Chairman’s Letter – March 2020
Here we are almost at the beginning of March and the foul weather shows no sign of abating. However, since I last wrote to you we have been busy putting everything to rights in preparation for the diving season, whenever that might arrive. Both boats have now been serviced and made ready for the sea, which included in one case as replacement heavy duty battery and cables. In addition, the compressor was serviced last week while the bank storage bottles were put back in test at the beginning of the year. So with the boat electronics (GPS/radio etc) also having been tested, I think it fair to say that we are just about ready for the off.
There is now quite a wide range of training opportunities coming up shortly, which you will forgive me for reminding you of, as somebody will always claim they knew nothing about an event, here we go:
Skill Development Courses
Rescue Management SDC – Theory session Thursday, 19th. March at the club to be followed by the practical session on Sunday, 5th. April 2020 at Eccleston Delph. NOTE – this was originally planned for Saturday the 21st. March but had to be put back for a variety of reasons, not least of which to accommodate the LFC fixture list. This really is a must for those wishing to become Dive Leaders and Advanced Divers. Incidentally, your help would be very much appreciated in acting as stooges to make the whole thing as realistic as possible, such as passersby and standby divers etc.
Mixed Gas Blending Course – This is recent addition to our SDC schedule thanks to the good offices of Alistair Reynolds and will be run at the club house over the weekend of the 14/15th. March 2020. I am sure there will be a charge, not least for the gas, which you will be find out via Alistair. Update: £60 required by Alistair ASAP.
Boat Handling SDC – Over the weekend of the 25/26th. April 2020, the Saturday being a theory day at the club, followed by the practical session the following morning.
Diver/Cox Assessment – Saturday, 16th. May 2020 for those wishing to prove they really can handle the club boats, but be aware that this is an assessment and not a training session.
Speaking of cost, none of the above are free as the club has to purchase course packs from BSAC HQ, for example the boat handling SDC is £48, but bear in mind that if you do the same course at Safewater down by New Brighton slip you’ll be paying about £250 for the same experience.
Contact your Committee – Recently we have introduced a new e-mail address as a means of getting in touch with either myself or a particular member of the committee, that is committee@merseysiders.com and comes through to me. I guess the idea is to assist anybody who has not had an opportunity to raise a concern or is now away from home.
There really is so much going, so here are just a few more dates for you to digest which you haven’t had previously:
28/29th. March……………….Geoff Oldfield’s Menai Boat Run in aid of the RNLI.
11/12th. April………………..Alan Jones is looking to run out into Liverpool Bay Diving, but nothing firmed up as we speak, so watch this space.
29th. May – 1st. June……..Chris Mills will be running a trip to Pembroke.
Saturday, 20th. June 2020 will be the Club Summer Gala day at Birkenhead Park RFC. This will be a similar format as last year and will cost £35 perr ticket, albeit that includes a substantial buffet and entertainment.
That’s it folks for the moment and as ever safe diving.
Alan Jones