Porthkerris News 2008

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
Celtic Cat should be back in the water fairly soon. There has been a lot of work done on her while she has been out of the water for the winter to make her more comfortable for her divers, this includes the fitting of 4 double bunks, sound proofing on the engines and the galley area, also the wheel house has been fitted out so Mike is more comfortable. Watch out for him wearing his slippers while he is in the wheel house! This helps to ensure that Celtic Cat maintains her reputation as one of the best boats in the area.

Bookings for 2009
We have already had people placing bookings for 2009 for Celtic Cat and the apartment, so if you want popular dates, get your booking in now to avoid disappointment.

Porthkerris "The Movie"
New out now is “Porthkerris – The Movie”. This is a 30 minute high quality DVD of some of the best diving that Porthkerris has to offer, on Drawna Rock, Falmouth Bay, the Manacles and wrecks. This is for sale at a price of £8.95, plus £1 P&P, of which £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.

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.
Now to introduce our staff for the 2008 season. Mike will be running Celtic Cat as usual and Jo will be running the office. Andy is back with us again for his 6th season. He’ll be running the rib and he is also our Senior Instructor, so will also be teaching. He starts with an Open Water Course for 4 or 5 on 11 March. David, who you will remember from last season is back from his travels and joins us for this year again. David qualified as an Open Water Instructor at the end of last year so he will also be instructing as well as running the beach when Mike or Andy are not around. We welcome a new addition to the team this year, Kat. Kat lives in the local area and is joining the team this year to replace Tamsin in the office, you may remember that Tamsin had a baby girl at the end of the last year. Kat is also an instructor, so will be also taking courses when she can. Our other temporary staff return from last year, Jeremy, an Instructor, and Gayle, a Divemaster. Maggie will continue running the web site and doing anything else we throw at her. The boats so far this year are well booked up, but there are still plenty of spaces on both the Cat and the Rib. There are plenty of courses available, and with more instructors this year, we have more time available to run them. The first of the University Students arrive on 14 Mar and we will have various Universities with us until about mid Apr. Have a look at our brand new web site. We have a page for Customers' Comments, so if you want to you can send us yours for inclusion. We also have a page for Why we like diving at Porthkerris, so, again, if you want to tell us, we'll put it on. Send your comments by email to info@porthkerris.com There are new pages for accommodation, B&B and self-catering, but not forgetting about camping at Porthkerris. We also have a new page for places to eat locally The Gallery page is still being developed, so keep looking back to see images of what you can expect to see while diving with us. Don’t forget, keep checking the news page to follow Basking Shark activity as it happens. Once Basking Sharks arrive, we will put regular news on sightings, not just monthly. Looking forward to seeing you all during the year.

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.