New boat marks significant upgrade for AU Scuba Diving Club

Adelaide University Scuba Diving Club unveiled their brand new boat at their West Beach Recreation Hub facility on Thursday 11 December - the culmination of months of intensive work and "hundreds upon hundreds" of volunteer hours.

A custom-built Highfield Patrol 760, the boat represents a significant upgrade for the club and provides them the ability to run more frequent and larger scale diving trips, and furthers their commitment to safe, accessible, high-quality diving experiences for students and the wider community.

The Patrol 760 is a powerful long-range boat pairing significant storage and functionality, and is able to cope with challenging conditions safely and comfortably. The club's addition of an integrated full-length canopy provides additional protection from the sun.

The aluminium RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) hull replaces the previous boat's fibreglass shell - and is better suited to not only the weight demands of a scuba diving crew, but also has the added benefits of resisting structural cracks and chips from impact, providing better support for tank racks, and requiring less long-term maintenance. Measuring 7.6 metres long and 2.8 metres wide, AU Scuba Club President Jade Bruggeling points out that the boat is "significantly bigger than our old boat. It's suitably attired for our club, and we're not going to be the last snail in the race to get out to the dive site. It'll be a nice, smooth operation."

The club utilised multiple streams of funding to pay for the boat - including their own funds, the sale of their previous boat and parts, lending of the boat to the Club Marine SA Boat and Fishing Show during October prior to accepting delivery, and InSync and PowerUp grants and a loan from Adelaide University Sport and Fitness. Bruggeling stated that "the project came in on budget, and had a variance of less than one per cent from initial quotes. The club has succeeded in delivery of a cornerstone project that will be the core asset of the club for the next 10 years - at least."

Want to try out scuba diving and the club's new boat? Get certified with help from the AU Scuba Diving Club in no time at all - "the Open Water Course is the first level most divers will obtain when learning to dive and will teach you to dive up to 18 meters, which is the depth the majority of the dives are with the club. Courses are usually held over one or two weekends, and involve theory components, pool time and dives in the ocean."

Check out AU Scuba at their website and on their Instagram for more information.