Shoalstone (Brixham)

London Aquarium / HMS Belfast

Yas, an expert bargain hunter, got some money-off tickets (as well as some incredibly cheap 1st class train tickets) and we went to the London Aquarium and HMS Belfast.

Nice aquarium. Lots of interesting British fish. Great to see a tank of John Dory (minus parasites!) and another with wonderfully grotesque wolf-fish. A nice seashore bit for kids with starfish, anemones etc,.. and large open tank of rays (with a spiny starfish scuttling about) which at feeding time was great to see, as well as friendly knowledgeable staff. I can't remember what the full price was but you could spend a long while there and at the time seemed reasonable. Lots of tropical and jungle fish too (if you're interested in them) and of course the big shark tank.

It was a really hot sunny day and very crowded around the county hall and Westminster Bridge. We walked along the river to the Belfast, and spent the afternoon exploring - you can go pretty well everywhere - inside the gun turrets, up to the bridge, see the engine rooms and boilers; the living spaces, galley, sick bay etc are all fitted out and convincing mannequins give good sketch of life on board. Also various interesting displays and superb model boats :)

Babbacombe

Dived with Geoff H. Swam steadily north from beach. Vis was 3-4 metres. Went over weedy/rocky lower shore to the silty turfy rubble and reefy bits. Then went W for a while across the gravel ridges and silty/sand. After a while came up against the rocks jutting out from just beyond the bridge. We went round the edge of these approx NW. About here we separated and rendevoused. Had a look round the rocks here before making our way back.

Lots of fish: ballan wrasse, goldsinny wrasse, pipefish, dragonets, tiny silver fish, a tompot blenny, and a very fast garfish type thing. Gravel sea cucumbers and lots lightbulb seas squirts in the rocks below the bridge. Throughout dive plenty of spiny starfish. Some masked crab, hermits, velvet, etc,.. Little bit of a surface swim at the end. A good exercise: as not great vis, doing towing, navigation, and taking a few pics.

Babbacombe

Dived in a three with Derek and Lucy. Once Lucy's bouyancy was sorted (needed a little extra weight), we had a very smooth dive. We went out from the beach, and it wasn't long before I spotted a pair of cuttlefish on a bit of reef. I got Derek and Lucy over and fortunately managed to find the cuttlefish again. We watched for a while and got a few pictures.

Later, out over the silty sand, I spotted the anchor (vis was 4-5m) and we had a look at that. Derek went up the line to check location. As the silt cleared I looked for scorpion spider crabs - but couldn't see any this time. Lucy found a long legged spider crab out on the sand. On we went (I think we did bit of a circle) and Lucy found a well camouflaged topknot resting on lump of concrete. Out the water after 70-something minutes, and we stopped at the café for a sausage and egg baguette.

Scylla

Babbacombe

Original plan was to dive Ladram, but as we'd done this recently (and good vis there slightly doubtful), decided to go to Babbacombe. Just Derek and myself diving. Vis was reasonable; and as ever lots to see. Found over the gravel ridges a big diamond-shaped flatfish, elongated body.

Lots of hermit crabs, including one covered with live tube worms. Necklace shell, and a 'great' goby, and much other wildlife around the little boulders out on the sand. Later on we found a big rope that had lots of plumose anemones stuck to it. Very pretty with the sun behind. Snake pipefish and two-spot gobies around the weedy stuff closer to shore.

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.

Ladram

Weather fortunately settled enough lately for the vis to be ok here. Was a bit misty as we started off but over the reef - straight out from the beach - it was 5-6 metres. Not as much life immediately apparent, but once we started looking there was plenty to see: solenettes, dragonet, hermit crabs (diogenes pugilator busy fighting), a big sea potato. Some dead dogfish, lying together, gills all chewed up. And a few not dead.

Some nice colourful animal turf, with sea squirts etc, nudi eggs on the outer reefs on the overhangs. On the way back, very pleasant with the sun out, I took some bubble pictures, and found some spotted cowries. I've found shells on beaches and diving, but it was the first time I'd seen live ones.

Good to be here during quiet part of season. Parking reasonable, food and shops to hand. Steep hill from car park could be bit of a slog with 15l and a pony.

Babbacombe

Led Dave and Christian - their first UK shore dive; and keen to do a dive before the Pentewan weekend. Unfortunately vis not very good ~2m? We went north out from beach then in elongated loop west then east ending up north of the breakwater. Nice slow pace. Weedy, and lots of drifting weed surging back and forth, claustrophobic. Nicer out on the sand and we found some little 'islands' with life - plumose, crabs etc,.

Exmouth Dock

Just after HW, jumped off the pier with Phil and Dave Mac. Clattered down over rocks, looking for stuff. Later on picked up a thing that turned out to be a 4oz brass weight. Gloomy 2-3 metres vis. Big torch essential. Very dark below 10m.

Had IXUS with me, but rubbish replacement battery failed. Went by the overhang a couple of times. Lots of common starfish. Lots of tompots around the boulders to the south and east of the fish quay. Current strong, springly I think it was, and by the end of the dive quite glad I was well weighted.

Babbacombe

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.

Brixham

Exmouth Dock

Jumped off fish quay at 18:40 with Derek and Phil. Bryan provided shore cover. Went down slope in a SW direction (usually go more westerly). Bouldery, sand and clay patches. Dead fish and line close in but less rubbish than along quay. Lots of sponges and sea-firs on rocks. Abundant common starfish. A tompot blenny, shore crab, small mullet (?), and other unidentified fish seen only as fast moving shadows, or lurking at the back of overhangs. Levelling off at the bottom at about 16-17m it was more shingly, with smallish boulders. Wildlife was similar here but thinned out. Phil found a butterfish and a flounder, and I got a quick look at these.

Very dark, and pretty poor (1.5m best) vis. Blobby plankton throughout. Big UK torch made a great difference to the dive; having used some smaller ones lately. Rubbish on bottom included clothing and a bunch of blue fabric. I half expected to see a dead body wrapped up in it. It was quite creepy down there.

Nerdy camera stuff: white balance evaluation on the old IXUS 700 triggers the flash (if on) and uses that 'image'. This is really useful (and worked underwater). Torch also very useful to help camera focus and far more manageable with the latern grip as it can be held with a couple of fingers. These tweaked using GIMP and noise reduction applied with Neat Image.

A bit disoriented after swimming about down there, we eventually headed back up (NE) to light. Current getting much stronger. Found more and different sponges, took a few more pictures, and swam back to the slipway.

Aquarium of the Lakes

Not bad. Though I went mainly to see the local saltwater fish there was some interesting other stuff - cave and South American fish, otters, reptiles, creepy crawlies etc.

Overall the fish looked pretty healthy (wasn't sure about a few of the freshwater ones in the walk-through tank). The shoreline discovery bit was all good and educational. The highlight could have been the large sea fish. A large shallow ~3ft deep open tank contained conger, cod, catshark, thornback ray (wonderful), and a ballan wrasse but unfortunately it was difficult to see these comfortably because the glass faced narrow and busy walkway that led to the exit. I think it was overpriced - and I really like fish and sea-life! We paid GBP 8.75 each, plus 3.00 GBP car parking.

[The lakes, and many of the rivers, looked really inviting - must take snorkel kit (at least) to the Lake District next time.]

Hilsea Point (Pinnacle)

Near perfect weather - sunny and calm. Hilary boathandled us out, and I dived with Brian on a bouldery rock pinnacle near Hilsea Point. We dropped in very close to the rock and I sent up the blob. Vis excellent ~8m(?) and scenery wonderful with extremely large boulders, swim throughs, vertical walls and fairy grottoes.

We saw bib, ballan wrasse, cuckoo wrasse. Spiny spider crab, sea urchins, spiny starfish, purple starfish, seven armed starfish, sea fans, peacock worms, giant sea squirts and others, dead men's fingers (white/orange), boring sponges, sea cucumbers, elephant's ear, etc,.. lots of jewel anemones. Managed to get a few pictures - but not very good - blurred or grainy as filter cut out a lot of light (and white balance not right because buttons sticking).

Max depth 26.5m. Dive time about 40 minutes. Great to be back in drysuit. One of the best dives of the year. Hilary dived with Clint and Anne and they, although didn't land on the pinnacle, found lots to see and had a very good dive too. I drove us back - that was fine, and boat retreived no problem despite very low water.

Babbacombe

Drysuitless, I resolved to dive in my 5mm wetsuit. It would also be an opportunity to do a weight-check in it for possible summer diving. It was very cold getting in (water 9°C) and chilly throughout dive.

Vis was awful. At the shore it hadn't looked 'too' bad, but it was fairly murky a few metres out. We headed north from the slipway and the visiblity worsened as we encountered dense brown 'wallpaper-paste' patches. Around a few rocks managed to take some close-ups; concentrating on photography allowed me to disregard the cold for a few minutes. But I didn't really get much. My Sealife strobe stopped firing - possibly too dark, and housing buttons were sticky (at just a few metres).

Saw one or two masked crab, and a good sized spiny starfish. Lots of netted whelks about. Signalled to Derek 'cold' and 'home' after 25min and we turned around. Each time I pointed out critters to him (spiny spider crab, pipefish etc) on the the way back, I regretted it - but hoped he would be able to take a decent picture. Total dive time was 61 minutes.

Budleigh Salterton

Misty start turning into a nice warm day. Getting ready I discovered a small nick in my drysuit neck seal so trimmed to avoid a larger tear and donned very carefully.

Dived with Derek. Geoff decided to go for a walk. We went in opposite the flagpole and surface swam to near buoy (75m or so) to save air, then dropped and continued south. Swam over some rippled sand and shortly arrived at 1st reef. Low rubbly reef with turfy bits and kelp. Usual sort of thing yellow boring sponge, common starfish, snakelocks anemones, a few spider crab, lots gravel sea cucumbers, and an orangey scorpion fish (below). Hermit crab and netted whelks in the sandy spaces. Dogfish and a few sand gobies.

Continued south to second reef - a bit more bouldery and interesting. Some isolated boulders with interesting sponges and dahlia anemones. Around the bigger chunks of reef, lots dead mens fingers, more sponges, nudibranch eggs, and dayglo orange blobs that I haven't figured out what they are yet. More gravel sea cucumbers and brown sea cucumbers. On the way back I saw a solitary baby cuttlefish, some sort of segmented worm, and an interesting snail (below) Euspira catena - necklace shell.

Had another go with my Sealife flash (deciding a new one too expensive) that had so often failed to trigger. And with the G9 it worked far better than it had ever done before. The flash triggered (sensor placed over internal flash, and green filter) every time, and two layers of green bottle plastic over strobe balanced the orange 'green-magic' filter nicely. Photos here used flash; natural light ones with auto ISO and manual WB came out fine too.

Very nice relaxed 75 minute dive at about 5-7m. Didn't matter fill was a little short! Vis was ~3m. But near the shore 1 metre or less, in which I lost a fin getting out - much to everyone's amusement! Must remember not to take fins off if can't see them! And I discovered it is possible to swim with one fin and and not go in circles. Anyway Derek found the fin - luckily tide was coming in, and we could go home. Had tea on the bench by the road enjoying the sun and sorted ourselves out. Had a further play with my neck seal and managed to tear it - easily, so time for a new one of those.

Babbacombe

Excellent weather (sunny NW breeze) and vis at sheltered Babbacombe. Water a cool °8C. Early start and in the water at 08:00. HW (spring) was about 09:00. Went in with Derek and we headed ~45° from the slip and found Mushroom rock (a mushroom shaped rock) had bit of a look round it. Turfy with sponges and soft coral and small jewel anemones. Lost Derek but found him again easily enough. Then went N a little and W (left). Over some fairly bouldery stuff (below). Velvet swimmer crabs and squat lobsters in crevices. Snakelock anemones. Then over rubble becoming smaller and siltier. Common starfish. A bit further on crossed sand/gravel ridges.

Many hermit crabs; but also lots of masked crabs (carapace 40-60cm) which would scurry about and eventually decide to quickly dig in backwards to escape. Derek found a rockling which he thought was dead. There were some netted whelks on it - and some hermit crabs interested in it - but it 'woke-up' swam about and even had a go at Derek before settling down again and rolling on its side.

We didn't find the anchor this time (though agreed we were probably close). But a solitary orange plumose anemone. I played a bit more with my camera set up - using another layer of green plastic taped over the built in flash to compensate on flash photos for the orange filter. On no-flash 'landscape' pictures I manually set white balance. On flash pictures I just used Auto White Balance. Using custom settings C1 and C2 I could switch from macro to landscape and their particular settings very easily.

We made our way back to mushroom rock. javascript:void(0)Lots of fry about. Had another and closer look at the growth there and the jewel anemones. Up to the wall (our dive time 70 minutes) and surface swam to the slipway. Lots more people about now and the car park full. With the sun in my eyes I strayed onto the green weed and slipped collapsing forward, jarring my shoulder; should be ok. Sorted kit out and had a cup of tea at the cafe enjoying the sun and the sight of the clear blue/green water we had just dived.

Eddystone Rock / Mewstone

Near perfect weather and neap tide combined for a superb opportunity to take the rib to Eddystone Rock.

With Brian boathandling we cleared the Sound and sped for Eddystone, skimming over wine dark sea, the wind in our hair, filled with anticipation,.. I stared hard at the hazy horizon for a first glimpse of the lighthouse, and eventually, about two thirds the way there I could make it out.

We drew up to the edifice and its stumpy neighbour, the remainder of Smeaton's tower; the workers on the helipad waved to us, and we chugged around looking for a place to drop in. I couldn't believe we were actually there and I took a few snaps so I could prove it later! After all the preparation, getting kit ready and faffing about (and I wasn't even helming or task loaded) it was time to dive :)

I went in with Adrian and we made a free descent to 40m (to achieve my first post-DL depth progression). The vis was amazing (20+ metres), and it was remarkably light even at 40 metres. I tried taking a few pictures but although my G9's case was rated to 40m the buttons didn't work! I took mental pictures and enjoyed the scenery. It was hard to know where to look first, the rocks were plastered with jewel anemones, interspersed with dahlia anemones and many others, as well as fuzzy dead men's fingers, sea fans, massess of hydroids, sea firs, etc,..

It was wonderful. All that was missing were the pink and girlish sea-monkeys of the old comic-book adverts. We turned around and headed back up the rocky slope (at 40m after 10 minutes I had just 1 minute of no-deco remaining). Our ascent took in more lovely scenery, and later I managed to get a few macro shots of hydroids and a nudibranch Archidoris pseudoargus - aka 'sea-lemon' of which we saw several, as well as their abundant coils of spawn.

We took a few pictures of each other, Adrian sent up a blob, and we drifted over some pointy kelp-topped pinacles continuing our ascent. On the surface, and in the boat, stowing kit I knew I had to return!

We picked up Chris and Debbie and returned to Plymouth, riding in the wake of a fast hard boat to help save fuel. We sorted ourselves out and I fetched a bottle for my dive with Harriet at the Mewstone. Also diving in the afternoon were Brian and Hilary, Geoff and Sara M.

We approached Mewstone shortly after a search for swimmers there had been called off and Geoff and Sara got in followed by Harriet and myself. We made a steady and gradual descent to allow Harriet to clear her ears, but after some discomfiture with a neck seal Harriet decided to call the dive. No problem at all with that.

Having used my snorkel (on the surface!) to conserve air I had plenty left to be able to tag along with Hilary and Brian. Visibility around the Mewstone was about 7 metres. It was a bit kelpy but not too bad being early in the year and it was possible to see amongst the holdfasts- edible crab, spiny starfish, purple starfish, boring sponges, urchins, etc.. and a few large wrasse. Brian towed the blob and we swam around over the low reefs and gullies. I was able to experiment with my camera a bit and I got a few pictures of my fellow divers. Shortly after beginning the ascent, I spotted a dogfish!

Brixham Breakwater (OWIC)

The day of the Open Water Instructor Course had finally come. I arrived at Brixham Marina car park and was careful to park nicely within the white lines (it's the law here) and found the Ibex Canoe hut.

Over a quick cup of tea and some choclate biscuits before our intro, lectures and lesson planning got underway, I met and chatted with a few of the other trainees. Some were at November's IFC. No break for lunch - managed a few bites of a sandwhich while transfering my (DSMB) lesson to slate and readying kit. Trainee Sophie had drawn the compass navigation lesson and we did that first, with a dry run - then snorkelling in drysuits (with weightbelt) in the chop just off the beach. We went back and forth to the mini-shot. I went next, at that point quite keen to get on with it. I did the SEEDS brief - including lesson plan, followed by the dry run, kit up/BAR check and the wet lesson. Then was Ed's turn and he taught AS. Quite cold by then end. Weather not bad at all, nice sunny day,- though breezy. Vis that had looked 4 or so in the morning dropped about to 1-1.5m.

The course was excellent - it was quite demanding and I had to concentrate hard - but was very enjoyable and interesting and all the instructors were really good. Amongst the kit things I picked up: were a pully system using a reel and blob for a datum that can be adjusted at depth; and knotting the blob so it can be pulled back down after each practise inflation.

Bretagne

Dived the Bretagne with Adrian. Not the worst vis but very dark (weather was overcast) and planktony. Among the skills today - a few straightforward ones to complete my Dive Leader training - a mid-water mask clear at the bottom of the shot. That was fine, it wasn't too cold and was easily done, but it took me a while to blink away the salty water and get my vision back. Torch battery failing and computer almost impossible to read. Luminous reg console fantastic.

Didn't go too far. Adrian tied off reel and we explored the stern. Lots of life around and about, a few large pollack, bib, cuckoo wrasse, tompot blenny, 3-4x flat fish in a little group next to a semi-transparent bright blue 'thing' (?) perhaps a nudibranch, edible crab, and sea fans.

Wind getting up a bit more on the way back. Nigel boathandled for us, allowing the pairs to dive simultaneously, and get back quicker.

Exmouth Dock

Dived with Geoff H at Exmouth. HW was 09:04, and we entered water 09:01 (tide seemed to have slowed but still quite strong). We signaled down and I made swift descent. At bottom I realised pony was free flowing, so switched to breathe from it. Then went to my necklaced octopus - wanted air quick - and out of breath holding station. Pony free-flowing again [it emptied] so decided to come back up, inflating BC. Got breath back and we went down together.

On with dive in slackening current. At 10m or so very gloomy. Comparatively gentle current around the cave, but very dark and murky. Torch out and found a big ballan wrasse lurking in the shadows. Left torch on as we continued along the bouldery, rubbish littered slope. Lots of starfish - feeding on the mussels. Lots of line and some dead fish, including a large eel. Carried on a bit further, with a pause for Geoff to sort weightbelt. On way back we found a BMX (it looked quite ancient covered with growth and crud) and Geoff told me he saw the car. The tide took us back to the pier and we went up the slope back to the light; where I took a few snaps to test out my orange (Green Magic) filter. ISO 400 (de-noised with Neat Image).

We had 36 minutes. Max depth 17.5m. Water was 7°, and vis - less than hoped for - was about 2m. Diving at springs here is a quick dip - Paul L reckoned there was about a minute of slack.

Sponge. Before and after white balance set.

James Eagan Layne

Adrian (tower), Chris (boat handler / assistant dive manager), Grant (assistant boat handler), Debbie, and myself (dive managing) launched from Mount Batten. Inital plan was to dive the shallow reefs off Rame Head, sheltered from a NW breeze. On site however (wind actually SW and we had a slightly bumpy ride out and back), we decided to look around the headland at sea state and possibly dive the Scylla. But buoys were missing from Scylla and position not in GPS, so we dived the James Eagan Layne; itself requiring location with the echo sounder.

Adrian and Grant went in first, Debbie made the decision not to dive, and boathandled - which allowed Chris and I to dive straight away. Shot lift successful after attaching bag to correct shackle and assisting through deck. Vis wasn't too bad at all - about five metres - and water was 7° and [I was quite pleased not to notice the cold - perhaps it was the excitement of diving - perhaps it was my layer of fat]. We had a good look round the holds. Lots of starfish, anenomes, hydroids, and plenty of fish - mainly bib, plus the odd cuckoo wrasse, 2-spot goby.

It was great day out: brilliant to be back in the water, and excellent training and practise.

I was able to try out the Green Magic underwater filter. Cut to size and taped inside Ixus housing. Very promising. I set white balance using my dive slate and colours came out very nice. But quite blurred - need to use higher ISO and need plenty of light (filter must cut out a bit). Discovered that I need to use auto white balance for close-up flash pictures. Picture above has a small amount of colour correction applied.

Babbacombe

First dive of the year! Hooray! Not too cold out and water was 8°C. Dry and bright. There was a little breeze, not really felt at Babbacombe however, with much stronger SW winds forecast.

On the bottom - not very nice, it being a bit murky (lot of rain lately), our torches and any few pieces of bright equipment were just about perceptible at 1.5-2 metres; but concentrating on the macro there was plenty to see. There were hermit crabs (above in a netted whelk) including a few largish ones; and also very many squat lobsters (new to me) around the rocky reef we pottered about after our short swim 040° or so from end of slipway. Also one or two small edible crab and usual abundant velvet swimmer crab. There were very few fish. I saw a dragonet and a juvenille wrasse. Geoff said he saw some blennies.

Great to be back in the water and exploring and taking a few pictures. My Canon G9 case buttons still sticking despite careful use and recently some hotter water. Will try some silicone spray next. It's done about 27 dives, and despite reading that some regard them semi-disposable, this just too few.

We located bit of an engine (?) I hadn't seen before and a large wheel. I found a silt covered cloth that was a jumper or fleece, but didn't retrieve it. Think it was a bit small for me. We had nearly an hour (getting cold at 50 minutes) and max depth 10 metres. Newly serviced- and DIN converted- regs were perfect.

Mandrago

Palma Aquarium

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].

Brixham