GSAC NewsletterMay 2010
GSAC Newsletter
I'm
sure we'd all rather be out in the water than sitting at the computer, so this
newsletter will be as short (and sweet) as I can make it. More pictures, fewer
words! I think that's only right for the season that's in it.
Having said that, April and May have been very eventful for GSAC - we had three new club divers, a trainee weekend up at Killary and our first away weekend of the year in Dingle. We dived a lot these past two months and also managed to squeeze in a Nitrox Diver course, a Gas Blender course and Sunday dives as far apart as Killary and Kilkee. We have a good crew this year, with several of this new recruits close to applying for their trainee diver certs already.
The next event of the season is of course the June bank holiday in Portmagee, Co. Kerry. John Sheahan is the man in charge there - thanks John for all the work as usual. Anyone planning to dive that weekend will need to be dived up, please don't turn up in Kerry for your first dive of the year. There are still several Sunday and Wednesday dives available in the meantime and the weather is looking up.
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The DODs, towers and assistants for the next few weeks are listed below. If you are on this list and cannot make a particular dive it is your responsibility to find someone to switch days with you. If you have a problem with a particular date please organise a replacement as soon as possible and let the DOD know. Don't leave it to the last minute.
| Date | Location | DOD | Tower #1 (Jeep) | Assisting | Tower #2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23 | TBD | Barry Coll | Paul Foley | Dave Lyons | Barry Coll |
| May 30 | TBD | Connor McEnroy | Connor McEnroy | Shay MacHale | Oisin Osborne |
| Jun 05/06/07 | Portmagee, Co. Kerry | John Sheahan | John Sheahan | TBD | Paul Dolan |
| Jun 13 | TBD | Paul Connery | Paul Connery | Mick Millane | Eoghan Kieran |
| Jun 20 | TBD | Connor McEnroy | Connor McEnroy | Shay MacHale | Oisin Osborne |
| Jun 27 | TBD | Michel Georges | John Sheahan | Michel Georges | TBD |
As
outlined by Paul C, the procedure for each dive will be:
Hi
All,
I think I'm definitely safe in saying winter is over this time! The diving season is in full swing and the good weather is bringing large turnouts at the Sunday dives. With such big numbers it's more important than ever that you reply to the Teamer message if you are intending to dive. This helps the DODs a lot in their planning.
We're also out in Carraroe almost every Wednesday as in previous years. We need as many experienced folks at the dive site to help our new recruits with their training as we can get.
Heading for Aran, May 2010
We
have three new club divers in our midst, Rachel Doyle, Gemma Garvey and Francis Clancy.
The trio did their club diver exam up at Killary on April 10th with examiner Dave Jackson, M3 from Púcán club. Maura Mulroe and myself went up for moral support (or to watch the torture, we're not really sure).
I talked to Dave afterwards and he was very happy with the quality of the candidates, he said they had obviously put a lot of work into their preparation, which I know they did. So congratulations all round!
In late April, Rory once again organised and led a weekend up at Killary aimed at giving this year's trainees an opportunity to get their initial 5 instructor-led dives done.
He was ably assisted by Joe and also by Shay MacHale, who has been a great help on the dive sites in spite of having broken his collar bone back in January which put him out of the water for a few months. He also took some of the pictures in this newsletter, including the ones in this section.
The weekend was a great success. We launched Joe Fada at the Killary Cruises slip on Saturday and Rory drove it round to Rosroe to meet up with everyone. Weather that day wasn't so great but we got two nice dives in, the first at Inis Bearna and the second at the North Shore opposite Rosroe.
We
left Joe Fada in the water at Leenane overnight (I took some
pictures of Rory paddling himself back to shore in his
inflated dry suit but my camera was acting up) and met up again on Sunday
morning at Rosroe. This time we had the normal club Sunday dive going on as well, so with a
higher ratio of experienced people (and better weather) we went further afield,
out to the Julia T wreck. This was the first wreck dive for a lot of people, so
another experience gained from the weekend.
We finished off the weekend on Sunday afternoon with some exploratory diving around the O'Malley Breaker and the lee side of the Doonee Beacon. Oh - and I'm happy to report that Shay finally got the all-clear for his shoulder late last week and had his first dive with Paul Foley down at Kilkee on Sunday, May 23rd.
Thomas Moore
This year for the May bank holiday the club ventured south again. With the
lowest numbers travelling (8 divers in total) for a long time it looked like it
was going to be a quiet weekend. One boat was all that was needed.
The trip down with the boat was as eventful as ever. Trying out the new jeep for
the first time there was always going to be teething problems. A small problem
with the wiring to the trailer socket on the jeep ended up with us taking a
detour through the beautiful east Galway countryside to find a mechanic that was
still opened after six on the Friday on a bank holiday weekend. Luckily we got
sorted and eventually got back onto the main road.
Arriving in Dingle late we went in search of the other members who had arrived
down before us. We quickly found them in the nearest pub to the holiday
cottages. After a couple of rock shandys the group decided it would be best to
get an early night instead of going up the town for more rock shandys and a
chicken burger and curry cheese fries. At least that’s what I think we did.
The original plan was to dive Smerwick Harbour on the north side of the Dingle peninsula.
However in the week building up to the trip there was strong northerly gales
that dashed these plans. Instead after a last minute meeting we decided to work
out of Ventry Harbour on the south side of the peninsula.
Launching the boat in Dingle was a simple task due to the great slipway. After a
quick spin around in the boat we were ready to work out of Ventry harbour for
the day. The first dive was at a site called Parkmore Point. This turned to be a
very good plan B. An excellent dive with plenty of life got most people raring
to go for the second dive. The second dive wasn’t as good as the first. A bit
more kelp and a lack of an interesting rock features weren’t to everyone’s
pleasing.
Saturday
night in Dingle was almost as quiet as the previous night. After a quick dinner
in the pub a couple of people pushed the limits and tried the local Guinness but
most people were smart and stuck to the rock shandy. That’s what I think
happened anyways. I’m fairly sure we weren’t in a pile of different pubs
drinking pints until all hours.
On Sunday "morning" we decided to be more adventurous and made the trip out to
Great Blasket Island. Fungi made an appearance and escorted the boat out of
Dingle Harbour on the way to Ventry. After a slightly rough crossing we arrived
on the lee side of the island in calm water. Seals watched us entering the water
but unfortunately stayed away from us during the dive. There was mixed reactions
to this dive, some people had a great dive, others were disappointed.
After the trip home we settled in to our tea between dives. Some people decided they had enough done for the day at this stage so the group for the second dive was small.
We played it safe again and went back to Parkmore Point where we had another
lovely dive. We wrapped up the day with a lovely dinner which was waiting for us
upon our arrival back in the house. Teresa Martin will be invited along to more
weekends away.
On Monday "morning" we decided to stay local and dived Crow Rock placed just
outside Dingle harbour. Upon leaving the harbour we were greeted by a National
Geographic cruise ship. A lovely easy dive with plenty of life was had by all
and it was a great end to the weekend.
After tidying up the boat and putting away the equipment an uneventful but long
drive home was had. We finally got the boat back into the shed and put into bed
around half nine.
Thomas Moore
Work on the boats is as ongoing as ever. With the recent good weather and
Bank Holiday & Trainee weekends the bigger boats have been getting a lot more use
than earlier in the year. There have been a few small problems but we’re working
on them on an ongoing basis. Please do inform me of any problems that you find
so that they can be addressed.
Examples of the ongoing work:
Joe Fada:
An Glasán:
Thanks to everyone that has helped out over the past month or so, don’t forget it’s your equipment as well! You should be looking after it and treating like it is your own.
Recently the committee decided to upgrade the club jeep. The old 98 jeep was giving us a lot of problems and was regularly travelling to the mechanics. We have since purchased a 05 Toyota Land Cruiser D4D, LWB commercial. Some of you have probably seen the new jeep on the dive sites already. The long wheel base maker towing the heavy boats both safer and easier. With proper maintenance and driving with care, this new addition to the club's equipment inventory should serve us well into the future.
We have also managed to sell the old jeep with very little heartache. The mechanic that worked on it all along for us bought it. It needed a DOE in the near future and to pass this there was a lot of work to be done on it. It needed a new exhaust, new tyres, a couple of lenses and a bit of work on the steering. To sell it so fast and easy was a bonus for us.
Big thanks to both Barry Coll and Connor McEnroy who did almost all the work in getting this done.
The jeep is both an expensive item to buy and also to keep running. The club is going to be doing some fundraising throughout the year to help with the cost of running the club. If you have any ideas please do pass them onto the committee.
