James Eagan Layne

Boathandled with Derek on 1st wave. Dived with Derek on 2nd Wave. Sunny and calm; then windier/cloudier a bit choppier in the afternoon. 19m max. 30min. 7°C (ice-cream head). Vis 5.5m. Derek took pictures and I had a good look round and a rummage: engine, tanks, masts, winches etc,.. lots to see plus ironmongery, and other hardware e.g the Gustin-Bacon 'gruvagrip' 4" pipe-clamp inserts. Back up to 8m and top of the wreck. Very nice dive.

HMS Scylla / James Eagan Layne

Two very good shake-down dives. Went with Geoff and JC people on Discovery Diver's Red Alert (Bovisand). Just one RIB on the Scylla when we arrived. Vis 3-4m. Water cold and glad of an extra jumper. Had 26m (40min) on the Scylla and then 19m (50min) on JEL. A bit of current on the Scylla, and got out of it along the port side. Had a look in the holes. Most interesting and nicest part of the Scylla this dive was the stern.

JEL seemed much more open in places than I remember; though plenty of hull plate and deck beams still standing, and the bow intact. Had a good look round swimming through the wreck. Crates of small rings (wheel rims?), poles/pipes, girders and ironmongery, large bucket things; and found a few of the spoked iron wheels - very scenic with lots of hydroids.

Flat calm and cloudless on way out. Wind got up later, clouded over, and was quite lumpy coming back especially around Penlee point.

Lincoln / Bucks

HMS Scylla

Fine weather (after a dull start) with light NW winds and very slight sea - all good for our day's diving out of Plymouth. Bryan and Terry, Adrian and Jake, Dave B and me were on the first wave. Chris and Debbie boathandled. Vis was ok (just a bit snotty) 4 metres or so. Minimal current. Lots of other divers on it though, two hardboats arrived about the same time as us.

Dave and I went in and had a good dive; stopped at the bow briefly, then around the decks, along to the hanger and back, looking in some of the holes and hatches, poking around generally. There were lots of anemones and starfish, bass, pollack, wrasse, and a tompot blenny.

In the afternoon Adrian and I boathandled taking Chris and Debbie, and Geoff M and Sara out to the Scylla; and they all had good dives I think. Most of the other boats were now on the James Eagan Layne, the sun had come out and it was quite nice. I didn't ram any other vessels or maim anyone, so that was nice as well.

Charlestown Shipwreck Museum

Excellent museum! Lots of old dive gear and an amazing variety of artefacts: cargo, personal belongings, ammunition, fittings, and shipwreck memorabilia. Also displays about Charleston, the quay and village life (with mannequins etc).

A couple of things from the centre included this 1920s German diving suit. The ballbearing joints seized up at depth and it became completely immobile far before its intended operating depth. Used more as observation bell, than for anything fiddly. The German divers that brought it over to Britain for a job didn't think much of it themselves - and were apparently a bit wary of it! The bulge round the middle is a ballast tank.

And I liked this early dive computer - and the box with the skinny bird (with the weight belt hanging off her). It's didn't look too much bigger than the one Paul L lent me to try when I was learning to dive!

The centre was very good value and we could have spent longer there. Yas was a bit weary, but my ears were quite painful and was unable to appreciate as much as I might have.

The earache was from an ear infection (trapped water and so on). By the time we left Charlestown I really wanted to get something for it, but the very heavy traffic stopped us getting into town (St Austell) so I went to Boots the Chemist in Bodmin. That was a complete waste of time. The lady at the pharmacy counter said there was nothing they would give me and I went away feeling a bit stupid for thinking they would help me - if not for the pain, for the infection; as well as half deaf, in pain, and with a tiring drive ahead of me (after even more paracetamol and ibuprofen I managed a little sleep in a layby).

Back home I made some ear drops from surgical spirit and white vinegar (50/50); these would have to do the weekend until I could get a prescription. [A few days later Yasmin got some Swim Ear too to try - it smells just like tape cassette cleaning fluid and costs £5 a bottle! I think my homemade stuff will be just as good for getting rid of trapped water after a dive/swimming.

Vase Rock (Manacles) / Drawna Rock

Slick excursion to Vase Rock. Kitted up went down the beach to walk onto the Celtic Kitten (the front drops down and makes a ramp). Finished getting small bits of kit on, and in nearly no time at all we were over the reef. There was going to be some tide, but sheltered to the N of the rock. Derek and I went in and down the steppy pinnacle. On the way I saw a nice lobster. Flash AF35 not working wonderfully (could have been the deflector or batteries - dunno). Then caught up with Derek at about 25 metres. We went back up, anticlockwise around the pinnacle. Impressive walls of jewel anemones. There were urchins, sea fans etc,. also cuckoo wrasse and the occasional pollack.

At the top of the pinnacle, nice views over the gullies. Saw some of the other divers making their ascent and I did the blob and we followed not long after. They'd gone to 30+ but we'd had a bit longer.

Later on Derek and I did a last dive round Drawna rock. We swam along the inside of the rock to the deep part at the northern end. The plan was to swim round this end and go over to the reefy lump about 15m-20 further north still, where I had promised Derek that there were trumpet anemones. Lots more sea hares 'cuddling' and spiny starfish on the move - busy attacking things. Nice swim back around the seaward side - even though it is a bit weedy, nice and lumpy.

Drawna Rock / Porthkerris Cove

Drawna Rock, Porthkerris

Durgan, Helford River

Drawna Rock, Porthkerris

Went in from the little beach to the north, near the MOD building. 10kg on wetsuit. Snorkelled round the rock. Vis was very good. Busy Sunday with lots of divers but nice atmos and didn't feel overcrowded.

In the water I saw lots of small >3-4cm, transparent bell-shaped jellyfish, they had a frill of 8-12 thin tentacles around the base and a pink convoluted organ within. Also some 'sea-gooseberries' transparent also, rounded with two thin tentacles either side. Fish included Bass, ballan and corkwing wrasse, and shannies. There were common starfish, spiny starfish, sea urchins, and spiny spider crab hiding beneath the kelp (a lot of kelp 3-7m). Pottered around the rocks nice and easy, did a few dives, and took a few pictures.

Good facilities here: kit/spares shop, showers, kit wash, hot food/drinks + tent. And very reasonable parking and fees to shore dive. It was great and I was looking forward to coming back to dive on Tuesday.

Scylla

Pentewan (Dive Fest)

A very nice weekend, even though no boat diving was possible.

On Saturday (after driving down at 04:30) Yas and me went with Jake for long walk along the SW coast path, passing through Goran Haven and Mevagissey. It was very windy, blowing us sideways at times, and with the occasional downpour - but in between, the sun came out and the views were superb. A pair of divers got in at Goran Haven and a bunch went in at Portmellon but even here the water looked a bit churned up.

The evening of the hog roast stayed dry, and there was a bonfire, band etc. The food wasn't amazing; but the atmos jolly, and the Cornish ale I tried very good.

Sunday, the weather was terrible and diving, unsurprisingly, was binned again. We went round the dive show stands, and even made it to one of the talks. Just as well I got tickets in the end; the hog roast was good, the dive show worth a look,.. and we got a free hat.

James Eagan Layne

Fine weather- apart from some sea mist- but the diving nearly didn't happen. Fortunately we were able to jump start Mir, bringing her alongside the slipway and Adrian's car. The first wave dived the JEL. I went in with Chris and although I was supposed to be leading and had an idea of going along the port side and then off to the stern section, we stayed on top and went through the wreck. But that was fine. With very good vis (8m+), I saw and was able to identify more than usual. Lots of life - as ever, and Chris found a big conger and a cuttlefish. Shortly after reaching the broken down back end Chris said he was cold and to put the blob up.

In the afternoon, I went in with Chris and Les; it was Les' first sea dive in the UK, and an opportunity for me to do a bit of teaching (brief + some of the drills). Debbie stood by with weight. Margaret and Yas were there too watching the proceedings! Then, after negotiating the rocks that shouldn't have been there, we went off for a bit of a potter. During the course of the dive we observed 'very' many species of British macroalgae. There were also a few 2-spot gobies and juvenille ballan wrasse.

A good day.

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.