Dive-in to the Summer June 14th 2009

[Guest]

Okay folks,

It's official. Here's the flyer, spread the word as they say.

Sunday June 14th Dive-in to the Summer, held at St Albans Sub Aqua Club outdoor swimming pool. About 5-10 minutes from the M25, and just under a mile from the nearest railway station. It's a great venue, clean clear water, with no targets to knock your periscope off!

Andy

[Guest]

Today I visited the site

Today I visited the site of the Summer Dive-in at St Albans Sub-Aqua. I volunteered to lend a hand getting the pool clean for refilling. The people were friendly, and the venue is very pleasant indeed.

Parking is good outside the clubhouse. There should be enough room for everyone to park up, providing people are sensible about positioning their vehicle. Clearly first come, first served, so get there promptly to guarantee a plum spot.

It's an older pool than Brockwell Lido, and about two thirds the size. However that is more than enough room to have a dabble in, and as you can see from the photos there is reasonable depth. The venue is devoid of shade, and a real sun trap. I'd recommend bringing along a wide brimmed hat or a brolly for shade. Plastic chairs are available at the poolside for seating, and there are a couple of tables to position models on. You are of course welcome to bring your own seating and tables along should you wish to do so.

I realise the flyer says free, but unfortunately there will be a small charge for the facilities (£50) but I think that is very reasonable, when you consider commercial rates would be higher than that for just one hour, and this rate is much lower than the fee normally charged. I'm open to suggestions of the best way of recouping this, either a whip round, a donation bucket, a raffle etc.

There is a licensed bar in the clubhouse, and this can be opened if folk want it.

One of the members, who is into underwater video will attend and shoot some footage on his HD camera. He's agreed to burn a disc of the footage taken.

I will post signs at the roadside/venue as it's easy to drive straight past it!

Okay over to you guys.

Entrance

Parking area

Pool. Will have water in it on the day!

Another shot of the pool.

[ojm]

Hi Andy, Whats the situation

Hi Andy, Whats the situation for "Costs" ?
I'm prepared to pay £5, even though i'll just be looking!
I personally will be taking photos, But has anyone else talked to you about this?

Guy.

[Guest]

The costs depend on the

The costs depend on the numbers turning up. The more people come along, the lower the cost, but it will be well under a fiver. The cost for hiring the facilities is £50, which is very reasonable. I'm looking at about twenty people at the moment, so that works out at about £2-3.

One of the members of the dive club is an underwater photographer, and he will be taking video.

You can share notes.

[Wheelerdealer]

i'll just be looking!
I personally

i'll just be looking!
I personally will be taking photos, But has anyone else talked to you about this?

Guy.

You can go on video boat duty again if you like , this time I'll make sure the new batteries are fitted....

[Guest]

Okay on my list of

Okay on my list of attendees so far I have-

Ramesh Ganeshalingham
Alan Warehand
Colin Stevens
Paul Cook
Paul Holman
Jeff Granger
Nigel Edmonds
Gordon Carey
Guy Bagley
Andy Roberts
Scott Roberts
Guy Carpenter
Lifeboat Paul
Yours truly (natch)

Those yet to confirm, but which I hope to be there-

Richard Huggett
Dave Wright
Dave Austin
Howard Trotter

[Guest]

Colin Stevens has emailed me

Colin Stevens has emailed me to say he can't make it.

Dave Wright called to say he will be coming however.

I went up to St Albans yesterday to see how the pool was filling. The chap that runs things told me that owing to the dry winter we've had, the pool has been slower to fill than in previous years. As the pool has some leakage the condition of the surrounding ground has some bearing on the volume of water required to fill it up.

As you can see it still has some way to go- I reckon about two feet short. The drop from the edge I estimate at about 30" or so. Depth wise, there is enough to work with, although operations are best kept to the deeper end, as the water level gets down to about a foot at the shallow end.

I'm a bit concerned at launch and recovery of boats, especially those of you that like the bigguns. One chap said he would be on hand in wetsuits to help out if required, and also I know some of you have belts/hoops to lift your models in and out.

On a brighter note you can see the water is crystal clear, and it has minimal chlorine content. The weather forecast is also good.

Sorry about this folks, but it's just one of those things you can't control.

[Guest]

Okay, just got back from

Okay, just got back from the day. Lovely weather, blazing sunshine all day, and a well stocked bar.

We had about 7 attendees and 11 boats in all, a few people who said they were coming didn't show up, but we covered the costs of the hire, and despite the low pool level everyone had a sufficient room for manoeuvre.

The dive club said we're welcome back, so hopefully another event next year, with a higher pool level and hopefully a few more attendees.

Andy

[raalst]

small is beautiful, andy,
these

small is beautiful, andy,
these things have to grow over time I guess.

Any chance on video's ?

[Guest]

Here's a couple I filmed

Here's a couple I filmed with Ramesh-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPtkPdN85d8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbzG6HATxbI

There's a few more videos made by Paul Cook over at the AMS facebook page. If you're on Facebook then just sign yourself in, you don't need to be a member to access the page.

[Wheelerdealer]

Another one...

http://www.youtube.com/v/SbzG6HATxbI&fmt=18

Another one...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/SbzG6HATxbI&fmt=18[/youtube]

[Guest]

Some more videos. These were

Some more videos. These were taken by Paul Cook.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/jRzq1jkRbeg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/JGudZa8SDFY&feature=channel[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/CuTtjqDOfCA&feature=channel[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/nuY7ty_cy6o&feature=channel[/youtube]

[Guest]

More piccies.these were all taken

More piccies.these were all taken by Paul Cook and Laura Daynes.

[Guest]

more-


http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/9804/12625356.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6916/82099054.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3089/96521129.th.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/8029/70850876.jpg

http://img5.imageshack.us/im

more-

[Guest]

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/6505/67942805.jpg

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/8113/98349796.jpg

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