Scuba Dive Club Bristol Aerospace Sub-Aqua Club

Aerodivers  Logo Bristol Aerospace Sub-Aqua Club

BSAC 88

50 years of diving

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Club stuff

News and Events
Contact Us
Meeting Places
Our Club
Introduction
Club Facilities
Dive Schedule
Useful links
The Committee
Joining our Club
Online Resources
Octopush
Diving

Training

Training
Ocean Diver
Sports Diver
Dive Leader
Advanced Diver
Skill Development Courses

More

Site plan

The SS Bretagne

Diving The SS Bretagne

Fun stuff

Welcome to BASAC

We hope the information in these pages can be of some help to you.

If you are new to diving or thinking of starting out, check out our Training section for more information on diver training and learning to dive.

We are a family friendly dive club, active all year round both above and below the water! You can read more about us in the Our Club section of the site.

Please contact us if you have any question that we can help with.



Latest News Top
Dive Schedule 2009

The 2009 BASAC Miranda Lecture at BAWA on Thursday evening 12 November time tba in the Concorde Room
Miranda Krestovnikoff has again agreed to talk about diving and filming. More details to follow.
Proceeds from the event will be split equally between a charity tba and BASAC Aerodivers.
Tickets are £6 and will include a light buffet. The bar will be available before and after the presentation.
Tickets available tba.

Summer Fun Night at Cromhall Quarry Monday 27 July
Everyone had fun even the ones not in the water. The weather was kind but a bit cool in the shade. Thanks to Mary for organising it, Cyril and Mike W, our master chefs, for doing the BBQ and to Pete for organising the water "sports" ( I'm sure I spotted some liberal interpretation of the rules). (Never !!! Ed.)
Mike D
And thanks to Maggie and Simon for staying on while we all tried to empty the lake over each other. LB

Easter at Plymouth 10 to 13 April

Dive at Babbacombe or Brixham 29 March

Henleaze Lake Sunday March 22. Survey and clearance of below water hazards
Report by Mike Down
Well done to those brave souls who dived henleaze lake. We were told that the viz was a metre but as Simon said I think they left the "milli" out. At the bottom we could only feel the sludge and any contact resulted in a cloud of silt which caused a total blackout. Despite this we recovered two motorbike frames, part of a cylinder block and a very large fishkeep with a fish in it.
Bob Abbott took several photos to verify the catch. I will never turn my nose up at Vobster/Chepstow/Cromhall again.
Mike D
Email from Ross Harley
Mike,
We are very grateful to you and your colleagues for getting the rubbish out of the lake.
I'm sorry that the lack of visibility made it a poor experience - I didn't realise quite how bad we were compared to other sites. We will probably follow up on the sites you have told us about to compare notes and find out how they achieve their clarity.
As Andrew probably told you, we are in the process of getting advice from fresh water habitat experts as to how to improve the clarity of our water. Preliminary indications are that it is going to involve taking quite a few fish out and that it will be a fairly long job. Maybe, once we've got that sorted out you will come back for a better experience.
In the meantime, thanks again and please pass on our thanks to your colleagues.
Ross
Don't take it too seriously Ross, he was only joking, and they actually had an interesting dive and couldn't stop talking about it afterwards, and are now even proposing black-out zero viz dives in the pool, just for some practice. Ed.

Dive-On Sharm el Sheikh
Tuesday 10 March. The cheapest warm water available at this time of year, except maybe for a bath, and there should be more to see as well.

Chepstow Sunday 22 February

Saturday 19 December ... very advanced warning!
Advance notice of Christmas Dinner Dance at BAWA. Tickets £22. Booking opened at the beginnng of February so this has now been booked. However it may still be possible to get further seats but you will have to move quickly, see Mary about this or email.

Friday 20th February
Bristol Gang Show at the Hippodrome, very entertaining show.

Saturday 7th February
Shipwreck Conference at the University of Plymouth. See Ship Wrecks Conference.
Four of us went to this and had a very interesting time.
We heard all about the Victoria which sank bow first with engines full ahead after a manoeuver that went wrong, pushing the bow 30 m into the sand and leaving the rest vertical, 146 m to the sea bed and 70 m to the stern; the diggings (now above sea level) at Yenikapi where 33 ancient wrecks have been found in the old harbour and are being removed to make way for a new rail terminal; all about the several Eddystone Lighthouses; and something about the 1800 wrecks that there have been on the Goodwin Sands, and a very entertaining and interesting, and rather surprising, talk by the Receiver of Wreck.
You should go next time !


Contact Us Top

If you want to get in touch with us, our primary form of contact is email. However, you can also come along and meet us at our club night but it's best to make contact first.

For any contact reason, please send an email it will be forwarded to the relevant person.



Useful Links Top

Here are some very useful links that have transformed what we thought were very mundane dives into ones we all wanted to do again. And some other useful links also.

Triple expansion engines

Compoung engines

Polish videos

Mulberries

'Sidescan' pictures of the sites in Portland Harbour

Dive sites around Portland

Admiralty Easytide Tidal predictions

Met Office Weather

International Maritime Organisation

Maritime and Coastguard Agency

UK Hydrographic Office



Meeting Places Top

Pool Sessions

Monday nights from 8:10pm - 9:45pm
Badminton School Pool,
Cote Lane,
Westbury on Trym,
Bristol BS9 3BA
A map is available here but don't go down Cote Lane, the drive into Badminton School is about a car length from Westbury Road.

Club Meetings

Monday nights from 10:00pm - 11:30pm
BAWA Leisure Centre,
589 Southmead Road,
Filton,
Bristol
A map is available here.

Please contact us before coming along, and we will arrange to meet you.



Our Club Top

Welcome to the Bristol Aerospace Sub-Aqua Club. We are a special branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC Club No. 0088) and are affiliated to the Bristol Aerospace Welfare Association (BAWA).

Our club night is on a Monday. We meet at Badminton School Pool, Westbury on Trym, Bristol BS9 3BA, from 8.10pm until 9.30pm. Here is a map if you need it.

After the pool session, from 10.00pm we move on to the BAWA Leisure Centre, 589 Southmead Road, Filton, Bristol. See the map here.

If you do come to visit us, please contact us beforehand, and we’ll arrange to meet you.


Introduction Top

Our club was formed around 1959 primarily by and for employees of the local aerospace industries of Rolls-Royce plc. and BAE Systems here in Bristol. However, the club is now open to all and we welcome, and indeed do have many members from other walks of life.

We are an active club and dive all year round both in the UK and occasionally in some more exotic warmer locations. We currently have about 50 members. You can read more about our latest diving activities in the diving section. Our oldest active diving member, Frank is eighty something years young, and our youngest start at 14, which is the minimum age currently permitted by the BSAC for SCUBA diving.

We are a ’family’ club and aim to provide a good social atmosphere, where non-diving friends or relations can join in. These activities are aimed at improving the relationship between members, allowing people to get to know the people that they will be diving with.

Apart from diving, we organize various events ranging from the annual Dinner Dance to the Christmas Fun Night at the pool. All members are encouraged to attend these functions, as any profits go to boosting the club funds.

Above all, we are a club of its members for its members.


Club Facilities Top

The club has a number of facilities which are open to members. A weekly pool session is held at Badminton School Pool for general use by members and their families. Activities range from a quick splash to swimming, members trying out new dive kit, training and even Octopush - If you dare! Pool sessions are held each Monday from 8:10pm until 9:45pm. See Contact Us for maps, addresses and contact numbers.

As the club is affiliated to BAWA, we have use of the BAWA facilities for the apres pool sessions in the bar. Here we chat over a drink and plan weekend or holiday diving, and plan other social events.

We even own our own wreck to dive on, the SS Bretagne She’s a single screw steamer of 1439 tons 231.6ft long, 35ft beam which sank along with her cargo of Welsh steam coal on the 10th August 1918 following a collision. She now lies upright on an even keel 18m to the deck, 25m to the seabed.


Club Equipment Top

The club owns a wide range of equipment. At present this includes two 4.8m RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boat). Some members also own their own boats and these are often present at club dives to share the load, particularly on our weekends away.

The club also owns all essential safety equipment including Oxygen Administration kit, flares, VHF radios and GPS satellite navigation equipment.

We also have equipment to get new members under way with their pool training from day one. Masks, fins, snorkels, cylinders, regulators, BC’s (buoyancy compensator jackets), weight belts, etc. are available. The club also operates a hire scheme to assist established members who have equipment in for servicing etc.

In addition, the club purchases the latest tide almanac’s and a range of useful charts for use by the whole membership in dive planning activities.


The 2009 Committee Top

Honorary President Frank Rogers.

The club has an elected committee, which stands for a period of one year from the AGM, usually held late in October or early November.

The committee is currently made up of ten posts, seven positions being elected by the club membership. The others are co-opted by elected personnel; Training Officer by the Diving Officer, Advanced Diving Representative by the Dive Leaders and Advanced Divers in the branch and Membership Secretary by the Treasurer.

The committee is responsible for the smooth running of the club affairs and finances and meets on the third Wednesday of each month.

Any club member is welcome to attend and be part of any of these meetings and we would be glad of any member’s involvement, but, sadly, is not entitled to vote on any topic.

Chairman Peter Davies
Secretary Laurence Breeze
Diving Officer Mike Down
Training Officer Duncan Lamont
Treasurer Sheila Watt
Boat Care Officer Rob Boyes
Equipment Officer John Clayton
Entertainment Officer Mary Breeze
Membership Secretary Jo Belcher



Joining our Club Top

To become a member of our club you must also join the BAWA social club, as well as becoming a member of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC).
Starting out diving can be very expensive, with a lot of money to find up front. We can generally help you out by arranging payment of the membership fees in installments.

Once you’ve joined, you will receive a copy of the BSAC Diving Manual and your subscription to BSAC also includes a monthly subscription to ’Dive’ magazine.

The subscription to the BSAC has to be paid prior to starting aqualung training. Once you are a member of the BSAC, you are covered for third party liability in the unlikely event of a diving accident.

Fees are liable to change, so please Contact Us for further details.



Online Resources Top

Our club’s primary source of information is the club notice folder which is present at our weekly meetings, as not all members may have regular access to the internet.

However, a large proportion of our membership are now online so we do have our own private Email mailing list that can be used by any club member. Our mailing list is operated free of charge by Google, Google Groups. All new members are encouraged to sign up as this is an excellent means of communication for organising those last minute dives! However this link will not work if you are not a member. To register for our BASAC Google Group, you must either be a current or an ex-club member. Further instructions and information about the group will be forwarded to you on joining.



Octopush Top

The nearest thing to underwater hockey.

Some of us choose to play the game of Octopush.

Octopush!

The aim of the game is to try to gouge your opponent’s ears off with a wooden paddle while five or more of the opposing team (and some of your own) pin you to the tiles at the bottom of the pool preventing you from surfacing for a breath. From this position you can try to score for your team by shooting a puck into the opponent team’s goal.

But seriously, it is a very challenging and physical game of Underwater Hockey, and besides being great fun is a good way to build up your stamina, skills and confidence in and under the water. Read the report below from one of our young female players. A First Hand account


The British Octopush Association



Diving Top

We dive all year round in the UK primarily in the South & West of the UK (Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and West Wales). Throughout the year we organise many diving weekends around the Bank Holidays. These short breaks are always well attended by members and their families and offer a wide range of diving suitable for all levels.

Our diving takes place primarily from our own boats, though shore diving is very popular especially in winter. Occasionally we may charter hard boats for the clubs use depending on the site.

Looking to warmer climes there have been many club holidays over the last few years. Popular destinations with members include the Red Sea, Channel Islands, Ireland, Spain, Tenerife, Thailand, Cuba, Mauritius and the Maldives. Many of these trips can be read about in our Dive Reports section.

Future trips already fully booked for this year include Scilly Isles and Thailand athough I expect there will be a return to the Red Sea on at least one occasion.



Organising a Club Dive Top

Any grade of diver can organise a dive expedition provided they have a Dive Leader or Advanced Diver to help organise and marshal the diving activities. In the past many trips have been organised by Ocean divers or Sports Divers. So everyone can play a part.

If there is a dive that you want to do, why not organise it. A little basic research of the site, amenities, transport, and accomodation is often all that is required. Then issue a Dive On notice at our weekly club night and email the club mailing list to gather interest. Provided an experienced diver is available to Marshal, Dive On!

Of course, all club dives should first be cleared with the Diving Officer for safety before the day.

So, safe diving & lots of it for the future.



Articles and dive reports by Club members

Tide Predictions
Organising a club dive
GPS for dummy divers
Online Etiquette
Dive Planning Meetings
Dive Planning



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