Raj Mistry, Chairman
My first experience of diving was in 1988 in Jamaica. I paid £25 for a dive experience and boy was it an experience! The briefing was brief – you put this over your eyes, you breath out of this and you use this to go up and down. I knew nothing about equalising pressure and I hadn’t even heard of buoyancy control. About ten minutes into my dive I had a mask leak which caused water to go up my nose, that in turn made me cough, which caused me to “spit” my DV out of my mouth and all this action was happening at 10m. The dive guide must have had a fit as she brought me back to the surface sharing air (an octopus was not standard issue on a reg in those days). Fortunately for me I didn’t panic. I had just gulped a jug full of seawater before indicating I had lost my mask and DV. Once back on the surface I insisted on getting my £25 worth and went back down. On returning to shore I promised that I would learn to dive properly but it was a few years before I joined this club in 1994 which was then known as the BT Research Sub Aqua club.
I qualified as an Open Water Instructor within 3 years of joining the club and Advanced Diver the year after. I have held the posts of Assistant TO, TO and DO in the club as well being involved with instructing and running SDCs.
My passion is UK wreck diving when I can get out. I have also done some blue water diving in Australia, the Caribbean, Red Sea, Mombassa and more recently South Africa (best place to see sharks). I also dabble in under water video and still photography.
Naina Mistry, Secretary
I had always wanted to go diving but never thought I’d get the opportunity until I met Raj in 2010. Everyone says that I’ve been spoilt as I did my OD training in Tenerife. Over the week I did all of my skills training which culminated at the end of the week with my first dive from a RHIB. OMG! I just couldn’t believe that I was 15 meters underwater. I saw a stingray and so much more during my very first dive. I think I did extremely well considering we were on our honeymoon! Don’t worry I’m still with him!! Since then I have dived in the Philippines, Weybourne, The Farne Islands, Stoney Cove and Gildenburgh. I’ve posed for many pictures beneath the sea and I now consider myself to be an underwater tourist! I’m looking forwards to doing so much more.
David Parkinson, Treasurer
A Caribbean holiday in 2002 which included the possibility of some diving prompted me to take the plunge in late 2001 – since when I haven’t looked back. I just wish I’d started years ago! I’m slowly working way around the UK and various sites abroad – a lot around the carribean; Antigua, Belize, BVI, Bonaire, Dominica, St Vincent, St Eustatius….
The best dive so far? Difficult to pick really as each dive is what you make of it. The Chikuzen off Tortola in the BVI was excellent early dive. Being surrounded by seals in the Farnes is another lasting memory. The worst? A featureless muddy bottom off Dorset.
John Cook, Diving Officer
I got into diving in 1991 by joining this same club, then called the BT Research Sub Aqua Club, and affiliated to the SAA rather than BSAC. I joined with Frances because we had got bored with just swimming having taken adult improver swimming lessons from the council for a few years on account of being virtual non-swimmers! It took us over a year to complete our pool training partly I suppose because we weren’t very good students, but mainly I am sure because the club and the training programme was a pretty ad-hoc affair in those days. Obviously we did eventually finish and went on to go diving…
Over the intervening years we have done rather a lot of diving all over the world and enjoyed much of it, both in the UK and abroad in California, British Columbia, Florida, Mexico, Caribbean, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Malta, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. As a result it’s hard to say which was my best diving experience, but there have certainly been some memorable ones.
Of course there have also been some bad experiences along the way, some of them admittedly very bad indeed. In the end it is the people involved in the sport that will help you enjoy the good times and also help you through the bad times. Overall diving has definitely been a positive experience in my life and I wouldn’t want to do without it, which is why I’m still doing it. I intend to keep doing as much diving as possible for as long as I still can.
Paul Mann, Training Officer
My first underwater experience was a try-dive with a previous incarnation of the club in 1993 (approx.). After enjoying several “tourist” dives on holidays over the next decade or so, I decided to train and get qualified, which I started in 2006; achieving Ocean Diver that year and Sport Diver the following year and becoming an Assistant Diving Instructor this year.
Worst diving experience; becoming entangled with a rope at Gildenburgh whilst changing to my pony DV and, after being freed by my buddy (Matt), a less than controlled ascent.
Best diving experience; usually my most recent dive, a day diving the Baygitano and a drift dive collecting 50 or so Scallops and 3 crabs at Lyme Regis, followed by a night dive under Swanage pier will take some beating though.
Vacancy, Boat Officer
To be recruited.
Matt Yates, Expeditions Officer
I first learnt to dive while still at school but didn’t really start diving until 1998 when I spent 6 months living in Belize and diving every opportunity I got. I have since dived in Egypt, Fiji, Maldives, Malta and New Zealand. I also regularly dive in the UK and believe there is no such thing as cold water only the wrong clothing.
I enjoy all aspects of diving including fishy dives, wrecks and exploring sites that are new to myself. I can often be found hiding behind my camera bothering fish.
If I ever suggest going diving in areas people consider areas to hike, not dive please nod and say yes. I won’t be too offended when I find I’m the only one in the car park surrounded by walkers looking at me as though I’m the daft one.
I hope while I am the expeditions officer to offer a wide range of trips to different locations that should appeal to the club as a whole.
Frances Cook, Equipment Officer
I learnt to swim at age 30 and took up diving four years later. My present BSAC qualification is Dive Leader. Over the past 20 years of diving my husband, John and I have been lucky to visit many dive sites here in the UK as well as abroad. Divin g has taken us to Ireland, Egypt, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, the US, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean and the Far East where I am from originally.
It is difficult to name my best dive as I have had so many wonderful experiences underwater like playing with a seal in Ireland to seeing sharks, manta and eagle rays, turtles and big schools of barracuda and jack fish all on one dive on Maratua Island in Indonesia. All dive sites have potential for enriching one’s underwater experience. The best part of diving is not just about seeing the underwater world but also to meet with strangers who become friends through the enjoyable activity of the sport.
Stephen Saise, Communications Officer
I’d always wanted to try diving but I’d heard that it was hard to get pass all the tests. In 2010 my stars aligned and I started my training with PADI after I’d got my pool sessions out of the way taken a number of classrooms and tests the next step was get the open water part done, for this I spent a sunny weekend at Stoney Cove in July with the water at balmy 19C, this was a magic experience, more experienced divers might snort here but to a newbie Stoney can be a great experience. I was hooked within a matter of months I taken a number of extra PADI courses got to PADI advanced and dived in Malta and Egypt. I had a good experience with PADI but my Wallet had taken a pounding and I needed a more regular supply of diving hits without having to go on holiday every time I wanted to dive so I joined Sunstar. At Sunstar the emphasis is on British diving which is a bit like riding the rollercoaster instead of taking the tea cup ride, I’ve learned a lot and had some great experiences some that have taken my breath away. Anyway the tests weren’t so bad and I still get butterflies before every dive
Michael Roseveare, Transport Officer
Awaiting Words.
Vacancy, Social Secretary
To be recruited.