First
main dive of the season and a full boat.(Bryan, George, James, Jenny,
Julian, Stuart, Tim and Tracey).
Absolutely
glorious day but with a bit of a chill in the air. Some of us
breakfasted at the cafe whilst the early birds prepared the boat (not
planned honestly!) . Then we all got ourselves ready and loaded the
gear.
Going out was a bit bumpy with Tim testing the strength of the hull (and
our backs!) a few times. However with other dive boats limbering up at
the marina it was a challenge to be the first to reach the Shirala!
Once there the shot was lowered on site and the dive order established
without any sight of other dive boats zooming in. (Although when one
boat went roaring past us Brian's Neanderthal instincts came to the fore
as he became very territorial with shouts of "Get closer
to the buoy!").
When it was our turn to dive Stuart and I followed the shot line down
hoping that the 6" (yes 6" ) visibility would improve as we
descended. Unfortunately not only did it not improve but all light was
lost by the time we reached 25m . Of the Shirala I am afraid there
was no sign. (Mind you if it had been 7" away we still wouldn't
have seen it!)
Even high powered torches made little difference and in trying to find
my buddy I didn't even know which was up and which was down. I couldn't
even see my own air bubbles so I did the next best thing and emptied my
suit of air and hit the bottom. Now I had a clear view of the bottom
and having tied myself to Stuart he and I "enjoyed" the
rest of the dive counting grains of sand.
Eventually we reluctantly had to end the exciting dive so we sent
up a DSMB , ascended and did our safety stop. When we reached the
surface all hell broke loose. There were divers everywhere!
There
were at least 10 other divers scattered around us, some waving and
shouting (none from our club) and two ribs were racing around us picking
them up. As there had been no other boats in sight when we went in I can
only conclude that these other divers had literally jumped in and jumped
out again very quickly! (Some say that it was because of the
visibility-others had perhaps watched the sky program about the
likelihood of great white sharks in English waters)
After
the excitement died down and we were all on board we started the return
journey. To get some boat-handling practice I was allowed to pilot the
rib back and as the tide was in my favour we planed along nicely. Tim
suggested that it would be good experience for me to drive in the opposite
direction for a while to experience the different wave pattern.
Obligingly I turned around - to cries of support from the other
club-members. (Oi! where are you going- we want our chips!)
Finally
we made it to the Marina and I made a 'perfect' docking at the base of
the jetty steps leading to the chippy (well only two attempts with much
barracking from the rest of the crew). Jules and I strode ashore to Fred's
chippy and on our return we carried 3 huge trays of steaming hot chips .
Imagine our consternation when we arrived at the top of the steps to
find not our rib but a local pleasure boat (whose slot we had stolen!).
There was nothing to be done except commence eating the said chips with
six hungry pairs of eyes watching us from the rib across the water.
Fortunately
for the others the pleasure boat skipper took pity on us and after
plying him with chips he allowed the rib to come alongside and
we crossed his craft with the rapidly emptying trays.
After
feasting on the chips and inhaling the petrol fumes at the filling
station we whiled a bit of time away waiting our turn to leave the
water. Fortunately the LMBHA had a stand at the Marina with free burgers
and coffee. Jules and I (is there a pattern here?) made our
way to the grub and Tim joined us as we discussed deep sea fishing with
one of the volunteers. The others waited patiently ,sunning
themselves, in various stages of idleness as our turn with the
tractor finally came.
Eventually
we left the water, heaved our gear off and washed the boat down .
Finally the on-board electronics, safety kit etc had to be removed and
the boat covered up. Leaving only a hour and a half drive home to the
joyful task of washing our kit down with clear water,
So
as you can see from the above a typical dive day with the club
involves a lot more than the actual dive itself. It was a great day.
Lovely weather , good grub and excellent company - just a shame about
the actual dive!!
(Report by
James Jowett)
....addendum
from George and Tim....a text book descent was interrupted briefly in
order to refit Tim's drysuit hose successfully and we headed down into
the blackness. Almost by feel alone did we attach and partially fill the
lifting bag on the shot...there was enough visibility to follow the
gouge it had made through the sand as it had dragged off the wreck....we
never found the wreck but spotted endless scallops, pentapora foliasa
[one of UK's best known bryozoans] and the odd dead spider crab....but
no metal. After 15 mins Tim signalled up but I was enjoying myself so
much we stayed glued to the sand for a further 15 or so minutes then
completed a perfect ascent with a 4 minute stop. There followed an
interesting view of the others fighting to sort out the shot line
which had managed to get under the boat - how?? ....
Found
£3 in my dive suit pocket so contributed to the chips....a good day out
really despite the rubbish viz. Glad I didn't take the camera - the only
photos available under water would have been inside the housing I think!
Here's
to the 20m viz we had in October last.
.....double
addendum from Jenny... Don't know what the problem was, we hit the wreck
-literally (couldn't see it though). Now what part of the wreck we
hit is another matter. It was a good day - Jules wasn't even
sick!!
