GLUG Minutes - March 07

Dear All

Please find the minutes from our March 07 meeting.

I can’t be there on the 3rd April, Brian will be looking after things.

See you all in May!

Regards

Chris

Due to a change of plans at work, I’m no longer going to be able to attend the Dry Dive on April 26th, since I’ll be somewhere over the mid-Atlantic.

If anyone would like to take my place, please get in touch asap. You can find the original post here, with details of cost, location etc.

I received this yesterday from Denis Proust of PAEC (Plongée Arc-en-Ciel), who came along on our GLUG trip to Utila last year:

Hi Neil I hope you are well. I would like to inform you about something we discussed in Honduras a few months ago. Plongée Arc-En-Ciel organise a live aboard week in Galapagos Island with the “Galapagos Eco Explorer”, a new boat (16 divers) operating there, from 26th of October 2008 till 2nd of November 2008 (in more than 18 months from now), plus a few days in Ecuador. We have booked the full capacity of this boat to reduce costs, and to be together for this Gay and Lesbian Scuba adventure. The overall cost should be around 4.300 € ( 2.900 £ ) including the trip from Paris. The French Tour Operator “ULTRAMARINA” is in charge of this organisation and will deal with extensions for those who may request their support. At this stage we are between 10 and 14 participants from PAEC. If you or some of the GLUG members are interested to join us , it will be our pleasure. I know that it is just a few months after your Malpelo/Coco trip and that may be a difficulty in financial terms, but who knows / quien sabe ? You will find attached the description and registration form. Sorry these documents are only in French at this stage. You can also see the website http://www.explorerventures.com/. If some people are interested by this trip, I should be in Soho area the 4th of April in the evening, we can discuss there, or by e-mail. Cheers Denis

If anyone is interested in this trip, please contact myself or Charlie Stewart, and we will provide you with Denis’s email address. Denis speaks very good English (and Spanish too!), and so will be able to translate the documents for you if you’re interested.

Following on from the successful LIDS March trip all interested club members who missed out (and those who came along… hic! wishing to visit the NEC dive show in October are now welcome to register their interest in events (October). Group trip from London (possibly with shared transport in minibus) or make your way individually.Evening get together in a Birmingham restaurant (possible Balti curry house TBA?) for dinner afterwards. Saturday 13th with overnight stay in central city hotel for those who will overdo it again!!!. Possible group entry tickets once again to the show (TBA).Check out the website www.diveshows.co.uk

Just a quick note to advise that the recent London International Dive Show post dinner @ La Tasca was a huge success and all who came along appeared to have a jolly good time…see the gallery for the new photos (click each to view as gallery entry needs some tweeking!…I need more tuition from Neil as its my 1st attempt!).Regards - Ray”the chef”.

Anyone want to get away for Xmas and New Year this year?

Brian Broadbridge, Charlie Stewart and I have found a great trip to the relatively un-dived reefs and wrecks off Sudan. It’s a 14 day liveaboard, departing 20 December from Port Ghaleb (with flight to Marsa Alam). The boat is Royal Evolution: check it out at www.royalevolution.com/default.aspx. It’s the 14 day Sudan itinerary out of Port Ghaleb. Returns to Port Ghaleb and back to the UK on 3 January 2008. Water temperature will be 25/26C (ish) - but above all, this is an opportunity to dive a part of the Red Sea that the crowds haven’t yet reached.

Cost will be £2,200 (full board etc. on the liveaboard as usual, except that beer and soft drinks are extra; last night in a hotel at Port Ghaleb). The trip is being booked through Oonasdivers.

As well as the three of us, several others have already expressed an interest. If you’re interested, drop me (or any of us) an email and we can fill you in on anything else you may want to know. (But note that Charlie will be away skiing for a week from Friday and I’ll be diving in Lembeh Straits from 22 March until 1 April).

Divingshop.com have a great offer at present - they’ll match or beat any LIDS show offer up until the end of April (provided, of course, they stock the item in question). Plus, if you click through to their site from the GLUG website (by clicking on their logo), GLUG will earn a commission!

The London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival runs from March 21st until April 4th.

Now in its 21st year, The London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival presents a strong and eclectic programme of feature films, shorts, artists’ film and video and experimental work, as well as a whole host of discussions and special events.

Check out the website by clicking on the logo.

Many people seem to have forgotten that the GLUG membership year runs from January to January - as yet only around 30 people have sent their renewal fee in.

If you want to renew your membership this year (and we hope you do!), then please download the Membership Form, and set it with a cheque for £10, payable to “GLUG”, to the address on the form.

You can also pay by Bank transfer, rather than Cheque. If you want to do this, you must make sure that your details as shown on your Profile page are up to date. Please send an email to our treasurer, Alan Larsen (email details on the GLUG contacts page), who will provide you with the bank details, and what you need to put as a Reference for the transfer. (You could also set up an annual Standing Order with your bank to pay the fee automatically each January!)

Please note that those who haven’t paid by the next club meeting on April 3rd will lose their access to the members area of the website, and will not be able to register for club events.

Also, if you’ve booked onto a GLUG dive, but haven’t sent us your membership fee, then from April 3rd, we may cancel your booking, if there are other paid-up members waiting to join the trip.

Finally, if you’re not planning to renew your membership this year, please email us and let us know why - it’s always good to have feedback, even if it’s negative!

Chris and I will be heading to LIDS this Saturday afternoon and meeting at the Regal Dive stand at 2:00. Anybody who would like to join us is welcome to see us there. We’ll swing back round again at 3:00 to collect any stragglers.

The March issue of AXM magazine is out now. It features an interview with Gerhard in the role of club ambassador. It’s a really nice piece and excellent publicity. Gerhard also manages to disprove the much repeated opinion that it is impossible to look good in scuba gear by looking ravishing!

Pick up a copy in your local newsagent.

Agenda for tomorrows meeting at Konditor and Cook @ 19:30.

See you there.

Chris

GLUG Agenda 06 03 2007

Rainbow-Scuba, Thailand are offering GLUG members a 25% discount on last minute bookings for their April live-aboard from Phuket to the Tarutao Marine Park.  This really is an amazing offer 5 days 5 nights on a luxury live-aboard at a knock down price.

2 - 7 April 2007
Tarutao National Marine Park
WAS 48,000 Thai Baht (approx. 748 UKP)
NOW 36,000 Thai Baht (approx. 560 UKP)

See their web site www.rainbow-scuba.com for more details or email adam@rainbow-scuba.com

Ben Ko has been kind enough to fill in one of the gaps in our trip report pages by writing a report on the 2005 trip to Croatia. You can see it by clicking this link.

Just a reminder about the Dry Dive at the LDC (London Diving Chamber) on Thursday April 26th.

So far I only have 5 names - and I really need 10, if we’re going to keep it exclusive to GLUG.

Imagine 10 people, all talking as if they’ve inhaled helium, and then add a touch of Nitrogen Narcosis, and you’ll get an idea of what to expect!

Seriously though, as well as being a great laugh, it’s also an opportunity to find out exactly how much narcosis affects you - you may be quite surprised!

The Dry Dive costs £30, and lasts about 40 minutes. I need a £15 deposit in advance.

See the Events Page or the previous post for more information, and to register your interest.