Following the cancellation of the NCRD (Northern California Rainbow Divers) Galapagos trip, Brian is organising a trip to the southern Red Sea aboard the Blue Seas in it’s place. The week long trip runs from either the 16th or 17th September 2009 (TBC).

The trip is currently not an official GLUG trip however it has the potential to become an official club trip provided there is sufficient interest. If there is insufficient interest from club members then the trip will be opened to other dive clubs in order to fill the boat.

The trip weighs in at approximately £1200 and detailed information on the trip is contained in this document.

Please contact Brian if you wish to reserve a place on the trip or have any questions.

Cheers

Mark.

I’ve now got one space for Scapa Flow next year. Suitable for experienced UK drysuit divers with a depth qualification of 35m. Please contact me asap if interested and to get details of how and where to send the £100 deposit.

I have removed the Tenerife trip from the Events section due to a lack of interest. I must admit that I am quite surprised that no one contacted me about this trip, as it is one of the best short haul destinations for anyone who prefers warm water diving. It is cheap diving (GLUG members get a special rate), visibility is very good and marine life is abundant. Moreover, the location is suitable for all levels of experience and a wide range of PADI courses are available.

If anybody overlooked the previous information or any of the new members might be interested, please e-mail me by clicking on the envelope on the top of this post.

Thanks a million to Brian Broadbridge for bagging Glug a free stall at last weekend’s Gay Sunday at London’s Zoo.

The day was a great success with several new members signing up on the day and 30+ potential gluggers signing up for information on local training.

A special thanks to Brian, Steven, Doug and Chris for lending a hand on the day!

Hopefully our October meeting will be full of new faces as well as familiar ones!

See you all October 7th!

Caroline (Publicity Officer)

London Zoo (Regents Park) are having a Gay Sunday.  London Zoo Advert

Grab a snack from the barbecue and a cocktail from the bar, before being taken on a mile high journey into the heart of the Australian desert by the glamorous Sky Muffins. Their hilarious comedy is just part of the day’s special entertainment centred around the zoo’s new Outback exhibit and on the lawn.

The day also includes

• City Jazz playing ambient music
• Opportunities to ‘meet the animals’
• Three performances by the London Gay Symphonic Wind orchestra
• Pink picnic area
• Balloon modeller

It doesn’t look like there will be much picnicking going on today so we will be switching directly to Plan B and meeting at Halfway to Heaven, between 1:00 and 2:00, instead.
We can then decide on some sort of club excursion - perhaps a movie or a visit to the aquarium.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is looking rather dismal, so I just thought I’d remind everyone of Plan B: if, come 1:00, it is tipping it down, then we will all meet at Halfway to Heaven and decide where to go from there (IMAX, a regular movie, or simply taking the picnic indoors are all options). We’ll wait in Halfway to Heaven till 2:00, anyone arriving after that will have to call me to find out where we have gone - my phone number is in the original post (it’s a members only post, so you’ll need to make sure you’re logged in to read it).
If the weather is still looking good at 1:00, then we’ll meet in the park as planned… but be prepared for the possibility of rain (brollies are probably a good idea).
See you all tomorrow.

Just a reminder that our annual club picnic will be taking place this weekend. You can find all the details in this post.
The last post about the picnic prompted a rather lukewarm response. So, in order that we can gauge how many people we should expect, and regardless of whether you have already RSVPed on some other post (or on the Events Page), if you are planning on coming along, could you please let me know by adding a comment to this post.
See you on Sunday.

Hi All,

Well, despite the apparent interest at the last GLUG meeting for the Philippines trip (I counted at least a dozen hands!), the number of deposits to date has been distinctly underwhelming!

I need at least another couple of deposits within the next few days to make the trip viable - otherwise we are liable to lose the discounted rates that the resort has offered us.

If you are interested in the trip, please let me know asap - even if you can’t pay the deposit until payday - otherwise it looks like I may have to give up on the idea!

Neil.

**CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS**1/2HRS MAX**ENJOY THE REST OF THE DAY**

Hello everyone,

Brian Broadbridge has managed to secure Glug a stall at the 4th Annual Gay Sunday which is on the 14th September at the London Zoo, Regents Park.

The Zoological Society of London dedicate two areas of the Zoo to the event, and event guests can enjoy a BBQ, access to the Mappin Bar, and Members lawn and have a chance to meet some of the animals. The event is designed to cater for a variety of audiences from family groups to young singles. http://www.zsl.org/shop/special-events/gay-sunday-tickets/

Well done Brian! Sound like it will be a great day to gather and a good opportunity to recruit new members!

So, it would be lovely to see some members (as opposed to just committee members) come and spend a little while on the recruitment effort to help increase and improve our club. I need 5 volunteers as a minimum to do a 1 hr shift each. Obviously, there will be no ticket charge for volunteers. After that you can go see the bears and other playful animals.

Please email me directly if you would like to volunteer (log into the website and then click the envelope at the top of this post),  or if you have any questions. Please visit www.zsl.org for more info about the attraction.

Many thanks and I look forward to being bombarded with volunteer requests.

Caroline

Publicity

Interested in a last minute diving holiday? Im going to stay at the Hilton Sharks Bay and diving with Sinai Divers, I booked this through Travelrepublic.com. Hilton Sharks Bay is AI and has its own very good reef Ras Nasrani, which can be snorkelled, or deep dive or drift dive, as it is deep and one end of it is subject to strong currents. The video below is from the reef there…

Trips to Ras Mohammed, Tiran Straits etc all bookable on site. If you are interested drop me an email.

Just realised that I didn’t actually say how much the deposit was in my previous post! It’s £100 per week. I’ve corrected this in the post below.

Neil.

Stripey Catfish in Dumaguete

Thanks to everyone who came to the GLUG meeting on Tuesday - it was great to see so many there, and I know that Paul from Atlantis Resorts was impressed to see such an Active club!

Encouraged by the show of Interest in the Philippines trip, I’m now taking deposits for the trip.  I need at least 4 deposits by the end of the month, to ensure that the trip is viable. The deposit is £100 for the 1-week trip, or £200 for the 2-week trip.

The trip will not be GLUG-exclusive - I plan to invite divers from other Gay & Lesbian Scuba clubs in the US, Canada, and Australia, but I would like to get at least half a dozen GLUG members on the trip, so that we’re not completely outnumbered!

I’m fixing the dates as March 6th - March 20th 2010, with the first week in Puerto Galera, and the second week in Dumaguete.  You can come for either or both weeks - when you’re going such a long way, it makes sense to go for 2 weeks, but I appreciate that some people may not have sufficient holiday to do both.

The price, assuming I get 6-10 divers for each week, will be £790 per week (this is roughly 10% discount on Atlantis’s normal rates), including transfers (bus/boat to Puerto Galera, internal flight to Dumaguete), all meals (but not drinks), accommodation, and up to 4 boat dives per day.  If I get more than 10 divers, then we will get an extra £50 or so discount on those prices.  Note: The price does not include International flights.

For more details, see my previous post.

These prices are for the standard rooms at each resort. Upgrades are available - please ask me for details. Non-diver prices are £150/week cheaper than those given above.

Stage Payments: The next payment will be £350 (1 week)/£700 (2 weeks), due on March 6th 2009, with the remaining Balance (£340/£680) due on December 1st 2009. However, if you prefer to make smaller, more frequent payments, contact me, and I’ll work something out.
All payments are non-refundable. You are strongly advised to take out Insurance cover.

To make life easier (especially for divers from Overseas clubs), I’m accepting card payments via PayPal, but if you’d rather send a cheque, or make a Bank transfer to me, just email me, and I’ll send you the details.

To pay with PayPal or a Credit/Debit card, please click on the appropriate button below:

P.S. If you want to see some photos from Dives in the area, have a look at these Scubaboard threads:  Puerto Galera,  Dumaguete

Just a reminder that Paul from Atlantis Resorts in the Philippines will be giving a short presentation following the club meeting tomorrow evening (Tues).  He’ll be bringing brochures, DVDs, etc.,  so if you’re interested in the trip I’m organising to the Philippines (see Events Page), then please come along!

Neil.