Online Trip Booking: Open Water Course, Part 1 London: Camberwell & Streatham

Dear all,

Due to a glitch in the booking system, the Open Water course wasn’t showing on the training pages! It is now.  Please book your place, or register an interest.  If you can’t make this weekend, there will be others, we have also booked the pool for 18th & 19th September too and will be running part 2 very shortly for those who wish to complete in the UK by the end of this season.  Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

All the best

Martin.Online Trip Booking: Open Water Course, Part 1 London: Camberwell & Streatham

I have just purchased a new dry suit and would like to test it out at the muddy pond.

I am in South London and could pick up on route, there should be enough space for 4  and gear.

 I am flexible on the date.

Please let me know if you are interested.

Louise

I’m going to GC in September and wondered whether anyone has dived there?  What’s a good recommended site?  Is there a gay friendly dive company?  I have been told that there is one in Tenerife with a link to a dive company in GC but don’t know anything about it.

I also have friends that want to come and snorkel while I dive – any suggestions for the good site to look out for?

Any info would be greatly received.

Regards, Ali

Hi All

The lovely Fiona M and I are returning to The Cocos Islands on 14th September. Please check out the GLUG trip post for full details, as well as the most up to date, trip reports on Undersea Hunter. Humpback Whales, Tiger Sharks, hundreds of Hammies, dolphins etc etc have been gracing this amazing place!!! Don’t miss out folks!

The lovely Holly from Maldives Scuba Tours has been in touch with me to say that there is 1 place left and they would be prepared to discount this by £600 making the new price £2635 + flights. I have just had a quick check for flights and BA, which Fiona and I are using, can do it for £714 (approx).

If anyone is interested on this great deal, please contact Holly at MSC through the web site link.

http://www.glug.co.uk/archives/1776
http://www.scubascuba.com/ticker001.html#lateww

I hope someone can avail themselves of this great offer and join me and Fiona to return to the amazing Cocos Islands.

Cheers all.

I’ll be ordering the GLUG T-shirts by Wednesday next week, since I’m on holiday for the first two weeks of September,  so if you haven’t ordered yours yet, you only have a couple more days in which to do so!

See the previous Announcement for more details.

At last! The moment you’ve all been waiting for! The PADI Open Water Course Part 1 returns to GLUG!

For all those who came to our Try Dives and want to learn to dive, this is the course for you. Or if you’ve never done a Try Dive but want to learn to dive anyway, come along and start the journey. All training in GLUG is done in small groups in a gay friendly environment and this course is running on a first come, first served basis.

Part 1 is the pool work and theory, Part 2 takes you out into open water and gives you a licence to dive to 18 metres with a buddy of your choice! You can complete Part 2 here in the UK with GLUG (why wouldn’t you?), or you can complete the course either abroad with GLUG or in a destination of your choice in any of the PADI centres across the world.

Check out the details on the trips page and reserve your place using the booking form there.

I look forward to diving with you shortly
Martin
GLUG Assistant Training Co-ordinator
Instructor #268022Online Trip Booking: Open Water Course, Part 1 London: Camberwell & Streatham

Dear all,

A brief reminder that it’s our BBQ Social & try dive on Saturday (see the Try Dive page for details) We do still have a couple of spaces if anyone still wants to book a Try Dive and several spaces for the SCUBA Review course too. This is a great way to freshen up your skills if you haven’t dived in a while or are planning a dive holiday in the next 6 months.

Even if you’re not planning to dive, come along to the social, meet the rest of the gang and knock back some beers, burgers or toffu ;-)

Also keep an eye on the training page if you’re interested in furthering you dive training, as Ian and I are offering a number of training courses in the next couple of months, as well as an introduction to UK diving trip out of Portland on 11th & 12th September.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, or one of the monthly meetings.

All the best and happy diving

Martin Sigston
Assistant Training Co-ordinator

The rather gorgeous Monty Halls is hosting a Dive weekend on 4th-5th of September, in Connemara, Ireland (where he’s currently filming), to raise money for a Whale and Dolphin Rescue pontoon  (I guess they get them there regularly!)

The Party and Dive costs just €30, and will also feature other guest speakers, a Diving trivia quiz, Beach games, and several guest speakers.  Places are limited to just 200, so if you’re interested in going, get in quick!  You can find more details, and how to book,  on the Invite

Do any of these sound like you? :

• Male 1: White ;About late 40s – 50s; Stocky; Dark / Grey short hair (receding); Height 1.78m; Weight 90kg
• Male 2: White – pale skin; early 20s; Quite skinny; Dark brown hair – quite long; Height 1.70m; Weight 80kg
• Male 3: Black; About mid 40s; Stocky; Very short hair; Height 1.70m; Weight 90-95kg
• Male 4: White but tanned; Late 30s early 40s; Black hair; Stubble; Slim; Height 1.76m; Weight 68kg

If so, then you might want to audition for some “front of camera body-double work” in a movie.  You’ll need to have an HSE medical, and be confident in the water.  For more details, see this Fourth Element Email

Hello all,

Welcome to the GLUG training bulletin for August 2010

Just wanted to update you all with what’s going on training wise!!!

We are arranging some special “mission based” training to give grounding in how you want to dive, further details to follow but they will include ”Intro To UK Diving” (Portland anyone…) and a “Intro to Wreck Diving” (Malta anyone…). After the massive success of the training trip in Malta, we shall be going back! Let me know if any of this interests you.

Some other hilights will include:

As the nights are drawing in, I will be arranging a UK NIGHT DIVE, this will count towards your Advanced Open Water Diver.

I will be running special courses in the use of TWINSET’s and TECHNICAL Diving and as well as NITROX I will be offering TRIMIX training (upto 90m…) and CAVERN DIVING, so let me know if you are interested.

Don’t forget the social on Saturday, My assistant Martin will be in the water and I will be on hand to answer any training questions/requests – I will also be bringing some Nitrox and equipment and can discuss the benefits of becoming certified in its use with you.

Post Pride: Try Dive and Social (August 21st 2010)

Martin will also be running the following:

Open Water Part One (September 4th/5th 2010)

I will be organising the following:

Nitrox (EANx) Diver (monthly throughout 2010)

Drysuit (October 2010)

Advanced Open Water (October 2010)

Rescue Diver (October 2010)

Dry Suit Diver (October 2010)

Deep Diver (October 2010)

Wreck Diver (October 2010)

————————————————————————————————————————————————-

If you or anyone you know is interested in any training from absolute beginner to instructor, or interested in technical diving including rebreathers, we can get you trained and diving!!!

All courses can be arranged, if you are unable to make a date, or I haven’t mentioned a course, then please get in touch and we can arrange one. Training can be arranged in the UK or abroad.

http://www.glug.co.uk/training/padi

Don’t forget club night, 1st Tuesday of every month at the Phoenix Club on Charing Cross Road.

Please contact me on: 

or

Thanks very much,

Ian

GLUG Training Coordinator

www.pathfinderdiving.co.uk

Since I’m once again replacing the batteries in BOTH of my Suunto dive computers I thought I’d share the info on where to buy them cheaply.

www.battery-house.co.uksell the CR2450n singularly for £3 including VAT and delivery. I’ve not found anywhere which beats that! Direct product page link.

If you are careful there is no reason to replace the o-ring or battery cover when replacing the battery however in some cases a kit including these parts may be a better option than just a battery.

Usual disclaimers: If you replace your battery and get it wrong you can end up with the computer flooding and it no longer functioning… probably permanently. If this happens it’s not my fault… nor GLUG’s… if you want a safe guard against it all going wrong, pay a dive shop to do it and then if it fails because they didn’t get it right you can demand a replacement computer! You fiddle with your computer at your own risk!

Mark

Anyone booked on the Raja Ampat trip, or thinking of going, might like to read this article from Undercurrent Online.  It shows that if it’s carefully managed, Dive Tourism can be a good thing!

Online Trip Booking: Portland Harbour

Hi folks,

Just to let you all know that I’m running a trip out of Portland for those who wish to try UK diving for the first time, or just gain some more experience on some easy dives.  We’ve just come back from Weymouth where the weather was lovely and the viz was great.

We’ll be diving off a RIB so good experience for those who’ve not used on before.  Nice easy dives, accompanied by either an instructor, or another member of GLUG highly experienced in UK diving, you’ll get a taster of just how much fun UK diving really can be.

Any questions, let me know.

Also, don’t forget it’s our Try Dive AND social this weekend, so come along, have a beer and get wet if you fancy it.

All the best

Martin Sigston

PADI Instructor

If you’re a diver that is thinking of getting an Underwater Camera, or already has one, but would like to improve their skills, but you’re put off by having to spend £300 or more per day on a training course, then Ocean Optics have a new course aimed at you!

Their “Discover Underwater Photography” course is designed for groups, clubs, and schools.

The course consists of a hour’s presentation, which covers many of the problems that UW Photographers face, and how to overcome them, as well looking at common subjects that divers typically want to photograph – Divers, Fish, Critters, Wrecks, Reefs, and Pelagics.

Following the presentation, you’ll have an hour in the Underwater Studios 6-metre deep filming tank, on the unique Ocean Optics Underwater Photography Stage.  Ocean Optics supply a Fuji Underwater Camera, with three underwater lenses, and an Underwater strobe, and, crucially, they also give you an underwater receiver so that your instructor can talk to you and give you feedback while you’re in the water.  More details available on the Ocean Optics Website

Price of the course is £240 per group of up to 4 people -  in other words £60 each (assuming a full group).

If anyone would be interested in doing this course, please email me: , or leave a comment below.  If we get at least 4 people, I’ll talk to Ocean Optics about setting something up.

Just in case any of you tried to order a few days ago and discovered the PayPal buttons were missing on the T-shirt post – they’re back now (thanks Mark!).

I plan to send off an order by the end of the month, so if you want one, get your order in now!

Cheers,

Neil.