Chairman’s Letter
Just tell me folks where has this year gone and here I am yet another year younger! So, what is on the Agenda? Well firstly there is the AGM on Thursdays, 22th. November 2018, which is a week later than usual due to the Dinner Dance having been put back a week. Our Equipment Officer, John Dunne is standing down this time round and there is also a new position of ‘Communication Officer’ up for grabs which will be advertised together with a job description within the next week. With regard to Tony Fitzpatrick, he has completed three years as Diving Officer and would normally stand down, however, due to the 2016 AGM being delayed until the February and meant he did not get a full year, he is now able to serve an extra year (Article 3 (b) of our Constitution). Of course, you should not forget that anybody can ‘throw their hat in the ring’ and challenge the present incumbents.’ up for grabs which will be advertised together with a job description within the next week. With regard to Tony Fitzpatrick, he has completed three years as Diving Officer and would normally stand down, however, due to the 2016 AGM being delayed until the February and meant he did not get a full year, he is now able to serve an extra year (Article 3 (b) of our Constitution). Of course, you should not forget that anybody can ‘throw their hat in the ring’ and challenge the present incumbents.
Speaking of the annual Dinner Dance, this is being held on Saturday, 17th. November 2018, at Birkenhead Park Rugby Club. So, what we have is the same venue and a similar format to last year, however, this year you will be dancing to ‘The Forty Thieves’ which is a fourpiece band that plays all usual the disco anthems that everybody gets up to and comes highly recommended. The down side is that we have had to raise the price from £38 to £40, but in fairness this is the first increase in quite a few years and you are getting a band. All the usual forms can be found on the club Notice board and tickets purchased from behind the bar.
As you are aware, the club has been looking to extend its footprint out into the rear car park, albeit that the Council are less than happy with our proposals. Accordingly, the committee has agreed to ‘Plan B’ and extend just the interior of the club, specifically knocking through into what used to be the kit store and redeveloping the bar area. I would hope that by the time of the AGM we will be able to present a detailed overview of the plans and a definite timetable for the work.
During the winter period we will be taking stock of all the club equipment and preparing a schedule for repair/replacement, testing and servicing. In fact, recently several of the club bottles have failed pressure testing, while some of the training regulators have seen better days. Accordingly, if anybody has any ‘gash’ kit they would like to donate to the club we can offer it a good home. Also, has anybody got any small pool fins they no longer use and where have all the weights gone from behind the bar? Can we have them back please?
Regarding training, Chris Woods and Steve Mills have already set in motion a series of lectures for up and coming Dive Leaders and Advanced Divers (they begin on Thursday, 4th. October 2018, usual place, usual time). In addition, ‘Stevie Mac’ is currently running, arguably the most important SDC you will ever do, namely buoyancy and trim. This will be followed over the weekend of the 3rd./4th. November with an Accelerated Decompression course run by Alistair Reynolds. We had also hoped to do include a Chartwork SDC in the current programme, however, with so much going on this will have to wait until the New Year.
That’s it folks, safe diving and I do hope to see you all in the near future.
Alan Jones