Perth Scuba News Issue 171 – 4 February 2012 Can’t view the Perth Scuba newsletter? View it in your browser

We are all very excited and happy to announce that Andy “Scuba God” Goddard has finally hung up the donuts, guns and sheriff badge to return to the best dive store in the world to continue his life earning the huge dollars as a Scuba Diving Instructor.

Yep you read it right – ANDY IS BACK!

After 12 months training to be a cop and being a cop – he’s finally decided that the diving industry needed him more than the local criminal element.

Andy will be back teaching our students and being a mentor to our Instructional team.

It was hard to say goodbye to Andy when he decided to move on to different pastures but we all understood why and all hoped he’d be back one day.

WELCOME BACK MATE! You were missed! We have already notified the makers of Corona that the beer fines will be on again and they should double their importation quotas for you. We DID however have Puffin Fresh on the phone wanting to know if you still wanted your weekly 2 pallet order of jam donuts delivered to Perth Scuba instead of the Cop Shop… Who was I to turn them away?

Editor’s Note: Does this mean Andy will be handing out donut fines as well as Corona fines???

TRUK PALAU UPDATE (by Josh “Awesome” Phillips)

Hey guys Josh (The Apprentice Tour Leader ), here. We have had a great response to our Truk / Palau 2013 trip with all 16 places selling out within just a week! We have been able to secure 4 more places so if you are interested and have been undecided… now is your chance to go on a great trip with me and the Perth Scuba Crew.

The trip includes: 21 nights with a minimum of 32 boat dives (+ unlimited shore dives while in Palau).

We’ll be diving on the World War II wrecks of Truk Lagoon and checking out some of the world’s best wreck dives on offer followed by the most visually spectacular dive location in the world. Palau is a fantastic diver or non-diver destination and I can’t wait to get back there.

The normal price if you were to do these trips on their own would be in excess of $7300 but join the Perth Scuba Crew (and me) next year for both trips for only $5995.

If you can’t get the leave and would like to just us on one or the other trip, we can even arrange that too. Click here for the flyers and see what’s included on this great trip.

For any more info, call the store on 9455 4448 and speak to me, Lee or Joey.

SIDE MOUNT FUN!

A couple of weeks back I mentioned that we had just completed the TDI Sidemount Diver course.

I said back then that this is to date one of the best courses for learning new stuff I have done in years. The best part about side mount diving is that it doesn’t have to be expensive to get into – most divers have at least 1 regulator and a cylinder – to go side mount you only need 1 more cylinder and 1 more reg set and a BCD that can either be adapted to side mount or a side mount BCD (which can double up to be a normal single tank BCD too.

The advantages of side mount are massive – Firstly and most importantly Weight issues – Forget the heavy twin tanks girls –and even better for those of you who don’t have the flexibility to do manifold drills – No need to worry. Your tank valves are tucked neatly under each arm and you can access them any time. Side mount cylinder valves run at opposites so you can have Left and right valves (Perth Scuba hire Left Hand valved cylinders specifically for those of you who want to dive with side mounts. At the same cost of a normal rank hire).

Your gauges sit up in front of you like a heads up dashboard display and the balance of two cylinders under each arm can only be described as perfect buoyancy.

The thing I have found with side mount diving is that it opens up Technical diving for everyone. If you don’t like the idea of carrying a set of cylinders on your back – then side mount is for you.

If you are interested in jumping onto one of our Sidemount courses – We have 2 scheduled for 12^th/13^th of Feb and 18^th/19^th of February with resident tekkie guru Marc van der Poel. Perth’s most experienced and highly certified technical diving instructor trainer… Why would you want to learn to do it the right way anywhere else? Courses are $300 and includes hire of your side mount BCD and cylinder and reg. Bring your own reg set with you and we’ll show you how easy it is to adapt your gear to make it side mount!

CAVE DIVERS IN MT GAMBIER – Our own crew doing the hard yards…

Just a quick update for everyone interested in our trip to Mt Gambier to dive the caves and caverns of South Australia…. Our boys left on a red eye flight on Tuesday night to head to the outback farms of South Oz to drop down the sink holes and caves to dive some of natures best kept secrets for divers. Lead by our illustrious Tekkie Guru Instructor Marc Van der Poel, Awesome Josh Phillips, Drew Petterson, and Ryan Limpus were there to complete their TDI Side Mount course and CDAA (Cave Diving Association of Australia) cave diving course. When they return they will no doubt be planning their first trip to the Nullarbor to dive WA’s own caves. We hope to have a bunch of cool photos of our boys when they get back. Hopefully they managed to get one of the Perth Scuba stickers at the back of Cocklebiddy cave J.

For anyone keen in going down the path of Cavern and Cave diving, we have a Cavern course coming up on the 18^th & 19^th of February and the 21^st  22^nd of February for the final dives.

The Cavern course is a pre requisite to Cave Diver. The next Cave Diver Course is in March so there is time to do the Cavern course first! – Call us for more details.

No doubt Josh and Marc will be writing up their reviews in the next newsletter so stay tuned!

DOLPHIN WATCH TRAINING EVENT – 15^TH FEBRUARY 2012

2012 promises to be an exciting year for the River Guardians program with many opportunities to learn about and help, the Swan Canning Riverpark.

This year along with other great opportunities, we are recruiting more volunteers to help monitor dolphins in the Swan Canning Riverpark for the Dolphin Watch project. Hear from leading research scientists and learn about the resident community of dolphins living in the Riverpark and how to monitor them.

If you’re interested in volunteering and becoming an official Dolphin Watch volunteer (Dolphin Watcher), please read the following criteria to see if it applies to you:

1.    You must love dolphins,

2.    You spend time on or near the Swan Canning Riverpark,

3.    You love knowing that what you do is contributing to scientific research, and

4.    You love being rewarded for your efforts.

If this sounds like you and you are able to attend the next Dolphin Watch training session on Wednesday 15 February 2012, 6 – 8.30pm at Royal Perth Yacht Club in Crawley, then please register quickly as places fill fast!

Please note that this training event is not recommended for children under the age of 15 years and that registration is essential.

To register please email [email protected] being sure to include information as outlined below.  A confirmation email will be sent to you confirming your registration.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

• Full name
• Total number of attendees
• Attendees names
• Preferred email address
• Preferred contact number
• Dietary requirements (if applicable)

For more information on the Dolphin Watch project visit the website; www.riverguardians.com. We hope to see you there.

The River Guardians team

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