Who are your members ?
We have 26 members , aged 24 to 76 ; two still with us were among our founding members . We have two Ocean Divers ; six Sports Divers ; 11 Dive Leaders ; and seven Advanced Divers . Covid-19 affected our ability to recruit , and our membership has shrunk in the past three years , with some of our longterm members placed on furlough and some having to move or indeed lose their jobs .
What resources do you have ?
We rent a large shed to house two old but reliable Nissan Patrol towing jeeps and our two RIBs : a 6.5m Predator with a 140hp outboard and a 7.4m Redbay with an inboard diesel . She ’ s called Fiona ’ s Pride after a much-loved member who passed away shortly before we purchased her . We have a nitrox compressor , Haskell pump and two Coltri Sub compressors , which our local council allows us to store in a dedicated room at the rear of the local swimming pool . We have 10 sets of pool training equipment and access to the pool on Wednesday nights . Before the pandemic we used a community room in Tesco for meetings , but we ’ ve moved to online meetings for the time being .
You have an unusual fee structure …
We charge an initial join-up fee of £ 140- £ 180 depending on diving qualification . This includes BSAC membership and a course pack for whatever qualification a member wants to attain . After an initial training period , we charge £ 40 per calendar month , which covers all boat dives , the weekly use of the pool , and unlimited nitrox / air fills . We are a not-for-profit club , so all our fees are used to cover our bills . Various funding grants helped us buy the kit , but in general every single penny of our fees goes back into the daily and weekly running of the club .
How much diving do you do ?
We dive every week , winter or summer , obviously weather permitting . Our local dives are to Strangford or Carlingford Lough . From spring onwards , we usually travel once or twice a month to Donegal on the west coast of Ireland . There , the viz is exceptional ; the abundance of sea life and wrecks is phenomenal .
Do you ever use charter boats ?
Perhaps twice a year we might charter a boat for locations that are difficult to tow our boats to , and we have organised outings with charter companies to ensure technical divers can dive in locations suitable for their needs .
Below : The club ’ s technical divers at Scapa Flow Above : Enjoying the blue water of Malta