Bishop Auckland Sub-Aqua Club social events……..Always an excuse to get pleasantly drunk and have a laugh! 

The club planned to have a weekend of diving on the Farne Islands, it was arranged that the club would take both of our boats out and the people with private boats would come along too.  Afterwards we would have a barbecue on the beach at Beadnell. The whole group (about 20+) would assemble on the beach with barbecues; we would light a bonfire and have a bit of a social.  We met on the Saturday morning and went out to the Farnes, and had some great dives amongst the islands. 

After we had got back from the day’s diving, sorted our kit for the next day, filled in log books, and got showered and changed it was time to head out off to the Beach.  Our barbecue is the leviathan of home barbecues! I had the task of carrying it down the beach and it was a killer lifting it over the fences and carrying it down the sand dunes. 

We were the first to arrive on the beach around 6pm, soon the mass hordes of Bishop Auckland Sub Aqua Club arrived and the party was in full swing.  Everyone commented on our mammoth barbecue, and its similarity to the Russian satellite Sputnik!  However our barbecued food was hot, cooked and free from tiny particles of quartz, soon people did not laugh so loud and they were sneaking the odd burger and sausage on our barbecue.  

It was a fantastic night as all our club do’s are, everyone shared their food and beer, and we shared our barbecue! I spent most of the night talking amongst the club members, discussing different issues and aspects of diving.  My Dad - Neil had the task of driving home so he stuck to soft drinks all night – poor soul.  As we were all diving the next day we did not get too inebriated.  The party went on until 11pm; we then decided to go back to the retreats of our warm caravans.  Before we left we made sure the beach was clear and no rubbish was left behind – as divers we always respect our environment.  I checked the BBQ was cool enough to lift, then started to carry in back our car when I stumbled on the sand dunes, I fell and the barbecue was on top of me, I was the last one on the beach.  Thankfully in true buddy style (must be the good training we had) it was noticed that I was missing and I was helped back to my feet.  My back was in agony, but I carried the offending barbecue (now slightly dented) back to the car, ready for our next BBQ!