Galicia, Teignmouth

The final plan was for three waves to go out of Teignmouth to the Galicia. Unfortunately only the first wave, Clint and Hilary, and Anne and I (Paul L boat handled) got to dive. Further diving was called off as visibility was only 1m or so, and just not worth it.

The wreck was located using the transits, and a floating line [attached to a folding anchor later retrieved] found in position used as a shot. I was glad of the shot, because there was some current, as well as poor visibility. I hoped things might be better on the Galicia and we might pass through a layer of algae into some clearer water but no such luck, and it had become very dark too.

Making the most of things, we examined the random lump we'd arrived on, and poked around for wildlife. The encrusted and silty jumble of metalwork had plenty of hiding places and lurking within were small fish, including a female cuckoo wrasse. Other things I noticed were sea-squirts (light-bulbs), a few small starfish, and sponges.

Downwards towards the edge of the wreckage all of a sudden we were confronted by a net. As we backed away, I realized Anne was caught and discovered more of the dreadful stuff entangling her 1st stage. This was carefully sorted and we chose an alternative route.

We shortly came to a wall of cruddy metal, it was covered in hundreds of beautiful white anemones and I took a few pictures. Not long afterwards at another upright plate with unseen debris and cable about it, we decided, almost simultaneously, that we'd had enough of the place - despite its eerie beauty - and wanted to go home. I helped Anne deploy the blob and we returned to the surface.

The dive was valuable experience, so despite the poor conditions I was very glad to have done it. We also got to see Clint deploy his special diving umbrella. I can't wait to go back to the Galicia and explore it in 'daylight' as it were, go a little bit further, make out a bit more of what's left of it and see what else lives there.

Babbacombe

Nice easy shore-dive off the beach at Babbacombe with Geoff, to see what was there. It's a good place and very popular for diving, but if you're planning to stop here be warned that the clampers are extremely zealous. Signs tell you that if the ticket machine is broken you may only stay 30 minutes,.. and that if you need to get change that someone must remain with the vehicle! Welcome to Torbay.

We went in around high tide (HW was 09:40). We surface swam over the stony part of the beach and descended in 5m water and continued north out over silty bottom. Eventually (after about ~150m) we came to a stony ridge and the floor dropped a little more and levelled off again at about 10m. The bottom here was similar to that we'd already covered, and later Geoff told me that it was far more interesting the last time he visited; perhaps it had been trawled up. There were also fishing lines and several clumpy tangles of line, and weights. Others have said that Babbacombe beach is a very good wildlife dive, sadly it was a rather silty no-man's-land. There were empty shells, a few scallops and other large bivalves - spiny cockles and mussels open and rotting, and scattered crab remains. There were lots of scavenging hermit crabs (party-time for these guys), some small gobies, fan worms, a few sea squirts, and sea potatoes (in places very abundant). There were a few wobbly clusters of cuttlefish eggs and Geoff saw a baby cuttlefish. I spotted a pipefish, well camouflaged on the muddy bottom, and found it quite approachable. It was a bit out of place here though, they're more usually encountered amongst weed. The delicate tube anemones were very nice, and there were a few whelks creeping about.

Visibility wasn't great, perhaps three metres, with mistiness and suspended particles. We went back toward the beach and at a rock closer to the shore Geoff ascended. Separation occurred on a second descent and we rendezvoused once more at the surface. At this point we decided to call it a day and we swam back in. We had about 45 minutes of diving- a nice steady swim and look around, with good compass and pilotage practise.

Mew Stone and Plymouth Breakwater Fort

Arriving at Mount Batten early (because I take ages to kit up), we ooohed and aaahed as if we hadn't seen the sea for a year - the sky and sea were blue and Plymouth Sound quite calm-looking. Pretty soon the others arrived, and the first wave [Paul L and Dave M, Clint, Simon and Helen, Chris G boat handler] was ready to go.

We got to the Mew Stone and chucked the shot line in. First in were Clint, Helen and I. We descended into soup-green water. Looking up, instead of a green sun-dappled surface, was a dense blizzard of green-brown particles. The bottom had small rock outcrops and ledges with kelp on top and sand and gravel between. Visibility seemed to be about 1.5m - 2m; quite murky but up close there would be plenty to see. Unfortunately, Helen hadn't enough weight and had to end her dive early.

Back on the bottom Clint used his lifting bag to send the shot to the surface, we then sent up a DSMB, and set off for a look round. Swimming into the current wasn't too bad, we weren't in a hurry - what did take a bit more effort was dragging the DSMB about. Around the ledges were lots of different sponges, sea squirts, sea urchins, starfish, sea cucumbers, and fan worms. There were various small fish - mainly wrasse and gobies. With good conditions the southern side of the Mew Stone would be great.

While diving Dave's special elephant proof hat had been lost (my hat btw - a nice olive-khaki colour - just looks like it has passed through an elephant). Back at Mount Batten, the second wave bound for the Mew Stone [Chris G, Kevin, Geoff M, Anne, Nik, Dave M boat handler] were getting ready. When they were out, I lolled around the car park, chatting, reading, arranging kit, and so on while Yasmin went on a second foray into town. She got a lift over on the RIB which for Yas was bit of an adventure!

On the third wave [Chris and Simon, Dave M and Helen and Kevin boat handler] I was to complete the DSMB and compass exercise, and my Sport Diver training. Passing close to RFA tanker Black Rover the huge aviation training ship RFA Argus, moored just inside the Breakwater we arrived at the Fort. In the water Chris and I descended the wall of the large circular turret, and I followed the compass west into the gloom out over a muddy sea-bed pock-marked with worm holes. We headed back east, and I was glad when I saw the Fort once more.

Visibility wasn't too bad, and there was a lot of interesting junk around, all covered with a short encrusting turf, and here and there simple animals. The insides of a lifting cage lots of orange and yellow potato-oid sponges, and on the wall of the Fort were pink sea fan, and dead men's fingers; in the silty sand were the feathery flower-like feeding parts of fan worms.

Amongst the stones, girders, pipes, coils of wire and other bits and pieces, there were a few small edible crabs, a velvet swimmer crab, and even a lobster! As for fish - there were gobies (lots), female cuckoo wrasse, a bass, and a conger eel, its head and tail visible at each end of the narrow hollow it occupied. We managed a circuit of the Fort, arriving back where we'd started, it was a great dive!