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  December 3, 2008  
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Top reasons why you should become a member of the URG Dive Club

  1. We will be your buddy.
  2. We have low membership fees and provide great value Sydney and Regional Diving.
  3. The majority of our members are experienced divers with great local dive site knowledge.
  4. We organise local and overseas trips away with buddies you know.
  5. We have our own club boat and car and launch from conveniently located boatramps.
  6. We dive where YOU choose / like to dive.
  7. We provide opportunities to get involved in research

Our dive boat
The Club boat is a Star 5.9 metre single hull, aluminium vessel, capable of carrying eight divers and a non-diving skipper. It is powered by a Yamaha 175 hp outboard motor. The boat carries a mermaid line, cross-over line, bars and a line for safety stops, and a hooker style decompression setup for safety on deep and wreck dives. The boat carries oxygen and a large oxy-viva kit suitable for multiple divers. The towing vehicle is a 70's model Holden Statesman, also known as the purple people eater.

boatf.jpg               urgboat.jpg

Booking a Dive
Members can book onto a dive by contacting the convenor for that dive, as listed in the dive schedule. If there is no convenor listed, then contact either the Dive Officer, who is responsible for the dive schedule, or the Club President. Contact details can be found here.

Maintenance Contributions

The URG is a non-profit organisation. We levy a maintenance contribution on each dive. The current levy applies for a single dive. Please pay the dive convenor at the conclusion of the dive. A comprehensive list of club related fees can be found here.

Prepaid cards can be purchased from the dive convenor or from the President. Contact details can be found here.
 

Dive schedule

Check the current dive schedule, ring the listed dive convenor and book on a dive soon! The schedule is published up to 2 months in advance. so there is plenty of time to plan ahead and making a reservation.

 

Safe Diving Practices
S
ee the URG recommendations for safe diving. The Club actively promote safe and responsible diving. A comprehensive overview around our policy is included below:


Recommended Safe Diving Practice

DISCLAIMER
The Underwater Research Group of New South Wales (URG) is a non-profit SCUBA diving club managed by volunteers who, even if they do hold relevant professional qualifications, do not consider themselves to be acting in a professional capacity. All advice given and actions taken are done in good faith, but the committee and agents of the club (including but not limited to the committee, dive organisers, and boat captains) take no responsibility for their advice, actions or omissions, negligent or otherwise. You cannot assume any agent of the club to hold any qualification other than Open Water SCUBA Diving Certification and, in addition, a Waterways boat licence if they are the boat captain.

Your presence at any club diving activity is not in any way an endorsement of your diving skills and/or qualifications. You are wholly responsible for your own safety when diving with the club and are expected to use your own training and experience to determine whether you can safely participate in any club activity.
Any fees levied by the club are purely there to recover running costs. No member of the club is financially rewarded for their services. Should you decide that you cannot safely participate on any given activity, you will incur no charge for that activity. It is your responsibility to ensure that any equipment you use, whether you own it or not, is in working order and that it will allow you to safely participate in any club activity.
Members of the Club shall not be liable to any extent whatsoever to other Members of the Club who suffer injury or damages as a result of the intentional or negligent acts or omissions of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, or other committee members for the time being of the Club or of its Members or any or all of them.


Safe Diving Recommendations
The URG dive club has a excellent record of safe diving. The club membership contains many divers with strong training, and vast experience, who conduct dives in a safe and sensible manner. This is something of which the club can be justifiably proud. The club therefore makes the following recommendations for safe diving.

  • In order to maintain this safety record, especially with the rapid increase of diving as a sport, the introduction of new members to the club, and to stay in line with safety practices recommended by diving organizations throughout Australia, the following safety practices listed below are recommended. Compliance with these recommendations remains the responsibility of each individual diver and cannot be assumed to be monitored by the committee or any agent of the club.
  • Each diving member should have an appropriate thorough medical examination every twelve months.
  • The following list of equipment is considered to comprise the minimum essential for diving with the URG:
    a. Mask, snorkel and fins
    b. Exposure suit appropriate for expected water temperature
    c. BCD, tank and weight system (weight belt or integrated weights of correct mass)
    d. Regulator, air pressure gauge, depth gauge and timing device
    e. Gloves
    f. Dive knife
  • All first stage regulators must be equipped with an alternate air source regulator (octopus or integrated inflator regulator) as well as a primary second stage regulator and an air pressure gauge.
  • All mechanical or electronic equipment should be serviced according to the manufacturer's recommendations (usually at least once a year), to prevent incidents caused by avoidable malfunctions.
  • Tanks must be in test when used on URG sponsored dives.
  • Twin tanks are to be used by divers on deep dives, such as the Dee Why ferry, the Tuggerah and equivalent sites. (For our purposes a normal tank with a pony bottle of appropriate size attached shall be considered to be a twin tank set-up.)
  • Twin tanks must have their own independent regulator systems. This is to prevent loss of air from a malfunctioning (eg free-flowing) regulator where two tanks are joined to allow the use of one regulator system.
  • All members are encouraged to obtain or maintain current Senior First Aid qualifications (or better) and to be familiar with the use of the oxy-viva equipment on the dive boat.
  • All members are encouraged to carry safety sausages.
  • The use of dive computers is encouraged.
  • Where an incident has occurred during a dive the dive convenor must be informed, especially where it involves any missed decompression stops or insufficient time at a stop.
  • A member shall not dive beyond the limits of their experience and qualifications unless accompanied by another member of suitable experience and qualifications who is aware of the diver's situation.

A Dive Convenor shall have the right to refuse to allow a URG member or guest to dive if their equipment, training or health does not appear to be appropriate for the dive, in the interests of the safety of all divers in the dive group.

A diver, by signing the URG membership form (new member or renewal), when applying for membership, shall take full moral and legal responsibility for his or her own diving safety and agrees to dive in a manner that does not compromise the safety of others.

 

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