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Lumpsucker Divers
October 2000
Hi, and welcome. Please send me your articles, jokes, contributions etc, also if you wish to contact me – Phone 01302 844067 (speak to The Terminator if I’m out!!)
Or Mobile 07971 033337
Or e-mail ckitson@buccaneerdive.fsnet.co.uk
(Please note we accept no responsibility for loss of life due to Paint Mines!!)
Congratulations ...to the following club members on passing their Open Water course.
Nicola Fearn; Janet Kingsbury; Lindsay Williams; John Benson; Terry (I did it my way) Lansley; Andy (Why can't I do six dives a day. I've got loadsa space in me log book) Walker; and Paul (Boo Hoo, me birds gone back 't' China) Ogden.
Boat Vote
We need to know what the consensus of opinion is regarding purchase of a club boat. Whilst up at St Abbs recently we quizzed the local Harbour master ( a veritable sage of ocean going vessels and other nautical stuff) on the subject. Here are our findings.
RIB -
Pro's Big bad mutha's, lots of poke, greater operating range, top posing tool. Very good boats in less ideal sea conditions, very stable, very safe, ideal for diving.
Con's Heavy, requires a trailer, expensive to maintain, Storage space required, larger engine required, If it breaks down at sea its more difficult to get back to shore, more expensive insurance
Inflatable -
Pro's The opposite of everything above, If it breaks down at sea we can row it back in to shore and carry it up big hills. We can buy two for less than we would pay for a single RIB so if we have club members wanting to dive different places on the same weekend we can split the boats, although we would need two engines.
Con's Makes us look like poor people, Less stable, has to be pumped up, if it deflates we sink! Can't go as far out to sea, Can't put as many people on one boat
Is the purchase of a boat a viable option at all considering that most trips cost only around £20 per diver for boat fees, and we incur no maintenance, running or insurance costs ? Ask questions, do your own research and air your views before January, because if we do decide to purchase a boat, then purchasing during the winter period we can get it cheaper.
Car Boot Sale
All your junk needs to be passed on to Chris Johnson please. So come on people, dig into the deepest recesses of your cupboards and bring out your dead. Let's raise as much cash as possible.
Diving Trips and
Stuff
Dates for club pool sessions - Club pool sessions are always the second Sunday of every month. For those of you unable to count to two then the dates for this year are; 12th November and 10th December. So no excuses for not turning up for a ‘dip’.
Bowling - Friday 3rd November 2000 Cost £9.95
- this includes 2 games and a basket meal.
Superbowl 2000, Wortley Road, Rotherham. Money required by
Wednesday 18th October 2000 See or Phone Lisa for
details.
Christmas Dinner Wednesday 20th
December 2000 Cost from £14.95 upwards at Brannigans, Valley
Centertainment, Broughton Lane, Sheffield. The club will provide
One bottle of house wine FREE between every four
club members just to make the evening that bit better. Your non-diving
partners are welcome to attend. Lisa has copies of the menus that
you can have when you next attend the club, or give her a ring.
£5 Deposit for the Christmas Dinner to Lisa by the 18th October,
the remainder of the balance is due 2 weeks prior to the Dinner
ie. the 29th November.
Everyone should participate in these events unless they have a bloody good reason not to!! Please attend the meetings on a Wednesday at the Sitwell Arms, Whiston to pay deposits and decide upon which meal you prefer.
OBLIVION AT ALTON TOWERS – (Verdict following the club trip in July)
If you have had the fortune of being under a rock for the last year and a half, Oblivion is the Worlds' first vertical drop coaster, it is also being marketed as the Worlds' most technically advanced ride. First impressions? WOW!!. Most people see it and think how steep and big the 87.5-degree drop is.
Getting onto the train we go straight to the seats on the front row, apparently the best place to be. The bars go down, the train moves onto the lift and although I knew it was steep, it really was steep and you are on your back. I hate this lift, it vibrates something chronic and I just hate looking at the sky going up. At the top you turn, not as slow as I thought, and move towards the edge of the drop. Here I wasn't frightened at all, I was calm and put my legs and arms out in the "free as a bird" position... The train tilts to about 45 degrees and holds you... In this time all manner of thought go through your head, and it is here that I am ashamed to admit the arms went down. You feel ever so vulnerable perched up there looking into that infamous hole.
You then lurch into the drop in a sharp turn vertically, kudos to anyone that doesn't yell here... It is a mad experience and with the anticipation and then sudden rush it must be the closest a coaster gets to Bungee Jumping. The drop is strange. You lose your stomach, then "float" down. If your bars are loose, you won't touch either them or the seat and feel very free. There is the flash of white as you go through the mist, then the tunnel, which seems unnervingly quiet. You pop out into daylight on your side, turn, and jump into the brakes. It is here that the trains stack up and you have to wait for your train to return to the station.
So, what do I think? The ride in my opinion is great, it is ‘balls to the wall’ intensity and that drop is the greatest bit of engineering on any coaster ever. It does well to build up anticipation, gets the nerves tingling and the heart pounding and still after many rides it scares the hell out of you and gets better with every ride. I'm afraid I like Oblivion.
Chris. K.
IT’S WAR !!! – LUMPSUCKER BARMY-ARMY NEEDS YOU !!
Following the success of Lumpsucker Platoon No.1 at a recent Paintball Battle, where I’m proud to say our ‘Chaps’ did Bally Well, we have decided to give it another go in the near future. We need you to sign up and strengthen our ranks and in return we offer you a cracking day out. If you’re interested then have a word with Captain Chris Johnson or Lieutenant Lisa Sadler and they’ll give you the old Intel on the operation.
Believe us – we aim to win and to this effect, here’s the instructions for making ‘gizmos’ that could just give us the edge. – Carry on Chaps!
PAINTBALL MINE
Materials
-12 gram CO2 cartridge
-thick, six inch long PVC pipe
-2 PVC pipe caps that fit on the pipe-needle able to puncture the
12-gram CO2 cartridge
- small tubing- drill and drill bits
-dowel-small weight heavy enough to puncture the cartridge with
the needle-paint fill
Attach the needle into the dowel. Drill holes in the top of one of the caps so the paint will spray in all directions .In the middle of that cap put a hole just big enough for the dowel to slide in and out of. Attach the cap that has no holes in it and drill a hole big enough but not all the way through the cap but deeply enough that the cartridge can be tightly put into the little slot. Make sure the dowel is in line with the cartridge so it will puncture . Put the tubing into the holes in about 3 inch lengths and epoxy glue them in so the tubes will twist and squirm like crazy when the dowel punctures the cartridge spraying paint everywhere. Now put a weight on top of the dowel and have a stick supporting it up and a string across a string attached to it and to two trees and the mine somewhere near that so when the person walks and pulls the string the stick will fall and so will the dowel on top of the mine setting it off. Put a large bead of epoxy on the dowel part inside the mine so it won’t blast up into the air. Bury the mine up to the holes to hide it better
SMOKE GRENADES
Materials
-sugar
-potassium nitrate(salt peter)
- container
Mix 4 parts sugar 6 parts potassium nitrate (Salt Peter) Heat this mixture over a LOW flame until it melts, stirring well. Pour it into a future container and, before it solidifies, imbed lots of matches or sparklers into the mixture to use as fuses. Do not use this in an area with dry grass it will set it on fire.
(Note we accept no responsibility for the above information – or for anything actually!)