CLUB TRIP TO DARTMOUTH - THE "TOUCH ME" TOUR - 4/5 JUNE
The weather forecast was for sunshine and light winds so we were hoping for a good weekend of diving in Dartmouth. we were not disappointed. We had booked to go on Ian Noble's boat, Samuel Irvin but as it had not been finished by the builders we were changed at the last minute onto Falcon. Run by Tony Noiles an experienced skipper and BSAC NQI
it is great for about 6-8 divers
but not ideal for 12 including 3 rebreathers and a couple of twin sets. We had to drop the numbers to 10 as a result which was a pity. We all arrived on the first evening and Welsh accents seemed to be the order of the day for some reason. Oh, that and annoying west country phrases as we headed f
urther South ....Oi'm so nerrrvous oi'm on foirre. We sampled the local
hostiliery and balti house before
finally retiring to our B&Bs. The first dive on the Saturday was the Mewstone - a volcanic pinnacle that plunges vertically to slightly more than 30m. Dogfish, a variety of wrasse, shoals of small bass and plenty of other life - a nice dive. We then steamed (a bit slowly but we got there) to the Maine. Richard proved that he was the worse sailor in the world by managing to hurl chunks over the side on a flat calm sea. The weekend had been picked because of the tides and the neaps meant that we could virtually dive it at any time so once there we geared up and dropped in. Visibility on the Maine was in excess of 10m and the marine life was incredible. Under the deck struts huge shoals of Bib hung around - the ideal phot opportunity .... when the new card you have stuck in it means that you have to download some software into the camera before it will work. Arrrggh. How annoying! Still everyone agreed (except for Dan, who decided to change his CCR scrubber rather than die o
f CO2 poisoning and missed it) that it was the best dive in the world ... ever. We made good speed (about 5 knots!) back to Dartmouth arriving in time for a couple of swift ones in the Seven Stars before a slap up meal in the Dolphin. During the meal we were entertained with a bit of Wasabe roulette as Dan somewhat whimpily put a mere smidgin of the green stuff on a piece of bread ... big jessy. Somehow the "touch me" theme also developed over the night and this managed to take over from the more regular OK sign on the second day. Day 2 started with another hearty breakfast and another long trek to the Bretagne. It was a bit populated with other divers when we got there but was still a fantastic dive. About 18m to the top and 30m on the sea bed, this huge wreck offers loads of life and places to explore. Covered in sponges, anemones and coral . The last dive of the weekend was on another pinnacle dive around Lyme Bay. The perfect way to round off a great weekend. I have put some photos in the Gallery. Many thanks to Tony for stepping in and putting up with 10 of us and putting on a fantastic spread for lunch on both days as part of the package. I would thoroughly recommend the boat and Tony (Click here for details) but to be honest it is good for about 6 - 8 especially if you are on twins. We will hopefully be going back again later in the year so if you would like to join us, let me know.
CLUB TRIP TO SCYLLA - 18 May
A small mid-week trip went off to Plymouth on May 17 for a night in that fair city and a couple of dives on the Scylla and the James Egan. 8 club members took off in the new Triton van and several other vehicles to see my old mate Jon Bass at Looe Divers. After an evening in Jesters night club - think of Joannas and go one level down - the prospect of a rough sea and full fried breakfast was enough to churn anyones stomach. This was especially the case for the Jock in a Frock who denied being under the weather and blamed the boat. Honest 
guv it was the kebab that was off. There was 10m of viz on the Scylla which since we last dived it in December has turned into a marine nursery. Life is getting much more prolific. The second dive on the James had to be changed to a shallow reef dive but all in all an excellent midweek break. Many thanks to Jon and his team from all of us here at Triton. We were well looked after and will recommend you to anyone who asks. Also, have to recommend the Citadel House Hotel in Plymouth. Lovely B&B and very nice people. We hope to see you all again soon.
MAY BANK HOLIDAY 2005
With boats booked for all three days of the bank holiday we were hoping for good weather after the last bank holiday had been blown out. Weather forecasts looked good, with light winds and one or two thunderstorms. Unfortunately on the Saturday, the one thing we hadn't banked on was the fog. With no viz there was no way the dive could go ahead. Undeterred we looked towards the Sunday. Two dives were planned on the Luis and the Camswan. It was a full boat and although the fog came in for a short time it did not stop the dive going ahead. The viz had improved dramatically and a good 4 metres was to be had on both sites. Plenty of marine life and a great day out. The Monday was only half full which was just as well as the twin set and big tank brigade were out. The dive was on the Polo. Lying on shingle the viz was outstanding, at least 6 metres and probably more off the wreck where a b
it of silt was disturbed on occasions. Congers, lobsters, huge shoals of Bib and Pollack. After the dive and back on board, the sun came out and Matt broke out a couple of cold ones that he had stashed away in a small ice box - very civilized and very enjoyable. We now have some excellent video footage of the Polo so if you are interesting in taking a tour of this wreck without even getting wet, pop into the dive centre.
PORTLAND WEEKEND - 22/23 JANUARY 2005
Yeh,
yeh, it may be winter but we still want to go diving. Whether it was
stupidity or courage, 16 of us in whacky races style headed off to Castletown
for a weekend of fun and frolics. Everyone made the Breakwater hotel
in good time for a few drinks and something to eat and in spite of cries of,
just one more ... I'm going to bed after this one .... and no thanks I'm diving
in the morning, just about everyone was still there at closing time.
We woke to a cloudy but warm day and boarded top Gun and Maverick as the group
was too big for one boat. Dives on the first day included, the Countess,
Landing Craft and Bombard, Lulworth banks and the Dredger. Visibility
was not too bad, especially outside the harbour and
there was plenty of life about. The weather turned slightly in the afternoon,
but all in all a briliant day. There were one or two highlights which
deserve a mention: David's camera now resembles a spirit level after
popping an o-ring at 14 metres ... ouch .. oh and the D9 didn't get wet.
Mike borrowed Matts wetsuit as his new drysuit was not going to arrive in
time .. and managed to put the steamer on back to front. Matt also gave
a first class chunder demonstration - what is it with these ex navy blokes
and Dean managed to give a first class demonstration of the 5 point inverted
ascent method. The evenings entertainment was provided by Jen, who took
a shine to a nice young man from the cable laying ship .. and then got a b
it
too pissed to do anything about it. Sunday morning and the surf was
the only thing up. A late night for one or two members and as a result
those brave enough to go for it managed to fit onto one boat. Another
dive on the Countess was followed by a pretty gloomy dive on the Spaniard
and the unknown Cruiser - which if you haven't done it is well worth it.
All in all a fantastic weekend. The weekend breaks at the Aqua hotel
can work out at £65 for 2 nights accommodation and 4 dives. If
you want more details call the dive centre or log onto their website by clicking
here.
NAUTICAL ARCHAEOLOGY COURSE - 15 JANUARY 2005
How is your Trilateration?
No,
it's not some medical diving complaint, but a way of measuring objects from
two fixed datum points. The club recently sponsored a course hosted
by the Nautical Archaeology Society and several members spent a full day learning
about wrecks, how to record them, why we record them, and the legal aspects
protecting them. After a practice survey on dry land where buddies could talk
to each other and agree how items should be measured, this was then repeated
underwater; it made for an interesting time. Hand gestures became ever more
rude and the tape measures and writing slates had a mind of their own. Part
of the exercise also involved sketching various objects under a grid square
which proved to be exercise in Rolf Harris impersonations …. Can you guess
what it is yet? By the end of the day the level of drawing had progressed
well beyond the normal limits of the Early Learning Centre.
The course was extremely entertaining and very well run by Mark & Alison of NAS. It served as a taster for some of the more formal courses in Nautical Archaeology and many of the members have decided that they want to move on to even more courses in this area. The subject provides the opportunity to cover some pretty unusual specialist courses for all the budding Tony Robinsons amongst you including broadhead arrow making, the manufacture of coracles, underwater photography, square rig sailing and others. As well as being great fun, the NAS courses serve a very real purpose in helping to protect England's Maritime Heritage. Several club members are keen to 'adopt a wreck' so that the history can be researched, details can be recorded and we can do our bit. It is also pretty nice to have a an interesting reason for diving. Other than looking for fish. We will be running another course for the club later in the year, so if you consider yourself the next underwater Indiana Jones, or you can do better than Baldrick and the Time Team, then get involved through the club and do your bit in looking after the history of our seas.
(Thanks to Graham Purvis for the article)5 - 6 November - GILDENBURGH
This
site is near Peterborough a couple of hour's drive. As it was Friday afternoon
when we left Portsmouth we took the road up to oxford instead of going up
the M25. The facilities are rustic in a kind of 3rd world war-zone way. There's
a bar there. (Stay away from the Carling because everyone who drank it got
bad headaches!) The accommodation is in 1960's caravans complete with paisley
brown carpet. They have gas fires, £6 per person per night and £7.50
for each days diving. The toilets/showers however were in such a state we
quickly re-named Gildenburgh guildi-bog-horror on account of the lack of maintenance.
The men's showers didn't work at all and the women's were only cold water.
OK so we were roughing it a bit and using plenty of shower in a can, however
staying
on site is fantastic from a diving point of view. The next morning we got
up had a breakfast of bacon/sausage sandwiches kitted up and went for our
first dive. The viz was a good 8 – 10m there are large training platforms
from the entry points at 6 and 9m and everything is roped off so you are likely
to find something on each dive. There are loads of small perch and rudd, apparently
some pike too but we didn't see any. There are a lot of artificial wrecks
just like in vobster, on the first dive we found the lorry and an air-van
cockpit. About this point I should mention the deep entry point as this is
what we used for every dive after the first one. It's a couple of meters above
the water but it feels a lot more! Great fun! On the second dive we dropped
down the shot to the double-decker bus. It's pointing down a slope so diving
it is quite disorientating. All the windows have been removed and the top
floor has no seats either, it's ideal for your first wreck penetration and
going down those spiral stairs inverted feels really weird! The last dive
of the day was a night dive, as we were staying on site no one was telling
us when we have to get in or out we
just decided on how dark we wanted it. Steve and I did the lorry again and
went in search of the bus but didn't find it. Donny and John stayed on the
shore.
We finished the day with a trip into Gildenburgh for a curry. There is only
one curry house but it's quite good and the service was excellent. One of
the waiters even drove us back to the dive site because there were no taxis!
Donny left early John stayed to take some pictures of us getting in then left
too. So Steve and I did search for a Jet that was on a metal “tripod” but
we didn't find it we ended up just swimming round the edge of the lake where
the trees had become petrified providing a rather spooky scene.
Ryan Milsom
Summary:
Max depth: 22m
Cost: £13.50 per day + Food + Air
Things worth doing: Dive the Bus, Jump in off the high entry
point, do a night dive, have a curry…
Things worth avoiding: Carling, the toilets, the bottom
of the lake (silt)
Things worth taking: Sleeping bag, deodorant, big torch
for night dives
24
July - The Asborg and the Luis
A
bit of an early start. 7.30 am a full boat left the jetty for the long
trip around to St Catherines point. The journey was broken up with suasage
sandwiches and some great comments from Jess. Jess and her other half
Daley had travelled down from Woking for the trip. Jess' best comment
was to ask where the Isle of Wight was (at the time we were sailing past Sandown
Bay. Well it could have been France ..... couldn't it? The picture
shows Jess realizing where the island was. The dive itself was excellent.
Sitting on pure white sand in 28 metres, the visibility was
excellent (around 6m) on this huge wreck and torches were unecessary.
Conger eels and lobsters were everywhere. There was even an abadoned
lobster pot, which seemed to have broken off a line was sat on the bottom
and found by Daren and Pat. Unfortunately, they did not have a lift
bag so they decided to liberate them instead. Vis was not quite so good
on the Luis but it was still an excellent dive although slightly crowded with
a few other clubs also having a dip. The final dive was unexpected,
when we helped a local fisherman remove so rope from his prop. The £20
note that was thrust into the divers hand was a good end to the day.
10
July - The Camswan and the Luis
After a couple of stormy days we were a bit concerned about what the vis was going to be like on this dive. we needn't have worried with around 5 metres on the Camswan and slightly less on the Luis. It was good to welcome our guests from London, Dan, Neil, Pete and Lian who travelled down to dive with the club. Hope you enjoyed it guys. Calm weather all day, sausage sarnies on the way and 2 great dives. It doesn't get better!
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