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.

BSAC's brand new DVD - Go Diving UK - is proving to be hugely popular, following its launch last month.

Recently distributed to all branch chairs and diving officers, the DVD is now being sent out directly to all new members of BSAC. It is also being used to support our Go Dive and Try Dive campaigns and ongoing new member recruitment activity.

Produced by BBC journalist and underwater cameraman John McIntyre and sponsored by Dive Master Insurance, Go Diving UK features amazing footage of Britain's diverse underwater heritage and really showcases the best of UK diving with BSAC.

Some branches have asked whether the DVD can be copied. Unfortunately, due to copyright reasons, it cannot be copied or sections extracted to be used on the web etc.

However, if you or your branch need more copies, you can order them online from the branch resources section on our website www.bsac.org or call 0151 350 6200.

For more information on BSAC's new DVD please call Mary Tetley on 0151 350 6200 or email maryt@bsac.com.

Four BSAC branches have been selected to pilot our new Sport England Clubmark scheme.

Following a recent appeal for volunteers, Dudley Dolphins, Mid Lancs SAC, Medway and Chillington Divers have now been chosen to play a key role in the pilot scheme.

As the governing body for underwater activities, BSAC is currently working towards becoming licensed by Sport England so that it can accredit branches with Clubmark.

Sport England's Clubmark is an accreditation scheme designed to recognise the achievements of sports clubs in developing 'high quality and welcoming' environments for young people. The scheme underpins Sport England's commitment to the engagement of young people in physical and sporting activity, skill development and their life-long participation in sport.

The four branches were selected from a shortlist of 10 - with their regional spread, numbers of junior members and balance between snorkelling and scuba making them the ideal candidates for the pilot. Over the next few months, each branch will be working towards their Clubmark accreditation, with a final assessment set for September.

For more information on the Clubmark scheme, please contact Mary Tetley on 0151 350 6200 or email maryt@bsac.com.

We're interested to hear from our overseas members about their BSAC experiences and any ideas on how we can improve our services and benefits for members based abroad.

If you have any ideas or feedback on being an overseas member of BSAC please email alisond@bsac.com.

Scylla Reef Guide

The Scylla Reef guide is an extensive plan of the superstructure and the decks of Scylla, a former Royal Navy Frigate that was recently placed on the seabed in Whitsand Bay, south east Cornwall.

It also includes a wonderful marine life species guide, diving tips, and dive boat information.

It is printed in full colour, on Yupo waterproof paper and is not only a useful planning tool but also a great memento of this brilliant dive.

All the proceeds from the sales of these items after costs go towards the upkeep of the Scylla Reef for divers and the scientific programmes run by the National Marine Aquarium.

HMS Scylla is featured on the newly released BSAC production 'Go Diving UK' DVD.

This guide is £8.00 plus £1.00 for postage and can be purchased on-line at http://www.bsac.org/page/672/dive-guides.htm

Dates for your diary - this year's Try Dive campaign will run 24th to 30th September when we will be inviting interested non-divers to have a try dive the BSAC Way.

We will shortly be launching the campaign to all BSAC branches so watch this space!

Meanwhile - our Go Dive with BSAC campaign - aimed at existing divers - continues to run throughout the summer. Currently being promoted across regional press and radio as well as national papers and dive publications, Go Dive enables interested divers to go along to a Go Dive night at their local branch to find out more about BSAC.

Please continue to help us to grow your membership by promoting our two campaigns. Invite your friends who used to dive but have had a break - a neighbour who has always "fancied having a go", a colleague who "just loves the idea but isn't sure where to start" - we all know someone who would like to try diving or for whatever reason has given the sport up. This is your chance to entice them to our sport- and to encourage them to join the best diving club in the world.

For more information on this year's Go Dive and Try Dive campaigns, email alisond@bsac.com or call 0151 350 6221.

Jamaica Sub Aqua Club are proud to announce the activities that are being planned to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the BSAC's first overseas branch.

Jamaica Sub Aqua Club plan to have 2 weekends' worth of diving, at some of the Club's perennially popular dive sites, at Cow Bay and near Blue Hole, Port Antonio. In the week in between, there will be a dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in Kingston (and definitely the most diver-friendly), on the exact anniversary of JSAC's inaugural meeting, held on October 1st, 1957 at Morgan's Harbour Hotel, Port Royal. There will also be a special Thursday night social gathering at the clubhouse, with catered snacks.

Activities Planned for 50th Anniversary of Jamaica Sub Aqua Club:

Saturday	29th Sept	Limms Reef Night Dive
Saturday	29th Sept	Cow Bay Dives & Evening BBQ
Friday	28th Sept	Heart Foundation Wine & Food Fair
Sunday	30th Sept	Kingston Cays or Tug Dives
Monday	1st Oct	50th Anniversary Dinner, Chez Maria
Thursday	4th Oct	Club Night, Free Finger Food
Saturday	6th Oct	Pt Antonio Weekend
Sunday	7th Oct	Pt Antonio Weekend

More information can be found at the clubs website at http://www.jamaicascubadivingclub.com, where Jamaica Sub Aqua Club already have a short history of the club's first 40 years. They will soon be adding some galleries of photographs to it.

If you have any pictures of diving in Jamaica, or memorabilia of the early years of JSAC that you care to share, please send them to rhew@cwjamaica.com so that they can be included.

To cater for changing trends and future developments most regional coaching teams have a Welfare Officer in place.

To-date, London Welfare Officer Dini Patel, in liaison with Louise Trewavas, has organised the following workshops for the London region:

1. A club for all
2. Good practice and child protection
3. Equity in your coaching
4. How to coach disabled people in sport

The workshops were well attended by coaching team staff, members of Holborn SAC and one or two people with interests/backgrounds with other sports bodies.

Typically a workshop would last about two hours with a break for refreshments; the ladies did us proud with a choice of drinks and snacks. Students had the opportunity to raise issues, provide input and discuss ideas/objectives as part of a group.

The workshops drew a member's attention to a wide range of topics along with some situations we might find ourselves in. This insight then has been important to us, as we are now in a better position to make the right decisions and provide a safer environment/better service to all who come our way.

The workshops were realistically priced at around £20/30 each, this was reimbursed by Headquarters and travel/mileage allowance was refunded by the region.

Coaching team members and branch Officers who have attended such workshops increase their chance of obtaining grants.

Official certification is issued shortly after course completion.

For more information on workshops and events in the Greater London region, please contact Roy Sherwin, the Greater London Regional Coach at london.coach@bsac.com.

Alternatively, visit the Greater London Region website at http://www.bsaclondon.org.uk.

These are exciting times in Yorkshire and our plans for the future are burgeoning. With changes in coaching team positions there seems to be a renewed energy in the team; with everyone keen to work towards excellence in the region. My old Development Manager role has been handed to Steve Capes who shares my enthusiasm for developing others. Our OWI development scheme is continuing to yield results; 100% of those (8) who attended our last TIE prep who presented for an exam passed and 66% (4 out of 6) of those who attended our recent PIE prep have now made it to Open Water Instructor. We have recently helped at least 4 branches to get members up to AD by performing the AP2 Dry Practical with members.

Our Technical Manager, Garry Whyke has recently become qualified as CCR instructor and is driving both CCR and open circuit technical courses forward. We have four recently qualified SMG instructors in the region (Anke Otto, Brian Smith and Andy Dowsland) and one AMG instructor (Ray MacKee) which gives us the capacity to run a wide range of these new courses. We have plans for running these courses both at regional level and within branches.

We are planning a full day of AED workshops in July when the units rotate through our region. We have already had 2 branch requests for courses during this time too.

Our focus for the next 6 months is to build up an AI prep group and a FCD prep group; details of both are going out in the newsletter shortly. We appear to have a dichotomy in course attendance in that ITS events are well attended while SDCs are significantly reduced in numbers. Therefore we are also looking at ways to market our SDC calendar. Furthermore, I am looking at attracting some more members into the coaching team as area coaches and into the management positions.

For more information on Yorkshire region, please contact Paul Beal, the Yorkshire Regional Coach at yorkshire.coach@bsac.com.

Alternatively, visit the Yorkshire region website at http://www.bsac-yorkshire.co.uk/.

Sign up now and get a
£5 voucher or gift FREE!

With thousands of BSAC Branch members already making the most of Direct Debit, we’d like to encourage even more to pay their BSAC subscriptions the Direct Debit way. Project Neptune, the new membership relationship management system, incorporates this facility.

Paying by Direct Debit has real benefits for both members and Branches:

• Easier for members
• Less work for Branch Secretaries – easing admin burden
• Guaranteed uninterrupted membership

How do I arrange to pay my BSAC subscription by Direct Debit?

Your Branch Secretary has all the details. There is a simple form for you to complete and your Branch sends this to BSAC Headquarters and we do the rest!

The BSAC Membership Department will set-up the DD instruction and send it to your bank.

We will also send the Branch details of which members have elected to pay by this method and the renewing dates as well as the membership cards.

Do I have to pay by Direct Debit?

No - the system is completely voluntary and you can continue paying conventionally if you wish.

We think that the vast majority will sign up to this concept – it’s so much easier for all.

     

All members electing to pay BSAC subscriptions via Direct Debit gets a £5 voucher to spend with BSAC.

Alternatively, members can ask for the ‘Waterbook’ instead. A6 size, 50 leaves.

Branch Secretaries/Treasurers

Have you received the Direct Debit details? If not, or want to know more, contact the Membership Department on: 0151 350 6257/6202 or email: membership@bsac.com.

Note: Direct Debits are taken on the 15th of the month.

REBREATHER SAFETY
Why do rebreather incidents occur? One explanation is the balance of experience and conditioned response. Many divers moving to rebreathers are experienced open circuit divers who have practiced and used O/C skills over a significant period of time and are in the process of relearning skills in the way demanded of rebreathers. An analogy is the situation where having driven a manual car for some years you start to drive an automatic. At the end of the road you end up putting both feet on the brake with predictable results but over time you gain a level of comfort and competence with the controls until 6 months down the line when someone does something 'really' stupid in front of you and you again put both feet on the brake because years of experience takes over from the 6 months. With rebreathers the O/C response can often be the opposite of the rebreather required response!

Training
Most divers recognise that rebreathers are sufficiently different to warrant seeking appropriate training in their use. Apart from making sure that the training meets your needs for using the equipment it should also be chosen to suit your mode of diving and basic training should never be adequate to use the unit for mixed gas (trimix) diving.

Experience
Many often describe becoming a rebreather diver as "becoming a novice again" and whilst in some ways this is true it might be more appropriate to remember that it is a balance of 'dfferent' experience between O/C and Rebreather that you need to rebalance. As such careful preparation through a series of 'Build up Dives' and steady building of experience would be appropriate to help redress the balance?

Practice
The encouragement to 'practice, practice, practice' is very appropriate in helping redress the balance. The constant monitoring and active 'driving' of the rebreather in controlled conditions can help to redress the 'experience balance' faster than just sheer time in the water.

Guidance
A new experience requires new and additional guidance. In integrating rebreather diving in BSAC the NDC Technical Group have developed a range of guidance over the years to assist all divers to safely include rebreathers into all aspects of BSAC diving and training. A measure of this integration is the incorporation of much of this advice into 'Safe Diving'. Added to this there is specific 'Advice to DO's and Dive Managers', 'Build up dives' and 'Use of Rebreathers in Diver Training'

Think SAFE - Dive SAFE

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

HQ Safety Manager (Jim Watson) HQ Technical Manager (Alistair Reynolds)

National Diving Officer (Sean Gribben)

Steering Group Chair Deputy NDO (Jeff Reed)

Diving Group leader (Dennis Wigg)

Diver Training Group leader (John Kermode)

Instructor Training Group leader (Mark Wilson)

Technical Group leader (Nick Jewson)

Communications Group leader (Maggie Driscoll)

Expeditions Officer Andy Hunt Branch Diving Representative Andrew Elliot Environmental Officer Susannah Calderan Wreck Protection & Underwater Heritage Officer Jane Maddocks Incidents & Safety Advisor Brian Cumming Accessibility Officer Mike Halligan

FCD Chief Examiner Dave Lock DTP Chief Alan Jeffery DTP Assistant Simon Campbell Technical Editor Richard Scarsbrook SDC Development Manager Steve Anderson SDC Updates Manager Andrea Dickens Safety & Rescue Skills Chief Andy Procter Snorkel Training Programme Chief Martin Hammond

NI Chief Examiner Maggie Cowing NI Development Officer Pete Church AI Chief Examiner Mike Thomas AI Development Officer Jim Bromham AI Project Officer Allan Goodwin OWI Chief Examiner David Wakelam OWI Development Officer Sophie Rennie ITS Co-ordinator Alistair Reynolds ITS Staff Development Chris Cook Snorkel Instructor Chief Examiner Margaret Baldwin

Technical Chief Examiner Mike Rowley Technical Development Officer Paul Haynes Technical Consultant Gavin Anthony Technical Author Trevor Davies

Branch Members Representative Allen Murray Coaching Team Representative Paul Beal Coaching Development Officer Ian Ellison BSAC Centres Representative Nigel Jarvis Overseas Liaison Officer Tony Hoile Joint Services Representative Steve Cox Comms Technical Editor Howard Barnes Communications Officer Sophie Dyhouse DOC Co-ordinator Michelle Haywood Quality Assurance Position Unfilled

If you know a friend or colleague who may like to receive this monthly bulletin, please ask them to visit www.bsac.org/page/93/bsac-talk.htm, where they can subscribe online.