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The Prince of Wales hands over BSAC Presidency to The Duke of Cambridge at special event
The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Cambridge met the next generation of scuba divers yesterday at a special event to mark the handover of the British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) Presidency.
The Duke himself took the plunge at the Oasis lido in London’s West End and joined in with a group of young scuba divers and snorkellers.
It was announced in May that The Duke has followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather to take over the leadership of BSAC, the UK’s governing body for scuba diving and snorkelling, which celebrated its diamond jubilee last year.
Their Royal Highnesses joined around 100 BSAC members to mark the historic handover and to say thank you to The Prince of Wales for his four decades of loyal leadership at the head of the organisation.
Speaking at the reception, where he was presented with a Lifetime Honorary Member Award by BSAC Chairman Eugene Farrell, The Prince of Wales said: “I feel extraordinarily proud having lasted for 40 years as your President. I’m delighted that my eldest son is taking over from me. I can only assume that his interest probably stems from the fact that I threw him into the swimming pool on many occasions and instead of putting him off, it actually enthused him.”
The Duke of Cambridge later buddied up with 17-year-old scuba diver Tom Billingham to carry out essential safety checks before descending on a short pool dive.
The Duke also joined in with a group of young snorkellers and together they practised putting on masks, fins and snorkels before carrying out a series of snorkelling signals.
The group of excited young BSAC members were then presented with certificates by The Prince of Wales to mark the special part they played on the day.
The Duke of Cambridge, who was presented with a BCD jacket and a scuba T-shirt for his little son George, said at the event: “It is a great honour to be here with my father to accept the role as President of the British Sub-Aqua Club, continuing the Presidency from my father and from my grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh. Like them, I can proudly say I learnt to dive with the Club, and share your passion for the sport and the underwater environment.
“I hope that one day my son, George, might follow in our footsteps. At the moment bath time is quite painful but I imagine as he gets a little bit older, donning a snorkel and mask might calm him down.
“I look forward to working with BSAC to encourage even more young people to dive – to help develop the next generation of underwater explorers, pioneers and protectors.”
While The Duke enjoyed his scuba diving, his father was taken on a short journey through a series of BSAC storyboards which detailed the success of BSAC’s recent underwater litterpick campaign, its diamond jubilee celebrations and the Beachcomber and rock pooling sessions designed for young children to learn about what they can find on a beach.
Eugene Farrell, BSAC Chairman, said: “It was an honour for us to welcome Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duke of Cambridge, to this very special event to mark the official handover of the BSAC Presidency from father to son.
“It is the perfect opportunity for us to mark the dedicated patronage which The Prince of Wales has given to BSAC over his four decades with the organisation but also to welcome The Duke who will be the third generation of his family to become President.
“We look forward to working closely with The Duke to inspire a new generation of young scuba divers to discover the rich adventures and opportunities of the underwater world which we all have a shared interest in preserving and protecting.”
The event was held at the Oasis lido by kind permission of Camden Council who own the venue which is managed on their behalf by GLL (Better), the UK’s largest charitable social enterprise leisure provider.
For more information about BSAC, visit www.bsac.com.
Today we are diving one of the outer reefs from an inflatable. As we reach the bottom, a reef octopus eases its way into the cover of a small crack in the coral while displaying it’s incredible ability to change colour. They are arguably one of the most charismatic of reef dwellers and it is always exciting for me to simply hover and watch. I would have spent longer and waited for it to come and investigate me, but as dive time is limited we wanted to move on and find a turtle.
The waters around Somabay are well protected and hold a rich variety of marine life. The reef edges are thriving colonies of coral and shoaling fish, while nearer the sea bed plenty of wildlife is still to be found.
Then we located the turtles. They are very used to divers and so show little concern when slowly approached. In fact occasionally one will come over to see what you are doing. There is always huge excitement when diving with a turtle. The shear thrill of sharing a moment with another species.
What a fantastic way to finish a wonderful few days diving and I would like to thank SOMABAY, ORCA DIVING and THE BREAKERS for making my stay such a good one.
I had a great time, with diving everyday either on the house reef or on one of the offshore reefs by inflatable or larger day boat. Orca diving provided high quality equipment and facilities while the staff were all very friendly and welcoming. The Breakers was right on the coast with nice rooms, good food and once again friendly staff making the whole trip a real pleasure.
Soma Bay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds.
As well as scuba diving, Somabay caters for many other sports and activities, and so is perfect for families as well as individuals and/or groups. And of course there is always time to lay peacefully on the beach under the Egyptian sun.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
Day three of my trip to Somabay and we were spending the day on the Lady Christina and diving on the wreck of the Salem Express.
Diving wrecks for me is always one of mixed emotions. The excitement of diving a wreck is more than often tempered by the thought of loss of life when she sank. The Salem Express was a passenger ship and a roll-on/roll-off ferry travelling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to Safaga, Egypt. Most passengers were of poor class travelling home from their holidays while around 150 people were returning home from their pilgrimage to Mecca.
The ship struck a reef and sank within 20 minutes. Passengers were trapped below deck and the ship was filled with fear and panic.
The wreck area is strewn with personal belongings from the crew and passengers such as a transistor radio and a flat iron for clothes. A diver at sometime has put them in a prominent place to be seen.
Tragically only one life boat was launched while the others went down with the ship. More than 600 men, women and children lost their lives here.
It’s a stark reminder that the sea can be unforgiving and so when we dive on such wrecks we should do so with humble regard.
Returning to the surface, shoals of fish are gathered under our boat and seem to be welcoming us back into the light.
Back at the Breakers I sat in the dining area with a beer and a very good meal while my thoughts still remained with the day’s dive on the Salem Express.
Check in for part 3 tomorrow for Jeff’s last day of diving with Somabay on the off-shore reefs looking for turtles.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
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