University clubs know how to have fun on a budget, whether that be diving the UK or venturing to the Mediterranean. Here, six uni branches tell the stories of their Spring Breaks
Oxford University enjoyed fine conditions diving around Portland, in a trip noted for its awesomeness
CLUBDIVING
Here comes the fun
University clubs know how to have fun on a budget, whether that be diving the UK or venturing to the Mediterranean. Here, six uni branches tell the stories of their Spring Breaks
Rescue drills in action
Coffee table finning masterclass
A brush with the old Bill
CLUB: Oxford University Underwater Exploration Group( OUUEG)
DESTINATION: Portland, Dorset OBJECTIVES: Training and fun diving
Oxford University enjoyed fine conditions diving around Portland, in a trip noted for its awesomeness
THE TRIP: This year, OUUEG made the decision of‘ breaking the tradition’ and favouring Portland for our annual Easter Trip. Portland offers diving on both sides of the isle, which made our daily planning
RIB Seahorse heads out of Portland Harbour
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more flexible, especially when training is involved and every day is valuable.
Moreover, our lovely RIB‘ Seahorse’ lives in the dry stack of the marina, and we wouldn’ t want to upset Seahorse with travelling, right? After a day of diving off Chesil Beach, Seahorse was lifted out of the dry stack and lowered into the water, ready to be put to use. Having amassed a mighty 52 dives, we managed to get every participant plenty of small boat diving experience. Balaclava Bay, Bombarton Unit, Countess of Erne, Newton’ s Cove, British Inventor,‘ Crag Site’( according to our wise GPS) were all explored, some of them more than once.
Unfortunately, not every day was a diving day, and on the two days when we cancelled the dives, the participants enjoyed a dry finning workshop, a wreck appreciation talk,
a reg( ulator) appreciation workshop, and an O2 admission course! Two Ocean Diver and two Sports Diver trainees managed to finish their course and get some fun diving afterwards.
A trip to the Bill of Portland was a must and even though diving is fun, there’ s something special about having a beverage, talking to friends, and looking out towards the raging sea. Two BBQs and a sauna session later, everyone left Portland with a big smile on their faces, ready to do it all again next year.
LOGBOOK MOMENT: I remember handling the boat and waiting for divers to return to the surface. I could see three dSMBs sticking out of the water around the Bombarton Unit, so I stayed close. For some of the divers, this was their first ever boat dive, but thankfully the conditions were excellent. I saw the first buddy pair surfacing and heard this participant, who had never done a boat dive before, scream at the top of her lungs:“ This is awesome!”.
DIVE TEAM: George Apeitos( TL); Marius Weber; Robin Masson; Shannon Russell; Xianming Liu; Dominic Sloper; Karim Alaa El-Din; Yuya Ra; Matthew Morecroft; Electra Dovas; Giulia Biasi; Zara Waddy; Qing Zhao; David Brock; Ben Keitch; Holger Schuhmann; Becks Martin; Ming Liu.