Various Dive Reports.

Dover dive By Caroline

On Sunday the 8th of August 2004 we made our way to Samphire Hoe near Dover in Kent.  Samphire Hoe is a man made reef formed from the soil and rocks that were removed to construct the channel tunnel.  There are good parking facilities and a cafe on site.  Diving from the Hoe is very restricted and unless you get special permission it would be a very long walk with your equipment.  There were 10 of us diving all together and I was buddied with Ted a very experienced Seasearch diver and exceptionally good at recognising marine life.
We entered the water at exactly 16.08 perfect timing for high water slack, we did not want this to end as a drift dive to France!!  The entry is all pebbles and very similar to Chesil Beach so walking is quite interesting.  Once in the water we headed out, Ted with his video and me with the SMB.  Underwater it was a mixture of sand, pebbles, rock and some huge chalk boulders with viz. around the 4 meter mark.  We did manage to see a wide variety of life amongst the kelp and sea lettuce seaweed.  We managed to spot; Shannies, Sand Gobies, Grey Top Snails, Corkwing Wrasse, Shrimps and even a Dover Sole.  Again a very enjoyable hour dive.  I would dive here again especially with the fantastic weather we are having.
Word of warning:- We had special permission to dive, don't just head down there for a dive as the likelihood is you will be refused permission to dive.


Marsa Alam


June/July 2004
Marsa Alam is situated in the southernmost part of the Egyptian Red Sea.  There are now direct flights from Gatwick with Excel Airlines.  Excel have an excellent luggage policy and allow divers an extra 10Kg.  We landed at 9pm on Thursday after a great flight that was full of divers.  The arrivals hall was the normal melee that you find in Egypt as people tried to get their entry visa stamps.  Once that was sorted we went through and collected our baggage then a short wait outside for our private coach.  We arrived at the Sol Y Mar which was to be our base for the next week.  Accommodation was at the far end of the complex next to the Emperor Divers dive school.  Friday morning up early for breakfast and then over to the school for our dive briefings.  We had the normal paperwork to sort out and we were introduced to our guides for the week.  We had Osama as well as Joe who is also the centre manager.  We has a bit of a kit sort out and then onto the minibus for the short transfer to the marina in Marsa Alam.  The diving was to be via a day boat the excellent Emperor Amy.  We have dived from her on many occasions from Hurghada but now she lives at Marsa Alam so it was like meeting an old friend.  Over the course of the week we did 14 dives including the famous Elphinstone reef, Shaab Samadi (Dolphin reef) as well as a couple of shore dives to see the elusive Marsa Alam Dugong.  During our stay we saw Sharks, Dolphins, Turtles and a whole host of other fish and marine life.  During two of our night dives we even found a Spanish Dancer on the house reef. This was a fantastic holiday and I can not wait to go back in September and October.


Swanage dive

On Saturday the 19th of June 2004 we found ourselves just outside Swanage in Dorset.  We were at Leeson House doing a marine life identification course.  The morning in the classroom involved finding out about underwater creatures and how to identify them, is it plant or animal?  
In the afternoon we all made our way to Swanage pier for the diving.  I was lucky enough to park actually on the pier which made carrying equipment much better!  The entry into the water was a giant stride from about halfway along the pier and is about 3 meters.  Having safely landed in the water we all headed off under the Pier to see what marine life we could discover and identify.  There were dragonets, huge edible crabs, light bulb sea squirts, candy strip flatworms.  
On the Sunday it was back to the classroom to finish off the academics for the course.  he afternoon dive was at Kimerage and was the first time I had been back there for years. mIt was a fabulous hour dive although not as much diverse marine life as Swanage.  We had several flatfish, crabs, topnots and loads of kelp.  What a great weekends diving!


Scapa 2003
This was so special that it has it's own page. Click here

Manatees

Think of Florida diving and a number of things might come to mind. The Keys of course, for coral and wrecks; next you might think of the area around Fort Lauderdale for more adventurous wreck diving; then central Florida for caves. But move west and north a bit to Citrus County and something different is on offer. The Gulf waters here are shallow - 30 to 60 miles from shore you might just be able to stand head above the waves (OK, not quite), so sea diving is limited but inland there are some attractions along two rivers, the Crystal and the Homosassa. Crystal River is about 80 miles north of Tampa.
These rivers are warm in the colder winter months, with the inflow of vast quantities of spring water, and this warmth attracts manatees. Manatees, if you don't know them, are the large, friendly and endangered marine mammals also known as sea cows (they are herbivores!,) and just possibly the largest marine mammal you could ever have a chance to interact with. This area of Citrus County may be the only place you can do that interacting. In most areas where manatees occur any interaction is strictly forbidden. Here years of strict conservation measures and enforcement of regulations on interactions have found no detrimental problems with personal interaction. So snorkelling / swimming with them is acceptable as an educational (to us humans) endeavour.
Requirements: Swimwear. Snorkel and fins useful, light wetsuit suggested. Nearly anyone can participate (no need to even swim, so open to the whole family). Water temperature is 25°C but you can be in the water a long time, hence a 3 to 5 mm wetsuit.
What happens: The manatees are free-roaming, looking for food over many miles of waterways which meander through both built up and "natural" areas. In the evenings, as it becomes cooler, they congregate at known warm spring heads for the nights. The tour and other boats will try and find them at these locations in the early morning before they again disperse to feed. If not found, or if a bit late, the boats go looking in other likely areas. Once seen, anyone on the boat was welcome to quietly slip into the water at a short distance away and quietly swim near to them. Then it became the manatees option to come and inspect us, which usually they did.
Interactions were personal and very real! A manatee, maybe all 3 m and 1000 + kg, would come and nuzzle up wanting to be scratched. If you obliged and gave them a good scratch, particularly under the front flippers, they would want more and more, moving a metre away then back, rolling over on their side or back, nudging you from the other side. Its almost embarrassing how a 1 ton animal can be so graceful and controlled in the water compared to us, but you'll see it and feel it as they stop next to you, on their side, and lift a flipper for one final scratch before heading back to feeding.
This might be a point to make a comment about the boats generally used for the manatee watching and for at least some of the diving. If you're used to British style RIBs or Red Sea style vessels, the boats used here on calm shallow rivers are a bit different, more like flat pontoons with an outboard. Easy to board, just not elegant!
Yes this was great fun and educational. Everyone I talked to enjoyed it tremendously.
We dived with Birds Underwater based in Crystal River they offer a variety of such encounters. Crystal River has many boats all touting for this tourist trade of manatee watching, but many will only have this, while Birds Underwater goes on to offer diving as well.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue trip By Rod

On Saturday the 12th of January 2002 twenty divers Divers attended a Marine Mammal Medic course.  The day was held at Bewl Water in Kent.  At the final count there were a total of 87 participants including 12 from the Coastguard.  This was the largest Marine Mammal Medic course that BDLMR had ever run.  There was a lot of media interest, and film crews from the BBC, South Today and London Weekend Television as well as several local Kent papers were there.  The course was originally arranged and set up with BDMLR by in September 2001.  The course trained participants to help stranded Whales, Dolphins and Seals around the coast of Britain.  As divers we could well be the first on the scene of a stranded marine mammal and are therefore a vital link.

The day was split into two halves.
The morning lecture session.
This session started at 10.00am with an introductory talk from one of the directors.  The other directors then gave two lectures.  The first lecture was on seal biology, first aid and rescue techniques. The second was on Cetacean biology, first aid and rescue techniques.
The afternoon practical session.
This started at 1400 and was held at the waters edge. Delegates brought along drysuits but there were a hardy (or foolish) few who wore wetsuits.  We learned the best practical methods for looking after and re-floating stranded Whales and Dolphins as well as how to catch and examine a seal.
The course finished when everyone had completed each of the modules, and were completely freezing.  Although the day had started fine and sunny the water was 4°C and thick fog rolled in for the afternoon practical session.  A final de-briefing was held where reference books, certificates and badges are handed out to successful delegates.

BDLMR are one of the worthy projects supported by Project Aware and the imitation Dolphin being rescued was called PADI !

In case you are unfamiliar with BDMLR it is a registered charity and was formed in 1988 in response to the mass mortality of Harbour seals in the Wash area of East Anglia.   From these early beginnings, when a few like minded divers got together to help marine wildlife, a committed 24 hr rescue service has grown.  BDMLR now train over 300 Marine Mammal Medics a year and have 12 whale rescue pontoons located at strategic points throughout the UK waiting to help stranded whales and dolphins.  They have three Rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) one in the South of England, one in the Midlands and one in the far North of Scotland.  Their teams are on standby to respond immediately to any marine disaster or marine mammal stranding anywhere in the UK.  Their rescue RIBs can be on site anywhere in the UK within 24hrs
 

Night dive at Stoney by Tim

"Is it always this busy for a night session?", we asked the Nice Lady as we analysed our mixes at the fill station: "Busy?", she replied "....this is quiet."

For those who routinely brave the weekend diving at Stoney, with the inhumane early starts and frustrating queues for the parking spaces, weekday dives are a revelation: there is always space at the water's edge and a civilized, unhurried atmosphere pervades. As Rob and I drove up the M1 we were hoping for similar conditions for the evening session - how wrong we could be. Instead, as we crawled into the lower car park, usually half empty, we surveyed row upon row of cars disgorging shadowy divers, all quietly loitering prior to the 6pm start. Luckily, however, we got the prime parking spot - right next to the bus stop steps.

Kiting up in near darkness is good fun, especially when most of your stuff is matt black. The floodlights were on but being at the back of the car park, their beams couldn't quite reach us - instead we had to break out the torches to keep track of those bits and pieces which kept disappearing into the tarmac. Somehow we managed to get everything together and with a few moments to spare before the gate was unlocked we discussed the plan.

Last time we were here during the day we had a great dive around the right hand side of the cove (looking out from the bus stop) - a gentle swim down the 'road' to the shallow hydrobox following the wall round past the aircraft, Range Rover and transit van. On the way we spied the biggest carp in the pond and just at the end of the dive what must surely have been the biggest pike. Its an atmospheric, scenic and varied route at around 24m depth, so we decided to see what it looked like at night.

We wondered about phosphorescence - the eerie glow given off by luminescent algae in more tropical waters when the organisms are agitated. On night dives in the Red Sea I had seen divers completed surrounded by a greenish aura as they moved through the water, and passing your hand in front of your mask allowed a close-up view of the soft light given off by these miniature, living lamps. We doubted that this could occur in the cold waters of a Midlands quarry but looking down on the black water from the car park as other divers scanned with their torches below the surface we might have been forgiven for thinking that indeed, phosphorescence was happening in Stoney...

So in we jumped and quickly descended - carrying enough candlepower to illuminate the M25: Rob had his dual bulb lantern, a 4 cell torch and a further mask light while I had my umbilical light and two 3 cell backup torches - we weren't going to be caught short.

The swim out was gentle and smooth, gliding down the road to the 24m ledge with the wall to our right, across debris and jagged ledges, past dozing perch and over defensive crayfish, further into the inky black. Silt had been kicked up in places by a preceding group of divers but overall the visibility seemed only limited to the penetration of our lights. Maybe for this reason we missed the aircraft which sits at the base of the wall - we were moving over the silty ledge too far from it. We eventually found the boat, however, and while Rob probed around happily with his lantern I had a minor buoyancy disaster which sent me rising upwards a fair few metres before I got it controlled. From this less than ideal vantage point above the boat I realised how much ambient light was available. I could clearly see Rob's fins and the rocks behind him - it wasn't my lamp or his torch, which was pointing in the opposite direction. My eyes were obviously in 'night vision' mode but I was amazed to be able to see so much so clearly.

Having collected myself and rejoined Rob, we continued on just short of our 'turn' time, eventually reaching the transit van. At this point we retraced our swim skirting the 36m drop off ledge, wall on our left, and back to the road where a large group of divers were descending our way with torches like light sabres piercing the dark in front of us: quite a sight.

The second dive was planned to take in the Stanegarth before heading towards the 7m shelf but with my navigation what it is, the actual route took us around some rarely seen 'attractions' and into the path of a very big fish......

Dropping over the ledge in front of the cockpit, we found the 20m plateau and scanned around for the anchor chain which leads out to the wreck. I noticed Rob's rapid side-to-side signal and followed the circle of light from his torch to our target, lying on the bottom in the silt. We finned gently out along its length - a curiously short journey - until it rose abruptly up to the hull of the Stanegarth. Looking quickly around we were the only divers there, for now at least. We toured the decks and peered through the portholes into the even darker darkness of the hold and dropped down to the propellor.

Through the gloom we came face-to-face with a trio of helmeted divers festooned with lights who were obviously intent on getting as close to the props as they could, cutting right across our path and forcing us to stop or evade. I took a deep breath and rose over them, laughing at the stupidity of having torches placed precisely where they would blind your buddy if you were to look at his face - maybe that's why they didn't seem to notice us. We quickly left them behind on our circuit of the boat before leaving from the stern.

As we crossed the silty plateau it struck me that taking a light on any dive, day or night, has potential benefits. For one, there is the illumination of dark corners and seeing something colourful in a more vibrant light than the green/blue of water. Perhaps most beneficial is the improved buddy contact: with a torch beam you can see instantly where your buddy is, and the beams movement can give you a confirmation of his/her state. Even the regular torch signals (there are really only two: the 'OK' circle and the side-to-side 'attention') can be used to check your buddy on the fly without looking at him/her. You can tell where he/she is looking because the eye will follow the light: aiming your own beam close to  your buddy's will guarantee a response. Rob and I had got into this pattern, only using hand signals for navigation, which by now was quite frequent....

We'd reached the dismembered white door of the transit van lying at the bottom of the wall up to the 7m shelf. I knew the rest of the vehicle was nearby and led back to the Wessex helicopter. So, facing the wall, we turned left. Over and through the masses of debris which, in the torch light, looked completely new even though we'd seen it in daylight many times. Suddenly, as I scanned through some scaffolding I saw a long, lean pike resting inches off the bottom. I signalled Rob and we focussed both lamps on the the fish which, disturbed by the floodlights, was now rising between us. Up he came, closer and closer to my mask - he was a big old boy - giving me an excellent view of his fangs. I honestly thought he was going to go for me but at the last minute, he veered away towards Rob and rose over his tank into the darkness above us.

I let out a big bubble of relief - I'd never live down getting bitten on the nose by a Stoney pike - before we moved on over the rocks and metal of the debris field. We eventually found the Wessex sitting spookily in the darkness, ripped to bits by the 'wreckers' for everyone's benefit (compare this 'attraction' with its near intact counterpart in Horsea) before leaving the skeletal remains on our wayward journey back to the bus stop. We went the long route to the road (again) before making our way up the slope. If it weren't for Rob's directional instincts, my torch nearing its burn time and our depleted gas supply, we would have happily continued on down the route of our first dive again.

We quickly de-kitted and agreed that these two dives were the best either of us had done at Stoney. The scenery takes on a magical mystery due to the limited scope of the torch beams. You end up looking harder at things while seeing less in the darkness: your vision becomes literally focussed in the torch light so that the familiar (rock, debris, fish etc.) becomes fantastic. Its ideal for those who might have become jaded with what Stoney has to offer.

Night diving session are scheduled for the first and third Wednesdays of every month - within minutes of surfacing, Rob and I were planning a return visit.
 

Farne Islands 2001 By Rod

Caroline and I arrived several hours before everybody else as we had stopped over at the outlaws on the way up.  We booked into the Longstone Hotel and then went for a wander around the town and quayside.  The weather was not very promising with North Westerly winds bringing heavy showers but this did mean the sea was quite flat and calm.

After the statuary afternoon nap we went off to find everyone else.  Most of the group were split between ‘The Lodge’ and Southfield House opposite which are both owned by the Sovereign group who we were diving with.  The first people we saw were Julie (our illustrious organizer), Lee and Steve.  Lee had borrowed a diesel estate so the three of them could cram them and their dive gear in.  Julie looked rather tired (slept most of the way), Lee looked like an excited puppy and Steve looked terrified (Julie had done some driving).

Into the Bar at the lodge and half of the gang were there having a quiet drink!!  Dottie had arranged for us all to go for a meal at Longstone hotel at 7.30.  After a few drinks we went back to warn the Hotel they would now have 20 divers for a meal.  7.30 came and went still no sign of the others so we had to let our table go to another group.  By 8 o'clock everybody turned up and by nine we were all tucking into some fantastic meals.  A few late drinks then off to bed.

Saturday dawned quite bright but overcast and we all met up at the harbour.  Equipment was set up, boats were loaded and we were off.  We booked two boats this year and whichever hotel you stayed, that was your boat.  We were quite lucky to have a non diving Jack on our boat to help us in and out of the water.  The first dive was to be a wall dive at a max. of 29 meters.  Just as we started kiting up the heavens opened and it chucked it down, not a good start.  Buddies were paired up and off we went.  I was buddied with Michael; Jacks lad and we dropped down without any problems although our surface cover was kept busy with people that bobbed up, snorted water etc.  Under water people were busy sorting themselves out and replacing cylinders that had fallen out of cam bands.  Michael and I swam along keeping the wall on our LEFT, that is the side without the watch!

During the dive we saw wonderful dead mans fingers, anemones and a vast number of starfish.  The highlight of this dive was when Michael pointed out an octopus and we spent quite some time watching and playing with it.  Allowable bottom time was soon over and up we went to the boat.  Julie and Kevin had not managed to get down and dive but everyone else has a great time and now the sun was shining.

We spent the surface interval seal watching and Julie and Kevin had a dive in close with the seals to make up for the first missed dive.  Our Second dive was again a scenic dive along a vast rock face with fantastic aquatic life.  I have never seen so many starfish and urchins in one place.  Michael and I explored all the nooks and crannies finding squat lobster, edible crabs and Ballen wrasse.  Our 40-minute allowable dive time came up far too soon so back onto the boat.  Sarah and Tim had been buzzed by seals and were chatting very excitedly.  By now I was feeling quite chilly due to the amount of water in my drysuit, as waterproof as a bloody tea bag.  The rain stayed off until we got back to the harbour entrance when it checked it down again.

Evening meal at the Lodge, a few quiet drinks then off to bed.

Sunday morning it had rained all night and the wind had swung around from the North, oh dear it is going to be lumpy I thought.

Breakfast, harbour, kit up, load boats out to harbour entrance and yes it is lumpy, very lumpy.  Julie and Kevin visibly blanched and off we went.  The waves were breaking over the cabin on the boat and the wind was blowing a force 6.  The skipper dropped the shot on another scenic dive and briefed us there may be a little bit of tide.  Sarah and Tim dropped down the shot first followed by me and Michael, Roger and Chris and finally Carol and Dottie, Julie and Kevin were sitting this one out.  I got to the bottom and waited for Michael.  I could see the shot line being dragged along the bottom in the tide at quite a rate.  Just as Roger joined me, my buddy was about 20 yards away holding onto the shot line as it disappeared upwards.  Back to the surface to re-unite and we were about 200 yards from where we had been dropped in.  Michael was with Carol and Dottie about another 200 yards further, a ‘bit of tide’, hmm.  Roger and I then buddied up and dropped back in for a pleasant 40 minutes swim around the rocks.  The other boats skipper had seen our problems and decided against a shot line and put his divers in very close to the wall.  They definitely had the best dive with Melvin and Richard transfixed by literally hundreds of Guillemots diving under the water with them.  It is quite a sight seeing birds underwater flapping their wings at 20 meters.  We had a two and a half hour surface interval in the lee of one of the islands, the sun was shining but there was a bitter wind.

The final dive was the best it was the same location as the second dive the day before but on the rocks above hundreds of seals had gathered, playtime!  Michael and I had a 45 minute dive and saw loads of seals but none of them came very close, they obviously thought ‘Orcas’ and left!  Dottie found some seals asleep on the bottom and played and rolled around with them.  Julie and Kevin got so excited with the seals they completely lost buoyancy control and surfaced too close to the rocks giving the skipper and Jack quite a turn.  Tim and Sarah spent over an hour playing with the seals and photographing them.  Caroline and Lee were buzzed, then chased and finally attacked by man eating killer seals.  When they popped up on the surface you could hear their blood curdling shrieks and as they got onto the boat I could hear such profanities they would have make a sailor blush.  It seems that one of the playful seals had tugged at their fins and then chased them, as they did not want to play anymore.  Still they have got very sharp teeth and are really quite large close up.

The trip back was filled with excited voices reliving every moment of the dive over and over.  Caroline admits this was the best dive she has ever done.

Shower, afternoon nap and a big, blow-out meal finished off a wonderful day.  In the pub we huddled around Jacks video reliving the exploits of ‘attack of the killer seals’.  Jenni was completely converted to UK diving, Derrick showed everybody his one handed bowline and everybody drank far too much.

What a wonderful weekend again, thanks Julie, anyone for next year?

Rod
 

THE FARNE ISLES By Jack Hollands

'A VIEW FROM THE BOAT'
(Names omitted or changed to protect the shy and retiring)

Saturday 9/6/01
With the sea flat calm and the sun shinning we slowly made our way out to the first site of the day.  Our skipper, Andy, had decided that it would be best to let the numerous other boats finish so that we had a good choice of sites without being crowded.
Near the site the kiting up began just at the time a heavy shower started.  Feeling obliged to help, it is now I wish for wellies and waterproof trousers.  Shotline in, divers in, Andy and I sit back expecting a 30 minute rest before having to retrieve everybody.  We notice two having problems descending but off they go so we sit back.  Up they come again and they want back on board.  One has treated the  sea water like cocaine and snorted a load of it.  Not only does it not have the same effect, it also does nothing to cure the already seasick feeling.  Having heaved them back aboard, (they couldn'tbe convinced to go back down and give us some peace) we can now sit back.
Slowly but surely the others surface and are picked up.  This is the second time I wish for wellies and waterproofs as the water from the fins as I help them off and the general dripping of the gear soaks my feet and jeans.  The sun is now shining and remained so for the rest of the day at sea.
Everybody aboard, Andy takes the boat to some rocks with seals on so that the lightweight and sea snorting buddies can get a dive in.  Once back on board we slowly travel to the second site with the possibility of seals.

During the break photos are taken and it is now that we learn that with the absence of hair gel, sea water can produce the perfect hairstyle in its place.

Everybody booted and suited, off they go leaving us some time to relax at last and plunder a certain persons food.  It never ceased to amaze me that she never noticed how her food diminished while in the water.  Soon, to soon, divers pop up and are retrieved complete with bags of sea urchin shells.  Only a few have seen seals, but this is set to change tomorrow.
All aboard, we head back to Seahouses and the rain.

Sunday 10/6/01
The day has started overcast but dry having rained most of the night.  We are lucky that during the day it brightens up and apart from a north wind is very pleasant.  The sea is rather choppy on the way out and two fall victim to the seasick feeling and abort the first dive.  The shotline is over a wreck and off they go.  Due to a bottom current, divers hanging on the line, or both; the line moves many yards from the wreck and divers start bobbing up all over the place. (No peace for the wicked again!)
Eventually everyone is back down and a good dive is had by all.  Back aboard, they have two and a quarter hours to ready themselves for the next dive but, in true tradition, most leave it to the last minute.

We are close to the Longstone lighthouse.  This is where, in the early 1800’s, Grace Darling and her father lived and set out in a rowboat to save nine people from the wreck of the S.S. Forfarshire.

The second dive is guaranteed for some seals as there are dozens of the things all over the rocks.  Surprisingly everyone is in the water for this dive. (Peace at last, and more raiding of the food)
Up pops the sea snorting diver close to the rocks. The seals flop into the water and surround her, their heads appearing rather like U-boat periscopes viewing their prey.  With a “F***ing hell, if she gets to the rocks they’ll have her.” Andy starts the boat and heads at some speed towards her.  With her back to us, we can't decide if she is signalling OK to the boat or surrendering to the numerous seals surrounding her.  Another “They'll F***ing have her if she gets to close.” from Andy and we are there and picking her up.  The seals, deciding that the fun is over, return to the rocks.  Soon, another three divers pop up looking for their missing buddy.  Off the rocks go the seals again and another “They'll have them if they get to close.”  Having found their buddy on the boat, two of the three descend again leaving the lightweight diver behind and eventually picked up.  The seals go back to the rocks just as the two surface looking for the missing buddy.  Off go the seals again. (And we thought we had no peace on the boat)  Soon everybody in the water is under it and the seals can go back to relaxing on the rocks.
Through lack of air, cold, fear, and other reasons; up they start to pop and the retrieval begins.
Tales of seal inter-action begin.
Now the instructor and novice pop up.  There is lots of looking into the water and then they head for the boat at some speed.  They arrive at the ladder together but, with a “We've been f***ing attacked!) The novice is up the ladder and out.  The instructor with a “F***ing hell.” is soon up and out as well.
The ‘attack’ is in fact one seal going for their fins and not giving up even when they surfaced.  With a cry of “It's coming back!” from the instructor, both have surfaced swam back to the boat and exited the water in record time.

So ends another Farne Isle weekend.
 

Portland Trip Report 19/5/01 By Sarah Goodchild

Thanks to duff advice on how long the journey would take from the usually oh so reliable Roger, we all arrived in Portland extremely bright and early.  Two hours early in my case, but at least the sun was shining and I had a good book with me.  We had all been a little concerned as to what conditions we would find in Portland harbour given the gale force winds and heavy rain earlier in the week, but the weather was superb and the harbour was as calm as a millpond.

Our boat, The Ptarmigan, captained by the charismatic Reg picked us up at 10.30am to take us to our first dive of the day, the Countess of Erne.  You could see the shadow of the deck from the boat and the details of the planking from the surface.  Reg remarked “this is the best viz. I’ve seen all year”

Roger and Dottie were the first buddy pair in the water followed by myself and Richard then Clive and Jenni. After clocking the water temperature at a toasty 8 degrees, Richard and I dropped down to the deck, then over the side to the sea bed.  The viz. was a good 8 meters and the first thing I noticed on my way down was a huge spider crab, its body at least 6 inches across, on the side of the wreck.  This was the first of many crabs we saw around the wreck as well as an abundance of fish life.

We made one circuit of the wreck fairly close to the sea bed, stopping to pick up a large scallop shell as a souvenir of her first UK boat dive for Jenni, then made our way up onto the deck. By this time we had been joined by another boat load of a dozen or so divers who stirred the silt up somewhat so the viz. was reduced, but it was still possible to see a good amount of tiny sea fan type soft corals and dead-man’s fingers.

We came up after around 35 minutes having had a thoroughly enjoyable dive and our faith in UK diving restored somewhat after the plankton bloom induced sub 1 metre viz. we had endured on our trip to Brighton a couple of weeks before.  Captain Reg fed us Mars Bars and Hot Chocolate then took us back to the shore where we spent a couple of hours having a spot of lunch and sunning ourselves before our second dive.

The second dive was on the Enecuri, more commonly known as The Spaniard. Fractionally shallower than The Countess, The Spaniard lies in 14 meters of water.  The Spaniard was a steamship, which drifted into the breakwater and sank in December 1900.

The Spaniard is a far less complete wreck than the Countess, but interesting nevertheless. Much of it has rotted away right down to the sea bed, but this only serves to make a near perfectly preserved section of the bow seem all the more impressive.

The fish life on this wreck was better than the Countess and you could not move for dozens upon dozens of spider crabs. Most of the fish had very little colour on them, but there was one particular fish that looked like he had made a seriously wrong turn somewhere. With bright blue and yellow stripes it would not have looked out of place on a coral reef (a Cuckoo wrasse). To the right of the bow section there was an area of the seabed dotted with holes, which on closer inspection proved to be the burrows small  silvery white eels. As was the case with the Countess of Erne, this wreck was also was spotted with clusters of anemones and dead-man’s fingers.

Richard and I surfaced after 45 minutes as the cold was starting to get to us to find everyone else already back on board enjoying a hot drink. Back at the dock, after sorting our gear out and getting changed we headed for the pub before moving on into Weymouth town for a curry.  Suitably satiated we made our way to The Glenburn Hotel on the outskirts of town for a shower, more beers and a well earned rest.
 

 BRIGHTON TRIP 7/5/01 by Jack Hollands

After an easy journey to the Brighton Marina, we all met as arranged in MacDonalds car park where breakfasts and coffees were consumed.  For once this year the weather was good, sunshine with fluffy white clouds and a temperature of about 14c.  A short drive took us to the West Quay where our boat Spartacus was berthed.  All the gear was taken onto the boat and the various preparations for the day were in full swing.  This ranged from setting up gear, stowing gear, smoking, gossip, to taking ‘Sea Legs’.  Roger took on the role of Divemaster, ordering people to stow this and that which we all jumped to do. (He is so masterful)

Spartacus is a nice boat.  It is large enough that even Roger had trouble taking over the space!  Gear can be put while seated and it has a platform at the stern for an easy Giant Stride entry, and a long spine ladder, which enables you to step onto the boat without having to remove fins.

Near the time to leave we were given the choice of staying close to shore where the viz. was likely to be bad, or going further out where the sea might be choppy.  The boat decided to go for the second option and of we went.  The sea state was relatively calm to begin with but as we got further out it changed to 1-2 foot swells.

The wreck we were to dive was the FORTUNA.  A Dutch steamship which was sunk by a mine in 1916.  She was carrying a cargo of cement and 15 lives were lost when she sank.  Depth to the seabed is 33m.

Off the back of the boat we went and descended down the shot line into the seas answer to a snowstorm in green, plankton bloom.  This blocked a good amount of the light and on reaching the wreck reduced the viz. to a maximum of about 3m.  With the aid of a torch you could make out some of the 251ft long ship with the remains of the cement bags being most obvious.  There were hundreds of fish to see but it was difficult to make out any particular part of the ship.

The second dive was a drift dive closer to the shore.  Unable to take part myself, I understand that the viz. was no better and not much to see other than loads of muscles and the odd starfish and crab.

The dives completed we arrived back at the marina to load up and head for home.
 

Shark Diving

I arrived at the Holiday Inn in Ellesmere port and just listened until I could hear the distinctive laughter then homed in on Dottie and a couple of the group having a drink in the bar.  Everybody was chatting excitedly about our up-coming shark dive.  The 200-mile drive up from London had only taken about 4 hours despite the traffic, weather and five car pile up on the M1.
Sunday after a leisurely breakfast most of us went for a trip around the boat museum and then the pup lunch that Dottie had arranged for all of us.  About two o'clock we drifted to the Blue Planet aquarium in Ellesmere Port.  Because we were diving that night we had free entry and everybody began looking around the exhibits.  Whilst Carol and Jack went down to the shark tank to check out the ‘opposition’, the rest of us did the full tour.  The fresh water fish and the ‘touch tank’ where you could stroke various rays fascinated me.  Caroline headed straight for the tropical fish, Roger, Clive, Chris and Dottie wandered around taking in everything and all of us got more and more excited waiting for the shark feed.  The sharks at Blue Planet are all fed by hand by the owner and 2 other divers, who stand by ready to defend themselves with plastic buckets!  The sharks are only fed when they are at 45 degrees to the diver with the food and slightly above him, this method of feeding is apparently the safest.  I watched the divers give each shark one fish.  I thought one fish; they will be bloody starving by the time we get in!  We had a regroup at 5.30 and were sent around to the tradesmen's entrance at the back to set up our equipment.  At 6 PM as the last members of the public were thrown, out we all went for a briefing.  We were to go in 3 groups, 4 at a time.  We were then given a long briefing on the do’s and don'ts for the dive and off we went to put our wetsuits on.  Once we were all dressed and our equipment had been disinfected the first group got into the water.  My group consisted of Dottie, the organiser, Roger Caroline and I.  We dropped down to the bottom and all knelt down.  Soon there were lots of fish swimming around us with the sharks and rays cruising overhead.  Through the plastic of the aquarium walls I could see the others all watching.  The sand tiger sharks were a little chunkier than I had expected but still huge, 8-10 foot long with 6 rows of teeth.  We continued around the tank with several stop offs to take photos and search the course sand for  teshark'seth.  I picked up my one from a little walkway between the coral and the glass walkway, absolutely thrilled with my find I tucked it into the wrist of my wetsuit for the duration of the dive.  The dive was amazing we had real sharks and rays as little as 18” above your head.  Fish swam amongst us and played in the sand that we dropped.  All too soon our dive was over and time for the next group.  I quickly showered and got out of my wetsuit to go and watch the other groups.  Next group, Jack and Carol got straight down to business, looking for shark teeth.  Clive was grinning like a Cheshire cat but I looked for Richard hoping to watch the cleaner fish pluck his leg hairs out, they didn’t, damn!  Steve managed to do a very impressive, stuntman style, roll down the slope and thirsty Woods picked up a shark tooth at the first stop.  Sarah looked impressive in the elegant dive boots that she had borrowed from Caroline, which were 3 sizes too big.  Rob looked as if he was in paradise and just grinned from ear to ear as the cleaner fish tried to pluck his head.  After the dive we were presented with a certificate and all adjourned to the pub for an after dive drink.  Then back to the hotel to watch Jack and Rob’s videos.
Dottie had arranged everything from start to finish and it was great. Thanks Dottie, I think it was the most exhilarating dive I have ever done, I want to go back.
 

Farne Islands 2000

  I arrived at Seahouses on Friday at 1 p.m. to find Julie rushing around trying to make sure that everything was ‘just so’.  It was the first full trip that she had organised and she was determined that it would go smoothly.
  As we walked into the hotel we immediately heard ‘Thirsty’ Woods and Jack laughing in the bar (they did not stop all weekend!).  After a quick cuppa in the bar we all went to check out our accommodation.  Absolutely spot on, nice and clean, en-suite facilities, big airy rooms, so far so good.  Then we had a wander down to the harbour to have a quick look at the boat, Sovereign 3.  It was the largest day charter dive boat I have ever seen in the UK.  All the electronic equipment you could need, a huge deck for kiting up and a large cab for keeping dry, great.
  The rest of the group arrived in dribs and drabs with Alan and Steve arriving last after a six hour journey up from London.  We all sat down for a first class meal and a few beers whilst we all planned our dives, talked about Nitrox mixes and generally laughed and joked.
  Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny and after a huge breakfast we went down to the harbour to get on the boat.  The skipper Andrew was waiting alongside and we all mucked in and carried down our dive gear, enough to sink a battleship.  As the boat left the harbour there were 11 expectant divers and one full of cold Caroline.  We worked out the buddy pairs.  Roger and Kerry who both had enough Nitrox to stay down until next week.  Alan and Steve, Jack and Thirsty, Andy and the very effervescent Dottie then a green looking Julie and Carol.  I was honoured to be allowed to dive with Julie and Carol.  Caroline was to be our surface support and site organiser.  Andrew asked what sort of diving we wanted so Caroline explained that all we wanted were seals.  We dropped in for the first dive.  This was a fabulous wall dive with lots of corals, sponges and nudibranches.  We also managed to find some rather large lobsters in the rocks as well as an Octopus.
Second dive was in the gully between 2 rocky outcrops.  This was fantastic as we were ‘buzzed’ by seals until the tide washed us out the other end.  The third dive was … er … er... er… well I was still getting over the seals on the second dive.  Back to Seahouses with Julie getting even greener by the second.  An afternoon nap then downstairs for another great meal.  The talk was all about the second dive with the seals!  By 1 am it was time for bed.
  Sunday morning looked a little grey and drizzly but this did not dampen anybody's spirits, we were off to find more seals!  First dive was on an old wreck whose name has been forgotten with time.  After our normal hour of fannying about we all got into the water.  The skippers very sarcastic ‘soon be Christmas’ spurred a few people on.  This wreck was greatly scattered and broken up and mainly consisted of 2 huge boilers and lots of metal plates.  The second dive was the same as Saturday, through the cut with the seals.  This was my best dive of the weekend.  Dottie and I plonked ourselves down in the kelp and just watched in amazement as the seals darted back and forth; over and under us it was truly amazing.  I was down to 50 bar far too soon so back onto the boat and a pleasant trip to the third dive site.  This was a newly discovered wooden wreck some 160 feet in length.  I went down the shot with the ‘Nitrox boys’ and smack onto the rudder, it must have been 10’ in height.  We then turned west and managed to miss the rest of the wreck.  But had a good rummage among the rocks until the tide became too strong.  Back to Seahouses and the hotel.  That night we poured over Jacks video of the seals in the kelp, fantastic.  Another great evening meal and far too much beer with most people staggering off to bed after midnight.
  Monday meant it was time to head back to London after lots of fond farewells.  This was one of our best weekend trips to date so we have booked up for next year already!

Portland


Weekend of 6th and 7th of November:-We had booked our 4 dives on Ptarmigan skippered by always very popular Reg.
On arrival at Parry's shop, on Portland, we found that the wind was blowing quite strongly from the North west.  Reg was unfortunately unable to get out of the harbour in his little boat, so we transferred to Julian's RIB.  The first dive of the day was to be the Hood, which lies at the main entrance to Portland Harbour.  There were 7 of us so we dived in 2 groups of 2 and a group of 3.  An enjoyable dive although unfortunately due to the poor weather of late, the visibility was somewhat reduced.  For the second dive, we did a drift just outside the Harbour in Balaclava Bay.  My group consisted of Myself (Caroline), Rod and Chris.  We drifted along and stumbled across a rather large Bull Huss.  For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a cross between a Dog Fish and a Shark,  it is distinctive by it's bright yellow eyes and large spots.  The teeth are also apparently very sharp, although we didn't go close enough to find that out for ourselves!

On the second day there was 8 of us.  The weather had improved a lot so we were able to go out on Reg's boat.  The first dive was the Countess of Erne.  There was plenty of fish on and around the boat to have a look at, although Dave claimed to have only seen one.  We concluded that he must have been diving with his eyes shut (we decided that he had been diving at Crystal Waters too long, and that he wasn't used to being able to see under the water).  The visibility at both ends of the boat was good although it was reduced in the middle.  The second dive of the final day was the Landing Craft and Bombardon Unit.  The landing craft is virtually still in tact but the Bombardon Unit is looking very sorry for itself.  A nice scenic dive along the harbour wall between the two though.

Back on shore, we all packed up and headed for home.  An enjoyable weekend, marred a bit by the weather.  Oh well, that's diving I suppose.

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The last trip we had to Portland was blown off by the tail end of Hurricane 'Floyd'.  Only the 2nd time in 7 years that I have been blown off of Portland harbour.

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Portland in Dorset on 14th and 15th  August

  We booked 2 boats from our friends at Parry's these were 'Tideflow' skippered by Gunner and 'Extreme Measures' a new rib skippered by Julian.

  In all 18 divers made their way to Portland on Friday evening.  For this trip everybody made their own accommodation arrangements to allow for the wives and girlfriends who did not fancy staying in 'The Bunker'.

  Saturday dawned with pouring rain but no wind and everybody thought "we are going to get wet anyway!"  The first group out were the Advanced and experienced divers,  this was run with Rod in charge and Derrick as DM.  Onto Julian's new rib for the best ride this side of Alton towers.  His rib is bright yellow and powered by a 150 HP Mercruiser outboard that has a top speed of 56 knots!!  We cruised out at 35 knots to Lulworth banks for the first drift dive of the weekend. The journey out took just 20 minutes.  This dive was at a maximum depth of 27M for 35 minutes, over the bank and the ledges.  Derrick and his very brave buddy Tony found a 30" long WW II brass shell all intact with the pointed bit so that stayed where it was!  Then it was time for the other group that consisted of all abilities from Open Water Diver to Instructor.  This was run by Caroline with Jack as her DM.  Onto Ptarmigan with Reg (a last minute change) and over to the Countess of Erne.  This was the first sea dive for a few of the divers and they found it very different.  The silt was no problem after all that training at Crystal Waters!!
  Then the sun came out and everybody dried out and their faces lit up.  The 2nd dive for the advanced group was a drift on the bottle bank.  Most people found some bits and bobs including a very large lobster which was too big to take.  Kevin and Kerry said it had claws like bananas.  Chris (the ferret) Woods came up with the biggest bag of goodies including plates and bottles.  At one stage he found the 'plug' for Portland harbour but it was too heavy to lift!!!  The Open Water group had the dredger as their second dive followed by a rummage among the boulders.
  Day 1 finished with a meal, a few drinks and lots of laughs in 'The Cove' at Chiswell

  Sunday dawned with a little cloud cover but quite a bit of wind.  The Open Water boat had a dive on HMS Hood at the entrance to Portland harbour.  Again lots of fish life and a lobster that had a shell at least 2 feet long, scared the Divemaster.  The Advanced group made a 40 minute dash to the M2 submarine.  Only the ribs could out around the Bill because of the swell.  A great dive on the M2 and recovered 'Autumn Dreams' shotline that had been snagged for 3 days.  After the ride back I felt as though I had been in the gym working some big weights, my arms were like jelly from holding on!  Dive 2 for the Open Water group was on the bottle bank with Malcolm and Stuart faring the best with goodies.  The last dive was on 'The Countess' for the Advanced group.  Again a good rummage around looking for a UK 800 that was lost the previous weekend - no luck though.
  Day 2 finished with fond farewells in the car park and all back to London, absolutely shattered but looking forward to the next trip.
 

If you are interested in the Stoney trips, boat trips or holidays please contact Rod.

Don’t forget that all scuba diving equipment can be hired for these trips at a special discount rate, as always first come first served!
 

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