Andrew’s Dive Report: Anglesey Weekend

The diving was interesting - Saturday was too rough at our original site so we went to Holyhead harbour and the viz due to silt was about 4 – 6 inches!

Therefore, sit back and admire the ‘Politburo’ style propaganda dished out by Solty in his video de-brief and compare this with the frank summary from Mr Millward.

Talking about Mr Millward, I would like to warn other divers; when he asks ‘Can I use the telephone’, this is a euphemism for something far more sinister as evidenced by the attached photo.

Poor Geoffrey, not being a native of these shores, was not prepared for such debauched deception.

However, when I checked to see if he was alright afterwards, I found him relaxing and as he took a long draw on a cigarette, he gazed into the distance, and muttered “Don’t knock it ‘down under’ until you’ve tried it!”

Nice.

To see some pics, checkout Clare’s picture album on Facebook (please note you’ll only be able to view these if you’re on Facebook).

Andrew also took two great videos of the weekend, check these out:

Paul gives his verdict on the weekend’s diving…

And this is Troy’s version!

By Andrew Lear

Colourful corals and magical evenings at Marsa Alam

A tanned group of happy divers have just returned from Shrewsbury Sub Aqua Club’s annual February trip to Marsa Alam, organised each year by Troy.

Diving from one of Emperor Divers’ fleet, The Empress Rachel, the crew experienced the magical marine life and striking corals of Elphinstone Reef, the fifth best dive site in the world.

Elphinstone, which is 6.5 nautical miles from shore, features underwater walls where the shallow plateau plunges into the depths at around 70m.

For those who’ve yet to experience the delights of Elphinstone, we’ve got some fabulous pics from Sue Hayward and Tony Turner (Turbo’s are the first three pics, while the rest are Sue’s), which you can see just by clicking on ‘Read more’ below.

It was also Sue and Pete Hayward’s wedding anniversary during the trip – happy anniversary both!

Turbo says: “There was some fantastic diving, the rib just drops you off and picks you up, and it was a great group – the hotel and food were first rate – no upset tummies!”

There are lots more pics on Sue’s Facebook page too.

PS: There’s a special treat for Troy fans - you’ll have scroll down to the very ‘bottom’ though!

The results are in!

Our AGM last night at the Bucks Head proved to be a lively evening of hello’s and goodbyes!

We had a short report from each existing committee member on their year’s activities (Turbo’s was especially entertaining!), followed by the announcement of the new Chairman and DO to replace Richard and Ed who, after years of great service, are standing down.

Then after a quick refreshment break to stuff ourselves with cheese sandwiches, Richard presented the eagerly-anticipated annual diving awards, with an elaborately presented Clanger Award going to Derek for an epic hour-long deco stop at 6 metres in Scapa Flow.

Naturally, Troy won the Wrecker’s Award for this little incident at Capernwray, but he was also awarded the Chairman’s Award for all his hard work with the club this year.

Andrew ‘Rocky’ Neale was also awarded the coveted Most Improved Divers Award for a year of fantastic diving. Well done all!

It was also wonderful to see some new members too – bring on this year’s diving!

So onto the new committee! Solty won the majority vote for the new Chairman, and Gary Coles will be taking over from Ed Lomas as Diving Officer.

Click on the link below to see the rest of the committee!

Troy’s trail of destruction

Poor old Mr Milward. He set out for a relaxing day’s diving at Capernwray, but alas it wasn’t to be.

On arrival at the site, the door fell off his van - and it would’ve been a very windy ride home were it not for the heroic efforts of the RAC man!

Door destruction being the theme of the day, the poor blighter then nipped to the Cafe loos only for the toilet door to fall off! Good job he’d only gone for a number one…

Click the link below to see the full scale of destruction!

Did someone say Bouzouki?

Our club’s Christmas party took place on Friday evening at Greek restaurant Stelgreco in Shrewsbury.

After a superb year’s diving, it was lovely to let our hair down, unwind, and of course wear something other than semi-dry’s and drysuits!

Everyone looked fabulous and we made a very glamorous crowd while we mingled at the bar! The staff were wonderfully helpful too and the food was super.

There are a few pictures up in our Facebook group already and hopefully Troy will be adding some more over the next week or so.

Huge thanks to Troy and his family for their hard work in organising the evening for us!

Troy wields huge object

Easily our most intrepid member, Troy made the news this week when the Shropshire Star reported on his gallant efforts to retrieve a wheel from a ferry believed to be over a hundred years old.

With help from other members of SSAC, Troy raised the enormous object from the depths of the River Severn loop in Shrewsbury on 8th October, aided by a crane provided by contractors working on the nearby Quantum Leap sculpture.

Needless to say, we’re all very proud!