20 Plus members of Merseyside Sub Aqua Club Branch 5 got the chance to spend a couple of hours with the North West Emergency Training Team at their Centre in Birkenhead. Members firstly received a very informative presentation from Dave about the effects diving and Decompression Illness (DCI) can have on the body and what we can do as responsible divers to try and limit our chances of ever ending up in their chamber for real.
After the presentation we all had the chance to get into the chamber and experience a dry dive down to 40 metres. We took some puzzles with us to see how our brain reacts to the effects of Nitrogen Narcosis and took in some balloons so see how our lungs cope with the pressure and how our voice changes at depth.
It was a fantastic day out for Merseydivers and everyone who attended highly recommended every diver should take the opportunity to attend.
The 23 dinner dance and awards night was held at The Leasowe Caste Hotel on the Wirral and as usual we had a great turnout from our members and a fun night was had by all. We had a record 21 Certificates to give out including newly qualified Ocean Divers, Sports Divers and Coxswains.
Another good night had by all at this years Quiz Night.
A good turn out considering its the summer and a lot of members are off on holiday. Plenty of brains were tested to their limits with a range of questions but everyone seemed to enjoy it. With the collections for the quiz and a very generous amount collected in the raffle plenty of money was raised to help pay for the new boat which arrives next week.
There was some dubious marking and interesting applications of the rules but we think this years winners were Paul & Julie, Ange, Wendy & Tim.
Whilst this years wooden spoon winners were Ben, Bell, Jan and Steve.
Keep an eye out for next months social/fund raising evening !
The club held a very successful race night on 22nd April. Organised by our very own John Dunne, the turnout was quite limited and everyone who did come had a great time, plenty to eat and mostly lost their shirts! Betting on the races was pretty intense and the club made a substantial amount toward the new boat fund.
A great night was had by all on Saturday night at Team Sport in Liverpool. Big thanks to John Dunne for organising and wearing a very fetching Pink race suite. We had a really good turn out with so many we had to split into two groups. Some great racing as well as some very ‘competitive’ driving seeing quite a few drivers black flagged and having to go to the pits for a telling off!
At the end of the evening Martin Campbell and Kelly Baird took the honors in the two group final races and after a good laugh everyone headed off into town for a few beers and a plenty of discussions over tactics.
The Green Group. 3rd John Dunne, 2nd Mike Mansell and 1st Martin Campbell.
The Yellow Group. 3rd Robbie Edwards, 2nd Alex Naylor and 1st Kelly Baird.
John Dunne is organising a karting night at TeamSport in Liverpool. The date is now confirmed as 25th February. The cost if £50 and details of the evening are below. If you are interested put your name down on the sheet on the club noticeboard or contact John directly.
Exclusive Grand Prix
Race it out to the finish line in our grand prix styled race. Groups can enjoy exclusive use of the track during the sessions, which consist of a combined practice and qualifying session, followed a short break before lining up on the grid ahead of the big race. There can only be one winner on top of the podium – so make sure it’s you who takes home the gold, and not your nearest rivals!
If you’re looking for an event with a little bit extra, this is the event for you! Whether you’re celebrating an occasion or just simply want to enjoy some high-octane fun with your mates or family, we’ve got you covered. With guaranteed exclusive use of the track for your group, an upgraded race format and trophy presentation to finish – you can arrange an event to remember!
Who can race? Grand Prix are available for ages 14+ with a minimum inside leg measurement of 29 inches (Adult karts only) and groups must have a minimum of 12 depending on track capacity at your desired location. Some of our larger locations require a minimum of 14, 16 drivers or if we are running on one our awesome international circuits.
What’s the format? It’s a simple yet very effective race format built with finding the ultimate champion in mind. Once you have been signed in, kitted out in your racewear and been through our safety briefing, its race time! You and your group will have exclusive use of the circuit whilst on track and will start things off with some practice laps to learn the circuit and get to grips with your kart before moving onto qualifying which is all about the fastest lap, just like in Formula 1 it only takes a touch of magic on one lap to take pole position. Your race will start out on the grid with an endurance style sprint to the chequered flag, where the aim is to hang to first place or risk the glory being snatched from you by your competitors. After every session on circuit drivers are rewarded with a break where you’ll be able to view your personalised lap times via email, or via our free app, of your performance and after the final session at the end of your Grand Prix it’s capped off with a trophy presentation for the top 3 drivers over on the podium.
The exact format and timings do vary from venue to venue as listed below: 2 x 15 minute – 5 minute practice leads straight into a 10 minute qualifying session, the race is a 15 minute sprint to the chequered flag.
What’s included?
Race-suit and helmet hire
Safety briefing
Exclusive track use
Personalised lap times emailed to you or available by downloading our app
Trophy presentation
How long is the experience? We recommend to allow 1.5 – 2 hours in total from arrival for your Exclusive Grand Prix experience for groups of up to 30.
All members of your group will be requested to arrive at the venue 30 minutes prior to your designated track time. We’ll get everyone signed in, into their race-suits and after a short safety briefing everyone will head to the pits.
There was a great turn out again for the annual new years days tug of war competition between the Mersey Divers and the New Brighton Lifeboat Crew. The good weather brought out a huge crowd to watch the very well organised lifeboat crew win again with another 2-0 victory. Although we had them worried this time on the first pull!
The Mayor of Wirral, Councillor Jeff Green, was there to officiate and present the Bob Grant memorial trophy to the well deserved winners.
A big thanks to the New Brighton Lifeboat Crew for organising the event as well as providing a great buffet afterwards. Thanks also to everyone from Mersey Divers who took part and came to support their side. Thanks to Vince Clegg for the photo’s.
The event is held to collect much needed donations to help support the RNLI. With the great weather and a large crowd over £1400 was raised for a great cause.
It was another very successful dinner dance and awards evening this this year, held yet again at Birkenhead Park Rugby Club. There was a great turn out with nearly a hundred members, partners, family members and friends enjoying themselves. After drinks and introductions there was the usual meal supplied by Alleycats, followed by more drinks, a lengthy prize draw and then the awards.
This year Steve Mills was awarded Diver of the Year in recognition of all the hard work put over many years behind the scenes and for having completed his cave 1 course.
Steve Mills – Diver of the Year
The Andy Marshall memorial trophy for trainee of the year went to Wendy Pretlove.
Wendy Pretlove – Trainee of the Year
There was a special club award this year to Steve McElroy for all his work over many years, especially with training.
Steve McElroy – Special Award
Next were awards for this years diving achievements. Quite a few this year thanks to the massive efforts of the training officers, Steve McElroy, Terry Maloney and Steve Mills as well as the many instructors who have given up lots of their time this year.
Wendy Pretlove – Ocean Diver
Phil Hughes – Ocean Diver
Jourdan McSweeney – Ocean Diver
Ange Coggins – Ocean Diver
Phil Coggins – Ocean Diver
Chris Gould – Ocean Diver
Chris Mills – Dive Leader
This year, the Golden Egg award for the biggest laugh of the year went to Ange Coggins for her attempts to get out of the water after a shore dive in Porth Dafarch this year.
After a really enjoyable evening, some dodgy dancing and as a result of raffles and auctions just short of £2000 was raised for the club. A very big thanks need to go to Vince Clegg and Graeme Cooper of all their efforts in organising the evening.
Bel and Katie will be hosting a special Christmas club night on 23rd December. Doors open as usual at 7pm with the fun starting at 7.30pm. There will be food, a raffle, an auction and Christmas Karaoke!
So, come on down, have some fun and raise a bit of money for the club.
The Major is once again organising his late Christmas Bash. This years will be held at the Irby Mill on Saturday 18th December. The participation list is up on the club notice board but numbers are limited to 50 and places are going fast. Get your name down quickly if your interested.
It was another very successful dinner dance and awards evening this this year, held again at Birkenhead Park Rugby Club. This year attended by well over a hundred members, partners, family members and friends. After drinks and introductions there was a superb meal, supplied as usual by Alleycats, followed by more drinks, a lengthy prize draw and then the awards.
This year Vince Clegg was awarded Diver of the Year in recognition of all the hard work put over many years behind the scenes and more visibly during the re-development of the bar area in the club.
The Andy Marshall trophy for trainee of the year went to Andy Parsons. Andy also achieved his Sport Diver certificate this year.
This year, the Golden Egg award for the biggest cockup of the year went to Tony Fitzpatrick in honor of his tussle with a rampaging gatepost.
There were also some special club awards given this year. To Alan Jones, for the years of service he has given to the club as chairman, keeping it running smoothly through some very difficult circumstances.
To Belinda Condron for all her efforts helping run the bar, baking cakes and organising events.
And finally to Chris Mills and Graeme Cooper for their work in re-developing the bar.
After a really enjoyable evening, some dodgy dancing and as a result of raffles and auctions over £1500 was raised for the Club. A great result. Big thanks to Dave Edwards, Belinda Condron, Graeme Cooper and everyone else who helped organise the event.
On the 1st of August this year the Mersey Divers Team took part in the Yorkshire Classic Tough Mudder to raise funds for the club and also to donate to the RNLI.
Tough Mudder Classic is a 10-mile challenge of mud-soaked mayhem. Loaded with 25 of the world’s craziest obstacles. With no competitive element and no timing, it’s just you, your teammates andmuddy strangers working together to conquer the course and earn the world-famous orange headband.
It was hard going at times, there was lots of mud and lots of getting wet, some of the obstacles really pushed us, but I don’t think anyone stopped laughing throughout the whole day. Except maybe on the Artic Enema! A drop down a drainpipe into a skip full of water and ice cubes with a crawl under a barrier in the middle. Not sure anyone really enjoyed that one but we all worked as a team and no one got left behind……
We’re still adding up the donations and sponsorship but it looks like we will just break £800. Which is a great result for the club and once it’s all collected we will be donating 25% of whatever we get to the RNLI. Watch this space for the final update.
The team on the finish line.
Back Row: Dave Barlow, Dave Edwards, Dave Roberts, Jake Mills, Kelly Baird, Lorna Larkin
Front Row: Kate Mills, Chris Mills, Martin Campbell, Hannah Williams
A gathering of Dive Ribs from around the UK, making a passage from the launch site at Dinas Marina, through to Beaumaris for a chippy dinner, then passing through the Swellies under the two Menai Bridges to Caernarfon for an Ice Cream, then back to Dinas Marina to recover the boats.
Sadly, due to the Covid19 Pandemic, the Menai Boat Run has had to be cancelled for 2020.
The November Quiz night was another fantastic success. A great time had by all and another late night. But best of all, lots of money raised for club and in particular, the new boat fund.
This years winning team was led by Geoff and they took home the main prize, but there were plenty of other winners in the prize draws and everyone seemed to enjoy the food.
The proud recipients of the club wooden spoon
A big thanks to all those who came and took part and an even bigger thanks to all those who helped in the organising and running of the event on the evening. Especially Bell for the cake, Tony Fitz for his curry and both John and Dave for running the bar.
As part of this years river festival Branch 5 sent two boats and a tug of war team down to New Brighton to take part in the event.
There was one boat on the waters of marine lake, with some brave members demonstrating their low visibility diving skills, and another on the side with other club members collecting for the RNLI and selling try dives.
A big thanks to Chester SAC for jumping in at the last minute to take part in the tug of war. The best of three pulls was close but the practice Branch 5 gained against the RNLI at New Year paid off and they took the day 2-0. Hopefully the edge was taken off the defeat by the food laid on back at the clubhouse for everyone.
Thanks to everyone from the club who gave up their time to to take part and to collect for the RNLI. Update to follow on the amount raised.
This years early Easter quiz and curry evening was an amazing success. A big thanks to everyone that came and made it such an enjoyable evening.
Competition was fierce but in the end the Majors team won by more than ten clear points, sweeping up the star prize…. along with a fair few of the many raffle prizes !
Someone always has to loose and unfortunately this year it was Steve Barnes team that scooped the wooden spoon of shame trophy.
The chilli and vegetable curry went down well and there were no reports of food poisoning so looks like we got away with it.
As well as being about having a good time the evening was to collect funds for the club. In the end the between the quiz, raffle and bar about £500 was raised so thanks again to everyone involved in running the evening and everyone who came.
After incredible support from BSAC clubs around the UK, sadly the 2019 event had to be cancelled due to extreme weather conditions. In all, 43 boats entered and their donations raised £2,000 for the Beaumaris RNLI, which was gratefully received by the volunteer crew.
Thanks must go to the organizing crew, Sophie Heptonstall, Dave Parry and Chris Holden from Chester Branch and of course Paul from Dinas Boatyard, who, without his support, this event could probably not happen. Thanks too, to David O’neil from the Caernarfon Harbour Trust and Jamie Johnson from Plas Menai, who were really helpful with their support and advice.
This years tug of war was another great success, apart from the RNLI winning again! There was a huge crowd out to watch this years event, which was started and refereed by His Worship the Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Geoff Watt. This is the second annual running of the event in aid of the RNLI and the well organised lifeboat crew again proved too strong for Mersey Divers, winning 2-0.
The main aim of the event was to raise money for the RNLI, and on the day just short of £500 was collected. It was also a good opportunity to promote Mersey Divers so Tony Fitz and John Rice had one of the club boats out with banners and leaflets advertising the club.
So, big thanks to the New Brighton Lifeboat Crew for organising the day as well as providing a great buffet afterwards. Thanks also to everyone from Mersey Divers who took part and came to support their side as well as all those who provided pictures.
Thanks guys and girls for making The Major’s Late Late Xmas Bash happen. I thought besides anything else the atmosphere was just great with everybody in the mood for a bit of a session. Of course, Martin’s 50th birthday bash just added to the occasion and how good was that cake (and the T shirts)? Thanks to Jan Heath for all her work in that direction. And the real good new is that the club made £262 on the sale of ticket and the raffle.
So all that remains is to wish you all again a very happy and festive Christmas and I look forward to diving with you all in the New Year.
