Based in Brighton, we operate one of the UK`s finest workboats which can also take you out for diving, sea angling, deep sea fishing or for an enjoyable party trip from Brighton Marina. ``Girl Gray`` has comfort, speed, functionality and, above all, safety. Click on the buttons to the left to see our range of services: there will be some activity which you can enjoy or use at sea with us. The boat can easily take wheelchairs. Girl Gray is a fully licensed workboat for MCA area 2. Girl Gray, powered by twin Caterpillar turbo charged diesels, is an Aquastar 43. She is one of the biggest and best equipped charter boats in the Brighton fleet. The design has been arranged to offer the maximum comfort, safety and functionality for passengers. She has:- A cabin on deck with seating for 10 passengers - sit in comfort and the dry as we cruise out. A proper WC in a compartment at main deck level. All the latest electronics to get the job done. Walk on boarding through transom gates that can even take a wheelchair and make loading easy for divers. Serve yourself tea or coffee all day or use the drinks dispenser for your own bevvy. Certification by Bureau Veritas, a leading Classification Society, for 12 passengers to 60 nautical miles offshore. A maximum speed of 22 knots with a 14 knot cruise. Maintenance only carried out by professional engineers. Our Licensed Skippers: Steve Pollard is a retired professional diver and naval clearance diver who is at home with looking after the complexities of modern recreational diving. Steve is also a keen angler. Mike Snelling, a chartered engineer, has been a skipper working out of Brighton for over 30 years and knows the marks and wrecks as well as anyone. What we offer: 43 ft boat for up to 12 divers and their gear. Easy entry and recovery through deck doors. Effortless recovery by electric lift. Drive your car right up to the boat to load/unload. Kitting up stations for 10. Seating in deck shelter and cabin for changing. Wide wreck database and DGPS navigation. BOC Marineline O2 system available on board (see below). PLB(EPIRB) location system. Audio recall and underwater PA system. 60 mile license, insurance and full safety gear. All our skippers were RN divers (one a CD, the other an SD). Hot drinks on self service throughout the day. Hot snack meal between dives. Hot showers back at the berth. Our normal dive plan is a ``deep`` dive on a wreck at slack water followed by a drift dive on a reef during the tide. You choose the wreck in relation to depth and your divers experience - mid Channel to inshore. We can send you data on a selection of wrecks to help you plan in advance. If you are looking for a different day, a training session for instance, then we can easily meet your requirements. A days diving, including a wreck within 15 nautical miles of Brighton, is �360 for the boat. For more distant wrecks a surcharge of �5 per mile radius beyond 15. We cannot offer half days but we can offer a short mid week evening dive during the Summer from about 1700 for �60 per hour. We ask for a deposit of �80 to confirm a booking. If the weather is foul on the day this can be refunded or transferred to another date as you prefer. Safety during diving is our prime consideration. The boat has all the necessary and relevant safety equipment. However, to carry out all the actions necessary in the unlikely event of a diving accident, it is essential that there is always a competent adult onboard available to assist the skipper, if working as single crew, when all the divers are in the water. To this end we may ask clubs and groups to bring with them a ``helper``, ideally trained in first aid. In the absence of such an assistant we will require one diver to remain onboard during each dive.
Location description: Our boat normally carries a BOC Marineline O2 system and spare cylinder. However, we encourage divers to bring their own O2 system with which they are familiar so that, if it is needed, they can treat a casualty. The Skipper will probably be very busy arranging evacuation and liaising with the Coastguard. How about a diving holiday which all the family can enjoy without having to go to sea, which is close to home with good European accommodation, excellent food and is easy to get to? Interested? Then dive Normandie with a difference. Come over to Courseulles for a few days and dive the D-Day wrecks from Girl Gray but without having to rattle to and fro across the Channel in a charter boat. Dive the day and soak up the ambiance in the evening. Courseulles is a typical French seaside holiday town with a good harbour and marina, plenty of hotels, some excellent restaurants and is just a few minutes drive from the ferry terminal at Ouistreham served by both P&O fast ferries and Brittany ferries luxury ships from Portsmouth. It is at the East end of the Normandy Beaches and offers great access to all the D-Day wrecks. Ashore you have all the usual French run of shops, markets, beaches and museums. What I am aiming at is a pleasant holiday break, not just for divers, but for wives/boyfriends and any other non-diving accoutrements. You come over on the ferry to Dieppe or drive down from the Chunnel (Portsmouth-Caen is closer but more expensive). Either way you have wheels so no gear lugging and something for non-divers to go out in during the day. You can never get stranded if the weather blows up the day you are due to go home. We are negotiating a discount with Transmanche, the Newhaven/Dieppe ferry operator.. The diving is ``English Channel`` but normally quite good vis, a bit warmer and no great depth - bring your own shovel if you want more than 30m. We get air (not Nitrox or trimix) from the Courseulles Societe de Plongeurs. Some tides we will get two dives a day and some just one. What does it cost? You get the boat for �450 per day. You can book your own travel and accommodation. Sometimes we can book accommodation for you but confirmation and payment of deposits are your responsibility. So that will cost what you want to set your sights on according to stars on the hotel and your chosen travel route. I have brochures which I can send you and the rest is up to you. Book early for 2006. We can also arrange a four day package from UK with a dive on the way over and back and three dives whilst over there
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