HORIZON NEWS

October 2008 - The newsletter of FIVE STAR IDC CENTRE New Horizons Dive Centre
Printable Version

Fifteen Years in the Dive Business
Where has the time gone – it only seems like yesterday that New Horizons were celebrating 10 years in the dive business. New Horizons continues to see new divers and familiar faces coming through the doors, taking part in training courses and enjoy a wide variety of trips with us.

Over the years, many friends have been made and staff have come and gone (and in a few cases come back again!!). During this time we’ve run trips the length and breadth of the UK – from Scapa Flow to the Scilly Isles and from the Isle of Skye across to St Abbs, as well as travelling to far flung places such as the Red Sea, Galapagos Islands, Indonesia, Maldives and Mexico to name just a few.

Most recently Steve has moved onto new ventures and Roger has taken over as Manager of the new business. The success of New Horizons has depended on you. Along with the full-time members of staff and our part time Instructors/Divemasters we continue to develop a professional service and introduce people to the excitement of the underwater world. It’s sometimes hard work (no really it is) but always rewarding.

We would like to thank everyone who has helped us over the years and especially all those of you who have dived with us and made it worthwhile.

Special Offers - running until 16th November 2008

Regulator and BCD SALE 25% OFF.
New Horizons is offering an incredible 25% OFF AquaLung regulators and Seaquest BCDs.
Regulator Trade-In
Have you been considering updated your regulator? New Horizons are offering 25% OFF AquaLung regulators regardless of the make of regulatory you are trading in!

Upcoming Courses

Equipment Specialty - Sunday 19th October 09:00 -17:00 at NHDC
This course provides an insight into the care/maintenance of equipment; detailed knowledge on how it works and an opportunity to find out about all the latest gadgets. It is a classroom based course but includes a number of practical activities.

Divemaster course – starts 26th October 09:00 at NHDC
This is your first rung on the professional ladder of diving. It is a fantastic course that gets you involved in assisting on courses of all levels as well as guiding pleasure divers. Anyone who does this course says that it is the most rewarding course they have done. It’s not surprising really when you consider that you are helping people learn to do something that you love doing. The Divemaster qualification can also open up new opportunities for you from a working and/or travelling point of view.

Peak Performance Buoyancy Specialty – 2nd November at Capernwray
You will learn more about correct weighting; streamlining and being able to hover motioness. This will improve your air consumption and allow you to stop and observe things underwater without stirring up the bottom and damaging marine life. This course is suitable for divers of all levels.

SMB Diver Specialty – 2nd November at Capernwray
The correct deployment and use of Surface Marker Buoys is crucial to diving safely in the sea. Like most equipment used correctly they are key to your safe diving but misused real problems can occur. This day offers vital experience in their use and leads to a PADI certification.

IANTD Advanced Nitrox
This is a great course for the experienced diver who is looking for ways to extend bottom time on dives. You will find this especially useful when diving on wrecks and reefs between 25 and 42m. The course covers the use of twin sets and decompression using stage cylinders. The course consists of a day in the classroom at NHDC and an evening session in the pool, 16th November, followed by 2 days at Chepstow, 22nd and 23rd November, to complete the course.

Advanced Open Water - 15th and 16th November at Stoney Cove
This is a great course to develop your diving and open up more diving opportunities to you. It helps you to develop your diving skills with the guidance of Instructors and Divemasters. You will do dives such as, deep, navigation, multilevel, peak performance buoyancy, wreck. Having completed this course you will be qualified to dive to 30 metres, which will increase the number of sites you can dive and also the number of trips open to you.

Emergency First Response - 23rd November at NHDC
An innovative First Aid/CPR course strongly recommended for all divers. Meets the pre-requisites for the Rescue Diver course. Remember you should renew your EFR training every two years – (SAVE £30 if you complete this as a refresher – using your original materials).

UK Trips for 2009
Our UK trips for 2009 are now arranged and ready for booking. All the favourites, whether you’re looking for a weekend break or something a little longer, have been planned in. We have something for everyone whatever your experience. St Abbs and the Farnes are the ideal locations to start your UK diving offering reefs at a variety of depths. Take a look at the trip list and give the shop a call to book on them.

Foreign Trips Update

M/Y Infinity, Fury Shoal and St John – Red Sea Liveaboard 14th -21st August 2009
Flying directly to Hurghada airport you will then be transferred to the spacious M/Y Infinity. During the week you will be treated to the outstanding reef system of Fury Shoal and St John taking in St John’s, Habili Gafaar, Gota Kebir and Gota Soraya to name. On the dives you will see a mass of soft corals teaming with shoals of Snappers, Butterfly Fish and Barracudas. There is also a possibility, and we haven’t been disappointed on previous trips, of seeing Mantas, Oceanic White Tip, Grey Reef and Silvertip Sharks out in the blue. A superb diving destination with the promise of some spectacular diving!

Trip Reports

When an East Wind blows By Tony Gilbert
The North Sea can sometimes blow up and this particular September weekend found strong easterly winds for the New Horizons St. Abbs trip.

At 8am Saturday big ground swell waves rolled into the harbour rocks foaming everything in their path. The boat operators looked at each other and deciding it wasn’t safe to go out and several groups of divers were affected including New Horizons, but light was at the end of the tunnel – or in this case at the end of the headland off St. Abbs Head! Four adventurous souls took it upon themselves to shore dive Pettico Wick, whilst the remainder of the group watched on the nearby headland.

Pettico Wick is quite sheltered from the wind, having flat calm conditions, although access is challenging. (Note to self: ensure self & buddy have everything before clambering down the 40m of headland). Once in the water and the mud had rinsed away, the intrepid divers cruised out to Wick Gaut rock, which by chance had an inquisitive seal that liked fins. After this a stroll back was rewarded by hundreds of pipefish some free swimming.

During the evening we ate in smaller groups, meeting up once again in the mid-evening to see if diving was on for Sunday and to enjoy a chat and a laugh.

The following morning at the harbour, the wind had dropped and the sea mist, with a piercing sun, presented a strangely surreal scene, straight out of Dali’s mind!

New cranes are now in place, which enables 4 sets of gear at a time to be lowered the 4m down the dock at low water. Just as well, cos there were many divers keen to get in the water. Quite by chance both Macclesfield diving clubs were in St. Abbs that weekend, and both had charter boats! The best diving was off Pettico Wick, and we dived the Ringholm wreckage, known locally as the peanut boat. In the nearby undergrowth hundreds of shrimps lay, and the wreckage is quite broken aside from an upright boiler.

All too soon it was the last dive, at a SE running reef, 15m deep, north of Pettico Wick, now known as Tony’s Reef. A mixture of loose boulders, piles of dark volcanic stones shallower large hefty rocks, some with long vertical flanks. Several nudibranchs were spotted as were some interesting gobies. Much fish life was found with shoals of juveniles, quite large solitary pollack, and numerous inquisitive wrasse varieties.

These dives have all been different to the normal dives conducted along the main drag, and it’s a credit to New Horizons that given the borderline conditions the Delayed SMB speciality was skilfully conducted, with bubbling sausages agog!

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For details on these or any other events or for advice on gear sales, diving insurance or unaccompanied dive travel, please contact:

New Horizons Snorkel & Dive Centre, 51 - 53, Park Lane, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK11 6TX

Tel: 01625 611108
Fax: 01625 611969
info@new-horizon.co.uk
www.new-horizon.co.uk