MKSAC Newsletter September 2001

As Chris has mentioned elsewhere in the Newsletter, the company I work for are closing the Luton office, and I am being relocated to Telford. Telford is too far to commute, so we have put the house on the market, and are looking for a new house in the Telford / Shrewsbury area. Why did we have to move in November last year – unfortunately we didn’t have that foresight.

I joined MKSAC back in the autumn of 1985, with a number of dives already under my belt, I sat through the Novice diver lectures, skipped the pools sessions, and started on my open water diving, my second and third open water dives were into a frozen over Bluey. I still remember being roped to Alan and Steve for those dives. Quickly I progressed through Sports, Dive Leader, and Advanced. Within months I ended up on committee, on which I remained for the next 13 years with a year out in the middle. I can still remember my early dives, especially those from one of the two C5 Bombards the club had at the time. I can vividly remember humping them down the beach at Bognor and Hallsands, and then sitting in the bottom of the boat to overcome seasickness. Those were the days, or the dive in the River Ouse at Stony Stratford, via Bognor and the River Thames.

Later on I was persuaded to take on the role as Training Officer, a task I enjoyed. It may not be easy, but there is a certain reward in seeing the trainees’ progress through their training. Also it gives you the opportunity to role play the stupid Novice, while carrying out Dive Leader assessment dives, as some trainees may well recall, I managed to convince one diver that he had kicked my mask off, where as I had actually thrown it away.

Then on to Diving Officer, not quite so rewarding as you are aware that whatever you decide, somebody does not agree. Plenty of diving within the club, but I suppose some of the more memorable are Kyarra, M2, Somalia, Mullberry Harbours, and HMS Hood to name a few. Not all dives were incident free, I well remember sitting in one of the Bombards, waiting for the other one to rescue us after some local fisherman added water into our fuel tank. Also the time the new boat broke down out at The Smalls – some 20 miles from shore, we all achieved our ambition that day to ride in a lifeboat, when they came to rescue us.

Over latter years my diving has declined, mainly due to my hip playing up, even though Liv thinks that it is her fault, but my diving was on the decline before I met her. While my hip is now sorted, I guess it is time to hang up my fins (flippers as Liv insists on calling them just to wind me up), and this move will probably force that decision. I don’t think I want to start with another branch. The club will have to find someone else to edit the Newsletter, I wish who ever takes over good luck, and the only advice I can give is to take one of two stands. Either publish a blank newsletter on the due date, or be prepared to keep hassling the officers for contributions. I will certainly miss all my friends in MKSAC when we move, so in case I don’t see you before we move I will take my leave of you and wish you safe and happy diving in the future.

Liv & Frank