Clean-up in Croatia
HERE ’ S SOME NEWS FROM US HERE IN Croatia as members of CroSAC and Dupin Dive Centre . On April 17th three of the Collett family did a safety dive in the Bay of Luka Uš as the first since last season , to check out ourselves , our serviced equipment and our weighting . Jan and I both have new wetsuits , so needed to adjust our weight accordingly . Our grandson Triston – now 16 years old – has like all teenagers grown , so it ’ s a new suit for him as well . After sorting ourselves out we went for a short exploratory dive with a max depth of 6m . A successful morning ’ s trial immersion .
The following Monday morning , the same trio met with the local dive club E . R . K . ( Ecological Diving Club ) Korčula at their club house . We joined up to do a clean-up on the opposite side of the bay to our centre . There
Joint pain
LAST NOVEMBER , FOUR MEMBERS OF my small branch invested in Northern Diver heated vests , as reviewed in the previous issue [ see Test Centre ’ s review of the Northern Diver Electracore vest , May 2021 ]. We dive all the year round .
The vests duly arrived ready for diving at Stoney Cove the following day – just in time for lockdown to start again ! Oh well , not to worry I gave it a go in my house to check it out , and all was excellent . I do a bit of fishing as well , so it came in handy over winter .
Fast forward to April , and diving was back in full swing at our local venue ... but now I have another fly in the proverbial ointment . You see , I became the recipient of a new knee on the first day of April , though it was no joke . were also some divers across from Blace Diving Club , near Ploče , on the mainland .
We started diving within the new marina area . We have cleaned up the plastic and rubbish from this area previously . Although there was less plastic this time , there was still plenty to collect . Between the three of us , we managed to fill about eight netting sacks . The other divers collected about 60 sacks , as well as some old tyres and other large steel debris .
This was followed by a barbecue put together by some of the non-diving support crew and was enjoyed by all complete with a few glasses of a good local red wine . The event was filmed by RTL television ( a Croatian national television station ). STEVE and JAN COLLETT , Dupin Dive Centre , Croatia
The post-op rules say I won ’ t be able to go diving and try out my vest for another eight weeks . The good news is I took Neil ’ s advice from the review [ Neil Hope devised a kit hack involving a jam jar lid to help locate and depress the vest ’ s control under a drysuit ] and am now looking forward to a week of diving on the Zenobia in September , Covid rules permitting . Hopefully I won ’ t be swimming in circles with my new bionic knee .
The bad news is I have had to cancel a week ’ s hard boat diving in Mull , which had been planned for June . Patience is now the key word ! DAVE PLUMB , The Monday Club , Branch 2606
Thanks to Dave for sending in photographs of his newly operated knee . There ’ s some excellent stitching , but I think I ’ ll spare the readers – Editor
A tribute to Dave George
IT ’ S WITH GREAT SADNESS THAT members of Vale Royal SAC announce the passing of one of our longest serving members , Dave George .
Unassuming and gentle , his generosity of spirit represented the ethos of club diving at its best . As an Advanced Diver and Advanced Instructor , Dave was hugely experienced and always willing to share his knowledge with anyone seeking advice , but never sought to impose his views .
Dave was an active member of Vale Royal for more than 30 years , spending the majority of these years on the branch committee . In addition to being a general member , he served as Equipment Officer , Diving Officer and Chairman .
Dave rarely missed a club trip , crisscrossing the country in his campervan accompanied by his wife Jean at sites from Cornwall to Loch Fyne ; Pembrokeshire to Eyemouth . He delighted in the underwater world and was never fussy over the choice of site – he always found something to see and share with fellow divers .
Dave was scrupulous in maintaining the club ’ s two RIBs . On many expeditions his engineering skills saved a day ’ s diving . He was able to replace bearings , fix wiring , adjust cable throttles – any one of the dozen different issues that can crop up to put the kybosh on a club trip .
As Equipment Officer , he rarely missed a club night and always turned up at the pool with kit sorted into boxes for the latest tranche of trainees .
In cahoots with his close friend and diving buddy Ernie Dewhirst , it would inevitably be Dave who installed the latest sidescan equipment on a RIB , wired up the AIS or fixed a new aerial ( that someone else had damaged ).
We will miss the twinkle in his eye and his wry smile . Equally we will remember with delight the cups of tea by the van , BBQs on the campsite and his oft used phrase – ‘ so are we going diving then ’? ANDY SHENSTONE , Treasurer / Training Officer , Vale Royal SAC
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