Loch Long Movember 2011 - No Americans, only Geordies!

Wendy Northway

The famous five met up at DaveG’s workplace to load up the Mystery Machine, ok so there were more than 5 of us but it was a mystery as to how we managed to get so much dive kit in the van and still have room for all my shoes! We headed northwards late Friday, hitting rush hour traffic at Blackpool but afterwards, it was pretty plain sailing.

Saturday morning arrived bright and early, although our breakfast didn’t – it took over ¾ hour for ours to arrive, by which time I was ready to eat the table! Prandials complete, the big boys (me and Lesley manning up!) prep’d our kit in the car park, donned our drysuits and loaded up the van for the first of many dives that day – The Caves. Like most of the descriptions thus far, the term ‘caves’ is used in its loosest sense! We parked up and hopped out of the Mystery Machine and made our way down the culvert. Last year when I did this dive, I had no idea what a culvert was and didn’t think to ask so when I saw the look on Alan’s face when it was explained that this tunnel was the entrance to the dive site, I knew exactly how he felt! Ariel quietly carried not only my kit but his buddy Lesley’s kit down the culvert. A gent in the true meaning of the word.

We managed to get down in one piece, pulled on our fins and shuffled, as elegantly hippos can, into the cool, peaty water. We ascended down the muddy banks through comb jellies, bilinopsis infidibulum, which we illuminated in our torch light – the vibrant pulses of colour were spellbinding. Enough cnidarian harrassing we needed to carry on with the dive! Approaching 15m we happened across large boulders plastered with sea loch anemones – they were like flock wallpaper left to grow wild. Right in the centre was a very large anemone – a horseman, one of the largest anemones in the British Isles. Just stunning and a beauty to behold. Long legged squat lobsters held court under each crevice which they deigned to share with leopard spotted gobies. As we headed down the loch, evidence of fishing was more apparent – monofilament

Alan got tangled up which for me was game over. It’s so difficult to see, thus it’s attraction for fishermen, but that said we could easily get tangled up. We started to head back passing an old mooring line which in itself was a haven for life – plumose anemones, oaten pipe hydroids and bryozoan colonised the rope, all vying for a plot on an overcrowded metropolis. Working our way up the banks, I saw a lobster out in the open – Wow! I thought, that is until I realised that it too was snarled up in monofilament. (Pause whilst I decide whether to have a rant about negligent fishermen, no, let’s get back to freeing Lysander the lobster.) Lysander was not going to give up without a fight. Knife in one hand and a trusty buddy between him and me, I battled to free him as best I could. He still had line wrapped around him, but at least he was able to leave his prison and hopefully carry on hunting. Somehow I managed to get out of the water with a helping hand from Andy Shenstone who, with DaveW, was our shore cover. Soon everyone else surfaced – DaveG and Mark surfacing a little prematurely and had to surface swim back. Up the top the first of the catering delights of the weekend awaited. DaveW provided a delicious coffee cake. Not a coffee drinker, after 2 bites I started to get a caffeine hit such was the richness!

We piled into the Mystery Machine and headed back to the B&B to collect the trainees who weren’t able to do the first dive. A quick pitstop we then carried onto Conger Alley, another incredibly misnamed dive site – or is it! We changed our kit over in the layby of a very precarious road – the main route to Inveraray and the Mull of Kintyre. It was now gone midday and the prospect of fulfilling our target of 3 dives was diminishing. Backup plans were called for – the Pitstop Diner with its notorious slow service was just not an option. We needed reinforcments and thus as we attached regs to cylinders, Lesley and Alan took lunch orders and whilst we wended our way to the shore, they clambered off to collect comestibles.

Ariel took Andy in for his final Ocean Diver drill whilst I went in with Katy, and after an initial problem with mask squeeze we headed down the bank. We found a broken reef – small boulders where a dog whelk maternity ward had set itself up. These large molluscs were laying mounds of tear shaped eggs. Drat I thought, I’d initially taken my video in but after Katy’s problems I decided to drop it off with DaveW, our erstwhile shore cover. Still it was fascinating to study them. Under large fronds of sugar kelp, common prawn scavenged and we searched for that elusive conger but to no avail. Gobies flitted about, velvet swimming crabs did that sideways stagger and hermit crabs defended their territory. We also spied a decorator crabs – I’d love to see one actually threading the bits of algae onto his arms! Working our way up the gentle slope, delicate cerianthus llyodi anemones pushed their way through the gravel. We were the last to surface – the call of cheese toasties was just too much for the crowd. As we compared notes, Ernie turned up trumps as he managed to find that elusive conger after which the reef was named.

We ate our sandwiches as we put our kit away – nearly 2pm and we still had another dive to do if we were to reach our target. As Andy handed out Belgian chocolates, the DO declared an end to diving for participants such was the alcohol content of the ganaches! Luckily he was only kidding otherwise he could have had a mutiny on his hands.

Reloading the wagon for the trilogy, we headed back to the other side of the Loch, Fisherman’s Reef bound. The shore line was a gentle meander over grass and mud onto a slippery cobbled beach. Care was needed but we managed it, with only a few slips! The sun had now slipped down behind the mountains and I envisaged a darker dive, especially as I eyed the peaty water. Gareth, my buddy looked very keen and so we stumbled over to the water’s edge. All 12 of us were diving this site and thus as we were the last pair to descend, the viz was quite churned up. I opted to stay relatively shallow thinking that the others would have gone for depth and thus we were out of their silt. This plan worked to a small degree! The brief was to fin along, bank on left for about 5 minutes where a broken reef would appear. Well we finned for a good 10 minutes no reef appeared. We turned back and probably ascended just a matter of 20cm and voila! The reef appeared! It never fails to amaze me how the difference a couple of inches can make! As with all other dives thus far, sea loch anemones provided rock cover, with squatties hiding in all nooks and crannies. I’ve never seen such large leopard spotted gobies as I did here. They were also very placid. Usually as soon as the beam from a strobe hits them, they dart for cover, but no, these remained still. Where was my camera in all of this!!!! Harbour crabs and the tiny squattie galathea intermedia were also bountiful. Very interesting dive and oh, did I mention it? That was dive number 100 this year! Thanks Gareth for sharing it with me! Back at the Mystery Machine, Sarah appeared to be suffering from a very bad case of water retention – as DaveW pulled off her suit, the torrent of water gushing out was likened to Niagara Falls! I wouldn’t have been surprised if she a had a couple of wrasse in there! To add insult to injury, passing cars splashed her with the puddle of water she had just released! Do you know what? She still had a smile on her face. Looking at her, both me and Steve turned to each other and decided that perhaps we weren’t wet after all! The light levels were fast fading now as we scrambled to stow kit. Tiffin was now being passed around, thanks to yours truly. Divers need all the warming calories they can get!

Finally the day was over and we headed off to the Loch Long Hotel for cullen skink and other delights. A lovely meal was had – food was delicious, banter plentiful and pigeons pooped! (ask DaveW). When we got back to the B&B, the bonfire party was in full swing in the pub below – Irish bingo, cowboy hats and table dancing – somehow I managed to sleep through all of this.

Sunday morning and we weren’t going to be delayed with breakfast again – I think the whole gang were there at 7.30, well not everyone, but you know who you were! We loaded up the Mystery Machine again and headed off for the A Frames. Most of us were diving – Andy dropped out as he was heading home for some quality family time and Mark stood down. I think his legs may have been aching from dancing the night before. Oops! What happens in Arrachor stays in Arrachor!

Final dive and I went in with Sarah. I hope I gently encouraged her after she said she was struggling with donning her fins and she proved that she was getting to grips with this diving malarkey. We headed off over gravel bottom and found the eponymous structures. Very similar life was apparent that we had seen on the previous dives – plenty of long legged squatties, huge leopard spotted gobies, nice tiny flatfish and common prawns – again absence of conger. Perhaps I’m not destined to see conger but I don’t mind, burrowing anemones were plentiful. As I said to Alan on an earlier dive, if you dive with me, you look at anemones (or as a previous buddy once said to me, narcolepsy by cnidaria!) Once sated we turned back and headed to the shore. Again I gently encouraged Sarah that she was able to remove her fins which she competently did. At this point, mine were well and truly jammed on – I’d borrowed Clare’s suit which I loved – it was very slimming and flattered my figure and with her long legs, it gave me ample room to clamber up the banks and braes. However with Clare’s long legs come her big feet! My fins were a trifle too small and thus wedged on. After not accepting Sarah’s pleas, I couldn’t moan that I was also unable to remove my fins so struggled (as only an Instructor can do without giving the game away) and finally removed them! Phew, got away with that one!

I was very grateful to the divers on the shore that helped both me and Sarah up/down the shore – it may not be a big deal to rufty-tufty macho divers but the Pink Ladies appreciated the assistance and courteousness shown. Sarah once again was wet – a job for Alan to look at, whilst I enjoyed another dry dive. The weekend was very intense and if I hadn’t had a dry – drysuit than I don’t think I could have done the diving I did. I certainly would not have enjoyed the diving – the water was definitely cooling down now as we approached winter. We loaded up the Mystery Machine and headed off for Helensbugh for hot chocolate and baked potatoes. A lovely weekend with some good scuba. I think everyone enjoyed themselves; they sure had enough to eat. Thanks to DaveW for providing shore cover and congratulations to JohnA who selected all Farnworths in his Fantasy Dive team and with a flurry of Farners all diving, he goes straight to the top of the league!

Halloween dive at Vivian – Lyndon’s worst nightmare comes true!

Wendy Northway

The advanced party arrived early, well as Paul would probably tell it, some earlier than others! We got there in time for a day dive to familiarise ourselves with the quarry. Ariel and Paul opted for a large step entry of the top whilst I was advised to go from the bottom – I’d borrowed Clare’s suit and the neck was a little slack so I worried about the force of the entry may make it leak. Shame because I think the step entry is the best part of the quarry! We descended quickly – I was seriously over weighted and could easily drop a few kilos. At the bottom Ariel wanted to try a mask refit whilst inverted. Paul and I just opted to watch! After Ariel adjusted his camera, the three divers set of clockwise round the quarry. Paul headed off at lightening speed ‘pace yourself’ I thought ‘it’s only a small quarry and we have a second dive to do – we need to leave some surprises!’ Ariel managed to spot a couple of eels tucked away under rocks – such is his spotting abilities, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he showed me an octopus! Paul had initially thought his torch was ineffective, only having used it in light conditions, but it rather impressive – there was a strong central beam around which a fainter light radiated, and dressed all in black he looked like Darth Vader’s sidekick! It was getting darker now so we opted to ascend just under the trapeze, happy that we had orientated ourselves and looked forward to doing the night dive proper.

As we headed back to the car, Chester SAC had decorated the area magnificently. An LED cable lit the fence whilst a pumpkin with a bat carved out of the front welcomed us under the tunnel. They had also erected a long gazebo by the shop from which tempting barbeque smells were emanating. The second party had now arrived – Lyndon, Ginger Jim and Ernie. We rekitted ourselves, leaving an hour’s surface interval and wended our way down the illuminated path. As it was the dive proper, I entered into the spirit of things by wearing a set of very scary boppers (£2 from ASDA) and away we went! Away they went too, for when we hit the bottom; they were nowhere to be seen! We circumnavigated the quarry anticlockwise this time and it was diver soup down there! It was tempting to switch off our torches as the beams from the other divers were more than adequate to light up the quarry. The glow from these strobes had a magical feel to them. As we gazed up to the 6m platform we spied a couple of divers in a halo of light – the kind of stuff for which magazine covers are renowned . There are only so many times you can go round Vivian in the short space of a couple of hours thus we surfaced – hot chocolate was certainly calling me. Ariel and Lyndon were just behind us – Lyndon using up his trimix from a previous dive and pretending to be very techie in a ‘shallow’ 20m quarry. Not sure what Ernie and Ginger Jim got up to, but I’m sure it must have been very adventurous.

Back in the car park, the rain had abated allowing us to get changed in the dry if not dark. I’d also brought along a carrot cake – I was going to make pumpkin pie which would have been more fitting for the time of year but Asda didn’t have pumpkins, only boppers. I may have been setting myself up there as Ernie reckoned I had now started a trend and would expect my culinary delights every trip. Lyndon was also suitably impressed that carrots did have some usefulness in the world! Watch out Techie Taylor – you may loose all credibility with your techie friends – diving to only 20m and eating vegetables!

Puffin Island Oct 2011

Wendy Northway

With a force 8 whipping most of the North Wales coastline a cunning plan evolved where we planned to dive Puffin Island, launching from Beaumaris. For those who had selected ‘other’ as a dive destination in Fantasy Dive, it meant bonus points – especially as we were off by 10am – it’s looking good so far! Primary reason for this outing was to test the performance of the engines. We’d swapped the engines from the new boat to the old boat and needed to assess operation fully laden with 10 souls/8 sets of dive kit. The weather was splendid - bright blue skies with the sun coming out. There was a slight chill in the air, but for October we couldn’t complain. It was breezy but diveable. The boat set out with DaveW at the helm and the 10 souls set out Puffin bound.

I was lucky enough to be paired with JohnA – I cannot remember the last time we dived together so relished the prospect to dive with Neptune himself. We dropped into 12m to small boulders bedecked with life. Spiral hydroids tumbled over the edges, boring sponges dotted the tops and gobies flitted everywhere! Each crevice seemed to house a lobster and those that didn’t where home to catshark! Ballan wrasse and pollack loomed just sufficiently in view allowing us to believe we were in our own private aquarium! Lobster pot lines criss-crossed and we had to be vigilant so as not to get entangled. My suit was leaking big time and I was so cold (getting scary as it’s only October – still plenty of dates left in the season!) but I was determined to give John an hour, however the cold got the better of both of us and we surfaced after 56 minutes – still respectable!

Meantime Ernie and Dave Humphries opted for depth and ended up on brittle star beds – ask me guys and I’d have told you that. I’m happy to tell you a little more about these sites and there’s no shame in asking a girlie diver! Ariel and AndyS were also out in the gravel (which can be very interesting, I hasten to add) carrying on with Ocean Diver drills. They also had a great dive – Ariel spying prawns pointed them out for Andy who put his hand down to take a closer look whence the conger emerge and took great interest in his hand! On surfacing, Ariel acted as casualty and enjoyed a tow back to the boat, which honest guys, Dave was not moving the RIB further away! The wind had picked up whilst we had been down and I doubted if we would get out again this afternoon. Never mind I had enjoyed a very pretty dive, but I was cold and soaked through.

Back at base hot chocolate called and I managed to drape my suit over the car. A combination of wind and sun dried it off sufficiently to allow for a second dive – should the weather allow. The wind did settle allowing for magnificent views down the channel and we were out again. We had a couple of dropouts – Dave Humphries had snapped his mask strap, Mark was cold thus I couldn’t let the side down; they needed me to make up numbers!

This afternoon I was buddied with Dave G. I was getting all the big guns today – no complaints from this corner! Once again we dropped into 12m to boulders very similar to this morning. Indian feather hydroids, elephant sponges and nemetesia antennea decorated the tops. The catshark and lobster that were so abundant this morning however were nowhere to be seen! It’s amazing how 2 dives in the same spot can be markedly different! I managed to get a bit of gravel groping in as rocks gave way to coarse sand. Tree-like sand mason worms, tiny shrimps and dragonets played their parts in the full richness that formed this spectacular dive. Just as I was getting too cold – the water that was gushing in my suit was now rolling down to my nether regions, we spied an anchor. Dave grappled with his lifting bag, very impressive as we were now at the apex of the island and being drawn into a runaway drift. Mission accomplished and we were outa there!

As we packed our kit away, Ariel and Andy surface with a second DSMB. ‘There’s an anchor attached to that one’ they enthused! Another drill successfully finished for Andy and they were back on the boat. All we had to do was wait for Ernie and Steve – another anchor and it would make a hat trick! Sadly it was not to be – that would been an anchor too far! 6 happy but wet divers headed back to shore. All of us seemed to have drysuit malfunctions and needed to get our puncture repair kits out. I certainly needed to release the shoal of pollack out of mine! Wind had definitely picked up now as we headed back. The boat out of the water and we were headed back home for pizza and PG. The engines seemed to pass their test and we discovered another launching place. Thanks to all who made this a success.

Capers October 2011 – Back to the 80s!!

Wendy Northway

As the season is on the home straight, yet another weekend is blown out owing to the weather. We’d planned on going to Pwllheli but once again we found ourselves heading up the M6, Capernwray bound.

Our newest member Chris Ashbrook was looking forward to doing his first open water dive, young gun Gareth was a last minute addition and Andy wanted to get his shiny new drysuit wet! I had to do a quick weight check as my suit was in repair and taking a trip down Memory Boulevard; I’d borrowed back my old suit but had no idea what weighting I used to use. Having enough lead I then repeated the exercise with Chris. Once happy he had enough to get him down we then made our way to the 2m platform and descended. I think Chris was initially spooked by the trout which came between us as we carried out our drills but quickly came at ease when he realised they were not killer squids from the deep! Once finished the drills we headed off for a pleasure dive but descending that little bit deeper, Chris had a few problems with his ears that is so common with first time divers. We ascended then gently went down again taking time and not forcing. With this approach he was comfortable and we headed off towards the 6m platform where who should we find but the rest of the gang! Such was the crowd of VRSAC, we couldn’t actually get on! Ariel and Sarah were fin pivoting like pin fivoters; Steve, Andy and Gareth were doing likewise and just as A&S left, pilot and purser Paul and Alan arrived after their mammoth circumnavigation of the shallows. Top marks to Alan who managed to find his way around the place without a motorway to follow ;o)

Back at base we dekitted and Sarah was baptised as a true diver – she was soaked through! In vain, Alan spread her undersuit over the top of his car, but we quickly came to the conclusion that this was never going to work. A fine rain had taken hold and we wanted to minimise our surface interval to get out of the wet (oh the joys of having a dry drysuit!)

Second dive and we had a turnaround of pairings. Steve took Chris for fine tuning of buoyancy, I took Andy for his second open water lesson and Ariel took Paul and Alan for some sports diver drills. Sarah was very keen to do a second dive but with her undersuit soaking she would have had no thermal insulation thus decided to skip the dive for the warmth of the car. Gareth also stood down as he developed a headache.

Me and Andy opted for a step entry and surface swim to the 2m platform on the left hand side of the quarry. We figured it would be quieter there as I believe the whole of the northwest diving fraternity had descended on the training area this morning. At the platform we conducted the drills for OW2. These went well however I figured his fins must have been breaking the surface with his colossal height as he did his inversion drill! Following successful exercises we then headed off in search of the Cessna. Here I must make a confession. I forgot to scribble down any bearings for points of interest. Luckily we saw The Answer en route so I made a mental note of it for the return journey, then following the contours we happened across the African Queen. Three cheers for pilotage! We carried on along the perimeter of the quarry passing the entrance point a little to ascend to the 6m platform on the right where we enjoyed a safety stop in an aquarium of trout and perch. Both of us were mesmerised as they swam back and to. Meanwhile Ariel, Paul and Alan also went towards the Cessna (so much for it being quieter here!) where Alan successfully completed his Sport’s Diver rescue scenario. Very interestingly they discovered they needed to adapt their technique for lifting using Paul’s jacket. Paul’s BCD has 2 buttons on the pocket for inflate/deflate. Usually when lifting on a jacket, the rescuer secures the casualty’s arm on his shoulder to allow for suit venting. With Paul, this would have to be done with the opposite arm in order to ensure a lock. This highlights differences in kit configurations and how we must be alert for adaptations that may be required. I think this is healthy and do not subscribe to the DIR philosophy. It is also the reason why I enjoy diving with different buddies – the constant need to think about their kit and how it would affect me. Complacency can lead to lax habits!

Steve took Chris for an enjoyable pleasure dive, sneaking in a few buoyancy exercises. Both returned happy, if not one of them slightly wet! The repairs on Steve’s leaking suit had been a partial success – I think a return to the dive shop was on order!

Alan was restricted by flying the following day thus called it a day – he’d had 2 good dives so was happy, Andy also packed his kit away and headed home. After a long week away from his family he plumped for man points which left 4 fit and eager divers! OK, eager divers as we hobbled down to the waterfront! Ariel took Chris in this time. Chris was very lucky as he managed to dive with a good variety of divers today. This final dive Ariel tutored him successful through the second open water lesson and was most impressed with his skills, commenting that he was almost surprised that this was his first open water dive! Well done Chris – a sound diver in the making!

I let Paul navigate towards the gnome garden which didn’t quite go to plan! We got to the plane and after Paul handed out tempting snacks to his club class passengers (oh have I used that joke before – sorry!) we headed off on our bearing. I’m not sure if we started from the wrong place but we hit a wall before getting to the dive bell thus I reckoned we were on the wrong track. The line of travel on the compass on my new (pink) console was configured for a left hand whereas my contents gauge comes over my right shoulder, thus I got very confused and was no help whatsoever. Another learning point, good job this wasn’t on a dive where the finding of the wreck was imperative – I have the luxury of changing this over before using in earnest. It also socks one in the eye for DIR again! Change of plan we went back to the horses, leaving the elusive gnome garden for another day. En route we passed over a laptop and both of us had the same idea – check for updates on facebook!

An enjoyable and most successful day was had by all. Gareth, Alan and Chris had several drills signed off, Chris was able to put many months of pool work into practise, Andy got his new suit wet and I stacked up another 3 dives to my target number for this year! Thanks to all who made it a most enjoyable day!

Plymouth Aug 2011 - a special brew!

Wendy Northway

We rolled up at Mountbatten bright and early to a torrential downpour. I’d been looking forward to catching the last of the summer sun but we barely had time to get into our drysuits before we were soaked! Still, it was warm and we headed off for the Scylla in Whitsand Bay. After last year’s fiasco at trying to find the wrecks whence no one would listen to me I confidently proclaimed ‘it’s by the cardinal buoy!’ Once again the lads didn’t listen to me, proceeded to bob about for 20 minutes or so before they conceded that maybe I was right! Can we remember this next year boys? Oh didn’t I write that in last year’s blog!

OK – rant over, let’s get back to diving! 3 pairs went over board and explored the sunken treasure that is the Scylla. I remember doing this the year after it plunged to the seabed and thinking how devoid of life it was. Well what a difference 6 years makes! Plumose anemones festooned the superstructure with odd bowls of potato crisp bryozoan in their midst. Pollack weaved in and out, trying to entice us in and down at the bottom, schools of bib hung around like the bad boys smoking behind the bikesheds. Working our way along the decks I got entangled in some monofilament thus dive over! Back at base in record time, all thanks to Dave W who was our permanent cox’n, we waited for news of Ron. He’d stepped down as he wasn’t feeling too good – ‘off centre’ was his description. I think we wrong footed the girls with our nifty timing as we were off out again before they got back with our lunch. Luckily Jean was on hand to ‘donate’ Dave’s cheese on toast to hungry Steve!

We headed back to Whitsand Bay with the intention of diving the James Egan Layne. This wasn’t buoyed so we had to rely on echo location and GPS – what could possibly go wrong! Well in our defence, we did find it – once – but then lost it. Never mind, let’s do the Scylla again. Hmmm I wonder if they will listen to me when I remind them where it is? John Dorys were plentiful down on the sea bed whilst jewel anemones, nemertesia antennina, sargatia troglydytes and various red seaweeds carpeted the decks as rock cook and other wrasse darted about. All too soon dives were over and we headed back to shore to get out of the rain. We got word from Ron – BP elevated thus he wisely decided to have another day off tomorrow.

Saturday arrived and we got down to the business of doing some serious scenic diving – excellent! First dive was an old favourite, Hilsea Point. Again an early start meant we had 3 pairs of divers in by 10.05 – surely worth an extra 10 points in fantasy dive terms! I had a really lovely dive with Lesley. Dropping straight down to 26m we were welcomed by a jagged low lying reef adorned with sea fans, shredded carrot sponge, elephant hide – and boring – sponges. A truly spectacular array of colour and texture! I was on a mission to find the tiny anemones that colonise the sea fans. I didn’t find any but did find the nudibranchs who are also fans of the seafans! On other dives, a cheeky cuckoo wrasse posed for photos for Steve and Stella. No stop time was greatly reduced on these dives as we were so deep – we had to be to get out of the kelp! Back on the RIB, or should I say back in the pool, we had taken on a considerable amount of water. The wind had picked up, increasing the wave height and thus with all 3 pairs surfacing at once, there was no time to get rid of excess water. Will we be charged for another dive I wondered? Dave W went head to head with Poseidon battling against the wind and waves for the ride home. Dave W was valiant and we were back for lunch!

I had originally volunteered to stand down this afternoon but I had 2 others chasing me for that position – Stella who wouldn’t let wild horses drag her back on the RIB and boy, were those white horse wild! Also Lesley who had a loose neck seal and was rather wet thus, the dive slut that I am I went out again! A bit closer to home, we opted for the Mewstone and we were joined by Andy Shenstone who travelled up in record time and managed to squeeze in a bonus dive. Another dazzling dive was had, amidst red fingers, common spider crab and yet more sea fans. The viz wasn’t as good as this morning, probably because we were a tad shallower or maybe the tide was on the ebb, however the life was just as profuse. Again we managed to finish in record time – this time the last divers were up by 2.30.

Sunday morning and we were getting the hang of this – an early start and we were at the Mewstone just after 9.30. Interesting is the euphemism used for this dive! The tide was moving - as Steve described ‘a fierce pull’ on the SMB dictated the direction of travel! We travelled over fantastic deep gullies adorned with finger sponges then above sandy oases and mingled with sand eels. The reef disappeared just as our no stop time dwindled thus time to go. Heading back in the harbour walls we suddenly heard that grinding noise that every cox’n dreads – the sound of the props crunching over a low lying reef. Was this the moment that the camaraderie would break? No! Accidents happen and we have a couple of spares which DaveG swapped over during lunch, including a sneaky dive to successfully retrieve a dropped crown nut. We were back in business.

Sunday afternoon and we crossed the bay over to Penlee Point. Stella and Nick were dropped on a sandy bottom where they were delighted with the sight of a large ray, then did a spot of find and retrieve – Nick found an anchor, Stella retrieved it and carried it back for the remainder of the dive! Lots more life here than I remember. Conger, lobster and bispira voluticornis – tube worms to you and me! There were also a large number of crab carcasses. Initially divers searched for a satisfied-looking octopus but the more carapaces there were, the more we thought it may be human impact. Lesley and Ariel momentarily dived in a 3 as a common spider crab joined them. Well Ariel, that’s what you get should you antagonise the fauna!

Sunday evening and we all got together for a lovely meal at The Village restaurant in the Barbican. Quality food, fine wine and good company was enjoyed by all.

The weather gradually got better as the weekend progressed to Bank Holiday Monday. We had only planned one dive today in order to get the boats out in a timely fashion thus we were going to make it a good one! We headed off for East Rutts – a pinnacle lying a bit further out than Hilsea in very tidal waters thus the need for hitting slack was imperative. Unfortunately this meant getting up even earlier than normal – to congregate at 8am. Both Ariel and Dave G were in awe that there were 2 8 o’clocks in the day! We managed it and arrived at site with ½ hour to spare and waited for slack. It has to be added that this dive was an ‘experienced sports diver and above dive.’ I was buddied with Stella and as we descended the shot both of us lost hold of it on a few occasions but exhibiting good buddy skills we pulled each other back to the line and we got down. We were on the wrong side so I indicated ‘up, over and down’ and crossed my fingers that I made the right assessment that we would land in the lee of the current. This we more or less did as we were in a crescent which was teeming with life – a large common spider crab decorated with algae, sponges and hydroids – a true hippy amongst crustacea! Down at 30m bib, wrasse and pollack pottered together. Out of the lee, Ariel and Nick hung off the shot like a flag in hurricane Irene (gosh that’s topical!)

Back to base for a quick bite to eat and VRSAC split into 2 – boat recovery squad and team instructors. I relished the opportunity to do some instruction and started Andy Shenstone’s OD whilst Dave G finished off Graham’s Sport’s Diver drills. Me and Andy rounded a successful lesson with a gentle drift dive at Penlee Point and delighted in the spectacle of topknot, sponge crabs in snakelocks anemones and perhaps the most exhilarating of all, pollack hunting sand eels – one of the best dives so far.

With both boats out of the water, the long weekend was drawing to a close – not without the hard boat and another early morning beckoning. This time even earlier! Tuesday dawned – good job I prepped my video the evening before because as the alarm went off, it was still dark outside! I said the weather slowly got better over the days and today was probably the best day of all – brilliant sunshine and a flat calm sea. Just what seafaring travelers want on a long stretch out to Hands Deep.

Hands Deep was magnificent. Jewel anemones encrusted the rolling boulders in every colour imaginable. A lobster out in the open displayed no shyness towards Lesley and Steve.as it allowed its feelers to be felt! Again depth limited our bottom time. I really think nitrox would be a good investment for this trip!

Our final dive was Eddistone Lighthouse. The viz here wasn’t as good as the previous dive but life was probably more bountiful. Hundreds of sea fans, again I searched for seafan anemones to no avail but I did find a seafan nudi for Ariel. It was so small he couldn’t see it but decided to photograph it anyway as he thought there may be something important there! After a lovely day’s diving we headed home contented and looking forward to a curry. The weekend was a resounding success. Very relaxed with all pulling together in perfect harmony. I don’t know how you did it Steve, but what ever your magic ingredient was, bottle it up, slip it into the expedition pack and sprinkle liberally on all forthcoming outings

Rhoscolyn August 2011 – the difference between Club and Economy class!

Wendy Northway

Dave sent out a request late last month for someone to run this weekend as it was a spare owing to 2 w/es chosen for the 30th anniversary celebrations. Newly qualified Sport’s Diver Paul D-L took up the challenge and proposed a return visit to what was such a successful w/e. Well that’s not quite the story, after a stab at Ysgaden but no one to launch, he opted for an old favourite and thus we found ourselves back at Rhoscolyn.

A hectic schedule was planned as we had 12 divers but only 1 boat thus broken fan belts were not an option. Broken fan belts? Oh yes, the first casualty of the day – the fan belt on Hursty’s 4x4 broke on route which left Hursty Major and Minor languishing in MacDonald’s car park for 2 hours. Could have been worse – they could have been vegetarians!

Chief purser Paul donned the Captains hat as he split team VRSAC into 2 groups – kit assembly subdivision and launch faction. The 2 teams worked remarkably quickly only allowing Steve’s car to rest on the beach for just under ½ a nanosecond and first boat was out heading for the Beacons in record quick time as the first pair logged a heads down at 9.34am. Carefully deciding which side was slack we opted for the nearside. I went in with Ron and found that for slack water, the stillness was fairly dynamic! The vis was not as good as we had experienced several weeks ago. I think we were in the middle of a plankton bloom brought on by the hazy sunshine we all enjoying. Poor the vis may have been, it did mean a wealth of nutrients for all the marine critters on which to thrive – and that they did! We were treated to a reef brimming with velvet swimming – and common spider – crabs all vying for their place amongst hornwrack, Indian feather hydroids and club sea squirts. Tiny sponge crabs lifted their fists in defiance as we swept over them. The sea bed changed to cobbles which hosted the starfish gathering! They were everywhere doing that lazy starfish thing that only 5 legged animals do! All 3 buddy pairs were swept over the far end of the beacons onto sand thus concluding the first wave of dives.

Arriving back at the beach, the second wave were ready to roll, but still no sign of the Hursties thus boat 2 enjoyed less cramped conditions than cattle class on boat 1! Was this Paul’s influence I wonder? Boat 2 returned to the Beacons but dived the farside, in the lee of the current. Ariel dived with Sarah who were also treated to echinoderm city and dahlia anemones in a spectacular range of colours. Back on land, StevenF discovered that drysuits aren’t necessarily always dry. Good job it was so sunny and his undersuit was able to air over the break.

Back to base for a short lunch break before the whole scene was repeated. 3rd boat was again the Beacons farside where I went in with Zoë and we were treated to the best dive ever at the Rhoscolyn (sorry Andy S – I know I said that about our dive last time but it has been superseded, I am fickle diver after all!) The current picked up on an ordinary dive which took us over the reef below the lookout. Nothing major stood out but he sheer energy was fantastic – we were swept over carpets of shredded carrot sponge, deadmens fingers and fried egg anemones. Pollack came and went and Zoë managed to point out a couple of cat shark! We only surfaced as we approached 20m, reaching the limits of Zoë’s qualification. DaveG dived with JohnA who managed a record 62 minutes under water spying 5 congers, 4 lobsters, 3 edibles, 2 octopod and a partridge in a pear tree. OK maybe not the last 2 but quite a spectacular dive!

Final boat out was launched at 3.15 and headed back to the Beacons (East Cheshire SAC were also at Rhoscolyn but not on our dive sites – are you telling me that there are other places to dive in the vicinity?) Ariel and Sarah dived together again and she successfully completed her 1st o/w sea drill before taking in the delights of the reef. Sarah also discovered that dry suits don’t always do what they say on the tin! To complete the Farnworth hat trick, Alan ripped his neck seal.

4 tidy launches with comfortable dives for all and the boat was back at the beach before 5pm – surely this isn’t VRSAC? The boat was out of the water and stripped down and we were away for 6. Team VRSAC done good!