Cupar Sub Aqua Club

BSAC No 1094

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Club History

Founded in May 1979 , after the opening of Cupar Pool made diver training possible locally, by a small group of qualified B.S.A.C. divers :- 8 from the Dundee club and 3 from the [now defunct] Glenrothes club. Founding officers were - Mike Shilson [ chairman], Frank Toner [D.O.], Gordon Berry[ Secy.], George McQuitty [Treas.]. We began diving together as a club in June 1979, and had our first diving expedition based near Connal Bridge at Oban in October 1979. We began training divers in autumn 1979 with an intake of 8 new members. We had our 2nd ,more adventurous expedition to the then little dived Summer Isles , based on Tanera Mhor and using a portable compressor borrowed from the Dundee branch and a small 3-metre inflatable of Frank's.

We have been a British Sub-Aqua Club Branch from the outset ; and we have always followed their well-recognised diver training programmes and adhered to their safety standards. The aim of the founding divers was to promote safe, adventurous diving and to encourage our diver members to achieve the highest possible B.S.A.C. internationally recognised qualifications.

In both aims we have been remarkably successful :- to date, none of our divers have been lost and none have ever suffered serious injury whilst diving; and over our 23 years we have trained 15 members to Club Instructor level, 4 to Advanced Instructor and one - Clare Peddie - to the pinnacle of B.S.A.C. National Instructor and First Class Diver. Such is our national standing that we now staff some of the B.S.A.C.'s diving and instructing courses.

We dive all over Scotland - locally in the Forth estuary at the Isle of May, The Bass Rock etc and up and down the East Coast, as well as venues such as Loch Long, Loch Fyne and the wrecks of the Clyde Estuary; we have had diving expeditions to the Islands - to Islay,Mull, Skye, the Small Isles, the Summer Isles, the Outer Hebrides as well as further afield such as Orkney, St.Kilda and the Isles of Scilly.

We've also had trips abroad including Malta, Gozo, Cyprus, the Red Sea [where one of or ex-members now operates a diving school], Cuba, the Maldive Islands, the Florida Keys, the Great Barrier Reef and many more fascinating locations.

Initially we had no assets at all; we fund-raised and in 1979 took out a bank-loan of £2,600 [guaranteed by 4 of the members] to purchase a compressor so that we could refill our air cylinders, as the Sports Council were reluctant to award a grant to, or to lend to, a "new" club. They and the local council later did make small grants of a total of £600, and the Club's fundraising paid for the bulk of the purchase. Much more recently [2000] we acquired a portable compressor with the aid of a grant as well as our own funds, which extends our range to areas of Scotland where air fills are unavailable.

We have acquired over the years, by donations from members and the B.S.A.C. H.Q., our own funds, as well as grants, some sets of equipment - aqualungs, Stabjackets, a drysuit etc. which are used for training new members and are hired out to members who initially cannot afford the outlay for such equipment. The club pays for the maintainance and servicing of all this. We run regular BSAC training programmes for new divers every autumn with lectures in Elmwood College followed by pool sessions in Cupar Pool - as well as giving other people who maybe don't especially want to actually take up diving , the experience of using an aqualung in the Cupar Pool.

We help out at the Anstruther Lifeboat Gala as safety cover for their raft race every year.

We are involved in the Snapy scheme by giving youngsters a shot of aqualung use in the pool.

The year after we formed [i.e.1980] we purchased a second hand assault craft which [although far from ideal] served the club well enough for quite a few years. This was later replaced with a Sports Council grant-funded large 5-metre inflatable boat - the 50H.P. engine for which was purchased by the club members. This was superceded by the more modern and more versatile [partially grant-aided] 5.3-metre Rigid Hull Inflatable which is still in use - much improved on now with an 80H.P. motor [also bought by the members], up-to-date navigational and safety equipment of V.H.F.Radio, emergency Oxygen and First-aid Kits, Global Positioning Satellite navigation and an Echo-Depth Sounder.

The Cupar Club is a happy mix of people from all walks of life - there are no gender barriers, we have a mix of creeds and colours. We also have trained to dive people with disabilities as it is quite possible for a wheelchair user to enjoy the freedom and excitement of the underwater world.