Chesil Cove

A trip organised by Russ off YD (also on Top Gun earlier in the month). Good to meet some more of the YDers and put more faces to names. The weather was brilliant and there was hardly any swell so getting in and out was very easy. Geoff and I had two good dives on Saturday; one out and back down to about 11 m, then a more meandering one south then north along the beach down to about 15 m. Vis was 2 m, lots of green and brown plankton. But was fine for macro photography and we only separated toward the end of the second dive. Varied terrain, pebbly slopes, low reef with sandy patches, more bouldery to the south. Lots of creatures: fan worms, nudibranch, spider crabs, pipefish, gurnard, cuttlefish and a little cuttlefish. The little cuttlefish was too quick for me; it popped up out the sand right under my nose and scooted away leaving a few blobs of ink.

Pommeranian / Baygitano

Moidart / East Tennants Reef

Baygitano

A change of plan put me on first wave, buddied with Caroline. Also diving were Paul L and his friend Paul. Chris and Debbie boathandled. Bumpy but quick ride out. Was nice to get in the water, which was noticeably warmer than the air. Sorted a few minor snags etc on way down. Vis 4-5m.

Shot was near engine block and from there made our way to the boilers, then past winches and plates to bow. My first time at the bow - having explored the stern section on previous dives, and was very pleased to see it - quite impressive. Conger and John Dory as well as plentiful bib, pollack, ballan and cuckoo wrasse. Brown sponge fingers on slab. Blobbed at bow. Felt a bit cold on ascent - and even colder in the boat. Snorkel useful today, sorting out a clip in C’s BC, and retrieving fin.

Boat handled in afternoon. Quite choppy (and cold) very good practise chugging up to shot and marker buoys. [Rip off (£8+) parking at Lyme Regis and toilets locked].

Swanage Pier

Had a day off, so we went to Swanage in Dorset to snorkel under the famous pier. 30-40mph NW winds, and quite cold; but vis was good 5m. Useful facilities, dive school/shop, air, very easy access and entry to water, toilet (open in winter!) and a shower. Chip shops and cafes are a short walk into town. Imagine extremely busy in summer.

Anyway, the pier is fantastic. Went in down steps and over stony and weedy shallows to the left of pier (lots of crab burrows). Then under the pier and worked my way along, (careful to mind anglers lines - they moaned noisily anyway) and tied blob to a girder while under pier. There are a few clumps of fishing line to avoid. Interesting bits of metal, pipe, and rubble etc litter the bottom.

For fish there were Wrasse, gobies, sand smelt, a dragonet. Probably because the tidal range is minimal there is interesting turfy growth very shallow (usually piers just get covered with barnacles or mussels or bladderwrack). All kinds of colourful sponges are embedded in the growth, and tunicates, sea firs, etc and there are lots of hiding places for small life in the crumbling wooden parts of the structure - which itself is quite picturesque. Also found edible crab, and prawns on the 'new' pier. The old pier is similar and also good for a look round, it's stony and weedier. I found some fan worms here. Fine sand beyond.

Was in the water 2 hours. Cold getting in, and felt cooler later, with numb toes but otherwise warm enough in 5-7mm wetsuit (10kg on belt just right). Lost a knife, not a big deal, just glad I hadn't bothered cleaning it.

Baygitano

Hilary and Brian organised a club dive out of Lyme Regis and two waves enjoyed the Baygitano. Hilary and Brian towed, Adrian boathandled, and Chris and Debbie towed the boat home. The diving was superb. Tides were springy, but weather was perfect (just a slight haze) calm and sunny.

Hilary and I dived first, and arriving at the boilers found the vis to be an excellent 10+ metres. The 'Baggy' is flattened but very picturesque and covered with fish - masses of bib, and pollack. We also saw wrasse of various kind, leopard spot gobies (below), several very large conger, a red mullet, and a John Dory.

We swam about the boilers a little then headed in the direction of the stern. We found the spare propeller, various engine parts, hatches, bollards, winches and coils of cables. All very interesting, then we came back - and on the way near the boilers met Brian and Christian. Hilary and I had a few more minutes look around, and returned to the shot and used that for a nice easy ascent.

Back to Lyme Regis, and those of us diving again - Geoff M, Dave, and myself, swapped cylinders and picked up some food and drink for the boat and went straight back out. Soon after arriving at the site we discovered the shot had come away from the wreck, so had to be redeployed (I hadn't been able to lodge it very well). Anyway ready to go again. Geoff, Dave and I went in and had another very good dive. There was more current this time, but we managed to stay on the wreck, swimming slightly across it, and it was not a problem.

Back to Exeter (not a bad trip actually) happy and tired, we washed and tidied up the boat.

Baygitano, Lyme Regis

An early start at Lyme Regis as it was Regatta Day and expected to get very busy. There was time for a quick look round, I hadn't been to the Cobb before, then to get ready for the first wave. Some sun through the clouds on the distant hills of Golden Cap and beyond created a very atmospheric scene, but otherwise it was grey and gloomy.

The trip out to the 'Baggy' into the wind was very wet and bumpy; and some of us felt quite off-colour. Lashed by sprey and pitched about trying to kit up I was welcomed back to British diving. This was all part of the fun. The poor visibility even (it was 3 metres and not the 30 metres of my last dive) were not the reason for a less than perfect dive. The reason for a less than perfect dive was my attempt to do without ankle weights.

I was stupid enough to believe the crap I'd read somewhere that once a diver has good trim, ankle weights can be discarded; so I thought I'd try. Recently I had been enjoying improving buoyancy and positioning (as well as air consumption) sometimes hanging upside down to take a picture. Today I hadn't brought ankle weights with me, and though I could have borrowed some, I declined. I was a bit slow getting down the shot-line, but on the wreck everything was fine. Later in the dive however, and finning into the current across the wreck, my feet became especially floaty and I inverted several times. The exertion, frustration, and increasing air consumption, were all extremely disconcerting. My buddy was fantastic; very cool and reassuring, she proceeded to sort out the blob. I was settled down with the aid of an extremely convenient piece of wreck, I dumped all the air I could and made myself comfortable. The ascent was controlled and steady. Everything was all right and lessons learnt. The boots on my drysuit are very thick neoprene and ankle weight IS essential. Lessons: (1) don't ditch the ankle weights, (2) be more efficient sorting out a problem like this, (3) remember what a great buddy is.

Looking forward to a nice chilled out dive there one day, the Baggy is an interesting open wreck with lots of fish. There were lots of bib, bass, and cuckoo wrasse. Boilers with lots of holes and had clusters of sea-fans etc. Others saw conger. The second wave headed out about midday and enjoyed sunshine and smoother ride, though visibility on the wreck had diminished.

Durdle Door / Man-o-War Rock

Jon came with us to Durdle Door. Visibility was very good. Water was very cold. First swim was around Man-o-War Rock and the north side of Durdle Door. Saw some spearfishers around later. Got out, warmed up, had a sandwich, Jon felt the cold very badly (shivering uncontrollably it was highly amusing watching him trying to eat a sandwich) then walked to Bat Hole Cave for a swim around there. I swam back because my feet were so sore from the shingle [I still had full-foot fins]. Around Man-o-War rock there were spider crabs, ballan wrasse, and some orange sponges. Plants - especially sargassam multiculum. Near Bat Hole there was a lot of slimy string weed (which can trap swimmers, and the slime itself is an irritant). Also thongweed, with its bright green, mushroom-shaped holdfast/base and many others. Various types of kelp and lots of c. officinalis. The beaches got very busy about midday. As I was swimming round the end of Durdle Door for a RIB suddenly appeared with a group of lads for tombstoning; so I made my way past and headed in. Jon had gone ahead again, and I was getting tired.

How I became a diver

On a long walk along the Dorset coast from Durdle Door to the Petrified Forest, the scenery was something out of a holiday brochure, and the water clear and inviting. After taking a steeper and far more laborious route than we needed that took us above Lulworth Cove, we had little water, and I wanted to cool off. Floating around in Lulworth cove (discovering I didn't have to flail about to prevent drowning), I was wishing I had a mask, or just some goggles even. Though I wasn't a very good swimmer and not even sure if I could do a duck dive, I made up my mind to get a snorkel set as soon as possible. The Petrified Forest is well worth a visit, by the way, with brilliant white (in the hot sun) bouldery stumps of ancient trees and fossilised algal mats to clamber around; there is also an amusing educational sign with a painting that shows a caveman hunting dinosaurs.