PSAC ANNUAL REPORT for 2005

Committee

The committee saw major changes throughout the year. Al Findlay, the Boat Officer, unexpectedly quit Shell and left Brunei. Justin Peer stood in for half a year before he too left Brunei. Steve Holyoak left on transfer in July and was replaced by John Elder. Towards the end of the year, Doug Bell announced that he was on transfer, and Dale Chenery, the Equipment Officer, also resigned from Shell. This left a major hole of experience in the committee. However, as always in PSAC, the positions were filled by volunteers. Niall Horan came in as Chairman and Stan Groff became Equipment Officer a position that also encompasses boat officer. To spread the load of this job, Stan has a team comprising Jim Bray, Evert Moes and Jason Taylor.

Diving

It's been another lively year that has seen 1006 dives despite March, November and December being non-diving months. This was largely due to the monsoon waves, however, a lack of marshals lost the club several weekends' diving. The boat went out 38 times logging 665 dives. Another 341 dives were carried on trips to Truk, Malapascua, Mataking and Kapalai. February's big expedition to Truk Lagoon in Micronesia was brilliantly organised by Dave Outhwaite and was an early highlight of the year's diving.

Platform diving really is the mainstay of the club constituting over 60% of all dives out of Kuala Belait. About 20% of dives are on local reefs, 10% on wrecks and 10% low visibility experience and training dives. We hope that diving on the platforms continues for the years to come allowing further study of the biodiversity beneath the platforms.

We have sustained excellent relations with all the neighbouring clubs. Piasau divers join us regularly, and offer some excellent reef diving out of Miri in return. The Garrison often joins us on our dives in their own boat, and the Bandar club offers access to their own world-class wrecks.

In July 2005, PSAC was requested to undergo a formal audit of our diving, systems and documentation, led by the EPA Commercial Diving Technical Authority. Needless to say, we came through the audit with praise from the audit team, and have completed all of the recommended action items before the end of 2005. Unfortunately, diving restrictions that are placed on the Piasau club are thought to be extended to PSAC although this is by no means clear. The nature of the restrictions make completion of advanced diving qualifications within the branch impossible; further, senior divers, comprising our marshals and instructors, are seeking other venues to complete advanced level dives. This has impacted on the number of dives conducted, and has created low morale within the branch.

Boat

With the new Suzuki engines, the boat has been a pleasure to use, and significantly cheaper to run. The only negative point is that, contrary to the agent's sales spiel, they do not have the electronic diagnostic equipment available in Brunei to complete a full service of the engines. The engines have shown a reluctance to start without adding unnecessary throttle. Unfortunately Al Findlay left Shell and thus had to stand down as Boat Officer during the year. His replacement, Justin Peer also decided to leave Brunei at the end of the year.

In view of the lack of experience in this arena, it was decided to re-form the committee with an Equipment Officer responsible for both boat and equipment. The position would be backed up by three other divers with some mechanical aptitude to cover all of the club's assets.

Environmental Project

The two-year initial phase of the project was completed in 2005. The final report was sent to BSP management and to the Jubilee Trust in London for submission as an entry in the BSAC Duke of Edinburgh Prize. During the year, Steve Holyoak left BSP on transfer. His leadership of the project and his immense efforts to compile the report will be greatly missed.

The DVD that was made in 2004 was copied in Britain and 2,500 copies shipped out to Brunei. These have proved very popular and over 500 have been sold. Another 200 were presented to delegates at Brunei's First Environmental Conference in November. For the conference, a calendar was produced in A3 format with pictures taken from the project. These have also sold well and are raising money for the project.

The highlight of the year was the news that the club had won the BSAC Duke of Edinburgh Prize. Early in November, the nominated team of Doug Bell, Steve Oakley, Daz Harrison and John Elder, lead by Steve Holyoak attended Buckingham Palace where the award was presented by Prince Philip.

Finances

Year-end review of PSAC account 3442

The year beginning balance was B$6,835.70

The year-end balance is B$10,440.47

2005 has been another a busy year for PSAC with a total of B$27,234 income and B$23,629 in expenses. This has created an apparent increase on the year of B$3,605 for the year. However these figures do not take into account sums relating to fuel expenditure (no bill has been received from Panaga for 2005 fuel) and some work on the boat that was not completed in 2005. These costs are estimated to at least cancel out this apparent gain.

The graph below shows simple income and expenditure for each month of the year. The large peak in March represents the BSAC courses and subscription transactions. A large number of dives were carried out in May and June and August accounting for the peaks in income. In September the large expenditure relates mainly to the purchase of six new cylinders at a cost of B$1,560 and Dräger gas testing tubes at B$462.

The totals of B$ 27,234 income and B$ 23,629 in expenses are broken into categories as shown in the table below with comparison to 2004:

Most impressive is the increase in dive chits received for 2005 (B$11,142) over 2004 (B$9,902).

No expeditions were carried out in 2005 hence a B$ 0 for this line item.

Equipment expenditure has increased by 42%. This is due to the purchase of six new air cylinders, a lot of maintenance on the old cylinders, gas testing tubes (test for air quality from compressor), about B$2,000 on servicing of the engines, and a lot of work carried out on the boat by Justin Peer a boat officer with time on his hands! Additionally insurance costs of B$1,555 sit here also.

There is a decrease in fuel costs for 2005 (B$563) over 2004 (B$2120) that can in large be attributed to the lack of billing from Panaga for fuel in 2005.

BSAC membership has increased as there has been a large influx of PADI divers crossing over to BSAC this year. (In part attributed to the DO recruiting people). This is a strong sign of growth in the club. Training has also been solid throughout the year however no National Instructor visit took place in 2005.

Miscellaneous costs have increased due to the number of BBQ's being held by the club saying goodbye to departing committee members. There has also been good sales from the Environmental Project 'Life Beneath the Platform' that has bolstered this figure.

Year-end review of Environmental account 3830

The year beginning balance was B$17,061.

The year-end balance is B$ 4,214.

The reduction was planned and relates dominantly to the payment to ScubaZoo of the final 50% costs of the filming project B$11,314 and the payment of Prof. Steve Oakley's expenses B$12,475. Remaining monies will be spent on follow up work.

Membership

At the end of 2005, 39 divers had renewed their membership of the British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) via the Panaga branch and an additional 26 were registered as new members of BSAC. Many of the new divers have crossed over from other diving organisations, such as PADI. Total club membership stands at 66 BSAC Members. In addition to BSAC members registered through the club, any Panaga Club member who is a certified diver of BSAC Ocean Diver / PADI Advanced Open Water standard or above may join our dive trips. In practice this means that the end of year membership database contains 118 members and guests.

Socials

Two social barbecues were held, the first early in the year and the second at the end of the year to celebrate the end of the season.

Training

A very high level of training activity was carried out in 2005.

Several of our experienced divers started the 2005 dive season partially qualified, having attended theory courses during the previous closed season, now needing to complete their upgrades with the required practical training. Open water training was carried out regularly during the year and we successfully completed the qualification of seven Sport Divers and three Dive Leaders.

Five new divers completed an Ocean Diver course at the beginning of the season in March/April with open water training held locally on Chearnley Shoals.

As usual towards the end of the dive season, focus shifted towards upgrading divers' qualifications and a Sport Diver theory course was organised in September. A total of 12 Sport Diver Trainees completed the course. This was followed by a Dive Leader theory course, organised in November, which four Dive Leader Trainees completed. Open water practical training for both these higher grades will continue during the next dive season.

Cross over training sessions were organised regularly during the year, and a total of 20 divers qualified with other agencies were successfully inducted into their corresponding BSAC grade.

Two Boat Handling Courses were held in October in conjunction with the Garrison Divers, which were followed up with Diver Cox'n assessments conducted by a visiting BSAC National Council Member. Six Panaga Divers successfully completed the assessments and qualified for the Diver Cox'n award.

Equipment

2005 saw a steady replacement of the club's old AP Valves Buddy stab-jackets and Apex regulators. The stab-jackets were replaced by the more comfortable Seaquest make. During the year, the 22 cfm Hamworthy compressor showed steady signs of deterioration although the air quality was maintained to breathing air specifications. This will shortly need to be replaced or have a major overhaul. At the end of the year, the 5 cfm Bauer portable compressor was fired up and blew an oil seal. This seal is a trivial part and will be replaced. Other than the boat, a large reliable compressor is the most vital asset for a diving club.

One tank and regulator were lost during a dive. They were on the descent line as emergency air supply, however, the connection was broken during retrieval, and the equipment sank away. A search was not carried out due to the poor sea bottom visibility and the age of the equipment.

Six new cylinders were purchased from the Empire Hotel at a very good price.

Plans for 2006

This year promises to be another busy one with continued focus on training and the Platform Environmental Project.

January will see the first expedition of the year with 26 members (including four non-divers) going off to dive in Kapalai over the Chinese New Year week. This will also see completion of the Ocean Diver training course.

We will also be running Sport Diver training later in the year and Dive Leader training for those who completed the theory at the end of last year.

We also plan to run several skills development training courses throughout the year and an instruction training course with the assistance of an external BSAC National Instructor.

To ensure the future strength of the club it is vital that there are suitably qualified divers, in particular, that the potential Dive Leaders and Advanced Divers become involved in marshalling.

The dispute over the sovereignty of the offshore reefs precluded trips to Louisa.

Web Site

The web site www.panagadivers.com is updated on a regular weekly basis.