Chapter
One. Alex and Alan set sail into the unknown
Following
a hearty breakfast of sausage and bacon baguette (or in my case one
round of toast and a sea sickness pill), Alex and I help the trusty crew
and our brave Captain (Stuart) prepare the ship (sorry RIB) for a trip
to the Mulberries.
With
the sun shining and the brisk NE wind in our hair all seemed fine as we
set off on our adventure. However true to form the MET Office's
computer must have had an off day and the sea became somewhat "lumpy"
( a technical phrase signalling that Jenny should really be at home
waving to us royally from the safety of her home).
Still
the motley crew (Julian, Andrew, Jenny, Malcolm, Stuart, myself and
Alexander) were keen to explore the hidden depths around the Mulberries.
Having
arrived within half an hour of slack tide Alex and Julian were the first
to kit up. At this stage I decided to feed the fishes the remains of my
toast whilst repeating the mantra "this is fun"!
Having
finned to the buoy Alex and Julian descended beneath the waves only for
Alex to experience a pain in his forehead. Remembering Professor Jenny's
lecture on the incident pit he decided to surface, disappointed but no
worse for wear.
Next
me and Andrew. Getting in the water was easy, descending easier still as
I had drifted away from the shot line and couldn't grab hold of it!
Still Andrew sorted me out and this first sea dive was everything I'd
hoped for. Assorted fish, a small shark (dogfish!), cuttle fish,
anemonies and all sorts of creatures were going about their
business apparently unconcerned about the adverse conditions above!
We
surfaced some 36 minutes later having experienced my first safety
stop at 6 metres. Overall the dive was EXCELLENT and exactly the
reason I joined.
Andrew's
debrief covered a number of important lessons including;
