Early Bristolian divers
Bristol ’ s RIB on the wreck of the M2
Bristol
The third BSAC club to be set up was The Bristol Diving Club , affectionately known as Bristol No . 3 . In the early days , it was quite elitist as you had to apply to the committee of the club to be accepted as a member . Bristol No . 3 is well set up , with a clubhouse near the water in the Cumberland Basin , sandwiched between the River Avon and the Floating Harbour .
From the outside it may look like a large shed , but this deceptively small building actually covers a total area of about 100m2 . Members regard it as a real bonus ; not only does it provide a meeting place , but also gives the club a tangible identity . There was a difficult period for the club in the early 1990s , when membership numbers dipped below ten , following some financial difficulties , but it survived .
One of the club ’ s greatest achievements must be the making of a RIB from scratch in the mid-1980s ; this was closely followed by the setting up of a new , nitrox compatible compressor . All of the electronics for control of the blending were built and designed by members , as it was not something you could easily buy at the time .
Today , the club is harder to run , as it seems difficult to find new members who have the necessary club mentality . They find that prospective members want to pay to learn to dive as quickly as possible , and then move on to the next hobby . Also , the cost of swimming pools for training is prohibitive for a single club , so local Bristol clubs now share sessions . The compressor , however , is still working like a dream , and the current club RIB is a really neat bit of kit . Most trips cater for all experience levels and will take extra boats to accommodate the number of people who wish to dive . After all , there ’ s no point joining a dive club and finding you can ’ t get a dive in because the trips are always full .
Making a RIB
Testing the self-made RIB , Bristol docks
Ice diving in Poland
Practical Rescue Management
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