Welcome
Hello and welcome to summer . Admittedly , I am writing in early May , but it ’ s clear that the diving season is well and truly underway . As I write , divers in the South West have already enjoyed some of their best visibility in recent memory , only for the viz to plummet with the arrival of great gelatinous globs of zooplankton . Sounds like a great British summer to me .
If you haven ’ t hit the water yet , do bear in mind the usual precautions . Carry out a kit inventory ; check your cylinders and regs are all in-test . Look out for mouse-nibbled drysuit seals , rusty direct feeds and unsavoury life forms developing inside your mask . Get to work with the toothpaste , get everything tested and start with easy diving in a controllable environment , where you can adapt without feeling rushed . Then you can build up to the more challenging dives you may have planned for later in the season .
After two years of restrictions , we have a clear run at this summer and I ’ m hoping to hear from any and all clubs involved in expedition diving . Diving with a purpose is the most deeply satisfying way of enjoying our sport , and it ’ s firmly ingrained in BSAC culture . Happily for this magazine , it also makes for a great read . So if you ’ ve got a project planned , please send me an email and we ’ ll discuss how to get it into print .
Just what constitutes an expedition ? Well , it ’ s a whole night in the pub to put that one to bed , but I ’ d say any planned diving with a team and an objective . It could involve training , self-sufficiency , exploration or even the systematic investigation of a very popular site . If you ’ re looking for ideas , please keep reading our monthly column by Jane Maddocks , ‘ Taking it Further ’, [ Protect our Seas , page 48 ] in which she comes up with an amazing supply of suggestions for purposeful plunges .
Also this month , we have a report on the winners of the BSAC Expeditions Trophy , Lothian Divers , who earned the award with a self-sufficient trip to the remote Knoydart Peninsula and Loch Nevis . Have a look at this two-pager , as it includes details of all the expeditions in the running [ BSAC Expeditions , page 40 ]
Finally , BSAC ’ s own expeditions guru , Andy Hunt , still has places on his Operation Oyster trip to Cape Wrath . Details can be found in SCUBA HUB .
Rogerson – Editor simon @ scubamagazine . co . uk
Cover photo : A diver examines the prop of a Bristol Beaufighter , Malta , by Steve Jones
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