We really hope that you enjoy this copy of BSAC Talk. If you have any comments regarding this issue, please let us know by email at maryt@bsac.com

A PDF copy of this issue of BSAC Talk can also be downloaded from the BSAC Talk index page on our website at www.bsac.org/page/93/bsac-talk.htm.

His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales has extended his Presidency of BSAC for a further three-year term.

The Prince of Wales has held the position since 1974. His involvement with the club stems back to the early 1970s when he dived on King Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose, submerged in the Solent for 437 years.

BSAC works closely with the Marine Conservation Society, of which The Prince of Wales is also President. The two organisations are currently involved in the 'Marine Reserves Now' lobbying campaign for greater protections to be extended to British coastal waters.

"We are delighted that The Prince of Wales has been able to renew his involvement with BSAC," said Marcus Allen, BSAC's chairman. "He is the greatly respected face of BSAC and a highly effective ambassador for diving and snorkelling in the UK. His Royal Highness' commitment to both the sport and to marine conservation also reinforces BSAC's key role in the development, safety and enjoyment of diving for all."

Has your branch registered for BSAC's new initiative Branch of the Year? Sponsored by Scubapro - and with five sets of start up kit for grabs - Branch of the Year aims to reward our top branch in terms of their diving, training and member recruitment. The award is open to all branches and registering is easy, simply go to http://www.bsac.org/page/1076/branch-of-the-year-2008.htm and complete the online form. You will then need to keep a monthly record of your diving and training activities up to 31st October 2008.

Are you looking for qualified divers to join your club? Then there is still time to register your branch for this year's Go Dive campaign.

To run from May and then throughout the summer months, Go Dive will appeal to divers who have trained through another agency, lapsed BSAC members, divers who have had a break or who have learnt on holiday.

All we ask your branch to do is hold an informal Go Dive evening where interested participants can come along and find out first hand just how great BSAC club diving can be.

Registering is easy - go to www.bsac.org/page/862/go-dive-registration-page.htm and fill out the online form. For more information email vickys@bsac.com

More than 80 BSAC divers marched on Westminster yesterday to demand ‘Marine Reserves Now’ for UK’s waters.

The divers – many dressed in their drysuits and masks – came out in force to support BSAC and Marine Conservation Society’s (MCS) Marine Reserves Now campaign, which has so far generated 100,000 signatures of support.

The petition was presented to MP Joan Ruddock, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste) at the end of the march,which saw the divers march en masse from the London Eye and over Westminster Bridge to Parliament’s St Stephen’s Gate.

Joan Ruddock MP thanked the divers for their support, gave her seal of approval and congratulated BSAC and MCS for gathering 100,000 signatures to deliver this powerful message to Government.

The aim of the march was to highlight the need for the Government’s draft UK Marine Bill, which was published yesterday, to be to be toughened up with measures and powers to establish a network of highly protected marine reserves where marine life is fully protected from damaging activities.

BSAC Chairman, Marcus Allen, who led the march alongside MCS’s Sam Fanshawe, Director, said he was delighted by the turnout.

“Divers see first hand how the environment is changing and how protection really can make a difference. We believe that protecting areas from any exploitation is the most pressing issue the Government must address to safeguard our seas.

Every day thousands of British divers enter the sea knowing that there is currently only one tiny marine reserve where marine wildlife is left in a natural state. This isn’t enough; we are demanding that the Government introduce a comprehensive network of sites purely for nature conservation reasons, where nothing is taken, and no damage is done”.

For those of you who did not make it to the march, you can still make a difference

Go to www.marinereservesnow.org.uk and add your name to the petition. See the MCS website on other ways of how you can still help

Ambient Pressure Inspiration Rebreather winner David Elphick is pictured here with Nicky Finn - Product Manager at the Ambient Pressure Diving stand at the London International Dive Show.

David is the lucky winner of the Inspiration Rebreather competition that was held at the Diving Officer's Conference last December in London. The prize was kindly donated by Ambient Pressure in their 10th anniversary year of the Inspiration.

For more information on the Inspiration Rebreather, please visit www.apdiving.com.

A revised pdf version of the Incident Report Form is now available to help everyone submit reports of incidents and accidents. This new version is an electronic form that allows the data to be input into the relevant fields and the document saved (ideal format would be name-location.pdf ) and then emailed to safety@bsac.com. Anyone completing the form can save it for their own records as well as printing it if necessary.

Submitting an electronic form should also help with the accurate capture of data as the forms can be downloaded into a database. The form is available as a download from the Website at http://www.bsac.org/page/548/incident-report-form.htm or on request by email from BSAC HQ.

Members are requested to delete any previous versions of the pdf form.

This year's AGM is to be hosted by our 2007 Heinke Trophy winners, Darwen SAC at The Whitehall Hotel & Country Club, Ross Street, Darwen. This is a significant event in BSAC's calendar as 2008 brings a BSAC election, where the positions of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Treasurer are available, along with six council member posts.

BSAC election information, candidate CVs and your ballot papers as well as details on how you can vote online were included in the April issue of DIVE magazine.

February was a busy month for eastern region and in particular, Dave Simmons, the regional team's technical diving boss.

We decided to advertise the BSAC rebreather try dives in late 2007 as something that might be of interest to clubs during the winter months. The BSAC rebreather try dive course involves an hour of theory on rebreathers and then a try dive of about 20 minutes duration on a closed circuit rebreather. As well as experiencing the sensation of using a rebreather, the instructor will also demonstrate some of the skills required for CCR rebreather diving and encourage the students to try these skills for themselves.

There are 2 Inspiration rebreathers available for loan from BSAC, subject to availability.

During February 2008, Eastern Region processed requests for rebreather try dives from the following clubs and carried out a total of 73 try dives.

The clubs that participated were:

Dacorum SAC,Hemel Hempstead (who also arranged local press coverage to publicise the event and the club) , Bury St Edmunds SAC, EAB11 Norwich, Chiltern Divers, Leighton Buzzard, Dagenham SAC, North Herts Divers, St Ives SAC & Saffron Walden SAC.

It is interesting to note that at least one visit was made to a club in each of the 6 individual counties that make up the BSAC Eastern Region.

I would like to thank Dave Simmons and Paul Haynes for all their hard work in helping make this event a success.

If you would like to learn more about events and training opportunities available from the Eastern Region Coaching Team, visit our website at www.bsac-eastern.org.uk. You can also receive up-to-date information on regional events and post your own messages to the region by joining our regional YAHOO group located at http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/bsaceastern. There are also step-by-step joining instructions for the YAHOO group listed in the upper section on the home page of the Eastern Region website listed above.

Steve Parry

Eastern Regional Coach

Background for Volunteer Group named: CLEAN UP! Red Sea

A group of residents and locals have proposed to volunteer to assist with the task of cleaning up our local areas. It is understood that many rubbish collection projects are underway and that other organisations are working to clean up the locality, however, there is still a considerable amount of rubbish around and these volunteers are able to help by providing additional resources.

CLEAN UP! Red Sea would like to do the following:

1. Collecting rubbish from shorelines and beaches
2. Collecting rubbish from underwater areas close to beaches

The target areas are locations that are “public” or “common” areas that currently have insufficient or no resources to clean.

Volunteers would collect rubbish underwater by snorkelling or by using scuba equipment and at the same time other volunteers would collect the rubbish that is on the shoreline and beach area.

CLEAN UP! Red Sea would like to propose “clean up days” to target specific areas both underwater and on the beach on the same day.

CLEAN UP! Red Sea would greatly appreciate the association with a like-minded organisation, who is able to assist and has experience of this kind of project.

Ideally the organisation would be able to provide:

1. Cylinders and weights for the divers



2. Collection bags for all rubbish collectors



3. Truck for removal of the rubbish collected



4. Official permission to enter the area where the clean up will take place



5. Confirmation of the proposed areas



6. Date of clean up



7. Press or media support

A trial “clean up” would like to be proposed by CLEAN UP! Red Sea for the area beginning by the social club near to the beginning of Shedwan Hotel, Hurghada.

The purpose of the trial day would be to establish how much rubbish could be collected from the target area. The target date is proposed for 5-6th of April 2008.

Donated by Tony Backhurst - Win 2 x £200 Holiday vouchers by registering online to receive the BSAC North West Regional Newsletter. The vouchers can be used together or you can take a buddy and use them against a SCUBA TRAVEL Holiday. www.scuba.co.uk

To register enter your Name and Email address in the NEWSLETTER SIGN UP. On submitting your details we will forward you an email to confirm your registration. On receiving this confirmation your name will be entered into the prize draw.

If you already receive the North West Newsletter you will automatically be entered into the prize draw. The prize will be drawn on the 31st May 2008, the winner will be announced in the June edition of the Regional Newsletter and details will be published on the North West Regional web site.

For further information contact Robert Asquith, North West Regional Coach at northwest.coach@bsac.com.

Whales and Dolphins of Great Britain

If you would like to see whales and dolphins in British waters, Whales and Dolphins of Great Britain is the book for you! A comprehensive and easy-to-use field guide to all of the regularly seen species, it also shows you how, where and when to go and see these spectacular marine mammals; with 38 boat operators and 16 outstanding land-based viewpoints listed. The text is packed with information on how to book a trip; including the species that are likely to be seen, how to get there, and what photographic opportunities are available. If you love whales and dolphins and enjoy seeing the British countryside, this book is a must - you never know when you might need it!

Price: £11.95 plus P&P

To order this book from the BSAC Shop, go to http://www.bsac.org/page/887/book-of-the-month.htm.

Life as a new Regional Coach is going reasonably well, mainly due to the support and understanding of my region and BSAC HQ. Last month I took on the task of organising an extra ITS event as a result of regional demand.

We recently had to cancel an Instructor Foundation Course (IFC) in North Scotland unfortunately, due to low numbers being booked on to the event. When an event is scheduled, a lot of rooms, a pool and hotel bookings need to be confirmed and paid for in advance and money would be lost if the event had to be cancelled at the last minute due to a low numbers of candidates booking so decisions to run, or cancel, a course have to be made well in advance.

I completely supported the sentiment and request of the members who contacted HQ for an extra event, so I agreed to organise another IFC at short notice with HQ’s help.

Instructor Trainers have agreed to staff the event so you many of you could attend the South Scotland Open Water Instructor Course (OWIC) and Theory Instructor Exam (TIE) 10/11th May.

So please book on to the IFC on the 19/20th April in Perth!

If you are interested in attending, I would really appreciate you supporting this extra IFC in Scotland on the 19/10th April in Perth, please call BSAC bookings on 0151 350 6259 or check out the website and book on-line http://www.bsac.org/page/301/instructor-training.htm.

Happy & Safe diving,

Sarah Conner, North Scotland Regional Coach

Just Checking

Safety Talk has previously considered the importance of checks (June 2006) in particular focussing on the use of checklists, especially for technical diving. What Paul highlights above however is a much simpler but still fundamental process of reminding everyone of the importance of appropriate checks.

Kit and Buddy Checks

Your kit is your life support system and so it is important to take the necessary time and care to properly prepare yourself and perhaps more importantly your kit for the dive. Check it is properly assembled, turned on and has adequate capability for the dive (e.g. adequate gas, scrubber life, decompression time). Buddy Checks are important as a second check that everything is working OK and provide peace of mind for yourself as well as your buddy.

Boat Checks

In recent years there has been a significant decline in the number of surface incidents involving boat breakdowns and consequently lost divers. This in part, we believe, is due to the publicity given to this and owners taking heed of the advice of RNLI, MCA , BSAC and others on checking the boat prior to use. But there are no grounds for complacency as breakdowns still occur. As well as checking operation before departure remember to check functionality throughout the day's activity. It is a good idea to check fuel levels before deploying divers rather than run the risk of having to change fuel lines during recovery. Other simple checks, such as marking the site on GPS and/or taking transit marks of the site may provide dividends should the need for them arise.

During and After the Dive

During a dive regular checks on each other should be the norm and is usually ingrained during training. Divers, of whatever level, should take responsibility not just for themselves but also for their buddy even if there is a significant difference in their skills (don't be afraid to take control if your instructor seems unresponsive or acting strangely).

Frequently, however, we encounter situations where something we thought had been checked is not quite right (hoses tangled, equipment located in not quite the right place) and is corrected underwater usually with some buddy assistance. The key lesson here should be to record such incidents at the end of the dive, either with the Dive Manager or in your dive Log (or both) so that future checks ensure there is not a repeat of the problem.

The simple reminder suggested by Paul and his branch should help to keep these points at the forefront of divers minds.

Think SAFE - Dive SAFE
Jim Watson
BSAC Safety and Development Manager
For more detail and information please visit www.bsac.org/page/45/diving-safety.htm.

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