation planning
prior to setting sail. It was a bit of going west, then left and south at the Isle of Wight,
giving a cheer whan we saw Cherbourg in the early hours of the morning ,then turning
right and west again to Alderney. Diving was excellent , we use to fill up the Bum boat with Crayfish for the return journey. We even had to undergo Customs clearance!

We use to queue up to get on this boat,on which only 10 divers plus crew were allowed. But
on near dives we use to have 1/2 dozen divers below decks to evade Coastguard's
gaze as we slipped out of the Harbour!

Those were the day's, arrh

Regards fellow divers
John"

Ocean diver training in selsey

Instructors and trainees relax before a recent open water training dive at selsey lifeboat station.

Article on the club in the shoreham herald.

Link to article here.

Strange things found while diving, no 17: A fox in a binbag.

What kind of person sticks a dead (or alive) fox in a binbag and dumps it in the sea? this tragic creature was found by the club a few miles of worthing. We decanted the fox back in the sea where it could feed the fishes and took the binbag back to shore and disposed of it propper like. Strange site it was floating off on a near flat sea in the spring sunshine. pic by mighty nigel.

Black pearl gets boozy bow shocker!

our new rib gets a traditional welcome to the club, photographed by the shoram hearald.

Its on!

With a good few dives under our belt we can definately say the season is on.Time to dust off the kit, have a good fettle and engage with neptunes kingdom again.

(a fair few of us dive all year round but for those who dont like snow on your fins, its time!)

Photo lecture@syc

Club members enjoyed a lecture from acclaimed photographer Martin Davies and dive buddy/assistant Alison Mayor. A dazzling mix of humility and practical advice will hopefully improve our collective sub-aqua snap taking.

We at 007 thank and salute you!

New club boat

Our 8M Humber Ocean Pro RIB was returned & a refund received. We have now purchased a superb new 8M Ring RIB with twin Suzuki DS140 engines for the forthcoming diving season.