Diving - My Continuing Adventures underwater
The club RHIB returns
A bit of a break from diving followed.
Darren kindly agreed to tow the boat to Portland where we had decided to store in their Drystack, a kind of multistorey car park for boats, with a precarious looking fork lift raising and lowering boats.
The Drystack (courtesy of Google Streetview)
It's compelling to watch, but I assume it's much safer than it looks!
Test launching the boat
The weekend after that, I gathered 4 divers, Geoff, a very experienced diver, and 3 new to the sea divers, Rob, Adam and James, to do a bit of a trial run of the boat in the drystack.
We didn't really know how the process worked, so the day was going to be interesting.
I booked a launch for 9AM, but when Geoff and I arrived about then, the boat was still in its bay, 4 levels up.
Louise called to say that they had contacted her and what time were we arriving, so in the end the boat didn't get launched until around 9:30.
This wasn't a problem on the day as the others had been delayed en-route and we were only planning to dive in the harbour due to wind and people's experience levels, but was something we would need to consider on days when catching a slack tide was critical to diving wrecks out to sea.
Once the boat was down and in the sea, we quickly readied it for sea and set out.
The plan was to dive the Countess of Erne first, return to the Marina for a gas and food fill and they do one of the other wrecks on the harbour wall, probably the Spaniard.
The wind meant it was quite a bumpy crossing of the harbour, but when we reached the area where I thought we'd find the Countess's substantial buoy there was no sign of it.
Lovely weather at Portland, despite strongish winds
We dropped James and Adam in on a couple of buoys over what looked like a raised obstruction, but immediately Adam was squealing that he was wet! We took him back aboard and found that his silicone next seal was not properly fitted. Luckily we were able refit it properly without the correct tool and dropped him back in, but they reported nothing but Lobster pots.
We gave up, but as we re-crossed the harbour I started to think I may have gone to the wrong break in the harbour wall. It was only when we got home that Geoff mentioned that he thought that was the case, but didn't want to call me out on it! Not much help, really, as it would have been far better to have done so and found the wreck!
So, two people had been in, we'd fixed a leaking drysuit, but we'd found no wrecks.
Back at the Marina, we moored up where they'd indicated we should do and James and Adam got air fills, while the rest of us headed to the restaurant in the Marina complex.
Food isn't cheap there, but was quite good.
Geoff chatted to a woman on the next table and she said that vis on the Countess was much better than on the Spaniard the previous day, so we headed off to the correct break in the harbour wall and, sure enough, there was the buoy we'd expected!
I dropped Adam and James in again and there was no repeat of the drysuit dramas, so I told Rob and Geoff to get ready, so that, even if the others did return, we could ensure they had a dive.
It took Geoff, who hadn't dived with us on the RHIB for a while, some time to get kitted up, but the others were still underwater, so it was no problem.
I dropped them in and they both descended. I circled in the boat, keeping an eye on both sets of bubbles.
About 15 minutes later, I could see two divers on the buoy, but when I got there I was surprised to find it was Geoff and Rob. Apparently, Rob's weight belt had come loose and it was around his knees by the time he was alongside the boat. We managed to get the belt off without dropping it and got both of them back on the RHIB.
While this was happening, two DSMBs appeared together, some way off.
James and Adam's bubbles had tracked so far south that I assumed they'd come off the wreck, but when they got back aboard they confirmed they'd stayed on it, for the whole dive.
The second dive had, mostly, gone well, Rob's weight belt issue excepted, and we returned to the Marina, after I showed the others a few other sites along the harbour wall.
We returned to the harbour and after rinsing down what we could have of the boat on the water, we were able to depart and leave the returning of the boat to the drystack to the marina operators.
Overall, a successful day out, we learnt from taking the boat out and 3 new divers got their first experiences of diving from the RHIB and in the sea.
More big wrecks - A day out from Eastbourne
My next dives were a couple I'd been looking forward to for a long time.
When we dived at Brighton the previous year, I'd asked if we could dive the wreck of the Alaunia, but had been told it was too far from Brighton, but we could book for the next year when Channel Diver would be at Eastbourne for a while.
We had 10 divers booked on the trip, but Andrew let us know he'd woken with a bad headache and decided not to risk a dive.
The rest of us had an early start to make Sovereign Harbour in Eastbourne in time to load the boat at 7:30.
John kindly gave me a lift and we were at Eastbourne with time to spare, so headed over to grab a coffee (electing to use McDonalds as Costa's toilets were out of order!) before Steve arrived.
The A27 was closed for a section, but everyone managed to make their way around country lanes and arrived in time for us to load and actually set off a little early. We were joined by a lone Rebreather Dive, Robin.
It was overcast and, by the standards of the last few weeks, actually chilly as we headed out, but as we kitted up the sun started to burn through.
I dived with Bryn, who was also on a twinset and descended the shot and found ourselves in 3-4M of viz, not great, but enough at close range to make things out.
We were just behind the bow, which stands some 5M off the seabed and features a large anchor hanging on its chain.
We explored that and then started swimming back along the wreck.
We passed what looked like a couple of engines, which we suspected worked the capstans for the bow anchors.
Some video from the Alaunia
Along the way, we found some very large Lobsters, loads of fish, including the usual shoals of Bib, plenty of Blennies and Gobis and some huge Pollack.
Eventually, I reached 7 minutes of deco, a couple more than we planned and then put our DSMBs and start to ascend, completing an 8 minute deco stop before returning to the surface and reboarding the boat after what everyone agreed had been a good dive.
We had a long wait before we could dive the high water slack on the second wreck of the day, the Oceana.
Sadly, when we reached this wreck, it was obvious the visibility was worse than on the Alaunia.
After the dive, we agreed that if we saw 2M, it was the best vis on the wreck.
We did find the monumental engine, which reaches up 8M from the wreck, but the details were hard to make out due the corrosion and the visibility.
Neither Bryn nor I identified the boilers and nor did anyone else I spoke to back on the boat, so they may have been salvaged or of a design we didn't recognise.
We headed back along the wreck, spotting congers, lobsters and huge numbers of fish, including some huge Pollock.
On this wreck, we didn't quite reach deco, partly due to limited gas, but mostly due to the fact that the vis was so poor that it didn't seem worth spending too much time on the wreck.
We completed our safety stop together, but both Bryn and I had put up our own DSMBs due to the poor vis and while his went one way, mine, put up a minute or so earlier, was going in a totally different direction and was clearly pulling on something.
We had to separate to surface and when I followed mine, I found it was hooked around the shotline Steve had put in and then headed back in the opposite direction due to the current.
By the time I was back on the boat, Bryn was already aboard and dekitting.
Despite the poor vis, we all agreed it was an interesting wreck and we'd like to return, hoping for better vis.
Overall, though, the two dives had been good on wrecks, too big to begin to fully explore on a single dive.
We got back to the harbour around 4:30 and had an uneventful journey home.
Murky depths of Vobster
James wanted to do a progression dive to 30M, so he, Rob and I headed to Vobster on a sunny Friday.
I wanted to try out the single wing I'd bought from the club before taking it on an overseas trip and paired it up with my Conshelfs.
Traffic was bad on the A303, so I didn't arrive until nearly 10AM, but we got an air fill for Rob and kitted up.
The plan was to drop in in front of the shop, descend down the platforms, cross the pit to the boat and then follow the line down to the small boat at around 30M.
As soon as we started to descend, it was obvious that the visibility was poor. In the pit, it was hard to see the edges, but we made our way across it and to the boat, prior knowledge of the site being the guiding factor!
We swam along the side of the Jacquin II and then I managed to find the line down to the deep section without too much trouble.
It was very dark down here, but vis was a little better as I could see everyone and the boat was visible when we reached it, the last time I'd been here we'd only found it by touch!
After a few minutes there to aclimatise James to the depth, we made our way back up the shot, swam back to the Jacquin which we had a look around for a few minutes and then headed over to the wheelhouse, which wasn't visible from the bow of the Jacquin.
We swam through that and then ascended to the top of the tunnel and swam up to the shalllow area where we carried out our safety stops.
A video of the Perch on the Safety Stop
James struggled to keep down and held on to some rocks on the wall to hold himself, but Rob (who had struggled with his buoyancy on previous trips) seemingly had no issues on this dive.
For the second dive of the day, Phil led and suggested we go down the tunnel to the helicopter and then try to find the Jesters and the wheelhouse.
We dropped in off one of the platforms (there were a handful of divers there on this day, although it was packed with what looked like a swimming club) and descended to the top of the tunnel.
The vis was very poor and we could barely see the entrance until we were in the tunnel.
We descended it and then swam out, past the bottom of the crushing works, to the helicopter, which also seeemed to appear from nowhere!
From there we swam around for a bit and located a small wooden yacht that I didn't recall seeing before, with a prominent bow sprit.
A video from the second dive at Vobster - It was that dark!
We swam around a bit more and found ourselves at the, now wrecked, caravan, before following some tyres which led us to the second wheelhouse and some of the jesters.
After that we returned to the caravan, but lost our direction a bit and as James was getting low and gas and most of us a bit chilly at 7C, we ascended.
Phil and James on the safety stop
We carried out a 6M 3 minute safety stop, where Rob had a bit of trouble - Whether he'd not opened his suit relief valve or it wasn't working, I don't know, but pressing it released air from his suit and we all finished the stop without drama.
We then surfaced to find ourselves in the middle of the busy swimming course!
We hastily swam across the lake and exited by the platform we'd entered at.
Overall, not a bad couple of dives, although the vis was disappointing.
The journey home was via Larkhill and Bullford, presumably the sat nav suggesting that route due to hold ups on the A303.
That evening we had the club BBQ at Caroline's house with a reasonable, if not massive, turnout and it was an enjoyable evening for those who did attend.
Exploring new locations - Surrey Hills
A few days later, I took a trip to Tapwood Lake, near Reigate with a view to possibly using it for training and diving for the club as it promises similar depths to Vobster, but twice as close in terms of miles and probably an hour closer in drive time.
Phil tagged along and we dived with a chap called Andy (he was a bit brusque to start with, but got more friendly as the day progressed) from Surrey Divers, who took us in.
We giant strided off their jetty and descended to around 16M, before heading off into deeper water down a wall.
The vis wasn't great at depth, indeed we lost Andy for a few moments at one point, but he waited and we caught him up, partly due to an algae bloom.
The lake is a former silica quarry and supposedly has really good vis at times
We headed to the point where the lake descends to 30M+, but didn't go down (it was as cold as Vobster below about 10M and Andy was just in a wetsuit!).
Some video from our dive at Surrey Hills
We headed back up to around 10M gradually and then into an area in the 6M range where the vis was far better, suggesting this would be a good site to bring Ocean Diver trainees for their first open water dives. The water was lovely and warm at this depth, too.
The lake is only just being developed and doesn't have much to see aside from submerged trees and the natural quarry features, but they seem keen to develop it, so I suspect we will take out a membership for the club and give the place a go.
