As usual Croydon BSAC 23 are running a couple of trips to Plymouth this year to dive the wrecks and reefs of the West Country. The following is a bit of information on the weekends and the dives that are available to us.
Eddystone Lighthouse in flat-calm seas
The 2010 dives are gradually filling up, here is the current state of play:
- 2 – 5 April (Easter), Plymouth - 4 Spaces on Fri, 2 on Sat & Sun, 4 on Mon
- 24 April, City of Brisbane 25m, Brighton - full, reserves ony
- 2 May, Shirala 28m & Indiana 10m, Brighton - 3 spaces
- 9 May, Mixon Hole 28m, Littlehampton – full, reserves only
- 29 May, TR Thompson 33m, Brighton- full, reserves only
- 12 June, Clodmoor 25m, Brighton - 3 spaces
- 27 June, City of Waterford 35m, Brighton - 2 spaces
- 3 July, Unknown 52m or Marga 52m, Brighton - 5 spaces
- 18 July, Quail 40m, Brighton - full, reserves only
- 25 July, George Sutton 38m, Brighton - 6 spaces
- 7 August, Fortuna 33m, Brighton - 4 spaces
- 21 August, Ashford 40m, Brighton - 6 spaces
- 27 – 29 August (Bank Holiday), Maine, Persia, Oregon etc 35m max, Plymouth - 6 spaces
- 18 September, Nyon 45m, Brighton - full, reserves only
- 25 September, site TBC, Littlehampton- full, reserves only
- 2 October, Moldavia 52m, Brighton (2 charters) – full, reserves only
If you haven’t already please download the divelist, choose the dives you would like to go on and email your list to me.
Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and viz!
Rick
Yes, it’s here!!!!! Croydon BSAC’s divelist for 2010 is now available. Members can book on to dives by emailing their lists to Rick or bringing a completed list down the club on a Wednesday.
Highlights include two Plymouth trips, a Scapa Flow week and some interesting wrecks in Sussex waters including the George Sutton, Marga, Quail and Moldavia.
If you’re not a member of the club and would like to join us on one of our trips please get in touch.
Rick
So, it’s been a while since our last blog, mainly because the weather has now become decidedly iffy and put pay to our diving plans. At this point it’s always good to look back on the year’s diving and review the good, the bad and the ugly of the Croydon BSAC 23 diving calendar. read more…
In June 2010 I (Alan Glen) am once again running a trip to dive the German fleet wrecks in Scapa Flow and there are currently some spaces available.
Scapa Flow 2009 Team
Since we sold our RIB a few years ago the majority of Croydon BSAC’s diving is done from charter boats on single-day, weekend and sometimes week-long trips. Here are some details of our preferred boats along with come examples of the diving we have done in each area: read more…
After last night’s AGM the new committee has been voted in as follows:
- Chairman: Vacant
- Diving Officer: Dave Elphick
- Treasurer: Szymon Kosecki
- Membership Secretary: Marie Lambeth-Williams
- Training Officer: Alan Glen
- Expeditions Officer: Rick Whitby
- Equipment Officer: Chris Vanstone
- Dry Officer: Vacant
Thanks to all those on the outgoing committee and good luck to the new lot. Their mugshots can be viewed on the club website.
Early October saw a club dive planned on the HMS Minion, but with the great British weather being as reliable as always we revised our plan and dived a club favourite, the City of Waterford. Built in 1921 in Dundee as the Skerries II she was 270 feet long and 37 feet in the beam. She was driven by three cylinder triple-expansion engine giving about 200hp. In 1946 Skerries II was bought by Dublin ship-owner Palgrave, Murphy & Coand renamed the City of Waterford. She met her demise on 14 April 1949 in thick fog by colliding with a 5500 ton Greek steamer the Marpessa, thankfully there was no loss of life.
City of Waterford
Most of the diving we do in the UK is on wrecks. A rich maritime history including two World Wars have provided us with some of the best wreck diving in the world, a fact not lost on the divers of Croydon BSAC 23! Generally we go to known sites, by which I mean wrecks that have generally been identified, well documented and are regularly visited by dive boats. Examples of these in our usual stomping ground of Brighton include the City of Waterford, Fortuna and the TR Thompson. But where do you go if you want to find out more information about these wrecks or have found a wreck and want to research it? Here are a few resources that are of use to the wreck researcher: read more…
