Porthkerris News Archive - 2006

Year Round up 2006
The year did not get off to a good start, as Heather passed away very suddenly on 13th January. A lot people made the journey to pay their last respects at her funeral and donations of over £1000 were given to the St Keverne Children’s playground. There were many changes planned to the facilities for 2006 and these came to fruition with the move of the shop and classroom down to a far better location on the beach. Andy completed training for IANTD nitrox instructor and was able to offer both IANTD advanced and basic nitrox training. The weather at the beginning of the year seemed to be quite promising, but it didn’t last long, we got snowed in at the beginning of March! Cambridge University were the first University in 2006 to visit us in March. We had a few regular Divemasters this year, Instructors were Pete, Divemasters were Maggie, Tamsin and Jeremy and Antonia joined us for the season to do her Divemaster training.

The season got well underway with good weather for both the May bank holidays. The Basking Sharks made their appearance in May, but were teasing us! We initially only saw small ones around the Manacles, with larger ones being seen around Lands End and Falmouth Bay, and we thought that they had made a fleeting visit and left. But, the best was yet to come! Back they came in the second half of June. They were everywhere in Falmouth Bay, a real Basking Shark soup. They stayed for about 2 weeks and then left again. Visitors of note during the year were Monty Halls at the end of May, trying to get Basking Shark footage. He was here for the first round and saw a few smaller ones, but was unfortunately unable to get back when they returned in numbers. At the beginning of June, Celtic Cat hosted Miranda Krestovnikoff and the BBC Coast programme team filming underwater and on the surface for footage for the episode that was shown at the end of November. Apart from the Basking Sharks, others underwater visitors of note during the year included a Minky Whale on the back of Drawna rock and some very good night dives with lots of cuttle fish action and several reports of Sunfish. At the beginning of December a baby seal was stranded on the beach and remained for a few days, probably thrown up with the bad weather. Gweek Seal Sanctuary was contacted and they monitored it for a few days before taking it away as it became obvious that its mother was not coming back. We let them take it on the condition that they called it “Kerris”!

On 31st July Michelle gave birth to a baby girl, Aaliyah. Newbury BSAC spent a very good bank holiday weekend in August with us celebrating the 25th anniversary of their club. Celtic Cat and the Ribs ran very regularly during the year, with very little being blown out by the wind. Towards the end of the season Antonia successfully completed her Divemaster after working very hard all season, and she left us to go and train as a Safari Guide in South Africa, she will be sorely missed after all her hard work during the season. Jeremy and Tamsin passed their IDC to qualify as new instructors. The weather throughout the year has been very good for diving, being particularly kind for the bank holiday periods. The Christmas dive on Sat 16th December was a great success. About 25 people turned out and the weather was absolutely beautiful. Everyone had a really good dive and afterwards they retired to partake of mince pies, cakes and mulled wine.

Boat bookings are filling up quickly, so get your bids in early. The 2007 price list will be available very shortly on the web site. If you want a tide table, give us a call or email and we will put one in the post.

Plans for Next Year
Celtic Cat - Work has already begun on the double lift to be fitted to the Cat. This will make Celtic Cat one of the best and most comfortable boats in the area to dive from. There are also more kitting up benches being fitted to make it easier to kit up.
Seating area - Work has also begun on landscaping the area around the “Galley” and also it is intended to provide an under cover seating area for the few!!! times the weather is inclement. It is also intended this year to provide a BBQ in the beach area.
Accommodation - We will continue to provide camping, and a few electric hook up pitches, and it is intended to be able to offer the flat at Porthkerris house for self-catering accommodation for up to 4 people. It is self contained accommodation comprising of 2 bedrooms, a double and a twin, a bathroom, sitting room with television, and a small kitchenette with fridge, freezer and cooking facilities. Provisions can be purchased from the shop in St Keverne village or from Helston. There is a new page on the web site giving names and contact numbers for local Bed and Breakfast accommodation, although no liability is accepted or recommendation made for any of the establishments listed.
Staff - Jo will be back in the office and Andy will be running the ribs and the courses, aided and abetted by Tamsin and Jeremy as our new instructors. Maggie will continue running the web site and anything else we can throw at her!! Pete and Finn will be occasional help when needed, and hopefully Michelle will return at some time after the birth of her baby daughter.

Christmas Dive - 16 Dec 06
We held our first Christmas dive on Sat 16 Dec, and it was a great success. About 25 people turned out on a bright sunny winter day. The water temperature was about 11 deg C and most people did a dive of about 50 mins and were quite comfortable. The visibility was about 5 metres at best, but the comfort of the water not being too cold and the weather being so good made up for it. There was all the usual stuff to be found, crabs, prawns, wrasse, plenty of starfish and a few scallops for those who ventured a bit off the back of the rocks, it was just a very pleasant dive on a lovely day.

Here are some pictures of the day (click to enlarge the picture)
The brave divers

and 2 rare sightings!!

Mike with dive gear on Andy smiling

Afterwards everyone retired to partake of some mince pies, cakes and mulled wine.

Dec 06
We are now well and truly into the winter season, the winds at the moment are incredible so there has not been much diving going on, although Andy and Tamsin did manage to do an Open Water Course in the middle of Nov. Christmas is coming up on us fast, so will soon be time for the new season. Look out for the year round up for 2006 which will be posted soon. Andy found an apparently abandoned seal pup on the beach last week. Gweek Seal Sanctuary were contacted and they came down and kept watch for a few days just in case its mother was nearby, but sadly she did not return. It seems that it may have been thrown up onto the beach by the heavy weather, so the Seal Sanctuary took him away to look after him.

Don't forget we have the Christmas dive happening on 16 Dec, weather permitting. See the web site for details. This will be the last news now until next season, so hope to see you all again then.

13 Nov 06
As we now move into the winter season, there has not been much diving happening, although there is an Open Water Course this week. Celtic Cat has been taken out of the water for the winter and for maintenance. There has been a report this last week of Basking Sharks being seen around the Devon coast, near Teignmouth. Looking forward to seeing all our customers and friends next year.

11 Oct 06
Porthkerris has 2 new Instructors. Jeremy and Tamsin successfully completed their Instructor Exams at Looe today. Congratulations to them both on their hard work. We look forward to them teaching with us next season.

Oct 06
As we move into October and nearer the end of the year, the weather has been okay during September allowing Celtic Cat and the RIB to still be getting out until the end of the month. There has been a bit of shore diving during the month, with some very good night dives taking place this last week. One of the divers described it as Cuttle Fish city around Drawna Rock. The visibility has been varied. We are able to run RIBS anytime, weather permitting, providing there is a minimum of 4 people. If you are interested give us a call. We can take your name and contact you if we get enough people. Also, you can put a message on the Porthkerris Yahoo! Groups to generate interest. We can still run courses right the way through to the end of the year, weather
permitting. Two of our Divemasters, Jeremy and Tamsin, are doing their IDC during October, so good luck to them. Don't forget, Tide Tables are now available for next year, so give us a call or email and we will send you one. Get your bookings in early to take advantage of the neap tides.

Sep 06
As we move into September, we had a very good August Bank Holiday weekend. Not just lots of excellent diving, the boats were fully booked out, but fantastic sunshine and good weather made for very pleasant weekend making everyone feel really happy. Newbury BSAC had a really good time for their 25th Anniversary, and we're told the Pyjama Man and his music were particularly good! As we move into September, conditions are still quite good. There has been a sighting of Minky Whale on the back of Drawna Rock this weekend. One of the local sea safari boats confirmed that they were in the area, and it was seen again from the RIB on the Manacles.

Well, we are nearly at the end of the season, and what a fantastic season it has been. The weather gods have shined on us this year! Even though the main season is nearly over, our diving will continue to the end of the year, weather permitting. We can run the RIB with a minimum of 4 people, so if you are interested give us a call. We will take your details and let you know if we get enough people to run a trip.

Tide Tables are now available for next year, so give us a call or email and we will send you one. Get your bookings in early to take advantage of the neap tides.

Well a big thank you to all our customers and friends from the staff at Porthkerris, and we hope to see you all again soon.

Aug 06
As we approach the end of August, Bank Holiday weekend is upon us already this weekend. The boats are fully booked on Saturday and Sunday, with a few spaces still left for Monday, and we have Newbury BSAC with us all weekend celebrating the 25th Anniversary of their club. The weather during August has been changeable, but has not stopped the diving! The boats, Celtic Cat & RIB, have going regularly during the whole month. There was a report last weekend of about 18 Basking Sharks in Mounts Bay, and apparently they were breaching, but they did not come back up our way. Tamsin is working in the office while Michelle is off after having her baby on 31st July. The boats will continue to run until the end of the year, weather permitting, so give us a call.

July 06
July started well with the last of the Basking Sharks leaving us at the beginning of July. Click here Basking Sharks to see Andy’s Basking Shark pictures. The weather has been quite good this month, we only had 1 weekend blown out and one day when we had to run the boat from Mullion. There has been plenty of diving going on. There been quite a few reports of Sunfish in the area. Celtic Cat has been running quite a few double trip days, and the people on board have had some good diving, and there has been plenty of courses running. Don’t forget, we can run our courses on date pretty much to suit you, so if you are interested, call or email. On 31st July Michelle gave birth to a healthy baby girl, called Aaliyah, so congratulations to her and Adam. Jo, Mike’s wife is looking after the office while Michelle is off. The Ribs and Celtic Cat are running regularly during August, with spaces still available on most days. Most of the boats for August bank holiday are completely booked already, but there are a few spaces left on Bank holiday Monday, but check with us anyway in case of last minute cancellations. We had some badly needed rain at the end of July, but the weather for August is looking quite good at the moment.

June 06
At the beginning of June the BBC were out on Celtic Cat for a few days doing filming, surface and diving, for the programme “Coast”. The team included the presenter, Miranda Krestovnikoff, and they got some very good footage. Celtic Cat and the rib are running regularly, and the weather at the moment is beautiful. The visibility improved towards the beginning of the month, but then deteriorated. However, as it turns out this brought the big Basking Sharks, and lots of them. For about the last 2 weeks of June the Basking Sharks were everywhere around the area. Someone even got pictures of a big one from the beach! Andy went out in his boat and got some really nice pictures which will be put in the gallery. During the month there has been a few cuttlefish sightged on Drawna Rock and someone reported seeing an Angler Fish. The season started well, and seems to be progressing nicely, the weather being quite kind. The boats are fairly well booked up, so if you are interested, contact Michelle as soon as possible.

May 06
Both the banks holidays in May went well, the weather holding out again. Lots of people came down and dusted off their kit. The basking sharks were later than expected and seem to have gone already. Although there were reports of larger ones around Lands End and in Falmouth Bay, albeit not in any great numbers, we only found small ones. However, we did get very good sighting of the ones we did see, both from Celtic Cat and the rib. Mike saw what he described as the smallest one he has ever seen, possibly not long born. Although it was not possible to get in the water with it, it did stay around the boat for a while, and was seen quite clearly from the bow by the customers on board. At the end of May we had a visit by Monty Halls, the TV presenter. He was hoping to get some film of the Basking Sharks, but even he could not tempt the larger ones or any great numbers, although he did see a few smaller ones.

to 6 April 2006
As April begins the boats are running fairly regularly at weekends now (weather permitting). We also have several universities joining us for their annual dive training before the season really begins. There is always the whole variety of courses available with Andy, very often at dates to suit you, so just call and ask. This year we have Maggie helping out again, and we also have Pete as an extra instructor and Tamsin and Maggie as Divemasters. We are also expecting a couple of Divemaster trainees. Many of you will remember Giles who will be acting as a boat skipper when it's busy. We now have our fingers crossed for good weather for Easter and a good start to the year. Hope to see you all soon.

March 2006
The Weather again during March has continued to be cold, we even got snowed in the first week!! Despite this a few more people, including some brave regulars from up country have been brave enough to dip their toe in the water! Towards the end of the month first bookings were blown out by the wind, but we did manage to get some boats out a few days later for Cambridge University and their students. Here's hoping that the weather is going to improve and will be okay for Easter, especially as it it a little later this year.

February 2006
The weather during February continued to be quite cold and only encouraged a few desperate, (oops, sorry, keen) divers into the water. Although the air temperature was cold, it was not too unbearable in the water. Visibility was varied. About 3 - 4 metres inside the rocks, and about 6 - 8 metres on the outside of the rocks, but not a lot of fish around yet. It seems that boat bookings are going to be quite busy this year, so book early to avoid disappointment. Easter is a bit later this year, so we hope to see you before that.

January 2006
13 Jan saw the sudden passing of Heather, mother of Mike and Lisa. Mike and Lisa thank all friends and customers for their kind thoughts. Over £1000 has been received in donations for the St Keverne Childrens Playground.

The weather so far this year has been quite kind, although it has not yet tempted anyone into the water!

We are planning many changes to the facilities at Porthkerris in the New Year so keep checking back here for progress reports on our state of the art beach front facilities at Porthkerris.

Currently the conditions on the shore dive are excellent, and don't forget the sea is always warmer than air temperature & fresh water sites in the winter!

As the season begins, we are already thinking about the Basking Sharks. They could appear any time from May onwards. Although this is still a bit of a way away bookings are already being taken, so book your trip now to avoid disappointment.

We can now offer IANTD Advanced Nitrox with Andy.