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!