CLUBFOCUS
Members convene at Abercastle beach
A recently qualified diver at Stack Rocks West
to spot two shore crabs fighting. To mark our last evening, Richard Hughes from Pembrokeshire Divers talked about a silver pocket watch he found diving the Barbara, a square rigger which was wrecked in 1881 off Freshwater West. He helped us to understand the context of her last voyage, and we were enthralled to hear how his careful research had eventually led to the watch being reunited with the lastremaining descendant of its original owner.
You mentioned that you have a club boat.
Yes. Recently we invested time, effort and money into servicing our eight-person RIB and its trailer. They have been out of use for several years. The boat is now ocean-ready, so we are planning a non-diving trial. It is decision time. We will be testing the boat, deciding whether there is enough interest in the club to enable us to run it safely and frequently enough to make it worthwhile, or whether we should sell it.
What does the future look like?
We are at a crossroads. Most of our divers, although very experienced, are diving infrequently if at all. We are getting advice from the regional team and discussing options, including collaborating with other clubs for instructors. We do not yet have an active snorkelling section; snorkelling may be appealing for local people as it is cheaper and less risky; an alternative for keen under-10s who are too young to train to dive and for anyone who wants to enjoy its simplicity and potential to the max. It could also be useful to offer dive trainees who, despite their and our best efforts, are unable to reach Ocean Diver standards. Developing this could boost our numbers and introduce more to the underwater world.
There’ s so much else we could do, from offering more try dives and specific dive rescue training for our pool lifeguards, to weekly dive trips to the coast, to supporting the BSAC marine champions initiative, SeaSearch marine surveys or Nautical Archaeology Society wreck surveys. To make any of this happen, we need a surge of energy, and members who are willing to volunteer generously, recognising that they themselves are the club’ s life blood. Without this, we could become a diving club in name only. We celebrated our 51 years in early October at our local pub, with members old and new. Perhaps recognising the past achievements of the club will galvanise us to advance the club with new commitment and confidence. �
Young members
Rowan, a recently qualified Ocean Diver
Young photographer Jess with her dad, Bro
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