Oxford Scuba Diving Club

Category: Blog

  • Endeavour (just named)

    Photos of newly-named Endeavour (our P3 Procharter hard boat).

  • Practical Rescue Management (PRM) Course

    Some photos from the BSAC Practical Rescue Management course (a component of the Dive Leader qualification and a standalone Skill Development course) held in Oxford in March 2012.

  • Scapa Flow

    This gallery has some photos from our August 2011 dive trip to Scapa Flow aboard the excellent Radiant Queen charter boat. We were based in Stromness, Orkney (Scotland), doing two dives per day over two weeks.

    You can also read the full report from our 2011 Scapa Flow dive trip.

  • Clubhouse Makeover

    Photos from the clubhouse makeover, with a new paint job and lots of intense cleaning – all thanks a to a small group of dedicated members.

  • Pirate Day 2011

    Divers and snorkelers from the club were more than happy to help out when asked by eighteenth century re-enacters who were putting on a Charity Pirate Day at the Swan Hotel in Radcote, Oxfordshire.

    Divers were tasked with checking the riverbed for anything which would make walking the plank dangerous, finding a few bits of glass and some crayfish but little else. With little depth near the river banks, club member Andy White rushed home to pick up some scaffolding (he has that kind of thing kicking about) to build an extended platform. Not very eighteenth century but it looked great!

    It took a while for anyone to ‘man up’ and rise to the pirates’ challenge of walking the plank, but eventually plenty did – and then the pirates turned on each other. During the event snorkelers were on hand in case anyone needed help in the water, which thankfully they didn’t.

    This was another fun day helping out in the community – thanks go to all who helped out.

  • Hinksey Open Day 2008

    Free Try-a-Dive event held at Hinksey Pool on May Bank Holiday
    Click on images for larger version.

  • Endeavour (just bought)

    So at long last, here is our new dive boat. These photos show our new dive platform, an as-yet unnamed Procharter P3 which was built in 2006.

    As you can see we’ve got a bit of work to do

    • Cleaning
    • Cutting and fitting a gate
    • Dive ladder construction and fitting
    • Bottle rack/bench construction and fitting

    And that’s just for starters, but with lots of help we expect this to be an incredible club dive boat which will be ready well in time for the coming 2012 season.

  • New Year’s Day

    A few brave souls made it down to dive in Hinksey Lake, Oxford (next to our clubhouse) on New Year’s Day. However, no-one from the club was as brave as the two ‘wild swimmers’ who decided to take a plunge in just their swimming costumes (in 7 degree C water!!). The local press was on hand to capture their moment and ours, before we let them use our hot showers and have a cuppa. 

    Seven of our divers made it into Oxford’s premier diving location (!) for half an hour or so. They reported seeing lots of crayfish, and the one which was brought back was clearly a signal crayfish, which have taken over the lake from our native species. 

    Afterwards we warmed up with soup in the clubhouse.

  • Portland Nov 2011

    These photos are from our November (yes really) 2011 weekend diving out of Castletown, Portland, Dorset.

    It was the first dive trip using the 7m RIB ‘Perseverance’ which we have overhauled for (and borrow from) from the 1st Standlake & Cokethorpe Sea Scouts. We launched from Castletown slipway and dived in and around the harbour. We also made it out around the Bill to the James Fennel. No underwater photos as the vis wasn’t so great, but it was lovely weather and a good run out for the boat, which was a decent dive platform and pleased us all.

  • Garvellachs & Slate Isles

    Here are some photos from our September 2011 trip to dive the West Scotland Slate Isles and the Garvellachs.

    Although the first two days were blown out by the tail-end of hurricane Katia we did get three good days on an excellent boat with a highly knowledgeable skipper (full report to follow….)