Was it worth it?? Leaving home
originally at 12.30 pm and then again at 21.00 we seemed to have spent
the whole day 'on the road'. However, eventually my faithful
little Peugeot 106 got me, Andrew, and most of our kit to Broad Haven at
1.00 am. Pretty good going. However, breakfast at 8.00 am
was rather a struggle. Rain, poor viz, rough seas - typical!
Unfortunately, this was a recurring
theme for the weekend. We are sure that the dives would have been
really good, if only we could have seen them! Anyway, having
travelled all this way to dive, we were going to dive!!
3rd September - 2 wrecks
The Dakotian - John Liddiard
said in Diver magazine "The Dakotian is one of those wrecks that I
used to dive only in really bad weather - the sort of weather that made
it so foul around Skomer Island that the only place sheltered enough to
survive in an inflatable boat was Dale Harbour.
Then, for some reason, we went there on a nice day, and I actually got
to dive the Dakotian in good conditions. It was a completely different
wreck." Well, one day, John, we would like to dive it on a
good day. Good experience of a poor vis dive - rummage dive among the plates and wreckage
- pretty hairy getting back on the boat too.
The Behar - similar to the
morning dive. A few crabs and lobsters to see, but again the vis
was pretty awful. It can only get better.
4th September - 2 reefs
High Cliff and Rye Rock
- viz a bit better than yesterday, maybe a couple of metres. Swam
west across the bay with boulders towards wall on far side. Saw some nice sea fans.
At Rye Rock there were seals on surface but didn't see them once in the
water. Headed North out of kelp and bit onto sand. Walls and gullies nice but very difficult to see in low vis.
5th September - 2 wrecks
The Thor and then tried the Behar
again. Basically just exploring wreckage we could see in front of our noses!
Thanks to Steve & Lindsey for
all the hard work in arranging the weekend - the company was good, even
if the diving could have been better. But that's the way of things
in the UK.
Despite the above report, there were
things to see, so long as you looked carefully. Some photos of the weekend:
people / underwater
