Kirsty , Spud ( Snorkel Lead ), Jake ( Membership Officer , Sports Diver )
Who are your members ?
We have 76 members : 56 are diving members ; seven are snorkellers , 13 longterm members are former divers . We still have some of our founder members . Thirtyone members are women and six are under 18 . We ’ ve had great growth post-Covid , and are hoping to continue this in the coming years .
How does the club raise funds ?
We have three main funding channels ; most income comes from club fees , supported by our bar , where we run events including photo competitions and talks on diving history that local clubs often visit for , and a weekly lottery . We have sufficient funds to be able to subsidise boat diving costs and still pay for all necessary maintenance . We also have a busy octopush group , which contributes towards the costs of pool hire .
How much diving goes on ?
Members do around 900 dives a year on average , mostly from our boats out of Scarborough and Bridlington . But last year was tough due to ongoing Covid restrictions , and there were just 349 dives from February 2021 to the end of January 2022 . Unfortunately even when restrictions were lifted , poor weather kept us out of the water .
What sort of diving does the club do ?
Mostly local diving from our RIB and hard boat , with a handful of charter trips typically at least two days long . The vast majority of our divers are open circuit , with some technical divers travelling to the deeper wrecks off the Yorkshire coast , and one or two CCR divers . And of course there are our weekly Flamborough Head snorkel trips .
SS Highgate is our First Class diver Joyce Jesson ’ s favourite , as she recovered its bell ; it ’ s a 50m-deep collier sunk in the First World War . SS Norhilda , another WW1 collier sitting at 34m , and the SS Constantia at 42m are other favourites . In shallower water , the minesweeper Garmo is regularly dived , although it ’ s known as ‘ character building ’ due to poor viz !
When do you dive ?
Dives out of Scarborough are on whenever the tides and weather are behaving ; quite often a plan is put together as soon as we see a good forecast . Trips away are usually over a long weekend , spread out in the year to manage costs and maximise uptake . We have recently been to St Abbs , the Farnes , Lochaline , and Plymouth .
Who does the diving ?
We have 16 Ocean Diver trainees ( Now completed training and 12 are continuing straight on to Sports Diver ; three Ocean Divers ; One Advanced Ocean Diver ; 12 Sports Divers ; 14 Dive Leaders ; nine Advanced Divers ; and a single First Class Diver . And four more members dive on their PADI certifications .
Beach Clean at Filey Bay
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