James Eagan Layne

Arriving at Mountbatten early (to be ready for 9:30) it was raining steadily, but by the time we launched the boat it'd stopped. Winds were light SW and the ride to the JEL and back was smooth. Later on the Sun came out. As well as towing and organinsing Brian and Hilary boathandled. On the first wave were Nick and Julie, Phil and Dave, Hilary and me.

Hilary and I splashed first. There was some current and we pulled ourselves longways down the shot. At about 15m the last bit of the shot and stern wreckage loomed into view and Hilary ever so casually landed upright on the bottom and saluted!:)

Vis was about 4m, though a little gloomy, and out came the torches. Off we went to poke about the wreckage. We saw lots of fish: bib, pollack, wrasse (cuckoo, ballan), usual gobies etc,. and several John Dory. An attraction of the stern is the abundance of pink and white plumose anemones, there were some dahlia and plenty of ghost anemones too- all very nice. We did a circuit of stern and found the gun mount (the big wheel thing) and boat davits. Too soon it was time to go and I sent a blob up - I took it for granted it'd be easy as ever with the DSMBi (bottle inflated) - and the line snagged round the reel handle; I let it go before it started to pull me up, and we used Hilarys.

A very nice relaxed dive. It was great to be back in the water!

Brixham

Another weekend of moderate/strong SW winds, so choice down to somewhere sheltered (like Babbacombe) again. On the way Derek suggested Brixham; and we got there and put in east of the Breakwater, off the lido (just west of Shoalstone Point). Despite a gloomy warning of 3-4m vis (!) and a "don't" from local dive operator who was there having a look; we had an excellent dive. Vis was good 2-3 metres, and there was an abundance of small life. We spent just over an hour (6m average, 9m max) going along NW and back, below the kelp; where it's interesting and turfy if a bit 'dusty'.

Spiny, long-legged spider-crabs, harbour, velvet swimmer and some small edible crabs, hermit crabs in top, cone, and whelk shells; lots of anemones, sponges, various sea-squirts, small fish, etc,..

Access was easy, it felt especially so after Anstey's the other day; and entry and exit not too bad, just a little rocky. Tides were close to neap and not a problem (otherwise, since there's nowhere good to land to the east - arrange to be with the tide back to exit).

Anstey's Cove

A shallow pootle with Tony W, out of Anstey's cove. With winds >20mph and a bit gusty, and no other diving looking likely, Babbacombe looked the spot for the weekend (either day). I felt like a change, and though I'd snorkelled at at Anstey's a few times had never dived there, so was keen to see what it might be like. Checked the weather/tides and arranged to meet Tony there for a dawn raid. Parking was free (meter broken), and walk down not too bad - with a 12l, you even have a choice: steep tarmac slope or steps. Coming back up was a bit more effort but do-able for anyone reasonably strong/fit,.. or with trolley or kit-wallah.

Vis wasn't great (2-3m) and it was very kelpy around the boulders about Long Quary Point, where I hoped the scenery would be better. Simple route - straight out from Anstey's cove, down (6m) then clipped the rocks at the side of the cove and carried on NW along Redgate beach. Worms (casts and holes), hermit crabs, pollack here.

Sand marks, depth and compass used to navigate and arrived at rocks (checked position). Some larger boulders with kelp on top, with turfy bits and colour. Edible crab, dead mens fingers, beneath an overhang.

We had a look along rocks to the north (vis worse round here) and below the kelp line it was stony and, so it seemed, lifeless (9m). Surfaced with 70 bar (Tony had more) and we surface swam back.

Admittedly not the greatest dive, but all went very smoothly, it was good practise and was nice to try a new (for me) place.

St Paul' s Bay (Lindos)

Kalithea

Kalithea spa

Anthony Quinn Bay

Faraklos

Pefkos to Lardos

St Paul's Bay (Lindos)

Rhodes

Rhodes Aquarium. 5€ ea. What can I say!? Interesting 1930's (Italian) grotto-like aquarium in the basement of the marine biology station but fish and invertebrates very off-colour. The most pitiful sight however, was the turtle and its futile and self-harming efforts to escape its tiny tank.

A recently re-furbished marine life display on ground floor inlcuded dried small animals (interesting - but you have to know what you're looking at, and what a living one looks like to appreciate), and some pretty grisly and mishappen shark and rays that look 150 years old but are actually only a few tens.

Pefkos to Lardos

I was starting to wake up (about 6:20am) when suddenly the entire room began to shake (fairly violently). It was an earthquake. The tremors of the main shock seemed to last 5-10 seconds, accompanied by a loud rumbling noise; then there were lighter trembles dying away. Was going to go back to sleep and the fire alarm went off and the building was evacuated onto the beach - where we waited until it was ok for us to go back in (wondered what it would have felt like under water).

In the day we went to Petaloudes ('Butterfly Valley' - they're moth's actually, but Valley of the Moth's would sound a bit creepy I suppose), then to Ancient Kameiros. Later found out the earthquake magnitude was 6.3.

Got ready for a night snorkel around the reefs in front of the hotel. Nice warm night, water fine. Lots of wildlife, but fish less noticable (and no wrasse). Sand eels and small silver fish close in over the sand, and over the reef soon found a frilly orange nudibranch, then an octopus. Wedged in rocks, an orange nudibranch and squat lobster(?) Also found a very big fireworm, far bigger than they're supposed to get, a few scorpion fish, blennys, sand gobies, stripy fish (but not a comber), also a very small cuttlefish.

Pefkos to Lardos

First day on Rhodes I woke up early and nipped out to the beach. It was sunny and the water nice and very warm even first thing. I'd seen from the Google Earth pictures that there was some shallow rocks to explore at the edges of several sandy bays and I looked round these. All the familiar fish were here in abundance: salp, red mullet, cardinal fish, damselfish (I shortly discovered that the tiny blue fish are in fact juvenile damselfish - Chromis chromis), parrot fish, bream, decorated wrasse, painted comber, and sand smelt. Other stuff included some red sponge and a few rounded black ones, lots of burrows in sand, fireworms, and yellow anemones. Didn't take camera, used basic kit and wore a rash vest.

Babbacombe

Weather wasn't looking great for the weekend with strong SW winds and gusts gusts, not to mention springy tides, but I reckoned Babbacombe would be OK - and so it was. We'd agreed an early start and when I arrived Geoff was already there and kitting up. Vis looked very good. A few other divers were already in and a few more started to turn up. We went out to the reefy bit and around the rocks, north then west. We had a very nice easy-going dive, pootling along at about 7-8m for 70min.

There was a fantastic lot of wildlife. A cuttlefish, goldsinny wrasse, ballan wrasse, sand gobies, pipefish, spider, edible, velvet fiddler, and long-legged spider crabs, gravel sea-slugs (2-3x) one of these biggest I'd seen and unusually much of the body was visible. Common starfish in the shallow sub-lit, and few tiny brittlestars seen on the silty sand beyond the rocks. A flatfish on the inside of a wheel rim, various sponges (stalked sponges etc), a tiny candy-stripped flatworm, and various molluscs - netted dog-whelks etc,..

Louis Shied

Partly because of the expectation of similar conditions to Budleigh Thursday, no sea dives were planned as far as I could tell. However Kevin on Friday had contacted the management of a certain reservoir to carry out a risk assessment and preliminary dive (he had applied formally and had permission) but they refused at the last minute saying they were busy. I had arrived there already - wasting fuel in the middle of the shortage - and the place was almost deserted.

We had a quick rethink and Kevin, Rob C, and myself met at Thurlestone. The vis was 5m, and conditions perfect. We swam around the rocks there in about 5-10m. We saw lots of life including cuttlefish (4x), dogfish, a shoal of bass, a monster spider crab, and off the rocks found a spot where a large number of netted dog whelks were grazing on worms, and close by, in a layer of organic matter, we found handfuls of marine isopods (underwater woodlice). Lots of other fish, crabs and the usual sea-squirts, sponges and so on. All was wonderful and even the algae fantastic and colourful; deep reds and yellows, and irridescent green, with lots of blue and red tinged snakelocks anemone amongst it all.

Budleigh Salterton

Derek, Geoff H, Phil and myself dived Budleigh on Thursday evening after work. It was a lovely sunny evening. Unfortunately the vis was less than a metre and like swimming through a glass of congealing fat. Derek and Geoff covered a prodigous distance in seach of clear water but to no avail. It wasn't the nicest dive ever (and I didn't see a living thing - not even a snail) but was all very good practise. I took a few pictures and some video just to show how terrible it was.

James Eagan Layne

Penlee Point

Lincoln / Bucks

We got up extra early today – and to our relief the wind had died off. It was misty on higher ground but arriving at Lamorna and sea-level the visibility was fair; and as the day went on it became brighter and by the afternoon it was warm and sunny. Our first dive was Lincoln (30m). A sailing-ship converted to steam, sunk in 1865, the Lincoln is flattened but very attractive. With good 10m+ visibility, the view across the ships frames was wonderful. Around the wreck I found a few crab, and there were some big bib, and an extremely large ling. Bizzarely I found a golf ball.

A breathtaking last dive took in the Outer Bucks. We went down the shot near the submerged peak and travelled west to find the sheer walls plastered with a colourful patchwork of jewel anemones. Lots of other critters and my first feather-star. The scenery was awesome with tremendous boulders and large drops to fly over. A brilliant dive.

Thanks to Debbie for organising and managing, and to Chris and Ted for all the towing and boat-handling.

Lamorna

No diving happened on Thursday owing to strengthening (force 3-4) winds. The sea state within Lamorna Cove itself was choppy and it appeared rough further out. The poor conditions however didn’t deter a threesome of divers (I don’t know who they were) from attempting a shore dive. I watched them struggle in and after 10-15 minutes of surface swimming, and repeated separations (frequently disappearing from view behind the waves) eventually dived, a few times, for a few minutes. It didn’t look very enjoyable to say the least; and keen as I am to dive – wouldn’t have wanted to be in their ‘flippers’.

Hellopes / Conqueror

A fantastic dive was had on the Hellopes (38m), a 97m long, 2,774 tonne coal-laden steamship. Incorporating planned decompression, it would also be my deepest dive. Chris led down the shot alongside the impressive up-standing stern (over on its side) and wreckage. We swam over the rudder and some other bits where I had trouble making out what was what, but it was all very interesting looking and picturesque. Plenty of wildlife around and about: large pollack and here and there amongst the metalwork, leopard-spotted gobies. There were dense clusters of plumose anemones and white/orange dead-mans-fingers. Various tangles of fishing gear on the wreck, clumps of line, rope etc. Near a bundle of straps and rope I found a pointed oval shaped object of lead which I suppose must be some sort of bullet but how it got there I have no idea.

The second shallow dive of the day was the Conqueror, a large fishing vessel wrecked around on Boxing Day 1977. It lies in about 17m of water, below cliffs west of Mousehole. We found one of the three sections it is supposedly broken into (it looked like it’d been there 100 years), which is still a good size and stands 6m or so off the bottom. We didn’t find any more of the wreck (in spite of reasonable ~8m vis) but enjoyed exploring the boulder strewn bottom finding several lobsters and dogfish; besides abundant sand-gobies, two-spot gobies, and various kinds of anemone in the shelly gravel.

Stannocks

Launching from Lamorna, several dives were made (25-30m) on the Stannocks, a bouldery outcrop with interesting scenery. Visibility was 8-10 metres. There was lots of interesting wildlife: a variety of sponges, sea-firs, starfish, and urchins; widespread sea fans, sea cucumbers, several small candy-striped flatworms; also nudibranch eggs; spider, edible, and velvet fiddler crab. Fish included bib, pollack, dogfish and cuckoo wrasse. A bright metallic blue and orange (male) cuckoo wrasse appeared to follow as we pottered about, and towards the end of the dive a cuttlefish appeared.

At the start of the second dive, the shot weight - which had become lodged between rocks - was retrieved and returned to the surface with a lifting bag. Current was very slightly stronger and visibility slightly reduced to perhaps 6-8 metres. A very nice swim, decompressing on the return trip up around the rock. We were all very pleased to have got in the water at last!

Sennen Cove

A group from the club, ably managed by Debbie as part of her Advanced Diver assessment, went to Cornwall to dive out of Penzance and Lamorna Cove. Unfortunately the Bank Holiday weekend was a total washout. The rain lashed down and gale force winds rocked the caravan.

On the Monday, Adrian and I looked at a few sites mentioned in the Dive South Cornwall (Diver Guide) book. Porth Curno (below Minack Point) - with a steep sandy beach - looked like it might be good for snorkelling in fine weather along the rocks to the south. As for Mill Bay, you need a tractor or a horse to get to it, otherwise, via a long walk along the coast path (so another snorkelling spot there perhaps).

Thankfully, conditions improved during the week and we had three days of comfortable diving weather.

Rosehill

Usual thing, meet at the boathouse, get the boat ready and make way to Plymouth. Nice weather (very warm but hazy). Kevin boathandled. Clint found the wreck and shotted the boilers! Buddied with Adrian; I led and the plan included a mid-water DSMB deployment exercise. Down shot, I took us in small circle then once I'd got my bearings (compass useless on the wreck), along the line of the wreck from the boilers to the stern. Coming down we went through a layer of snotty green bits, but visibility at the bottom was a very good 8m or so. All well so far, considering how the Rosehill is hard to find, and also visibility is often poor. Gorgonian fans grow on the collapsed hull, on a thick turf dotted with urchins and small anemones (above) and these with all the fish above them were a lovely sight.

Amongst the wreck there were spider and velvet fiddler crabs, and round and about lots of fish including bib and cuckoo wrasse (males were bright blue), and I saw several leopard spotted gobies. Later in the dive I saw plumose anemones and the orange (as well as white) variety of dead-mans-fingers (soft corals). The stern section was easily found and steering gear, rudder, upstanding propellor blade, and gun (below) examined. Compare it to the picture from my first dive on the Rosehill last November.

Everything very pleasant and relaxed and after 30 min it was time to go. According to tables I would have 7 minutes of deco to do. I had a go at inflating the blob manually but the weight of the cylinder made it difficult and not wishing to waste more time, cracked the bottle and up it went. Adrian had deeper decompression to do and the this and the couple of minutes extra (not very far off the bottom) had given me 19 minutes of deco to do (far more than planned); I used some pony air, and Adrian donated (so that I'd have more in event of separation). Then back on my own air at 3.5m for 10+ minutes. A number of important lessons for planning were learned. And now need to figure out how to fill the DSMBi manually (say it failed - or if I want to use it for training). An uncomfortable ride back bouncing over the chop, but the sun was out and we'd all had a good and/or educational dive.

Rame Head / Penlee Point and Tinker Shoal

The club took both RIBs down to Plymouth for the day. Weather was better than forecast with light winds going from ESE to W. I went out in Hubble with Brian G, Dave M and Dave B and was buddied with Geoff H. Dave M boathandled Hubble on the trip out (Geoff H drove us back).

It was a bit choppy at Penlee Point, but outside it was reasonably calm. We went down alongside the shot, in about 10m. Vis unfortunately was just 2-3m. Possibly owing to it being low tide but also I suspect the spring plankton bloom may have played a part too. It was worst at the start of the later on it was a little clearer over some of the sandy patches. The bottom was fairly kelpy but we managed to find the edge of the bouldery reefs and explore these. We found lots big sea urchins, spiny starfish, purple starfish, sea cucumber, nudibranch eggs (small bright yellow coil), crab and spider crab. Not many fish, just a few wrasse, a dragonet, a scorpion fish, and a red scorpion fish. There were baked bean / light bulb sea squirts, sea fans, boring sponge etc. Some of other animals I see now in my photographs - solitary jewel anemones and neopentadactyla mixta (known as gravel sea-cucumber). We also came across some interesting clumps of the colonial hydroid Tubularia indivisa (pictured above).

At 100 bar (after about 45 minutes) we headed for the surface and did the stops we'd agreed. On the way up, looking up I saw reel on my line. When I reached it I took it and handed it to Geoff, who seemed quite surprised. Geoff reeled it in as we continued to the surface and we discovered that the yellow blob turned out to have been abandoned by Sarah M, diving from Mir with Hilary, which had drifted on to ours (there wasn't any tangling). Geoff and I had good relaxed dive (12.5m max). My camera worked well (I used QR clips to hold it in front of me - it's far too bulky for the BC pockets. Flash diffuser worked well - and the flash itself was OK - and after a few practise shots even at fairly close range. And another good thing was the case didn't leak.

Back at Mount Batten, had bit of a rest and something to eat. Anne was there with the mini-rolls! I got a refill at the dive shop there, and before very long it was time to get everything sorted for a second dive (pleased with myself for remembering to fill my DSMB bottle). This time we went out to Tinker shoal. Vis not much better on second dive, and we dropped down 13m to similar kelpy bottom. Dave M and I made our way through and over kelp westwards to some rocky/sandy bottom that was much better going. There was a strong surge back and forth and gradually edged forward with it. We found a few bits of pottery (broken) and pipe stem, light metal debris. Wildlife included included various sponges (inc elephant's ear) spiny starfish, urchins, dragonet, also a pipefish, two-spot gobies, and I think there was a a small dogfish (but I had a dream about diving last night and it could have been from that). Chris and Abigail definitely saw a dogfish.

At the end of the dive I was a bit heavier than I expected and I sank a few metres on the way. I think because I've lost some weight I'm less buoyant, so will probably need to ditch a few kilos. Also decided to switch my suit feed and octopus, and put the octopus on a necklace to keep it handy and be more streamlined.

Anyway, I think everyone else had a very nice day too. I saw plenty (and got a couple of pictures I was pleased with), tried some new kit, and found a few things to tweak.

Plymouth: Rame Head and Breakwater

The main objective was a club dive for training. It was going to be Vobster but a last minute switch to Plymouth and the chance to get down there instead of Babbacome - nice as it is - was jumped on. We got away from the boat shed at 08:35 and trundled down to Plymouth. It was very pleasant. Nice and sunny with bit of a NW breeze. Anne and Clint (who had towed the boat too) boat handled. Soon we were on our way out to a reefy spot between Rame Head and Penlee Point.

There was minimal current and I could see a good way down the shot line; a free descent would have been easy. The vis was about 8 metres, with a snotty layer at 3-6 metres depth. We got away from the shot and after a quick look round settled to put the blob up. It all went a bit crap here: the blob got all twisted, tangled with the winder handle (this tangle happens far too easily), and partly inflated. I managed to deflate it and we started again, and eventually it was up. Clint says it was 8 minutes before the blob appeared. Incidentally my buddies lately have noticed I'm finding it hard to reel in; and they're right,.. and I don't like the very thin line,.. and the handle and latch is slightly too small for my gloved hand - so time to change. Anyway, I was down there and annoyed with myself and the blob, and was starting to get a headache! It wasn't a good start but the rest of the dive was fine; and I pottered -carefully- about the low reefs going very slow and taking pictures (which was most relaxing) and enjoying the excellent vis.

A quick look saw the turfy, red-weeded rocks were scattered with sea urchins, spiny starfish, and purple starfish. I found various crabs: shore, velvet fiddler, spider, and long legged spider. There were boring sponges, sea cucumbers, baked bean and light-bulb ascidians, dahlia anemones, Devon-cup coral (anemone) pictured and neopentadactyla mixta a plant-like echinoderm (also pictured). They're uncommon but I've seen them before at Burgh Island. But I saw very few fish, and remember seeing only a goldsinny wrasse, a two spot goby, and a dogfish.

Back at Mount Batten the trainees were almost ready to go out, and the first wave had bit of a rest and sorted kit out. They returned very happy, and a third wave was on (Chris and Debbie taking over the boathandling). Once again I was buddied with Brian. I'd had taken my pony in the morning for full kit practise. But decided not to in the afternoon... we'd be on another shallow dive.

Out we went to Tinker Shoal. Almost kitted up - the wind seemed fresh and sea choppier here - and Chris wisely took us to the south side of the breakwater. Fully kitted up already and buddy check done, Brian and I dropped down to 12m. Vis was 10-12 m and could see the top of the kelp from just below the surface, I landed at a level nice sandy clearing (marvelling at the vis and the many fish- thinking how wonderful all this was) and started to set up the blob. [Between dives we'd sorted out Brian's reel - that had turned out to be jammed (!), so we now had a back up at least]. Anyway, what happened next was somewhat un-nice.

I was unfurling and orientating the blob when Brian took my octopus and started to fill the blob. However the air unfortunately was pissing up the side of the bag and not into it. I tried to get the bag over the DV and the next thing I remember was Brian dropping my octopus, an explosion of bubbles, and not being able to see very much. Of course my octopus was free-flowing. I tried twice to stop the free flow by switching to the octopus to breath from it, but to no avail. I knew that in less than a minute I would have no air left (and I didn't have my pony bottle) and I was thinking 'shit - I don't want this to be happening'. The idea that it might come to an air share was utterly depressing as I thought back to the buddy check - Brian's hose was short and octopus black. I decided to use what air I had for a self rescue and go for my buddy's air as the 'very' last resort.

On the last look at the bottom I had 100 bar (going down fast), and I signalled 'up' (I may have tried the DV for the second time at this point) then left for the surface as swiftly as I dared. At about 6 metres I had 50 bar left and hoped I'd have enough air to inflate jacket [I hope I would have remembered to ditch weight]. I felt fine on the surface, so just stuck my arm up. Chris helped me back on the boat remarked cheerfully "that's a lot of bubbles" or something like that! And I was back in the land of the living. I was down to 20 bar! So many lessons and reminders from so short a dive: like don't let buddy inflate a blob with my octopus, and use the pony, (good re the buddy check - to know what I was up against - and keeping 'fairly' calm and thinking and acting when it was all going a bit wrong. A self inflating blob would be a very good idea.

Back on the boat, all well, and sorted myself out while Brian, Grace and Jake dived a three.

Babbacombe

All week the weather forecast for the w/e looked pretty grim with lots of wind and heavy rain. All very depressing it was, and another rubbishy non-diving weekend seemed likely. But towards the end of Saturday the winds were predicted to ease off by the morning, and Babbacombe would become a possibility.

Arriving earlier than planned- already the car park was 2/3rds full with a contingent from Gloucestershire- I went and had a look at the vis. (and it seemed OK) had a swig of tea and started to get ready. The others soon arrived and Derek, Geoff and I put in off the bouldery beach the west side of the breakwater. It was a bit tricky, but managed and once clear of the rocks we went down and headed 0°-30°. On the bottom (6-9m) the vis was awful (0.5-1m). Side by side we could only see each other very dimly, and it was dark and gloomy. A separation had occurred almost as soon as we started. I had the blob (and soon a torch out so the others could see me). The bottom was very silty sand with some pebbles and gravel. [Needed to be closer on descent and use buddy line].

My new UK Sun-Light torch was very good, it cut through the gloom and and was great for picking out the animals. Over a ~50 metre long / 0.5 metres wide strip I saw numerous hermit crabs (several appeared to be fist-size but were probably smaller) and velvet fiddlers - sometimes aptly called devil crabs on account of their red eyes. What with the the bizarre animals, tatty looking shreds of plants, and Hadean atmos it was something like one of those nightmarish Hieronymus Bosch paintings.

There were lots of clumps of slipper limpets dotted about in little piles, something I hadn't seen before (but I have read they can become very numerous). Apparently the limpet at the bottom of the pile is female and those above are male and in a queue to mate - if she dies though the male above becomes female and the males above him - fertilise 'her'). It was pointless going very far or fast, and it made much more sense to concentrate more on a very small area; and appreciate such things as the delicate-looking and beautifully pearlescent baby gobies.

A little way into the dive, Derek did some buoyancy checking; and we stopped and I enjoyed having got my own buoyancy right (for now). The QR clip on the blob was useful (but need to monitor the line and any depth changes carefully).

After about 35 minutes another separation occurred, after a brief look all around (Geoff had a torch but we couldn't see that) Derek and I surfaced and we rendezvoused. We decided then to swim back in over to the breakwater. It was 9°C on the bottom and hands were starting to get a bit cold. At the breakwater Geoff went in and Derek and I for a look around the wall. It was murky here but nice to have a point of reference. Not much to see on the wall. I gathered a few lead weights - there were many more but I didn't want the wire bits poking into my BC.

It was an ideal time to look at the wall, normally there's a few fishermen there, but today there was just the one and he was only now setting up. I also found a folding knife [back home I sprayed it with WD and it cleaned up quite well]. There was some fishing line that snagged me but easily broken, and a dead dogfish - dead from eating floating rubbish. The 20 min potter about the wall dive was just 3m max and quite pleasant as it was lighter and I could see a bit more about me. I even took a couple of pictures of the snakelocks anenomes and a stripy winkle. Unfortunately my Canon WP-DC21 Waterproof Case wasn't exactly waterproof. So I have to try and get a replacement.

Vis was poor; but was nice and calm and only a very gentle swell. It was excellent practise, and we saw some stuff.

Royal Navy Submarine Museum

A nice weekend away and a trip to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport. It was yukky weather (sort of ideal really as there was plenty inside) and we spent the day there. The museum was great. We had a guided tour of HMS Alliance, a look round Holland I, the X-craft, chariots, and lots of very interesting bits and pieces.

Above is HMS Alliance, completed in 1947 and designed for use in the Far East. Below - inside Holland I, the Royal Navy's first submarine, comissioned in 1901, she was decomissioned in 1913 and lost during the tow to the scrapyard.

Boat Handling Course

The instructors: Clint, Paul L, Nick L, and Grant

The students (pictured): Geoff H, Grace, Julie, Jake, Tony W, and Simon

We all met up at the club on Saturday morning for the theory part of the course, an introduction to the RIB and equipment, boat handling theory, passage plan organising, 'rules of the road' etc,.. a tour of the boat and to help prepare the boats and hitch them up.

Then to Teignmouth. The launch - as we'd anticipated - was interesting! At low (spring) tide, with the tide still on the ebb, Mir was nearly grounded; and Hubble needed help over the mud and shingle into deeper water. There was a gentle SW/westerly breeze. Beyond the point it was a bit choppy, but not too bad.

After navigating the harbour mouth and the sand bars, guided by our teachers we took turns at helming the RIBS, basic manoeuvring, and reading the waves and adjusting our speed accordingly. When we weren't 'driving'. I want to say we drank rum and sang merry shanties - but actually we picked up more interesting knowledge of boathandling, practised knots, and kept a lookout. Back in the estuary we practised manoeuvring in sheltered water, getting the boats up to the pontoons off the river beach and nudging the marker buoys. Retrieval (which we took turns at coordinating) was straightforward. A most wonderful surprise awaited us ashore - Anne had cooked up sausage sandwiches!! We finished washing down the boats and rendezvoused at the club.

On Sunday we met again at the club to get the boats out and returned to Polly Steps. Launch was far easier than the previous day, and we were off again, soon heading past Pole Sand to practise more boathandling skills like deploying anchors, picking up divers (we used a weighted float), man overboard drill and the Wilkinson turn.

Back at the shed we sorted out the boats and debriefed. The course was brilliant - very well run and taught, a fine introduction to boat handling. Now need to practise.

Porto Moniz

After a very nice day spent touring - a few hours at Pico do Areeiro (1817 m), a brief stop at Câmara de Lobos (which is Portuguese for 'chamber of the wolves'), and a swim, relaxed lunch stop, and explore of Ribeira Brava 'wild stream', we returned to Porto Moniz late afternoon to go to the Madeira Aquarium, housed in Forte João Batista. Located on the sea front, the little fort was built in 1730 to defend against pirates and restored in 1998 to accommodate the aquarium.

Worth a visit but slightly expensive (€7 each) for the size; I was keen to see more local fish and work out maybe what some of the things I'd seen were. There were various small tanks, some rock-pool type tank exhibits, and a nice main tank (quite full). A good thing about the aquarium was that no photography whatsoever was permitted. Flash upsets many animals and is extremely bad for some delicate fish, sea horses etc, and people generally don't know how to or are too lazy to turn the their flash off. So the pictures here are from my swim the other day (a puffer fish and goby on some red sponge).

It was also nice and quiet, with only a few other people there, and it was good to watch the fish in peace. Yas enjoyed it, watching the morays and the prawns. The tiny shop/stand sold mainly souvenirs with the aquarium's starfish logo, baseball caps etc, and no decent books. However for the foodie holidaymaker was the grandly titled Maderian Gastonomy (or something like that) so one could learn at least how to prepare the things for eating!