CLUBFOCUS
Euan Nicholas at Freshers Week
a stock of 18 regulators , 40 BCDs and 25 cylinders ; we also provide full protective equipment including semi-dry wetsuits , hoods , boots and gloves . Equipment secretaries Mathew Atkins and Jake Curry work very hard to maintain our kit . We simply couldn ’ t keep going without the help of T . H . Dive Services in Plymouth , where we regularly get our kit serviced .
Do you get financial support from the university ?
Sadly not , so we have to raise money regularly for the club and its services to continue . Ocean Diver training raises funds , which covers the servicing costs for our equipment . Our current Captain Daisy
Kearley started the year by crocheting several plush aquatic animals , which we then raffled off with a few other scuba prizes and raised £ 300 , which really helped . Funding is an area where we are open to building a relationship with local business should they be interested in us running team building try dives or working alongside the university ’ s marine biology department .
What is day-to-day club life like ?
We train in St Lukes Pool and in a university building almost directly opposite , so we keep things simple . We have access to a storeroom beside the pool , which we lovingly refer to as our Animal House . We have a very small compressor that our volunteers work on night and day . We recently sold our old club boat , but Plymouth Sound BSAC and Exeter BSAC have been a real help to us as local partners . We rely on their generosity to get our members out on RIB dives . We hold several flexible memberships with Plymouth Sound , enabling members to dive with them at fuel costs . They have been nothing but accommodating .
This year hasn ’ t been the best weatherwise , massively affecting the visibility on local dives . This hasn ’ t stopped our divers from getting into the water . The club has been on 11 local diving trips since the start of the academic term in September and a week aboard in Malta . Our Christmas meal organised by Social Secretary Mathew Aitken was a success with 13 people attending a lovely meal , followed by a visit to the pub .
Where do you go diving ?
At a range of shore diving sites near us , including Beacon Cove , Babbacombe beach , Brixham breakwater , Exmouth docks , the Waterfront and the Eastern Kings in Plymouth . We also dive at local inland sites Vobster and Cromhall ; and we organise RIB dives from Portland with Terry Cox and Malcolm Strickland from Portland BSAC , kind retired gentlemen who help us out occasionally with training and reasonably priced diving around Portland and the Dorset coast . They have been longstanding EUSAC helpers and we are forever grateful .
Several deeper dives have been conducted recently off Easten Kings in Plymouth . These are brilliant , as EUSAC has previously been very focused on training and this has driven away some of our more experienced university classmates .
Dan Rosen plays peek-a-boo with Ben Ashley at Firestone Bay
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Julia Wu selfies with with Instructor Melvin Hoi