Hi everyone,

the whole Go Dive team is wishing everyone a wonderful New Years weekend. The forecast for the long weekend is pretty good (see below). After crazy rains last week which caused the water being quite murky, we are all back to normal again and the visibility in the water is getting better every day.

We will be open over the weekend, but closed on Jan 1. Make sure you come in today to get your airfills etc.

Looking forward to seeing you today or soon in the New Year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Lydi

Regional Forecast for Marlborough

(according to http://www.metservice.com/rural/marlborough)

Well another year has just about past, its been an eventful year for many with quite a number of Dive Club Marlborough members being effected by the Christchurch Earthquake, the arrival of new family members for some, all topped off by a very slow economy.

Good thing is that we have all survived and we are on the upside of the depression. Personally it has been a good year for the Port Gore Lermontov tours which look to gain in strength from year to year as more people utilize this amazing resource and we make on going improvements to the operation. My goal is to make the Dive Lodge and tours a world class attraction at a cost affordable to locals.

Looks like we are getting Novembers windy conditions in December, but shore it will all settle down for a long hot summer. The water temp is high at the moment and conditions are very pleasant in the water. I spent last weekend free diving over at Port Gore in my wetsuit, which felt a bit strange after so much dry diving.

Well the best for Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you in Picton sometime soon.

safe diving

Brent

Hi everyone.

I hope you are not too stressed out about christmas and are having a nice December.

I tought a PADI Open Water Diver Course with two sisters from Christchurch last week. They had a great time and did really well! Congratulations to Ruth and Rebecca! Hope to see you around for some more diving throughout the year.

Other than that, we have been quite quiet, so feel free to call up and make a booking

On the other hand, we already hav a few bookings and enquries for trips and courses in January so if you’re planning to dive at that time too, make sure to ring up or send us an e-mail to hold your spot.

One of our divers, Claire, made a video from diving the Lermontov and put it up on youtube. Check it out!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9gxvTYgiso

Still need some chrsitmas presents? The christmas special for this week is a voucher for an Open Water Diver Course for NZ$495.00 (instead of $595) (valid on scheduled weekends only. Let us know if you wanna know more about it.)

Other ideas for presents are mask, snorkel, wetsuit, other courses, underwater camera, torches…

The weather forecast (see below) isn’t the greatest for the weekend. However, it’s only rain, the winds are not too strong and the temperature is also not supposed to drop too much. So it’s still possible to come for brilliant dives for us. We are definataly going out if we get any bookings.

Have a great weekend and I hope to see you around.

Lydi

Tomorrow

Friday 17

Rain, with some heavy falls about the Sounds. Rain retreating to the Sounds and western ranges in the afternoon and fine breaks developing elsewhere. Northerlies, strong in exposed places.

 

Saturday 18

Remaining rain clearing during the morning and long fine spells developing. Northwesterly winds, strong about the Strait at first.

 

Sunday 19

Rain setting in during the morning, with heavy falls possible about the Sounds and western ranges. Northerly winds.

Hi everyone,

Brent and Tomo are out at the lodge from Fri until Tue this week, diving with a nice small group of 3 divers.
I’ll be here at the shop and we have a half day Inner Sounds Trip (2dives) going today (sat) and still have spaces for tomorrow too.

The weather forecast for the weekend is
Today (Sat)
Fine, apart from morning cloud along the Kaikoura Coast.Winds mainly light, but northeasterlies freshening along the coast this afternoon.
Tomorrow (Sun)
Mainly fine with north-westerlies. A change to cloudy southerlies in the evening.

Enjoy the festive season and make sure you get to get in the water too, between doing x-mas preparations.

Cheers
Lydi

these and others were the most used words by the SODS’ (southern ocean divers society) on their trip to our lodge in Port Gore, diving the Lermontov, putting in a nut shell the awesomeness of the trip.
They were out there for 5 days, and the weather was just perfect. Calm, sunny, etc.
The group was happy and of course the wreck was outstanding as always!
Some of the divers were on rebreathers, others on twin tanks, others on singles with slings. So they had lovely long dives and explored big parts of the wreck and are already planning their next trip
Brent was out there with Tomo, looking after them and having fun with them.
I got the chance myself to go out for a few days and had a brilliant time out there!
We also got help by Guy, a club member from CHCH, who helped us out while Tomo went for a couple of days off. Thanks Guy!
The next Group arrived already, so Brent and Guy stayed out there and Tomo is back now too, whereas I am back in the shop in Picton.

So we have been nice and busy as you can see, have great groups and excellent trips going at the moment.
We still have heaps of space left in December though, so don’t hesitate to give us a call and make a booking.

(More photos will be uploaded to the blog soon, check our facebook profile Go Dive Marlborough for more pics and info too)

Have a great week everyone, take care and stay safe!

Lydi

Hi everyone,
it’s Lydi here. Brent is out at the lodge at the moment.

This weekend we will have between 2 and 6 people staying out at the lodge every day, with different people arriving and leaving each day.
On Sunday a group of six from various places will be arriving to do a week of diving the Lermontov. Tomo will be looking after them, cooking them amazing food and helping with the diving and both Nine and Brent will be out there at times, taking the divers out the the wreck and maybe some other sites in the area.
I will be at the shop, doing local dives and training, etc.

Weather forecast:
Friday:
Mainly fine with high cloud, but afternoon cloud build-ups about the inland ranges. Northwesterlies about the Sounds,lighter winds elsewhere.
Saturday:
Fine at first with northwesterlies. Southerlies and rain setting in early afternoon.
Sunday:
Occasional rain, easing to showers towards evening.Southerlies, freshening in the afternoon.

Weekend special: MINIWAVE 2- UNDERWATER TORCH
This compact, lightweight and easy to operate dive torch is ideal for adventurous divers. Bring absorbed light back and see beautiful colours at depth or look into wrecks, caves and crevices.perfect as primary light.
Dual Filament,multi output xenon bulb
Power: 3 - 5.8 Watts, 80 Lumens
Batteries: 4 C-cell batteries included
Reflector: focused wide beam
Burn time: 4-5 hours high beam; 8-10hours low beam
special deal this week: $149.00
—– call or e-mail or comment for any enquiries

Have a great weekend,

cheers Lydi

The weather was beautiful today over here in Picton and in the rest of the Marlborough Sounds.
Saturday is forecasted as fine and warm. Northwesterlies, strong in exposed places.
Sunday should be fine at first, with strong gusty northwesterlies about the Sounds. Cool southerlies spreading from the south from afternoon with a period of rain, then coastal showers.

We have a group of three divers, along with Brent and Tomo out at the lodge over the weekend and I am in the shop in Picton doing an Open Water Diver Course.

If you want to go diving on the weekend, we still have spots available for Sunday, doing an Inner Sounds Trip (half day, $185 icl rental kit).

Have a great weekend everyone!
Hope to see you underwater

Lydi

The lodge is fully booked out for the weekend with 7 divers from the Nelson Underwater Club, a diver from Wellington and a backpacker from Israel.
The weather forecast for the weekend is quite rough with a Southeasterly coming up. There is a storm warning for the cook straight with up to 50 knots winds on Sat night, and easing to 30knots on Sunday evening.
We are still going to go out, however everyone who wants to pull out and go diving in calmer and easier conditions can postpone the trip with no extra charge.
If anyone wants to go diving in Picton on the weekend, we have shore dives available and are still doing the refresher course for $100.00 instead of $149.00. The refresher course includes an orientation on the equipment and dive procedures, a dive brief, we do skills in the shallow water off the beach and then go for a nice and easy dive.
It’s perfect to refresh your skills for the summer and get back into it.
Weekend special: Intova Digital Camera with Underwater Housing. $300
For more details call me on 0800 GoDive or e-mail to info@godive.co.nz

Have a great weekend!

Lydi

Last weekend was a great weekend at Port Gore.
At the moment there is a group of 8 who made their way all the way from America to stay at our peaceful and remote dive lodge in Port Gore and dive the Lermontov and other sites, most of them using rebreathers. They are lucky enough to stay out there for a whole week.
Brent and Tomo are still out at the Lodge, having fun.
I am looking forward to hear the full report, however here are the highlights from the first two day of their trip so far:
The group was still jet lacked from a 30hour travel on Sat, so enjoyed the serenity of the lodge and relaxed.
Everyone went for several dives on Sun, some did very long deco dives and everyone was blown away by the awesomeness of the wreck.
They are all more than excited to get back into the water everyday of this week now!

And here is a quick note from my side from the shop in Picton:
This week I have a special deal for everyone who would like to refresh their dive skills for the summer:
Do a refresher course to get back into shape under water.
Call me at 0800 GoDive or e-mail me for more info.

Have a good start of the week!

Lydi

PS: don’t be shy to comment on Tomo’s hat poll (see below)

Welcome to Lydia and Tomo, Go Dive Marlborough’s new staff members.

Tomo is permanently based out at the Lermontov Lodge in Port Gore as chief cook and bottle washer, also to help with air fills, blending, barge work and dive guiding. Tomo who is from Nelson, is a qualified engineer and sparky so a good man to have around in such a remote location. Tomo is looking forward to looking after guests and welcomes comments about his hat. Which will make a special appearance on a blog in the near future.

TOMO DIVE LODGE MANAGER

Lydia who is from Germany, has been traveling the world diving in such areas as Aussie and Thailand.  Lydia is managing our Go Dive shop in High Street Picton and handling all the training from Discover Scuba Diver to Rescue. As well as looking after the shop and training, Lydia will be regularly updating the blog, Facebook and looking after Club membership and members.

LYDIA KEPPLER GO DIVE INSTRUCTOR AND SHOP MANAGER

Any one wanting become a Go Dive friend on facebook, click on the Facebook icon on our home page and join-up. Go Dive Marlborough is our Face book name.

For those who are looking at getting wet this coming weekend, the weather is settled and the vis is very, very good, the Long Island marine reserve is around 20 metres and the Lermontov about the same. I have a 9 day stint out at he Lodge with international and local groups over the next week or two, so Lydi will be handling the blogs for a while.

safe diving

 Brent

Go Dive