Environmental Tip Of The Day!!

Save Energy & Save The Environment

Turn Down Your Heating By 1 Degree

Buildings are a major source of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. Tow-thirds of the energy used by buildings is for hot water and heating. Carefully managing our domestic heating allows us to minimise global warming and to avoid further polluting the air around us.

Our houses are often heated to excess. The ideal living room temperature is 20 degrees, and bedrooms are healthier at 16 degrees. Each one-degree increase in temperature produces a 7 to 11 per cent increase in energy consumption (depending on how well-insulated your home is).

Use heat wisely and insulate well

A Great Reason to keep your First Aid Skills up to date!

It has to be said that Darren is not a fan of Christmas; in fact he’s positively ‘Bah Humbug’. However, 2009 was one of his best Christmas’ ever and not because of the shiny new camera that he unwrapped on the big day. His festive cheer was actually attributed to the miraculous recovery that his Dad made after having a heart attack and 2 cardiac arrests on November 5th. After spending 5 traumatic weeks in Intensive Care in Bristol, having the consultants tell us that severe brain damage was highly likely, Darren’s Dad made an amazing recovery and was able to spend Christmas at home!

But getting onto the point of this blog, when’s Brian’s heart stopped the first time he was attended to by 2 bystanders who immediately initiated CPR. Essentially, if it hadn’t been for these two men, Darren’s Dad would probably have been left with considerable brain damage or would not have made it to the hospital at all. One of the men had completed a CPR Course only the week before, whilst the other had certified as a ‘first aider’ as part of a diving course 30 years previously! They made a life changing difference to Darren’s family and if it hadn’t been for these two heroes, our Christmas would have been very different. Click here to read the news article.

This should highlight to everyone the importance of learning CPR skills. Wouldn’t you like to know that if a family member was taken critically ill, you may be able to give lifesaving assistance?

So, if it’s been years since your first aid training or you’ve never completed a course, please consider signing up this year! What a difference to a family you could make!

Make 2010 your year to help the environment!

Many of you will know that I am passionate about the environment and educating people to ‘do their bit’ to help protect such a valuable and fragile resource. Let’s face it; if there were no coral reefs there would be no need to dive at all!

So Sub-Mission will be extending the offer of a free PADI Coral Reef Conservation Specialty Course with every course booked for the whole of 2010! If you’ve completed any course with us over the past 12 months you can still sign up for this great offer. The Course is free, the manual is free, all we ask is that you pay for your Certification fee to PADI, which is £18 and consider making a donation to Project AWARE.

I’ll also be adding some great ideas to the blog every week to assist you to help the environment. Please take your time to read through these as some may prove really easy for you to implement at home or at work and every action helps!! If you’ve got any great ideas of your own then please feel free to email me and I’ll add them onto the blog!

Congratulations To Our Newest PADI Divemaster

It's been a long time since Lyndon started the challenge of the PADI Divemaster course, but after a couple of years of hard work and the interuptions of a busy career we are pleased to congratulate Lyndon on this high achievement. His mapping project of a UK dive site was comprehensive to say the least, producing what must take the award for the most informative assignment, including not only a map, but dive site history, photos and directions. Well Done!!!

Lyndon has been with Sub-Mission for many years now, but may not be known to many club members due to most of his diving being beyond recreational limits. As an accomplished technical diver, Lyndon is a wreck junkie and loves nothing more than rummaging around inside wrecks, especially those virtually untouched deeper wrecks. Having completed his Advanced Trimix course last year, Lyndon is the 1st club member to have reached the mind boggling depths of 100 metres.

Lyndon will soon be progressing onto the PADI Assistant Instructor Course with his sights set firmly on becoming a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor.

Lyndon will certainly be a major addition to the Sub-Mission Dive team and we wish he every success in the future.

So keep an eye out for Lyndon and his unusual diving buddy Zippy.

Coral Reef Conservation Specialty Success!

I'd like to say huge congratulations to those students who completed the Coral Reef Conservation Specialty Course tonight! This Specialty was a massive success last year and I'm pleased to say that we've had a positive start to 2010! Hopefully the course will benefit tonight's students when they go on their holidays and interact with the abundance of life on the reef. I hope that some of the idea's that we discussed will help to make some changes to their habits and ultimately have a positive impact on the environment! So congratulations Dave, Ian, Jenny, Carl and Laura!

Britains Really Disgusting Fish!

I’m not the biggest fan of Alex Riley’s BBC TV series, Britain’s Really Disgusting Food. However, tonight I managed to get settled on the sofa just as his latest program was starting and the only thing that caught my attention was that it was all about fish, so obviously I was hooked! The programs aim was not to highlight the disgusting nature of fish that we eat, but actually to emphasize the ethically repugnant fisheries trade. So, as an ardent fish fan this was right up my street!

The satirical nature of the presenter perfectly focused the viewer’s attention to the failings of politicians, fisherman, restaurants, consumers and to the plight of the critically endangered blue fin tuna. These fish are so endangered that according to experts could be extinct within a couple of years! Ultimately we have two choices, ensure sustainable fishing policies and give fish stocks a break or start getting used to the taste of jellyfish, which may be our only aquatic food source when all other stocks are depleted.

Here’s the link to the BBC iplayer website where you’ll soon be able to watch the program for yourself: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

Please take a little time to watch this program, especially if you are a seafood lover, maybe you could help to make a small difference by changing one of your fish eating habits.

MURRAYFIELD HYPERBARIC CHAMBER VISIT JANUARY 24TH 2010

Sunday morning; the perfect day for deep diving! You get up early and it’s really cold outside but you’re not worried as you’ll be warm and dry on your dive. 50 metres is your planned depth and you’re looking forward to enjoying the effects of nitrogen narcosis without the worry of acting foolishly whilst diving. Too good to be true? No, we’re on our way to Murrayfield Hyperbaric Chamber (and not in the back of an ambulance!)


Sub-Mission definitely rates the day trip to the Hyperbaric facility as one of the best days out and on Sunday 24th January 2010 the dive club will be visiting the chamber. The itinerary is a presentation followed by a 50 metre dry dive. The presentation itself is extremely beneficial to all divers as topics covered include the facility itself, the mechanics of decompression sickness, signs and symptoms, treatment and how to stay conservative and avoid decompression sickness.

The actual dive itself is one of the most hilarious experiences available without alcohol. Due to the increased density of the gas the vocal chords begin to vibrate causing everyone to speak like they’ve spent the last hour inhaling helium! Combine this with the narcotic and euphoric effects of nitrogen narcosis and you have mayhem. Its laughter all round as you reach 50m and the odd chorus of “Night Fever” strikes up and one of the group begins to dance in the middle. Cameras and microphones allow everyone outside to cringe as you laugh, cackle and giggle all the way back to the surface and everyone wants to back down again.

Dive computers can be put in the bucket and log books are stamped as proof of the dive. The trip is a must for all divers and we’re planning the next day out on January 24th. Make sure you book early to confirm your place!

The minimum age for this event is 16 with the minimum level of PADI Open Water Diver or equivalent. The experience is great value at only £25 per person and as spaces are limited to 15, be quick to reserve your place.

Reservations may be made on-line by clicking here. Payment for this event is cash only, so be sure to secure your place on-line, then come along to the dive centre to make payment.

2010 DIVE COURSE SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE ON-LINE

As the end of 2009 approaches, Katy has turned her attention to thinking about the New Year and the scheduling of dive courses for 2010. So if you’re planning on completing the PADI Wreck Diver Course during the summer in preparation for a holiday or even learning PADI Drysuit Diving before the winter months, the full schedule for 2010 is now available at the Dive Centre & the website to enable you to book your courses online.


Following the Dive Courses being scheduled for 2010, the UK trips and days out scuba diving will also soon be scheduled. Katy is working on this now so that you can book those long weekends off work to visit some of the UK’s best coastal areas for diving, including the Sound of Mull, St. Abbs and Lizard Point in Cornwall.

APEKS PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE AT SUB-MISSION DIVE CENTRE

Apeks Marine Diving equipment is probably one of the most popular and prestigious brands of scuba equipment in the UK. They offer a fantastic range of Regulators, Computers, Wings as well as many other essential pieces of diving equipment.


They consistently come at the top in independent performance tests throughout the world, reflecting Apeks' commitment to investment in research and development. They design, develop, test, manufacture, and assemble products in their purpose-built factory in Blackburn. Apeks is the name diving enthusiasts and professionals trust.

We are pleased to announce that we are now able to supply the full range of Apeks products, including the new ‘Flight Regulators’, when they are released in the coming weeks.
For more information, advice and help with Apeks products, come along to the Dive Centre!