Penlee Point, Plymouth

The plan was to dive the James Eagan Layne, but after a very bumpy ride out and finding heavy sea beyond Penlee Point, we returned to sheltered area inside Penlee Point and dived 50m or so from the rocky shore. I dived once again with Peter C. The deeper outcrops at 10-15 metres were nice and reefy, very pretty. Shallower, about 5-6m towards the end of the dive, there was a lot of kelp (to be expected) and it was not quite so nice.

Around the bouldery reefs there was a very pleasant variety of colourful seaweeds, and plant-like animinals, feathery sea-firs, sea-squirts etc. (unknown sponges). There were sea-cucumbers (cotton-spiners), snakelock anenomes, spiny starfish, purple starfish. Fish - there were lots of fry, especially goldsinny wrasse, as well as adult ballan wrasse, a wonderful group of cuckoo wrasse, a pollack (on every dive there seems to be a single large pollack), and a tompot blenny. It was a really good relaxed dive. Peter lugged the blob around, and found a fishing weight.

Galicia

Unfortunately it was too choppy with the tide, to get over to the Orestone, so the second wave went to the Galicia. Between waves Geoff did some rescue practise, Kevin instructing and Brian as casualty. Earlier on, Clint, Geoff H, Brian, and Kevin pulled a trailer out of the river that had gone off the end of the slip.

It was quite windy and we had a bumpy ride to the site; the transit marks were clear though and the wreck shotted accurately. The buddy pairs were Clint and Anne, Peter C and me. Kevin and Brian were boathandlers. Clint and Anne went in first, their plan was to deal with some of the gill net and line, then Peter and I for a swim round. I led in something like a circuit or (two) of the lumpier bits of the wreck and took some pictures.

Soon into the dive we found Clint and Anne. Peter was able to help Clint with some of the net and a big crab. Visibility wasn't great, I flicked up a bit of it myself at a few spots. I found a few bits of the wreck I hadn't seen before- where all the cement barrels are scattered about. Vis was up to 4m; not terrible but for pictures still quite bitty and difficult to get good scenic views.

Lots of fish, smallish silver fish and a few larger pollack. A few wrasse, also a few tompot blennies and long-spined scorpion fish. Amongst the now familiar sight of dead and dying animals, we found one of the cormorants; I was looking for its head - when I looked up Peter presented me with the skull.

Near the shot there was a lot of netting and line, and discovering that it was easily rolled up I did so; a dead dogfish tangled in it was a bit fiddly to cut out, but with Peter's help everything was sorted. A bit task-loading at one point, but all very good practise. We did a safety stop at six metres. Surface Air Consumption wasn't too bad in spite of all the faffing about etc,..

A good dive. Though I've been on the Galicia four times now, I find something new each time; I'm sure we'll be back so next time will look round another patch.

Exmouth Dock

After a dreary day, the sun got out for a fantastic evening. At the quay (made it though the rush-hour) I had a look around; the tide was still racing in and it was very choppy below the quayside, but the vis looked 'ok'. Diving were Clint and Hilary, Phil and Nik, Derek and Geoff, Kevin and me, with Brian shore cover.

We went in just after HW and did just over 30 minutes at an average depth of 11m. Jumped off the dock, and able to get back out on ladder (just). Current made it hard work here and there, but staying low and going steady we didn't have any problems. Vis was >4 metres.

Tompot blennies. They were everywhere -watching us from crevices and holes- it was blenny city. There were some shannies too in the shallows. There were ballan and goldsinny wrasse, and nice school of pollack. Near the cave, Kevin freed a small pollack caught on some abandoned line. A further on we saw a big fresh water eel. The terrain was varied (boulders, rocks, the cave, piles of shells, and mussels, and junk with plenty of hiding places).

Everyone had a really good time; Kevin and I had a good look round, Clint and Hilary fed the fish, Derek took some brilliant pictures of blennies and crab, Phil found a porthole, and Nik found some sort of gun. The coin I found turned out to be a 2p.

Galicia

A nice sunny day and the weather was far better than forecast; we arrived at Teignmouth as first wave (to the Bretagne) was putting out. Yas, Hilary and I went into town, to the dive shop, then round the back beach and seafront. Got a hood for Yas and we ate some pasties.

The second wave (switched to the Galicia) set off and were soon above the wreck. Geoff H and Nic got in first, then Geoff M and I, down the shot. We had good look round. The vis was not great, milky and snotty, but not too bad. It was far better and lighter than last time, the net was easily avoided. Usual encrusters: lots of light-bulbs, and white anenomes. There were a lot of smallish fish as well as larger pollock, bass, various wrasse, and a tompot blenny. I took some pictures and had a nice relaxed dive. We sent up the blob, and on the way up we found the shot.

There was time for a third wave and I was lucky enough to get on it and use Dave's spare nitrox. The wreck was slightly harder to find this time because looking into the sun and haze the transit at Holcombe above Smuggler's Cove was hard to see. I was first buddied with Dave, unfortunately he couldn't get down and I waited on the shot and joined Phil and Anne when they got in.

The dive itself was fine, relaxed and comfortable, it was also my first nitrox dive. Down we went into the gloom and at the bottom we all got our torches out. It was much darker now. Off we went, and in covering more ground, we saw how badly netted the Galicia is. There are several very large heavy nets that look like they've been there a long time; these don't seem to be a problem, but there is also lots of tangled monofilament net and line and animals caught in it. There were several dead cormorants, dead fish including a very large female ballan wrasse thrashing about, and a lobster [Clint and Helen found another tangled lobster on their dive], and sea fans amongst the rope. All awful.

Meadfoot

Good job I did that weight check on Thursday. If I hadn't, today wouldn't have been half as good. I added another 3kg [so 9kg] and was only then able to dive for very brief and shallow dives, 4 metres or so, before bouncing back up. Finning to stay down I used my air up pretty quick.

Weather fine, very calm and clear and getting out sunny. Vis varied, perhaps 3 to 4 metres. Bloom still here, and there was lots of green brown snot, but reasonable. Neap tide, very light winds, and lack of rain all helped. Wetsuit was very warm and comfortable. [Would like it like this one day to go a bit further round and see West Shag Rock or London Bridge].

I swam straight over to East Shag Rock. Lots of sponges like before, and the usual colonists, but couldn't see the round yellow ones or the green jewel anemones. This time however, I saw velvet swimmer crabs, a few very small edible crab, and a few large prawns. The starfish still there and seemed to be as plentiful, around the west side mainly, munching mussels.

Fishes, there were large ballan wrasse (among the kelpy bits and around the reefy bits between), goldsinny wrasse in the crevices, a large mullet, and a docile dogfish that followed me round the rock.

On the way back I picked up a few floating carrier bags and removed some tangling line. Lots of litter on the road, the lay-bys, and beach too. Otherwise a really good early morning swim.

Watcombe

The fine weather got me out after work for a short swim and weight check [note to self: need 8kg] with new wetsuit - should now be able to snorkel most of the year, if not all year. Unfortunately, just a very gentle easterly swell was enough to spoil the visibility here completely.

Anstey's Cove, Torbay

The weather on Saturday was much better than forecast so we decided to try Anstey's Cove. The sea at Dawlish on the drive over was choppy but we'd find somewhere sheltered around Torquay. Anstey's is very nice. The path down from the car park is steep, but not too bad if you're snorkelling. It stayed fine and visibility was better than expected too, despite the spring tide. It was a bit milky at low water but a good 2 to 3 metres.

Stupidly I'd left my snorkel at home. I'd collected it up but didn't go the distance and actually put it in the kit bag, so I went without (sensibly I ditched a few kilos). It was worth it, apart from the exercise, to discover that the May algae bloom might be clearing. There were small moon and compass jellyfish. Plenty of juvenile fish, and a large ballan wrasse lurking in the kelp, which there was a lot of; see the picture of the kelp zombie.

There were a few other bits and pieces, the usual stuff - but I seemed to get cold quickly and I didn't stay in very long or go over to Redgate Beach as planned and around the rocks there which in the past I've found a bit more interesting - next time.

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!

Tinker Shoal, Plymouth

Arriving at Mount Batten, Plymouth, Yasmin and I were met with a strong and gusty easterly breeze. It was fairly cloudy too at first, but later on there would be some proper sunny spells.

I was on the second wave going out in afternoon to dive the Eagan Layne. The buddy pairs for the dive were: Clint and Hilary, Geoff H and Peter C, Anne and myself. Chris was boat handler. So after the first wave (below) departed, Yasmin, Alyssa, and I crossed from Mount Batten on the water taxi; we had bit of a look round the Barbican and the town centre, and I had a nice pasty for breakfast.

Conditions ruled out the James Eagan Layne, and also the Mew Stone. However, Anne and I had very agreeable dive (bottom time of 53 minutes) exploring the reefy ledges around eastern edge of Tinker Shoal.

We went down shotline into the murky green. I soon discovered my suit inflator hose had popped off; a signal to Anne and I paused to reconnect. Once on the bottom we found that the visibility was a good 5 metres and far better than we had been expecting. Anne had a few bubbles from her gauge - but nothing alarming - and off we went.

The wildlife was surprisingly varied. Anne had her camera and we both took some pictures. I'm still adapting my technique from learned snorkelling habits, and by trial and error figuring out how to get better results with my basic setup.

There were ballan wrasse, a pollack, all sorts of gobies, and unknown others. A mixture of sponges: yellow warty outcrops of boring sponge, smooth grey and purple masses of elephant’s ear, a few spongy balls of tethya aurantium, cratery hemimycale columella, and various other encrusting porifera. Other stuff included: spiny starfish in abundance, dense patches of snakelock anemone, a spider crab, a few sea cucumbers (one particularly big and offensive-looking), clusters of peacock worm, and a coil of nudibranch eggs. I suspect there was very much more if I knew what I was looking at.

The reefs had a lot of kelp on top, but the shallow gullies and fringes of the reef where the slate was broken and creviced were very interesting with colourful ledges and lurking fish.

Tinker Shoal was traditionally a dumping ground for shipping in and out of Devonport, including the Royal Navy; and is also near the historic Fort Bovisand practice battery. Where we put in there was a sparse scattering of ceramics: broken crockery, pipe, and a floor tile.

It had been quite choppy going out (extra fuel consumption required a switch of tanks). But with the wind dropping slightly and heading back into sheltered water, the return trip was relatively smooth.

It was a really enjoyable dive. I also did my Assistant Dive Manager bit of Sport Diver - grateful for Chris and Debbie's coaching and help from the Assistant Assistant Dive Manager! Can't wait for the next one!

James Eagan Layne

A tour of the James Eagan Layne (my first wreck) with Adrian Kelland. We went out on Venture (my first hardboat dive) skippered by Peter Fergus. Possibly the most dived wreck in the UK, everyone knows that the JEL was a WWII American liberty ship. Bound for Ghent in Belgium, JEL was torpedoed in March 1945 by U-1195 and now rests on her keel at 24 metres in Whitsand Bay.

Venture had plenty of room, cabin and heads, a diver lift, and we were well looked after. Also diving were Adrian's buddy for the Rosehill, Tony; a couple of re-breather divers, and a photographer also out for the JEL. After the surface interval following the Rosehill dive, passed with some rod-fishing, we moved over to the JEL. By now I was kitted up, and finally ready the signal to go was a tap on the head.

We went down the shot to the bow, and continued down the port side to the seabed (about 18 metres). The bow was very impressive and gave a very good indication of the scale of the wreck (JEL was over 7000 tons). There was lots to see and although visibility varied, overall it was very good, perhaps 5-7 metres.

Round and about was all kinds of wreckage, wheels (cargo), big sheets of steel fallen from the sides; toward the back - stacked pipes and the propshaft, and further within - engine parts and more debris. Not all of the material was from the JEL apparently, some of it had been dumped here later.

Early in the dive Adrian pulled out an edible crab from some wreckage, and there were common and spiny starfish dotted about. Later on I found a sea cucumber. As well as the dense encrusting turf, sessile life included a cluster of pink sea fans on the seabed about 2/3rd the way along the port side (very vulnerable I thought), lots of dead men's fingers, and also on the port side near the hawse hole were some chubby plumose anemones - these were a sickly mixture of pink and green. There were lots of fish! Gobies, wrasse, pollack, bib were around on the sea bed. Later when we swam between the framing girders, and along the upper sections we stopped to look at some interesting metallic blue fish and a school of bass.

On our return through the middle and our gradual ascent, I found my legs a bit floaty - I'd omitted to dump air. After some pointless and tiring acrobatics I dumped the air and we carried on. After that, I was more careful. Otherwise buoyancy was fine, and my surface air consumption (high still) was slightly improved.

Leaving the bow we made a slow ascent of the remaining 6-8 metres. Back on the surface we made the pre-arranged signal to Venture and very soon I was standing on the lifting apparatus and enjoying the ease it made of boarding. I de-kitted on our way back to Plymouth and inside the breakwater, while the re-breathers Dave and Ash went for scallops, Venture amidst some sort of yacht race.

Back in the marina, Yas met me outside the dive shop - she'd had a nice time around Plymouth's waterfront, and taken 'a few' pictures. It was a great dive and day out; the weather was warm and sunny, visibility good, and the JEL lived up to all I'd heard about her.

Meadfoot

Realising we were in for another day of sunshine, I reckoned it'd be crime not to go snorkelling. Packing the same set-up I used at Lamorna the other day, we set off for Meadfoot Beach. Parked for free along the road and near some steps down to the beach, and set up camp. Though I'd read that the beach was popular for dive training, I hoped that it'd be good for snorkelling too.

Where I got in, halfway along the beach to the right of the rocks the vis was poor, a murky 1 or 2 metres. But as I went along toward Daddyhole Cove it got better. There were a few starfish, sprats, wrasse etc, amongst the kelp. Near Daddyhole I turned back because I didn't like swell, and made for East Shag Rock instead, which in itself - according to my dive book - is a 350 metre swim. [There is also a completely submerged dome-shaped reef towards the the middle of the bay, not far from Shag Rock.]

Around the rock, which has some good underwater scenery, there were various interesting sponges (large boring sponges, a massive irregular purple kind with clusters of tiny holes, a rough yellow globular one about the size of melon, and the smooth orange blobby type with a hole in the top), dead men's fingers, sea squirts, and anenomes. There were fan worms, nudibranch eggs, and hundreds of common starfish. The visibility varied a lot (1-4 metres) and though I had timed my swim for an hour either side of low water, because of the spring tide, there was still a fair bit of current.

Keeping a lookout for boat traffic, I left the rock and followed the reefy bits back to the shore and carried on across the bay over the kelp, where I saw a dogfish. I was very pleased to have found so much - and to have managed a 2 hour swim in April. The water was noticeably warmer than in Cornwall. Back on the beach some people had found an unusual crab - which they kindly brought over for me to see. Looking it up later I learnt this small spider-like crab is sometimes known as a 'decorator crab', and the camouflage is seaweed. Spiny spider crabs do this too, adding a few strands of seaweed to their shell, but this particular crab had disguised itself completely with tiny strands of wrack.

Lamorna, The Bucks

Expecting Lamorna to be very crowded we arrived very early, it was actually very quiet and we all parked easily. The plan was for the experienced Sport Divers and up to go out to the Runnel Stone, with a first wave - Andrew and I - going out to The Bucks, where I’d dived with Debbie on Friday.

Warned to leave the surface quickly, because of the current, we went down diagonally holding onto the shot, finning towards the top of The Bucks. We moved off from where the shot had landed and sent up the blob from a rugged ledge (it had kelp to hold onto if required), and we set off clockwise around the pinnacle. On the north side, we met quite strong current so backtracked and swam up and through a tall gap between rocks, lined below with blue anemones. On the other side, the going was much easier. The scenery was fantastic, we could look up at the steep slopes at kelp-topped cliffs, and there were interesting gullies to investigate. We saw plenty of fish, and another big dogfish. There were old friends – urchins, sponges, spiny starfish, and sea cucumbers which in strong light are a mottled green colour and do look like something out of a pickle jar. We took a few pictures- I had been after a purple starfish to show Yasmin, and remembered to record something of the scenery. We toured leisurely on until – too soon – it was time to go. Another great dive had come to an end.

When the second wave came back from the Runnel Stone (which was fantastic by all accounts), and the boat retrieved, Yasmin and I set off for Marazion and St Michael’s Mount. It was alright – good views from the top, and we watched bunny rabbits in the nature sanctuary behind the coast road. Back to the chalet later for kit wash, clean up, and out once more to meet up with Phil, Chris, Debbie, Alyssa, and Ali at the Turnpike Inn near Hayle. So ended my first ever dive holiday. I was very grateful for my buddies and to everyone who helped me and made it so much fun. It was a brilliant trip and great to have been a part of it.

I haven’t said too much about each day’s weather or conditions [the last four posts], as they were consistently superb. Water: 5-10 metre visibility. Weather: warm and sunny ~20°C. Winds: light (0-5mph) north easterly and variable. Sea state: calm/slight.

Penzance, The Stannock & Low Lee Ledges

Arriving early at Lamorna Cove we met Nik and her Chris just leaving. They told us it was already full there and we were going to base ourselves once more at Penzance. This was very lucky because there was no mobile phone signal at Lamorna.

There were three waves today and I was fortunate enough to be on two of them. Midday I dived with Chris G at The Stannock, a reef to the west of Mousehole. [Thanks Peter for the air]. We made a swift descent to 24m. Looking around there was a lot of fish – the most I’d seen – cuckoo, ballan and corkwing wrasse; and others. Chris with his torch helped me take some of the delicate sea-fans on the bottom, and I managed a blurry sequence of Chris with a very big spider crab. We found brain coral, widely fluted and delicate looking but actually hard and horny. Everywhere there were things to see and wonder at. I thought how easy it would be to loose track down here.

Back on shore for a good surface interval we managed to get some tanks filled at Bill Bowen’s place on the Pier. The previous day there had been a problem with the compressor, and the Hayle dive shop had been inundated.

Now, my second dive was something different. We were going to find Low Lee Ledges and buddied with Andrew, I was to lead. Anne boat-handled and we found the ledges just west of the east cardinal marker. We dropped in and down. A minor tangle with the shot was easily sorted, and we continued the descent. Watching us as it swam over a big rounded boulder, was a huge dogfish - a shark! We sent up the blob, and set off for a look round. The visibility was good in the distance some interesting sticky up bits to swim round, so we made for these. There were plenty of fish, a variety of wrasse, and a rather lonely pollack, and many of the animals we’d seen already. I gave my torch to Andrew and we took some pictures of a big yellow ‘dragon’ sponge [it's actually Cliona celata, a ’boring sponge’] surrounded by masses of tiny blue anemones. Swimming around the rocks the scenery was really good - a crescent of rocky pinnacles rising out of the sand, and around and about were nets and cable, crusty boulders, cuckoo wrasse, starfish and urchins - magic.

[Later Chris asked if we’d seen the cannon at the bottom of the shot – but we'd missed it completely].

When I was down to 80 bar it was time to leave (Andrew had loads of air), so signaling, we left for the surface. On our practice safety stop at 6 metres, we drifted very slowly over the flattish reef summit and looked down at the starfish and urchins. Surfacing into the sun we signaled OK, our mates and the boat gloriously silhouetted; I was elated. I had led my first sea dive.

Penzance, Near Low Lee Ledges

As I was slated to go out on a later wave, Yasmin and I used the morning to visit Mousehole where we enjoyed the scenic harbour and lichen covered cottages, and marveled at the clear water. Two little boys on the beach were making fantasy castles out of the wet sand – just as I used to with my brothers. Again the weather was fantastic. It was already hot, and the narrow shady streets pleasantly cool. As the place started to become busier and the cars arrived to trundle through the narrow roads we took our leave. [Note to self – it’s not possible to do a three-point turn on the harbour wall.]

Yasmin’s strategic navigation got us to Penzance car park without too much ado, and we maneuvered ourselves close as possible to the Albert Pier. After a brief foray into the town (it was heaving) for pasties courtesy of the Penzance Pasty Co., and sun-block, it was nice to get back to the harbour and find a quiet place to relax: the bouldery sea defences where we sat and watched the dolphins in Mounts Bay.

A leisurely loll about the car park chatting, reading (dive guides – there wasn’t time for Dickens), sorting and preparing kit, was followed by a gruelling carry of clobber along the pier. Suited-up, in the hot sun, through the thronging student divers, and down the steep slippery steps, we made it to the RIB; it was a great relief to be on our way. Clear of the harbour we sped past the impressive coastguard ship Anglian Princess, I for my 13th dive.

We couldn’t find the Low Lee Ledges and the Primrose as hoped, but discovered some reefy bits further west. Anne and I explored the reef and we saw lots of fish. There were several types of goby, among them the transparent orange two-spot variety. Small and pretty they hover and dart in small schools near the bottom. Around the boulders there were big sea urchins and starfish; as well as man made articles- a big pile of net, and various bits of litter amongst which I found an old crab-paste jar.

During the dive my buoyancy felt fine and I relaxed as Anne took us round the rocks and we examined the wildlife. Checking my air, she seemed pleased how well it was lasting. Being something of a guzzler I was glad to have a 15l cylinder, and we had a lovely long dive. When we got back to Penzance Brian and Clint were waiting with the trailer and Chris drove the boat right up onto it. Later on we converged on Chris and Debbie’s caravan to relax and confirm the plan for the next day’s dive.

Lamorna Cove, The Bucks

Leaping out of bed at 4am to get down the A38 Friday morning and avoid all the other grockles penetrating darkest Cornwall, we soon arrived at Lamorna Cove. Yasmin's navigation was tip-top round the fiddly stuff - she's very good, getting us to Vobster Quay, as well as operating the iPod, feeding me, watching out for speed cameras, ferreting out sunglasses, and various other tasks that if I attempted myself would almost certainly end in disaster.

We stumped up for parking and had a quick look about, most importantly to see what the water looked like. The visibility was great. I could see submerged divers, and I too was ready for some kind of underwater swimming fix. There was plenty of time before the others arrived for a sneaky snorkel. I put on a few skimpy wetsuits over a thermal rash vest, added plenty of weight, and all the other bits and pieces that would allow me brief glimpses of the underwater scene and its peculiar inhabitants.

Wading into very clear cold water I stuck on my flippers and did a quick weight check, before floating myself off for a swim. Lamorna Cove is a sheltered piece of coast south west of Penzance and Newlyn, with a sandy bottom, rocky and weedy edges, and attractive surroundings. There’s a slipway and according to my dive book on South Cornwall is one of the best sites in the county for diving groups, with amenities to hand. Finning out past the breakwater I took a picture looking back to shore, before turning my attention to the sea bed.

Amongst the thick kelp I saw a few wrasse, a bass and found a spider crab, several spiny starfish, and a large sea urchin; beyond the kelp, clean bright sand stretched into the distance. After about an hour I started to get cold and tired, and my poor ankles had started to ache – I suppose all to be expected this early in the season.

Back on shore, just as I reached the top of the slipway Clint and Anne arrived towing Mir, the club’s RIB.

Over a cup of tea at the café we enjoyed the scenery and the fine weather with the prospect of good diving conditions – especially as several recent club trips had been either aborted completely or disrupted by bad weather. Walking up and around the craggy rocks above the top car park the views got better and better and the clear blue green water was exotic and inviting.

Very soon I was on my first boat dive, we (the buddy pairs: Clint and Anne, Debbie and me, with Chris boat handler) were on our way to The Bucks, a rugged rock pinnacle to the south west. It didn’t take long to get to and it was easily found, the summit exposed by the ebbing tide. Clint and Anne went in first clearing the boat for Debbie and me to kit up. Adjusting straps, connecting hoses, attaching gear I was very glad for the calm sea. After a recap of the plan and the buddy check, and at the very instant Chris ordered us ‘go’ we flopped backward over the tubes. We collected ourselves on the surface and began our descent beside the rock. At about 8 metres we saw Clint and Anne looking very happy; we did some waving and grinning and carried on down. The giant boulders and rugged slopes were heavily encrusted, and teeming with all kinds of weird animal. Everywhere there were colourful sea urchins, and starfish with five arms, with seven arms, from the cute and cushiony to the macho and spiny.

Nearly everything I saw was new to me; black sock-like sea-cucumbers, and on the vertical walls delicate flower-like anemones, and what was this yellow stuff? Debbie mimed something to me; what was she doing? She couldn’t be narked? Later she told me she was washing – and it was a sponge. It was super, its warty lizard-skin texture and rows of holes gave it the look of a miniature yellow dragon. Debbie guided us around the rocks and as we went I tried to absorb everything, taking mental pictures of this wonderful place. Here and there we were finning against current and soon enough I was signaling to Debbie that I had 100 bar, and pretty soon after that 80 bar; so she took us to a flattish area to deploy the DSMB. Slightly inverted and finning against a current again I found myself struggling a little, but sorted out my position with a roll. With the blob up we were ready to go; the ascent was nice and steady and I held the stop easily. The boat was there for us and after de-kitting the heavy stuff and put into practice the good how-to-get-in-the-boat advice, getting up onto the loops and over the tubes, then slithering into the boat like a big black fish. My first boat dive over, Debbie pronounced “There, told you I wouldn’t get you dead!”

In the evening we all [Andrew, Anne and Clint, Brian and Hilary, Chris and Debbie with Alyssa and Ali, Nik and Chris, and Peter] met up at the Bluff Inn for our tea, bit of a drink, and to plan.

Vobster

Back to Vobster for more Sport Diver training with Nick and Julie to complete SD lessons: Dive Leader Planning/Skills Review and Diver Rescue. It was a really enjoyable day training, practising, and I learnt a great deal.

A traffic diversion, which I thought might be a April 1st thing, took us in a big loop via Kilmersdon to arrive from the other direction; then getting in took a while. Kitted up and the plan sorted, we were ready to go. On the first dive after doing skills, Julie led according to her plan, making our way to the aeroplane, exploring the aeroplane and carrying out our ascent using the the shot-line located on the tail fin- nice and slow, with a 1 minute safety stop. The stop was fine with 10kg on my belt and 1kg in my BC pocket. Julie did CBL/BLS and tow. At the training platform end of the quay, my exit - stupidly - involved beaching on rock shelf. This was more difficult than it looked and I decided I would probably use the ladder next time. Tea and debrief. I had managed not to swim about all over the place like I had done before; which Nick suggests (and it seems quite probable) that I did because of my snorkelling, in which I swim around a lot and in a way which doesn't suit scuba diving.

Second dive after the skills, followed my plan. We descended alongside a rocky slope to line up with tunnel entrance and followed concrete wall to it (Nick led through tunnel). Very dark and silty. Saw the rubber skeleton tied onto the handline at the end. Up cliff vertically and along to aeroplane - good vis here. Air was 120 bar at this point, so just time for a quick look at aeroplane and industrial dryer which Julie swam through. Again went up shot-line on tail fin - again nice and slow with 1 min safety stop. Surface and underwater swim to place nearer slipway. My turn to do a CBL and rescue. Both practise de-kit. Yasmin was great help again with bits of kit, recording times, and everything else- taking pictures, buying tea, dispensing monies, oh and navigating,..

Plymouth

The plan was to dive either the Scylla or James Eagan Layne, but it was not to be; conditions deteriorated more rapidly than predicted, the north-easterly winds strengthening considerably. With well-founded concern about the sea-state on the return, the dive site was changed to the breakwater fort. Even-so, by the time the first wave surfaced the sea was much rougher and getting them back in the boat was difficult. The first wave's dive was very good by all accounts- plenty of interesting marine life and stuff to look at- so I was quite dissapointed about not getting in, but with the weather so nasty, just as well.

When the first wave launched we looked around Mount Batten Centre, where various watersports clubs are based including Plymouth Sound Dive Club; back at the car we drank coffee and looked out across the Sound. Later on the white-horses, that had been absent earlier, were increasingly apparent and into the distance sprey had broadcast a haze over the sea. Returning boats were having a very rough ride back.