Malcolm, Neil, David and Mike D, took advantage of the bad weather to do some boat maintenance on the Club RIB at Pendre. Just about everything was given the once over. There remains only getting a new VHF aerial (has been ordered and will arrive Pendre in a few days) and changing the gear oil in the Honda outboard; Malcolm is organising that. A good job of work done.
Cathy and Wyn triumphed in a contest of mind over “BSAC multi-choice questions” and passed their Ocean Diver exam. The contest was held in the alcoholic atmosphere of the Glyn-y-Weddw, as most divers are quite at home in such an environment. David organised the test and several members came along to give their support or maybe it was a good excuse to grab a jar. What ever a very joyous occasion and congratulations to both trainees.
The dive leader training group (Arwyn, Mick, Lee and Gwyn) met with the instructors Hugh and David at Glynllifon in the morning. David did the “Dive planning.” and Hugh did “Dive Marshalling” lecture. One or two points especially showed where Club dive safety could be further safeguarded.
10 o’clock at the Harbour Master’s slip in Pwllheli. Out to the Penychain reef and just one dive. Why didn’t I tell Malcolm 9 a.m.! It is so easy to forget. Diving were Paul, Chris, Peter, Hugh, Robin and Malcolm. We finally launched at 11:20 and got the divers in at 12:05. By then unfortunately the sun had gone in and the sea started to get on the choppy side. However all went well. The vis was 3 metres, there were no boat problems, we got the reef straight off, there was plenty of marine life and the dives lasted around 45-50 minutes. Not bad for water at 9 deg C.
The Ocean diver training group met at Peter’s house to sit the Ocean diver test. Peter, Wyn, Sue, Cathy, Dewi and Irfon. The group were extremely confident and did not require the pre-test question and answer session which had been planned. Each candidate had to get at least 24 out of 30 marks (80%) for a pass. With some really tricky questions and some of them questions which required three answers; it wasn’t going to be easy. Sue, Irfon and Peter passed;congratulations to them. Cathy, Wyn and Dewi just missed out and will have another opportunity to take the test when we hold the next pool session. Then it was down to the Glynyweddw for the postmortem.
The AGM was well supported and over fairly quickly. The officers and committee gave their reports, and the chairman thanked them all for their work. The officers for the 2005-06 season were elected unanimously. Then followed the quiz organised by Julie Roberts and the food. The competition was fierce but with the usual Micky Duke red herrings; something about a rear-admiral coming before a vice-admiral. Julie felt that Malcolm should know a lot about animals with pouches? Finally after a lot of sandwiches and chips the team scores in no particular were as follows: Gwyn/Peter/Bert: 37.5. Tim/Glenn/Molly: 31. Vi/Mike/Malcolm: 33.5. Hugh /Paul /Chris /Neil: 39.5. Robin/Wyn/Mick: 35.5. Many thanks to Julie for a great quiz.
Theory: At MC Ltd. Despite a few mishaps the morning theory session finally got going. Luckily the full team was there. Lee, Gwyn, Arwyn and Mick. David and Neil did the instruction. The two rescue lessons were done. That leaves just two more lectures. Then it was over to Vivian Quarry for the practical open water dive.
Having arrived Neil had a bit of an audience as he got kited up. (See photograph). Practical 1 was what the rest of us were there for. Mid water launching of DSMB. Glenn took Gwyn and Hugh took Mick. A good effort, but one or two limp SMBs spoke louder than words. It was a lovely day. Robin and Neil did a dive while the training went on. Lovely weather, spring is sprung.
A lovely day. The sun shining, the mountains crisp, cold and snowcapped as we, we few, entered MC Ltd for three hours of instruction plus a short practical session. We did it despite a power cut. Neil was up to the task and had a generator working in no time.
All six trainees were able be present although there was a bit of confusion as to who lives where! Cathy, Sue, Irfon, Dewi, Peter and Wyn. A short practical session on fitting kit together was done by all but Sue. Then Neil did the “Going Diving” lecture, followed by Hugh with “What happens if” and David finished off with “Enjoy your diving”.There remains now only the multi choice answer test.
