By June Coomber
As summer edges towards autumn Cleveland Divers’ members continue to enjoy the ambient temperatures both in and out of the sea. Having dragged her heels the summer’s sunshine has now fostered a variety of lively and spirited activities. Following the sunshine drenched dive trip to Cornwall in May, members were once again blessed with dry, sunny weather in June for a weekend dive trip to Beadnell, which provided another opportunity for a post dive beach barbecue although, our firewood forgers were a little bit over zealous with their booty, (photo 1.) Smoke aside fun was had by all.
July saw the end of pool training with a well attended in-pool photography session to fine tune camera skills, without having to contend with sea surges. Practise, practise, practise was the by-word of the day to develop the skills needed to produce amazing underwater photos such as; the magnificent splendour of the iridescent colours of this ‘blue jellyfish,’ (photo 2,) thankfully a less dangerous relative of the ‘Lions Mane,’ jelly fish. Or for capturing the fragile, chiffon-like, translucent delicacy of this cluster of ‘light-bulb,’ sea squirts, (photo 3,) common to our waters ‘yes,’ but still exquisitely, enchanting.
Unfortunately the visibility needed to produce this quality of photographs is rather a hit and miss affair, being at the mercy of algae blooms, currents and wave action, so toting your camera along a recent Durham Heritage Coast dive resulted in a negative photographic experience for yours truly. Sorry, but a deliberate pun there. Of course not all underwater photography needs to be done in the deep and snorkelling photographers, who take advantage of less challenging entry points, produce exciting and interesting photos from shallower waters too. At the end of July pool training was suspended to allow more time for theory and open water training and, the beginning of August saw a number of trainees being awarded qualified Ocean Diver status with others progressing on to higher level qualifications.
In addition open water training sessions, the recent launch and successful sea trials of the club’s boat, which was undergoing some essential repairs and maintenance, (photo 4,) has also launched a flurry of dive trips being booked to dive our local wreck and scenic dive sites. One such event, among others, is an introduction to sea-wreck diving from a rib-boat, for our newly qualified divers. Summer evenings are also a great favourite for diving local shore dive sites such as Runswick Bay and the Redcar scars with the added opportunity, for a lucky photographer to catch a stunning sunset. While enjoying all that summer has to offer behind the scenes Cleveland Divers’ members are engaged in spreading the word about what has become a popular extension to the club’s profile.
In addition to ‘Try Scuba’ sessions the uptake of ‘Try Snorkel’ sessions is on the rise and both will commence in September for all those eager to extend their experiences and develop skills they did not know they had. Want to try something a bit different? Then check out the club’s Facebook ‘The Diving Club-Cleveland,’ or contact us on 07960 608529.
