Picture the scene - Ben and Ash sat in the Macky, pint in hand staring at a calendar:
"So when are we gonna do these check out dives?"
"Well the 24th and 31st of October look like the best dates"
"31st - ooo Halloween! Maybe we could get a spooky little night dive in?!?!
"Hmm - sounds like a plan to me!"
That's how we decided that we should chuck in our new qualified divers into Vobster in the dark which, for some of them, would be their first UK dive. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and we decided that we should let them do a couple of dives when they could actually see, sorry I mean in the daytime, first!
We were still very keen on the idea of a night dive, so we got our woman on the inside (Charlotte) to sweet talk Vobster into staying open for us. Luckily, Martin and Amy at Vobster loved the idea, so the committee now had less than a month to make the night dive happen! The fact that our compressor needed a bit of investment gave us the idea of making the night a fundraising night, with half the money going to the DDRC (Diving Diseases Research Centre).
So how could we raise money? Well, in the past, Vobster had done an Underwater Treasure Hunt, and Underwater Pumpkin Carving, so these were the first two ideas on the list.
"People are gonna get a bit hungry during the day don't you think?"
"What about those people who can't stay for the night dive?"
That gave us the other ideas of having a BBQ and cake sale, and then doing a Raffle throughout the day. But to get people to take part - we're gonna need some prizes.....
After several hours on the phone, and thanks to the generosity of the Dive Industry, we'd managed to collect £1,000 worth of prizes, including holiday vouchers, reels, an Octopus, dive bags, clothing and much more.
So the day finally arrives. The first group of divers, chauffeured by Alan, leave Cardiff at the very sensible time of 6.30am! The weather's looking good, and the forecast that the rain won't hit us till Sunday looks promising. We join the queue at around 8.00 and Ash runs up to the brand new huts, poster and stapler in hand, to hopefully entice a few more people who haven't heard about the event. We get into the car park and start setting up for the first dive of the day. Our instructor cannon fodder of Mr G, Bob, Amanda and Tess arrive so we begin our brief. Vobster is fairly busy - and the 150-odd people who had booked in advance appear to have showed up!
The first wave of the day is fairly uneventful. We have 2 groups of check-out divers, and one group doing Dry Suit training. The instructor: student ratio of 5:7 is down to our meticulous planning combined with drop-outs, but we soldier on!
The surface interval is long, but gives us the perfect opportunity to sell sell sell! We set up stall by the ramp with prizes on show, and walk round with our raffle book selling tickets. The underwater pumpkin carving is scheduled for 3pm sharp in the confined water area.
The second group of divers arrives from Cardiff, just as we're about to start the second wave, thanks to Jez's expert driving skills, along with our instructor reinforcements of Jess and Dave. Oh dear - the 12m shelf has silted up, and the viz is down to a couple of meters! Let's hope it clears up for the night dive!
Meanwhile, the pumpkin carving has begun. The intrepid 8 first hollow out their pumpkins on dry land, then hit the 2m confined area to start work. They surface with their handiwork, divers mostly still intact and only one of the pumpkins slightly bloody! Jason and Emily continue to man the stalls, and the constant clinking of money is a reassuring sign!
Those not night-diving dry off and warm up, but there are still a good number of people in suits so it looks like we've got a large group going in. It's getting dark, so Ben briefs the Cardiff group.
Ash is given 2 metal lids to attract everyone's at tention. He stands up on one of the kitting up benches as people standing round flee so they don't have 100 pairs of eyes looking in their direction. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! He reminds everyone about the Treasure Hunt, and to collect as many golf balls as they can, and tells them the BBQ will be waiting for them when they surface!
We fire up the BBQ and crack out the cakes, provided by Charlotte, Jenny, Beccy and Debz, which disappear almost instantly! The next couple of hours are a blur of divers' splashes, exchanging of golf balls and pound coins, de-kitting in the dark and munching of burgers!
Things start to settle down, so we decide to announce the winners of the pumpkin carving, and then Kieran begins the draws for the prizes! Unfortunately several of the winners have already gone home, but we have contact details so we carry on! As the last ticket is drawn and prize handed out, we hear a "whoosh" from the free diving platform as the fireworks begin! We have a spectacular show of colour, and as the last firework fades, applause breaks out. The remaining divers pack up and go home, as we clear up as much as possible in the dark.
With vehicles packed full of wet kit, we wave Vobster goodbye after a tiring but enjoyable and successful day, with £790 raised for Cardiff University Sub Aqua Club and the DDRC.
A big thank you to everyone who came and made the day such a success, everyone who helped out to make the day go smoothly, to all the companies who donated prizes for us to give away. Last but not least, to Martin and Amy and all the staff at Vobster for allowing the event to go head, and all their time, support and effort in making sure it was a success!
Cardiff University Sub Aqua Club (CUSAC) Committee
Prizes kindly donated by:
Apeks Marine www.apeks.co.uk
A.P. Valves www.apvalves.com
Beaver Sports www.beaversports.co.uk
Forth Element www.fourthelement.com
Kent Tooling www.divingproducts.co.uk
Lumb Bros www.lumb-bros-das.co.uk
Oonas Divers www.oonasdivers.com
O'Three www.othree.co.uk
RegalDive www.regal-diving.couk
Tony Backhurst/ Scuba Travel www.scubatravel.com
Typhoon International www.typhoon-int.co.uk
Vobster Quay www.vobster.com
