Diving Officers Report

I hope you all agree that 2006 was a great year for diving with Curragh SAC.  We had some really great weekends away with great fun and also some lovely diving in Dublin Bay.  I'm looking forward to an equally good year and have put together the dive calendar. We will be visiting Schull, Doolin, Achill, Inishbofin, Ballycastle Co.Mayo and Valentia. Peadar is also putting together a trip to Vietnam which should be really great.

For the year ahead we want to have a happy and safe year's diving.  The weather always plays a major role in dictating the diving we do but we are all responsible for our safety.  In our club we have some of the best trained divers in the country and as a result we have an excellent safety record. We all need to do our utmost to keep our own equipment and the club's equipment in the best working order.  Now is the time to make sure all equipment is serviced and bottles checked to see if they are in VIP and hydro.  Check the seals of your drysuits in plenty of time in case they need to be repaired.

For our weekends away I know we will all work together as we always do to keep everything running smoothly.  We have a really large and very welcome influx of new members ranging from Trainees to Crossovers and CMAS trained divers from other clubs.  The oldtimers and not so oldtimers are always very happy to show new members the ropes and make them feel welcome. It is fantastic to see such a great group who are now beginning their snorkelling having come through their pool training with flying colours.

We have got a great, hard working committee this year headed up by our esteemed Chairman, Peadar. We have Colm Power and Richard Robinson looking after the equipment which is so crucial to a good years diving and all our safety.  Mark Seavers is doing a brilliant job training in all the new recruits, Colm Lowney has made great strides in cleaning up and painting the clubhouse which will make it more comfortable for us diving from the clubhouse.  Irene will be looking after the financial interests and making sure we are all registered and insured.  Kati Koehne will be looking after the social activities of the club, Eugene will be looking after competitions, Deirdre is our Junior Officer, and Kevin is looking after the Web. Peadar is busy overseeing all the activities of the committee which will ensure a very active year and nothing will be overlooked.

 What we will need from everyone is a willingness to volunteer for various jobs that need to be done.  That means towers for the boats and compressors, people to do DOD, to get petrol, to do cox'n, compressor duty, collect dive fees and accommodation fees etc..  We have such large numbers this year that we will be able to spread the workload and hopefully no one person will have to do too much.
Thanks in advance to everyone who I know will be pulling together to ensure we have a great years diving.
Jean Kelleher