The Ethics and Carbon Offsets pages were added to the website earlier in the year. After much debate it was agreed that they would remain on the site provisionally, up until the AGM.
The Ethics Page was intended as a resource for those of our members already interested in the topics it covers. However, some of our members feel that it constitutes an unacceptable level of politicisation and questions have been raised as to its relevance.

The decision as to whether or not these pages will become a permanent feature of the site will be taken at this weekend’s AGM.
With this in mind, please take a few minutes to read through the pages and explore some of the sites to which they are linked (the three Marine Conservation Society codes are of particular interest). If you are unable to come to the AGM but would like your opinion to be taken into consideration, then please leave a comment on the main Ethics page.
The final decision will revolve around whether these pages appear on the site as they are, in some altered form, or not at all. If, for instance, you feel that the topic of Marine Conservation is relevant to GLUG, but that information about Gay Rights is not, then please feel free to make the distinction.

This Saturday (December 1st) is World Aids Day. I’m sure that many of you will have read reports in the press that the UK is the only country in Europe where the infection rate is increasing. Last year alone there were 7,800 new cases in the UK.

I know that we have HIV+ members within GLUG, so let’s show our support for them, and for the 33.2 million other people worldwide living with HIV, by wearing a Red Ribbon to the AGM and Xmas Meal on Saturday.

Neil.

After a shameful delay, I have finally added three long-overdue trip reports to the site:
Daedalus, Rocky and Zabargad (Blue Seas) by Fred Wynn
Mallorca by Anna Bohach
Weymouth (August 2007) by Andy
Thank you, Fred, Anna and Andy. Not just for the reports, but also for your saintly patience.

We also have a hot-off-the-press contribution from Alan:
Marsa Nakari by Alan Larsen

Now that I’ve moved on to a dSLR I’ve got a great compact camera outfit for sale:

1. Olympus 5050Z camera
2. PT015 housing
3. Inon D180 strobe plus tray, arm and optical synch cord
4. Inon UWL100 Type 2 wide angle lens (67mm thread - removable underwater)
5. UR Pro (CY) Red Filter (67mm thread - removable underwater)

Available individually or together.

If you’re serious about wanting to get into underwater photography 1 & 2 make a great starter system - with lots of potential for expansion. If you’re looking for an external strobe for your current system, the Inon D180 will suit a lot of compact cameras (and will make an extraordinary difference to your photos). Likewise the wide angle lens - it makes a phenomenal difference to the clarity of your photos and what you can fit in! (Some housings will need an adapter which you can almost certainly get at Ocean Optics.) The Red Filter puts the colour back into natural light photography and will give you wonderfully colourful reef scenes.

If you’re a GLUG member you can contact me by logging in and clicking on the envelope at the top of this post. If you’re not a GLUG member, email me at: photos(at-symbol)alanlarsen(dot)co(dot)uk. Either way, leave your number and I’ll give you a ring.

Hi everyone,

I will finalise the Christmas booking on Tuesday so please if you did not book, or did not receive a confirmation from me yet, than email me from the link on the event page. We still have some spaces left.

All the best Alesh

London Divers are holding a Festival of Diving at the London Welsh Centre, Gray’s Inn Road, on December 2nd, sponsored by the London Diving Chamber.

The day kicks off at 9.30am, with free tea, coffee and pastries served before 11am.
Among the presentations are

• Dr Oli Firth from the London Diving Chamber - “The Trouble with Bubbles”
• The Marine Conservation Society on their campaign for British marine reserves
• Bite Back – the shark conservation agency
• Top underwater photography tips from the British Society of Underwater Photographers
• Technical diver Jeff Cornish will also give the first ever UK presentation about this year’s outstanding diving expedition to the wreck of RMS Carpathia – the liner that rescued the passengers from the Titanic and which now lies in 160m, 200 miles off the Scillies.
• Viktoria Batten, one of the UK’s top diving instructors, will share her amazing cave diving adventures.

Mark Ellyatt, the world record diver who discovered the wreck of HMS Victoria will be on hand to sign copies of his book. There’s also a wide selection of diving equipment, diving holidays and diving fashion on offer – including designer jewellery from Aquamarine Silver.

Tickets are just £6 for the day, and give you an entry into a draw to win an Otter Drysuit worth £900 !

To book your ticket, go to the London Divers website.

Please note that we will not  be having a monthly meeting on Tuesday 4th December, since it comes so close to the AGM on 1st December.

Also, the first Tuesday in January is New Year’s Day, and so January’s monthly meeting will be a week later, on 8th January.

Rainbow-Scuba in Thailand are organising a live-aboard to the famous Similan Islands 27 April - 1st May 2008.  The Similan Islands are one of Asia’s top dive destinations, with over 30 different dive sites.  This National Marine Park is closed during the monsoon season July-October so April is a great month to visit and be with a friendly gay group.  Full trip details on their web site www.rainbow-scuba.com/wst_page18.html

At last week’s monthly meeting, several people were kind enough to congratulate me on winning 3rd Place in the Visions 2007 Underwater Photography Competition.

However, since Alan hadn’t warned me that he was going to tell everyone, I didn’t think to take the photo with me to the meeting so, for those who wanted to see it, here it is. (You can click on it to see a larger version)

I was particularly pleased to win a prize, because of the way the competition was run: The photos were displayed throughout the Visions conference, and rather than the pictures being judged by a panel, every delegate voted for their three favourite photos in order of preference. I narrowly missed 2nd place - my photo had the same number of overall votes, but one less “first preference” vote.

The winning photo was a stunning image of a wave recoiling from a rock wall - a perfect tube of water, seen from below.

BTW, the conference was excellent, and, as always inspired me…now if I could just win the lottery, to fund all that expensive dSLR equipment, and a few dive trips…!

I’ve just come back from a trip (with Huw Jenkins) to the ecolodge at Marsa Nakari and have posted a few of my photos in the gallery.

The diving was great (as was the ecolodge). The house reef is good and you can dive it unaccompanied at any time - including being taken out and picked up in a rib if you want, which gives several different dive options. In addition we visited Marsa Abu Dabab twice - open to shore divers, but not to boats - and saw the Dugong on both occasions (twenty minutes on our own with it the second time!). We also saw Spinner Dolphins at Dolphin House Reef (Sha’ab Samedai) which involved a trip on the most luxurious dayboat I have come accross.

We were there in the last week of October and the weather was still hot and sunny (over 30C) and the water 27C. I recommend it for a relatively cheap week with some good diving.

Summer long weekend’s diving & social get together. 3 nights Fri,Sat,Sun. Travel Agent’s all in package @£239 in central quality Hotel with pool, etc.,(close to bars & clubs) in St.Helier. Half board terms with good flights/timings return from Heathrow INCLUDED (other UK airports @supplement).Add on days/cheap hire car if required.
Diving Sat/Sun @£39 a day all in approx.
Non divers/partners & members friends welcome.
Unlimited for general social but space now limited/possibly full for dive boat (please check-reserves being taken-email me.)See “Glug events section” & to register interest. A good opportunity for some excellent diving, to see the island and a good summer knees up!

Ocean Optics are holding an Open Day, with renowned Underwater Photographer, Mark Webster, on Saturday Jan 12th.

Mark’s credentials are impressive - a well established photo-journalist writing regularly for the major diving, photographic and wildlife magazines. He has also been selected four times to represent Great Britain at The CMAS World Championships of Underwater Photography winning silver and bronze medals. Further competition successes include the BBC/British Gas Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Agfa Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Blue Earth 2000, Geographical Magazine Photographer of the Year 2000, Ocean Realm Magazine Marine Photo 2000, Diver Magazine Image 2001 and 2003 and Subios 2004 along with numerous other awards.

Please could all those who expressed an interest in DFL (Diving for Life) email me again to let me know who you are (Log in and click on the envelope above).

AOL managed to completely screw up my email - I’ve lost all my contacts, email messages, etc., etc.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Steph.

Bookings are now being taken for the GLUG Xmas Meal, which will be held on Saturday 1st December (exact time to be confirmed), at Strada, St Pauls Churchyard, London. Alesh has kindly agreed to organise the booking for us again this year.

All are welcome, including non-diving partners.

If you’d like to book, here’s what to do…

1. Choose your meal options from the menus at the bottom of this post.
2. Make sure you’re logged in to the GLUG website, and go to the Events Page. Click on the tick next to the “Xmas meal” entry, to register your interest, and then click on Alesh’s name, to send him an email.
3. Make sure that you include the following in the email:
   • Your name, and the name of anyone else you’re bringing.
   • Which Menu(s) you want (Vegetarian @ £20pp or Omnivore @ £30pp, including Service Charge)
   • Your options for the “Secondi” and “Dolci” courses from the appropriate menu.
4. That’s it!

NB: Please don’t post your menu choices in the comments below and assume that we’ll treat it as a booking - you must email Alesh from the link on the Events Page.

We need final numbers by 15th November, but there is a limit to the number of people the restaurant can accommodate, so you’re advised to book early!

Please note that if you sign up for the meal, you will be liable for the price of the meal chosen, whether or not you turn up. (If you need to cancel, then let Alesh know by November 15th).

Alesh will acknowledge all bookings by email, so if you don’t get a reply from him within a couple of days, please don’t assume that he received your booking - send your email again.

The menu options are below: