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BSAC 130 Dive Trips: 2010
Our new(ish) 6.5m RIB will be going to Weymouth for the first time. Portland and Weymouth offer an excellent range of diving, plenty of sheltered sites and great facilities with the opportunity to come in for lunch and air fills. Best of all we are in the superb new Dean and Readyhoff Marina: secure, easy to launch and very posh!
Besides Weymouth, we have some great trips elsewhere: Plymouth, Angelsey, Lyme Regis, West Wales and Swanage. Our week long trips take some of the UK's best diving in Skye and Scillies, as well as trips to France and (hopefully) the Red Sea.
We also have an excellent range of courses including all the diver grades, oxygen admin and boat handling.
For full details, click here to download the pdf Dive Calendar
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Recent Trip Reports
Untitled Document
Weymouth 10-11 July 2010
The Dredger and a Bag Full of Scallops
Training weekends can be hard work sometimes, but a combination of
good weather and great Ocean Diver students made sure this Weymouth
trip was a highly successful, enjoyable couple of days.
Saturday started off with The Dredger. For seasoned divers it’s a bit
of a ‘last resort’ dive - the place you go when you really can’t dive
anywhere else. But for new divers the Dredger can be great. It looks
like a wreck and it has fish. Saturday’s dive saw some good viz on The
Dredger, with four of the OD students observing a dive leading demo.
In the afternoon we did a gentle drift in Balaclava Bay – when I say
‘gentle’, there was almost no current at all. Most of the instructors
showed the students how to find scallops and we half-filled a goodie
bag with them.
Sunday was essentially a repeat of the day before, but with poorer
viz. The OD students needed to do their dive as a leader (OO5), so we
started with The Dredger as it was now a familiar site, which made
navigating underwater easier.
In the afternoon almost everyone was up
for more scallops, so we did a drift from Balaclava Bay towards Grove
Point. The scallop collecting skills were now honed, and we managed
fill the goodie bag – enough for everyone’s tea. What’s more four
Ocean Diver students; Wendy, Gemma, David and Susie, all completed the
course. Well done! Thanks as always to Zoe and Nic for all their hard
work instructing on the weekend.
Mark Brill
Portland 3-4 July 2010
Holborn Divers to the rescue!
The First Day: Sat 3 July – Dreams vs Reality
Dream - set off at 9:30am round the west of the Bill to explore Stennis Ledges, have nice sunbathe on
Chesil Beach in drysuits, pootle around the James Fennel, then back for scrumptious tea at Blue Fish Cafe.
Reality – boat not launched, westerly winds, one diver with no wetsuit, one with no air, and one (me) with
no brain.
Retire to Marina for tea and cake.
New dream – set off at 10:30am to Alex van Opstal as new to even the most seasoned members, then sunbathe
at Lulworth Cove, pootle along Lulworth Banks, then, as before, back for tea at Blue Fish Café.
New reality – current running like the proverbial train (not the South West type one), gruelling swim to
just beside Alex, half-fainting diver, so drive to Lulworth Banks to do drift. Then slack arrives.
Retire to Marina for tea and cake.
Another dream – head to Earl of Abergavenny to see historic site, still a little sunbathing time, then back
for tea at Blue Fish Café.
Another reality – head out north exit and straight into hundreds of sailboats delicately circling the Earl.
Continually. Drive off to Grove Point for the express service to the Bill. Watch as divers swept out to sea.
Retire to Blue Fish Café for wine and scallops.
The Second Day: Sun 4 July – The Rescue
Head out to Binnedyk for slack 2.5 hours before HW. As drawing close, notice unusual boat profile in the distance.
Water gently lapping over transom and engine, deflated tubes and one remarkably stoic driver sitting on the last
remaining bits of the bow above the waves. Six divers in the water and no lifeboats…
Holborn Diver to the rescue (cue fanfare and special uniforms)! Dah da da dah daaah da, da da dah da daaah…
Four more divers, with twinsets, and we almost went the same way as their previous boat. We survived and headed
off when far more qualified rescue parties came.
Arrived at Binnedyk perfectly on slack. Down another boat’s shot. Beautiful dive with lobster, scores of
bib and several conger.
Retire to Marina for tea and cake.
Back out to Balaclava Bay and very pleasant drift with scores of crabs.
And finally, retire to Marina for tea and cake.
Must be karma.
Anglesey 26-27 June 2010
Holborn Divers cer at Môn (which I think means “Holborn Divers go to Anglesey” in Welsh)!
Seven Holborn Divers and a few non-diving partners (NDPs) braved the long journey up to North Wales
to try out some sites near Anglesey. We were diving with skipper Scott Waterman of Quest Diving Charters
on his fantastic big RIB (with toilet and lift – brilliant!)
Uncharacteristically for North Wales, the weather was gorgeous (this was arranged by the Dive
Marshall, Rachel). We headed from Menai Bridge into Liverpool Bay on flat calm seas on Saturday
morning, spotting a porpoise on the way, and dived the Penrhos, a 30m steamship that apparently
hit a mine in 1942 while carrying limestone chippings to Liverpool. She sits in about 20m and
is absolutely encrusted with plumose anemones. Stern and bow structures are relatively intact,
but the midships are sunken into the sand. The skipper described her as a nursery wreck and there
were indeed huge shoals of small fish, with baby flatfish skirting around. Doug and Karen spied
an eel like creature about 30 cm long, with mottled skin. Another diver suggested it was a
butterfish; one for the fish ID experts?
In the afternoon we headed back to Puffin Island and dived with a few of the seals in the colony there;
the first dive with seals for two of us. As we hung about on the bottom at about 5m, they were
a bit timid, but made a few return trips to suss us out and have a little nibble on some fins
(yellow preferred).
Sunday was a bit windier but we were able to go out into Liverpool Bay again and dive the Chacabuco,
a sailing ship that sank in 1873 after colliding with the Torch, another steamship. This dive was
about 35m to the seabed so was fairly short, but visibility was better at around 6-8m and there was
a lot of life. The wreck is pretty broken up and also covered in plumose anemones. Some structures
remain, including part of the bow and a section of mast, which is now covered in a trawler net.
Some yummy looking lobsters were seen lurking in parts of the wreck. A very atmospheric dive, spiced
up by having to navigate through a beautiful but treacherous jellyfish cloud
on the way down and back up.
The afternoon dive was also north of Puffin Island, where there’s a long slack water period.
It was a pleasant mooch around, with carpets of brittlestars, lots of starfish, crabs and a
few docile dogfish spotted.
Good food, good company, good weather, good diving – fantastic weekend!
Wraysbury 26-27 June 2010/Ocean Diver training
A new batch of students takes the plunge.
Question: when is the best time to do your open water training at Wraysbury? Answer: on the hottest weekend
of the year so far!
The latest batch of Ocean Diver students, along with instructors Mark, Zoe, Mia, Nic and Nick Watson, headed over
to the Wraysbury Dive Centre on a beautiful sunny weekend to start their open water training.
Armed with some brand spanking new/borrowed/hired kit the students finally got their first taste of UK open water.
As usual, the viz was poor as a result of scores of students kicking up the fine silt (not the Holborn students,
obviously) but that did nothing to dampen everyone's enthusiasm. Saturday saw all of the students complete the first
two open water dives, OO1 and OO2, so everything was right on schedule - possibly a first for Holborn!
On Sunday everyone was back bright and early and, amazingly, still full of enthusiasm to complete the remaining two
training dives. Several controlled buoyant lifts, AS ascents, tows and bowls of cheesy chips later, their weekend
was done - and all in time to get back home to watch the big game; England vs Germany. Hmmnnn... maybe they shouldn't have
bothered!
All in all the weekend was a resounding success - the tadpoles have grown legs. Next stop: Weymouth, to complete
the last couple of dives and then - hurrah - they will all be fully qualified frog persons.
Portland 19-20 June 2010, Advanced Nitrox SDC/Sport Diver
A New Wreck for Holborn: The Alex Van Seabed.
The aim of this weekend was to both cover the Advanced Nitrox dives,
but also to do some advanced diving techniques for decompression and
of course, dive some wrecks. Four students and two instructors came on
the trip off the club RIB.
The plan on Saturday was to start with the Elena R, but due to some
strong north easterly winds we stayed slightly inshore to dive ‘The
Benny’. As this was all about advanced diving techniques, the course
students had to plan the dive including any deco time and their air
requirements. For some, it was also a chance to actually work out
their personal breathing rate for the first time.
The other technique on this dive was to learn how to use a lazy shot.
After successfully shotting the wreck the first group of divers took
in the lazy shot, tied in with an all important prussic loop. The
wreck is on a shingle seabed and in spite of the still lingering
plankton bloom, it was a bright dive, with reasonable viz.
We were using 2hrs before Portland HW for slack time. However, by the
time the second group dived the current had started to run and the
shot had dragged. This was a great chance to practice running a
distance line into the wreck. The ascent also showed how useful a lazy
shot can be. Dragging our way up the main shot line we reached the
lazy, clinging on to the current like flags in the wind. We pulled the
lazy away from the main line and instantly we felt the relief from
drifting with the current. Using a buoy and line to decompress is far
more comfortable and less task-loaded then using an SMB for this sort
of dive.
The afternoon dive was the good old Countess of Earne. It is ideal for
practicing wreck penetration techniques: it has plenty overhead bits
around the holds and is suitably scuzzy enough to require a
penetration line. The nitrox students also used a rich mix of 36% for
the dive, they practiced side-mounting ponies for the first time and
did a mid-water SMB deployment. The linning out on The Countess proved
to be interesting, with the viz going to less than zero at times.
Saturday evening’s dinner was at The Cove Inn. The food is OK, but not
great, however the view over Chesil Beach with a mid-summer sunset was
fantastic.
Sunday’s weather improved quite a bit, so we set off for the Alex Van
Opstel, a 30m wreck not previously dived by Holborn. We used 2.5hrs
before Portland HW for our slack time, and in the end it gave us
enough time on a neap tide for both waves of divers. The advanced
nitrox divers planned their dive, and carried side mounts for a gas
switch at 6m. Using some marks borrowed from a commercial skipper we
found the wreck easily enough. It was helped by the fact that another
boat was already on it. We decided to put our own shot on the wreck so
that we could use our lazy shot again. Bad move. The shot ended up on
a tiny piece of wreckage. It was only big enough for a home to a large
lobster. On lining out the first group could not find any more wreck,
and the dive was renamed the Alex Van Seabed. The second group did
better. We swallowed our pride and used the other group’s shotline!
The wreck is quite broken, but there are plenty of large lumps and
some pretty life. If you haven’t done the Alex Van Opstel before it’s
certainly worth a visit.
After the dive we went back to the lovely Portland Marina for the all
important post dive coffee and cake. All in all the skills went very
well and the students felt they had learned a lot about using more
advanced diving techniques and planning for decompression dives.
Portland 12-13 June 2010, Sport Diver Open Water training
Sport Diver trainees take it to the next level and discover one of the oldest diveable wrecks in the UK.
On 12-13 June we ran a Sports Diver open water training weekend in Weymouth. The plan was to complete all the open water skills such as mask clearing, compass navigation, DSMB use and AS ascent in deeper water. We attempted to dive the Himalaya but we couldn’t find the wreck on the GPS, so we decided to go for the Spaniard (Enecurie) in the harbour instead, but the visibility was terrible. We decided to put the second wave of divers in for a drift instead on Balaclava Bay, where they found some lovely scallops! The next dive in the afternoon was around Balaclava Bay to Grove Point again, where we found yet more scallops!!
The next day, we dived the Earl of Abergavenny, which is an archaeological survey site, which you need to get permission to dive. Our first set of divers didn’t see much as their finning stirred up a lot of silt, but the second wave really enjoyed it. There was tagging for the survey and a beautiful anchor to see.
In the afternoon, we finished off our training on the Dredger, which had nice visibility and quite a lot to see (including a squid!) as the wreck is in two parts.
The weather was beautiful and sunny, we ended our weekend with a piping hot shower and a nice slice of cake and a coffee in the Marina.
History of the Earl of Abergavenny
Three 'East Indiamen' were lost on Dorset's coast between 1786 and 1815: two were outward bound and had been at sea only days - the Halsewell, wrecked at Worth Matravers in 1786, and the Earl of Abergavenny off Weymouth in 1805 and the Alexander, was almost home from Bengal when she came to grief on Chesil Beach in 1815.
The Earl of Abergavenny, a ship of 1,200-tons, left Gravesend at the end of January, 1805, for Bengal and China carrying some 51 passengers and 159 troops calling in at Portsmouth en route. As she approached Portland Bill on 5 February, 1805, the weather started to deteriorate and Captain Wordsworth, brother of William Wordsworth, decided to wait in Portland Roads rather than rounding Portland Bill and cross Lyme Bay, with the risk of becoming embayed and ending up on the Chesil Bank.
However, shortly after taking on the pilot the vessel struck the Shambles Sandbank, where she lay from some hours, being pounded by the sea, and suffering serious damage to her bottom. When the tide had risen sufficiently to float her off an attempt was made to sail for Weymouth sands, but the ship sank 2 miles from her destination leaving the tops of her masts showing. Of the 402 passengers and crew some 260 souls lost their lives, being unable to cope with the severe cold of winter : bad weather, it is said, preventing rescuers coming close to the wreck until daylight.
Collioure, France 5-10 June 2010
Friendly giant Bass and a multitude of Octopuses greet the intrepid Holbornites who travelled to this pituresque part of Southern France.
On Sat 5th to Thursday 10th June we went diving in Collioure and the marine reserve at Banyuls in the south west of France, just by the Spanish border.
Essentially it is where the Pyrenees meet the sea.The scenery consists of dramatic gulleys and pinnacles. As it is a marine reserve there is a good proliferation of life, from large
shoals of fish to giant, friendly bass and numerous octopuses. The Banyuls reserve has been listed in the top 100 dive sites in the world as it is one of the best of its kind. We dived a range of
sites, mainly reefs with beautiful shoals of multi-coloured fish, and one small wreck. Dive sites: Collioure, Cap la Vieille, Cap Béar, and Renyacans. We almost had the boat to ourselves
as there was only one other diver (who turned out to be our neighbour!), and the atmosphere was very laid back, as we usually left the bay around 10.15 as it’s not tidal.
There can be strong winds in the area, but a number of bays provide good shelter so diving can take place in most conditions. However we did get blown out as strong winds ruined the
visibility, so we took refuge in some local rosé…
The diving operation we used are called Centre International de Plongee (CIP). They have a large day boat which leaves from the small port; the equipment is good and they are a safe, well-run operation.
Collioure is considered the prettiest town in the region. It is also famed as a home and inspiration to many artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Derain and Charles Renee Mackintosh.
Josephine Baker and Charles Trenet (wrote ‘La Mer’) also lived there. The point is that this is a fantastic place to wander around or just sit on the terrace by the sea drinking wine and
watching the world go by. We had rented an apartment which turned out to be tiny, luckily some brought ear plugs! But the view was beautiful. It’s just at the foot of the Pyrenees so there
are lots of good walks nearby or cute villages and towns to visit. We visited Céret and Castelnou in the mountains, which is a good way to beat the disappointment when you are not able to
dive, and fun for non-diving partners!
Portland 5-6 June 2010
A small but perfectly formed group of some of Holborn's more experienced divers took to the seas to dive on some of Weymouth's deeper wrecks.
On Saturday the weather gods were smiling upon us - gentle summer sun with a very light breeze resulting in a virtually flat calm sea, great for a smooth ride to our first site; the Aeolian Sky. The Sky was a 14 thousand tonne
Greek cargo ship that went down in the late seventies. The wreck is spread over a massive area and is very difficult to miss on the echo sounder - even by Holborn!!! Divng on the wreck is an interesting experience, because of the scale of the site it's really difficult to tell where you are - lucky for us we had Nic on hand to tell us that we were on the keel (that's the bit that runs along the ENTIRE length of the underside of the ship) ... Glad we got that figured out!!!! Viz was really good, between 5 and 6 meters. Second dive of the day was a drift south of Grove Point which was a bit of an exploritory dive and proved to be a good choice. Initially we hit gravel - always a disappointing sight of a drift dive. As the drift south continued we travelled over a really varied set of terrains. First up we came across what came best be described as a boulder field. Some enormous boulders appeared out of the murk, some so big that you felt you were about to discover an unknown wreck not seen for centuries. After the boulders in shallower water we came across a kelpy reef with plenty of fish life. Also of note on the dive was a spider size of a small house!!!
On Sunday the weather closed in and our planned trip to the M2 got canned. Instead we headed to the Binnendijk - another site with wreckage spread over a large area. This was definitely a great attribute because 6 other dive boats appeared on the site with us so there was plently of room for everyone!!! Although we initially thought out shot was a little off the wreck in actual fact is was almost perfect - right next to one of the boilers. The reports before the dive was that it was almost flat and there was nothing to see - but in actual fact its a very varied site with some big structures still visible. It's not a wreck that is "ship-shaped" but definitely worth doing. The dive was thoroughly enjoyable with excellent visibility and we only saw one other buddy pair!!
Portland Late May Bank Holiday, 29-31 May 2010
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It's Holborn...dressed as Superheroes!!! What the..?
Several of Holborn’s elder members (Miranda apart) mustered at Weymouth’s fine new marina for the Club’s inaugural Superhero dive… The rain was driving, the wind was howling, temperatures were low but spirits were high! Our mutual objective became clear: we’re here so we go for a dive. A dive. Each day. Then we get warm and have a good meal.
That suits us all so we load up and poke our noses through the outer breakwater to fall in on a silty drift dive featuring fine sand and lumpy rocks. Riding the swell amongst us are the local charter boats so we feel good that we made the optimum decision given the prevailing conditions. (Note for log book – “weather poor”). We’ve had our dive so off to the YHA. We feel even better after a tremendous meal at the Bluefish Café.
On Sunday the skies are clearer, although my notes blow across the car park. We are all still keen as we motor out to Lulworth Banks and take the opportunity to scan for marks with the new Hummingbird side scan sonar. A pretty drift dive ensues and with all happy we are home satisfied.
Portland 22-23 May 2010
Susie and the Holborn divers enjoy the hottest weekend of the year so far.
What a weekend! We had near perfect weather - calm seas and glorious sunshine. Saturday was 24 degrees and Sunday about 27! Wind speed had dropped considerably compared to what had been forecast, little more than a gentle breeze. Everything went to plan. Visibility was good for the first dive, the Countess (well, it was the first dive of the season for a lot of people) although the May plankton bloom was out in force for the rest - at least that means the water is warming up.
The slightly warmer water meant that there was more life to see than on previous dives recently. The Countess was teeming with shoals of fish including one particularly friendly Cuckoo Wrasse. Our second dive was a drift at White Nothe Point although their wasn't actually a lot of current. Crabs were everywhere; Brown, Hermit and, mostly, Spider. Hightlight of the dive had to be spotting a large Anglerfish which several of the group hadn't ever seen before. After the dive with so many crabs it seemed only fitting that we went to the, now infamous, Crab House Cafe for dinner - our little crusty friends didn't disappoint - yum!
Sunday morning's dive was The Spaniard, inside the harbour. Once again, thanks to the bloom, vis was a bit poor but, despite this, we did manage to spot a nudibranch. Sorry Dave, don't have it's latin name! After lunch we headed out to Balaclava Bay for the, by now almost traditional, scallop hunt. With only a gentle current and reasonable vis, we were able to gather quite a few scallops and so could look forward to a tasty meal once we got back to London.
All in all, a great weekend. In particular, we stayed at Boscawen House near Castletown which worked out really well. At just £18.00 per person per night it was great value for Portland and there was plenty of space to leave your kit out to dry, so we'll definitely be going back there soon - well recommended!
Weymouth 15-16 May 2010
The Dive Leader trainees take advantage of a bit of sunshine down in Portland.
The aim of the weekend was to complete the first four Dive Leader practical exercises. For some of the later DL exercises it makes sense to do them in a sheltered area in or near the harbour but for the earlier ones it's possible, conditions permitting, to venture out to somewhere more interesting. Conditions certainly did permit on the Saturday, it was warm and sunny most of the day with light winds from the west.
So on Saturday morning we headed across to Worbarrow Bay to dive the bow section of the Black Hawk. Even though it was sunny and we were bang on slack we still had the wreck to ourselves, which made a pleasant change. The water was still cold, around 10 degrees, but vis. pretty good at 4 metres or so. It was still too cold for there to be much active marine life around, but there were a few bib and a lot of ballan wrasse. The markings on the ballan wrasse looked particularly striking and colourful (perhaps because it's their breeding season? Note to self - must ask Dr. Dave about this). Oh yes, and there was some wreckage and general metal bits and stuff too. There was also, bizarrely, a modern lump of metal that looked suspiciously like a shell (as in explodey-type shell). Is the senior service really firing shells, even if only dummy ones, at one of the most popular dive sites in the area?
After lunch, and a quick nap, in Lulworth Cove we headed out to Lulworth Banks for a drift dive. As ever there were large numbers of scallops, in fact more than I can remember having seen before. It always amazes me how the scallop population manages to replenish itself here when the site is so easily accessible and so many divers are picking up a few for tea - not to mention the more commercial groups such as the one we saw at Lulworth Cove landing at least a dozen large sacks stuffed full of scallops.
Dinner in the evening at the Blue Fish Cafe was something of a highlight, I thought the food was really excellent. Scallops with black pudding as a starter was a revelation and my main course was the tastiest lamb I've ever eaten - good find Nic!
Next day the weather wasn't so kind and the brisk westerly wind meant we were restricted to staying in the lee of the Isle of Portland. We started with a drift dive off Grove Point at around 15 metres - quite colourful and interesting directly off the point, but less interesting to the north and south. For the second dive we needed slack water for some exercises with a shot line so we ended up in dependable old Balaklava Bay. This is a useful spot for exercises, but not the most exciting dive going and I have to admit that having done the exercise and had a brief potter round I was looking at my watch wondering when we could reasonably call a halt to proceedings.
One final, food-based, highlight was the cake at 'The Boat that Rocks' cafe - highly recommended!
Weymouth 8-9 May 2010
And so lies a new undiscovered wreck in the Portland area – that of the HMS (Her Maj’s Snapper) Canon Ixus … lost in a fateful incident on the 8th May 2010.
Holborn Diver was back at home in Portland Marina after its exotic holiday in West Bay so we took her out for some simple early season dives around the Harbour. First up on Saturday was the Portland classic: the (Unidentified) Dredger. Visibility had dramatically improved since the last time the dredger was dived a few weeks ago – you could see 5-7m. There were loads of spider crabs on wreck – a number happily making there way to a recently dropped lobster pot and a couple probably not-so-happily ensconced in the pot already. After the dredger we header to Balaclava Bay for a drift dive, again vis. was very good. The current took us south toward Grove Point, the sea bed certainly got more interesting the further south we headed with some larger rocks and boulders. As we were de-kitting to get into the boat, Sarah’s camera made run for freedom by cleverly detaching itself from the strobe mount and dropping to the seabed. A horrible way to end a really enjoyable dive.
On Sunday – we decided to launch a full scale seabed search to retrieve the camera. We relocated our approximate position but found that we had a current like a proverbial steam train, not the most ideal conditions to perform any form of delicate finger-tip search. After 15 minutes of fun – and some very unfamiliar underwater terrain we headed to surface, aware that the last small chance of us finding the camera had slipped through our wrinkled fingers. Sigh!!!
To console ourselves we headed to the Spaniard, which we helpfully missed but dived on the Cragside instead. Visibility was appallingly bad (probably about 1m), the merest misplaced waft of a fin over the silty seabed caused the little viz we had to reduce to nothing. You’ve got to love UK diving!!
If you happen to find a camera somewhere near Balaclava Bay please contact Sarah!!
West Bay 1-3 May 2010
West Bay – the final frontier … Holborn divers step into the unknown. Nick Watson organised a trip taking Holborn BSAC to new territory as part of his Advanced Diver qualification.
The challenge was to dive from a location new to the club (rather difficult when the club has been around for nearly 50 years) and with multiple waves of divers. Nick chose to take the club RIB from its home in Portland Marina to exotic West Bay to explore Lyme Bay reefs and wrecks.
Saturday’s dive consisted of a Scallop-feast on Sawtooth Ledges – which was a considerable relief considering Sunday’s BBQ was reliant on a sea food bonanza. The dive itself was an enjoyable slow drift with really good visibility of around 5 metres. The bit of Sawtooth Ledges we saw wasn’t as exciting as the name suggests – we found one small drop off which was a little jagged. The second dive of the day was on the Baygitano just outside Lyme Regis, it’s a pretty beaten up wreck but the boilers and parts of the engine are still standing. Again visability was really good. The evening was rounded off with a Girls v Boys skittles match (note: the boys won by a substantial margin) and some fantastic Thai food cooked by Mark and Zoe.
On Sunday some of us made it out to the wreck of the St Dunstan in distinctly average weather conditions. Kitting up on a small boat in rolling seas with a chilly northerly wind is usually the point at which I start dreaming of shore diving in some tropical location – but it is the challenging conditions that make UK diving so satisfying. The wreck is at around 30 metres and is reasonably intact but slightly twisted. Visiblity was very poor – the lights were switched off below 15m, which made it a really atmospheric torch-lit dive. Weather conditions had worsened above the surface during the dive, the trip back to West Bay was a slow grind through some heavy waves. Despite the dubious conditions the BBQ was wheeled out on Sunday evening with BBQ’d scallops and Lamb koftes on the menu.
Monday’s diving was a quick jaunt to the West Tenants reef to wrangle a few more scallops for supper!
Thanks to Nick and Sarah for organising a great weekend!
Weymouth 17-18 April 2010
Our intrepid Ocean Diver trainees take their first plunge into UK waters and find, to their surprise, that there is life down there.
Having cancelled the inland training scheduled for late March due to water temperatures of less than 5˚C (ouch) this was the Ocean Diver trainees first experience of the open water. With the cold weather continuing the sea temperature was still only a mind-numbing 7-8˚C, but those extra 2 degrees made all the difference. More importantly, it was the first sunny weekend of the year and the winds were light, so pretty ideal conditions.
After an early breakfast on the Saturday morning the instructors, boat crew and first wave of students set off for the swanky new Portland Marina. Our dive site for the day was the wreck of the Dredger just south of the harbour wall in Balaclava Bay. In just 7-8m of water it makes an ideal first dive site. The vis was disappointing due to recent storms but the first wave of students; Greg, Alistair and Marc, all coped remarkably well and even said they enjoyed the experience (though they might just have been being nice)!
An equipment problem meant Nadia couldn't go out on the next boat so Az was all by himself with five instructors and boat crew - talk about being pampered! Nadia eventually got into the water on the last dive of the day, along with the rest of the students doing their second dives. Everything went smoothly and we even managed to finish the day right on schedule, which surprised everyone, particularly the Dive Marshal.
The following day saw the student numbers fall as Nadia and Al fell ill (food poisoning and sun stroke were the suspects) but Marc, Greg and Az went out for dives on the infamous Countess of Erne and, later, Balaclava Bay. The vis was still poor (it does get better - honest!) but, once again, the students all came up smiling after their dives. Once the boat was put to bed (a much easier task these days due to the fact she doesn't have to be recovered onto the trailer) we settled down in the café for a well deserved hot drink and a debrief.
All in all, a successful weekend - now it's off to Wraysbury to complete the training. Thanks to everyone for taking part and making it all happen.
Weymouth 6 March 2010
Tropical, sun-drenched, sizzling? Three words that you usually wouldn’t associate with UK diving in early March. Holborn Divers first UK trip of the season sadly proved that they’re still not.
Holborn’s hardiest headed down to Weymouth for the season starter, the bow section of the Black Hawk, a 7,000 ton American liberty ship torpedoed in 1944 with a maximum depth of 16 metres. Under leaden skies we embarked from Castletown and headed the 10 miles to the site of the wreck. The seas were slight, and even with a chilly, northerly wind spirits were high. Surprisingly, there were three dive boats already on the site when we arrived, an impressive show of like-mindedness by the local charter boat skippers.
A pre-dive hot chocolate warmed the fingers before the cold, wet stuff began. The water temperature was a positively un-tropical 5˚C, a firm reminder that the dive season had officially begun. Visibility was rather poor at around 2-3 meters. The wreck itself is very badly broken up, a combination of a) being hit by a torpedo b) being blown up in 1967 to make way for a pipeline. With the lack of vis and the fragmented nature of the wreck it was difficult work out which bits of the ship you were looking at. Amongst the twisted metal there were various recognisable parts of the ships structure but on the on whole it was difficult to make out.
It was a very poor show from our fishy friends: a couple of crabs (a common crab and a spider crab) and a sluggish tiddler of unknown species (to me anyway).
We returned to the RIB after a pleasant but wintery 40mins. The merry faces of the rest of the Holborn crew were already back on the boat looking distinctly less-warm than they had prior to the dive. Talk of a second dive was quickly superseded by talk of warm fire places and local ales.
Roll on the summer and balmy water temperatures
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