|
Dover trip participants
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Name
|
email address | Twinset? | Nitrox? |
Deposit Paid?
|
|
| 1 | Me |
|
Y | N/A | |
| 2 | Anke Otto | Anke.Otto-@-leeds.gov.uk |
|
Y | Yes |
| 3 | Julian Moore | julian.moore-@-btinternet.com | Y | N | Yes |
| 4 | Helen Johnstone | helen.johnstone-@-bt.com | Y | Y | Yes |
| 5 | Callum Beveridge | CallumBeveridge-@-cchgroup.co.uk | Y | N | Yes |
| 6 | Nigel Hewitt | nigelh-@-nigelhewitt.co.uk | CCR | Y | Yes |
| 7 | Jez Joss | Y | N | Yes | |
| 8 | Ian McLean | ian-@-ipmclean.freeserve.co.uk | CCR | Y | Yes |
| 9 | Tracey McLean | " | CCR | Y | Yes |
| 10 | John Cobb | jfcobb-@-ntlworld.com | CCR | Y | Yes |
Note: your place is not secure until you have paid the £50 deposit!
The Boat
Taurus is a 33ft Blythe catamaran, skippered by Steve Howland and ably assisted by Sarah. Steve's number is 07860 934712 in case you need to call the boat. It has a smallish cabin for dry gear, a loo and plenty of space for kitting up. Exit from the boat is from the side, entry via a good ladder at the stern. The boat is normally moored at Granville Dock. To get there, follow the A20 towards Dover. As you enter Dover, you will go across 2 roundabouts, with a Shell garage on the left just after the 2nd. At the 3rd roundabout, take a right into the dock. The boat costs £384 per day split between us, so with 10 people that works out as £288.40 each for the week, less your deposit.
Accomodation
I've booked the Chandos guest house, 77 Cheriton Road, Folkestone, tel 01303 851202. This is about 15mins from Dover docks. It's run by Don Falvey, a local diver, member of Folkestone BSAC 501 and source of some good GPS marks. Cost will be £22.50 per night per person. All rooms have ensuite facilities. The B&B is walking distance from the town and pubs/restaurants, and about 10 minute's drive from Dover harbour.
Parking
You can park at the Docks near the Harbour office. On entry to the docks, turn right just before the bridge. Parking tickets are available from the Harbour office for a week.
Gas etc
We can get air, nitrox and O2 from Chris at Shorncliffe Dive centre. The address is Unit 12, North Close, Shorncliffe Industrial Estate, Folkestone, Kent CT20 3UH. Telephone number is 01303 243149 / 01303 259966. They pump air to 300 bar and do nitrox and O2. They don't yet have prices for Nitrox/O2.
The Diving
The wrecks we'll be doing will probably be in the 25-35m range. Dive Kent has many of them listed, although one or two of the exceptional ones are either marked as 'unknowns', such as the Strathclyde, or they've got the position wrong (Lusitania). We'll be diving slack water, but it is not always slack, so experience of diving in a current helps. All divers must have a DSMB and a surface detection device (flag, flare, EPIRB etc). The water around Dover is rather busy so all divers must be prepared to stick to a plan so we can all bag off around the same time. The viz in Dover depends on a lot of things, but 2-3m is bad, 6-10m good. Most of the dives are wreck rummages so good viz is not really essential anyhow. The boat returns to port in between slacks, time for breakfast/lunch and even a bit of sunbathing if the weather's good!
The dive times as given to me by Steve are as follows:
| Date | Start Time | Dive Time | Approx Return Time |
| Sat 16th | 11:30am | 12:30 | 14:30pm |
| 17:30 pm | 18:30 | 20:30pm | |
| Sun 17th | 12:10pm | 13:10 | 15:10pm |
| 18:10pm | 19:10 | 21:10pm | |
| Mon 18th | 06:30am | 07:30 | 09:30am |
| 12:45pm | 13:45 | 15:45pm | |
| Tues 19th | 07:10am | 08:10 | 10:10am |
| 13:20pm | 14:20 | 16:20pm | |
| Wed 20th | 07:50am | 08:50 | 10:50am |
| 14:10pm | 15:10 | 17:10pm | |
| Thurs 21st | 08:50am | 09:50 | 11:50am |
| 15:20pm | 16:20 | 18:20pm | |
| Fri 22nd | 10:20am | 11:20 | 13:20am |
| 16:50pm | 17:50 | 19:50pm |
Location of B&B
The quickest way to get there is to take the A20 exit (the one just after the tunnel if you're coming from Dover). At the T junction turn left, past the supermarket, then right at the next roundabout. Bear left then left again into Cheriton Road. The B&B is just on the right.
