Porthkerris News 200815 December 08 - Christmas Dive The Christmas Dive took place at Drawna Rock on Sunday 14 Dec. The weather was really nice, bright, no rain and not too cold above water. The water temperature was reported as being about 10 deg, but the visibility was not good, only about 2m. But that did not stop our hardy Cornish Divers, in they went. And most of them were rewarded by the visit of a seal who spent part of the dive with various buddy pairs. He was also seen from the beach when he popped his head up. Mince Pies, Cakes and Mulled Wine were served in the house conservatory on completion by Jo, and this was very well received. Those who attended the dive got a look at our new Boat Celtic Kitten There has been no news to report for December, so look out for the end of year round up which will be coming soon. 11 December 08 Christmas Dive Come and join us for the Christmas Dive on Sun 14 Dec, start at 1000. Have a last chance to catch up before the end of the season and have a look at our new boat “Celtic Kitten”. Mulled Wine and Mince Pies available afterwards. November 08 Things are now going quiet as we approach the end of the year, but the weather has been good enough to dive, and the rib is still going out when there is demand. Birmingham Dive Show Christmas Dive Diving Diseases Research Centre (DDRC) Plymouth Bookings 2009 Technical Training New Boat for 2009 October 08 We've had some really good diving during September with good visibility being reported on the Manacles. We will continue to run the rib to the end of the year, weather permitting. Don't forget, we only need 2 people to run it. Mike and Andy (fresh from his holiday in Malaysia) will be at the Dive Show in Birmingham, so come and visit our stand. We will also have Ian Thomas from IANTD with us. Ian will be taking up Technical Training for us next year, so we will be able to widen the variety of courses we are able to offer. This will include Rebreather training, so if you are interested, give us a call for some more information. Mid-week Special Offer - we are still offering the mid-week special offer for diving and accommodation in the apartment. Have a look at our Special Offers page for full details. Booking for 2009/2010 Current Sightings Tall Ships Share your photos, trip reports and create discussions on whatever you feel like. Although the main diving season finishes about October, we run all year subject to demand so there should be plenty to see on there. September 08 Booking for 2009/2010 Current Sightings Training Photography 8 August 08 See Gavin Parsons' shore dive Sunfish and Octopus pictures, among others in his gallery folder August 08 Visibility was varied at the beginning of the month, but improved dramatically during the last week, with 12m reported on the Mohegan. Tide Tables for 2009 are now available, so if you want one, send an SAE to the office, address on the web site, or collect one when you are here. Yorkshire Divers visited the last weekend of July for their annual gig and a great time was had by all. Even though we are using Facebook, this monthly news will be distributed on the Web Site news page, by email message and on Facebook. So whichever method you prefer to use to keep up to date with what's happening you will get the monthly news Visitors to Drawna Rock have included John Dory and lots and lots of Cuttlefish. One lucky diver saw a squad of about 20 Cuttlefish heading towards her on the North End of the Rocks. Out on the Manacles we have had dolphins, porpoise and 3 lucky divers were able to get in and snorkel with a Sunfish, of which there have been several since. Some divers also had a seal playing with them on Drawna Rocks The well known underwater photographer Gavin Parsons was with us at the end of July. Having heard reports about Sunfish being seen he came down hoping to get pictures of one. He wasn't disappointed. On his second day Andy took him out around the shore dive and Gavin got his shot. A sunfish in midwater, and it was the perfect shot. He also managed to find a large female octopus in a hole, never having been seen before by Gavin either on the shore dive or on any of his boat dives, and a trigger fish, so his objectives were achieved on day 2, allowing him to relax during the rest of the trip! Anything after that would be a bonus. Gavin described this dive as one of his best ever shore dives. The photos will be put into his gallery folder on our web site, so check it for his images. This month we have done courses in Discover Scuba Diving (Try Dive), about 10 Open Water, Beyond Open Water, Advanced, and Specialities in Drysuit, Underwater Naturalist, Boat and Night Diver. Amongst our Discover Scuba Divers this month were staff from a local pub and restaurant on the Lizard, The Witchball. Adam, one of the owners was so taken with diving, he went on to complete the Open Water Course straight away. Send us your photos to put on the web site gallery.
They can be inserted in a folder with your name and protected so they can't be copied without your authority. 24 July - Tide Tables Tide Tables for 2009 are now in. If you want one send us an SAE to Porthkerris Divers, Porthkerris cove, St Keverne, Cornwall, TR12 6QJ, or pick one up when you next visit. Porthkerris "The Movie" "Porthkerris – The Movie” has been available since April. It's a 30 minute high quality DVD showing some of the best diving that Porthkerris has to offer, on Drawna Rock, Falmouth Bay, the Manacles and wrecks. Normal price is £8.95, plus £1 P&P, of which £1 will go to the RNLI. Now available for our Summer Special Offer price during July and August, of £7.50, plus £1 P&P of which a £1 will go to the RNLI. If you want to buy one, contact the Office on 01326 280620 or Email: info@porthkerris.com or the next time you are at Porthkerris they will be available in the shop. July 08 It's only 2 weeks since June's news as it was a bit late, so not a lot more to tell at the moment. The weather since then has been excellent and the diving good. The Baskers haven't shown up again yet, but Mike is very hopefull, it is still fairly early. There is no way of predicting, they be back when they're back! Although the visibility is good for them at the moment, the water has dropped a couple of degrees. But with this fine weather we are keeping our eyes open, and we'll let you know the minute we see them. Facebook has finally arrived at Porthkerris! If you have anything you want to put on, feel free. Share your photos, trip reports and create discussions on whatever you feel like. Although the main diving season finishes about October, we run all year, subject to demand, so there should be plenty to see on there. If you have Facebook, feel free to add Porthkerris to yours. We hope to be able to include things like courses we are running and boat times. If there is anything you would like to see on our Facebook, let us know. Watch our Facebook for Basking Shark news as it happens. There is a link on our home page to our Facebook page. There is lots to see on Drawna Rock at the moment. Cuttlefish, John Dory, and all the usual inhabitants of this wonderful habitat. 16 Jun 08 The weather over the Bank Holiday at the end of May was not kind to us, but it didn't stop us running the boats. We ran from Mullion which was a new area for many of our divers. During May we ran courses for the Drysuit Speciality, Beyond Open Water and Discover Scuba Diving (Try Dives). The Beyond Open Water Experience is proving to be very popular with students saying how they have gained valuable experience and confidence. Diving started picking up during May and some good conditions were enjoyed on the Shore Dive. During May there has been quite a lot of Dolphin activity with some big pods, some big Dolphins and some close up encounters. At the beginning of this month, Andy saw some unusual Dolphins that he hasn't seen before. After asking local wildlife experts, they were identified as Rissos Dolphins which apparently are rare to this area, for more info about Rissos Dolphins click here. Both the Rib & Celtic Cat are running regularly throughout the week now, and the weather is a lot better for camping. There is still plenty of availability on both boats, so give us a call. Celtic Cat is running Basking Shark trips at the moment, when we are sure there is a good chance of sightings. Although after they initially arrived, there were none seen for a week, there were 2 sighted by Mike from Celtic Cat a couple of days ago. With more instructors available this year, we can run courses pretty much at any time. So if you are interested we can normally fit in a time to suit you. ARE YOU ON HOLIDAY, or would like to try diving. You don't have to do the do the whole course you can just have a go. You can undertake the "PADI Discover Scuba Diving" programme, better known as a "Try Dive". It introduces you to Scuba diving in a highly supervised and relaxed manner and dispels common misconceptions about scuba diving by letting you try it for yourself. Under the guidance of an experienced Instructor, you will learn basic safety concepts, put on equipment and swim around underwater in a closely supervised environment. At Porthkerris you will carry out the theory side of the course in our on-site classroom and dive in our protected shore dive area. All equipment required is included. A PADI Discover Scuba Diving experience will give you a positive introduction to SCUBA diving, after which were sure you’ll be hooked! Providing certain requirements are met you can earn credit towards the PADI Open Water qualification. Also, if you return to undergo the full Open Water Course, the price will be reduced by the cost of the Discover Scuba Diving Course. Click here for pictures of what you could see on Drawna Rock, our shore dive site. 1 Jun 08 The sharks are here. There have been several seen in our area over the last couple of days and Andy has had a 5m shark, which is big, alongside the rib over the last couple of days. We are now running the Basking Shark trips, and the weather is great. If you are interested, give us a call, 01326 280620, or email "info@porthkerris.com". 24 May 08 Birth Announcement Mike & Jo's Curly Coated Retriever Effy has given birth to 9 beautiful puppies. If you are interested in one, give Mike or Jo a call on 01326 280620/280083 or email Jo for more details at info@porthkerris.com. Basking Sharks We have just added a link to our Basking Shark page so you can keep up to date with the latest sightings. . Only one so far this year, and that was seen here at Porthkerris way back on 10 Apr. We will also report sightings in our area on the news here. Latest Sightings Scroll to the bottom of the page to get the latest sightings 4 May 08 We now have the Porthkerris Image Gallery up and running. As you can see, we need more photos. So, if you have any pictures you would like to share with us, please send to info@porthkerris.com and we will gladly put them on the web site. Please include the name, and a picture of of the photographer if possible, your club name if appropriate, what the picture is and where and when it was taken. We will reply to your email with a link to your folder in the gallery. 1 May 08 Weather has been better this month, but still not too many people venturing into the water yet. This month we have done several escorted dives and Peak Performance Buoyancy & Underwater Navigation for a Junior OW Diver. Celtic Cat was launched for the season at the beginning of April and has done a few trips this month, and the Rib has been running regularly. Don't forget, we can run the rib with a minimum of 2 divers, so no waiting around for other people to book. If only 2 of you want it, we'll run it. We have been taking bookings already for 2009, so get in quick if you want popular dates. We are now looking forward to good weather for the early May Bank Holiday, so fingers crossed. We are having new Porthkerris tshirts, sweatshirts and mugs printed, so watch out for these being available through the web site. New for our camping this year is a dedicated, reservation only, camping for tents around by the shore dive, you can find the prices here . 1 Apr 08 The season has now started properly and we have had universities from Oxford Brookes, Cambridge, Bristol and Kings College London with us since the middle of the month. Despite the horrible weather over Easter the Easter weekend went well, with only 1 day blown out. Reports on visibility are that it is okay at the moment, and there is very little, if any, kelp around Drawna Rock. Andy has seen a pod of about 10 Porpoise the last couple of days on the Manacles and the Volnay. This month we have done several courses and despite the weather the rib has run most days so far this month. Celtic Cat Bookings for 2009 Porthkerris "The Movie" 1 Mar 08 Hello to all our customers and friends as the season now starts properly. People are starting to venture into the water, and the visibility and temperature at the moment are good. There is no kelp on the shore dive at the moment, so there is plenty of fish to be found. 23 Feb 08 As February ends and we approach March, which heralds the start of the season properly, there have been one or two people who have ventured into the water, but the weather has not held up enough yet to run any boats. For those of you who are newly qualified Open Water Divers, have a look at our latest addition, the Beyond Open Water Experience. It is aimed at new Open Water Divers who have recently qualified and want to gain a little more experience, or to learn about UK diving before going on to undergo the Advanced Open Water Course. Don't forget, join the Porthkerris Yahoo Groups to get the latest news as it happens during the 2008 season. 22 Jan 08 Hello to all our customers and friends and welcome to 2008. The season has not yet gotten underway, but we thought you may be interested in knowing about something exciting which is being held at the Martitime Museum in Falmouth. From 28 January the Museum will be exploring man’s voyage into the deep with a new exhibition called Under the Sea As part of the exhibition, DDRC in Plymouth, has kindly loaned one its hyperbaric recompression chambers which will sit in the heart of the new exhibition and offer visitors the chance to gets hands-on and climb inside its captivating hull. The specialist chambers have played a major role in the development of diving and diving safety by providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy for divers with decompression sickness. The chamber on display is a multi-place version previously used offshore by commercial divers who would be working under ‘saturation’ conditions, this involves divers living under pressure in compression chambers located on deck and being transported to the worksite underwater in a pressurised diving bell allowing them to remain at the same pressure. Decompression will then only be required on completion of their work period which could be up to 28 days. DDRC also provides a wide range of training courses for both recreational and commercial divers at its Hyperbaric Medical Centre at Derriford where the charity has built an international reputation as a centre of excellence for research, training and treatment of diving diseases. So, if you want to find out more, visit the exhibition at the Martitime Museum in Falmouth from 28th January.
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