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Recent diving reports

The latest diving report

 

Plymouth

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Last Updated on Sunday, 05 September 2010 09:17 Written by david Sunday, 05 September 2010 09:14

 

Our DO Eddie hoisted the diving flag over some great diving sites in the Plymouth over the August Bank Holiday, based at the Mountbatten Centre we were able to leave our accomodation and cross the road to the quay, go diving and return to get out bottles charged on site.
After many previous expeditions to the area the weather was kind and allowed us to get out to Hand Deeps and the Eddystone. Dives were also experienced on the Persier, Oregon JEL Scylla although these two still proved murky due to the dumping of the dredged spoil from Devonport, which still has some years to be completed and the visibility then set to improve.
Despite the poor visibility the Scylla, now having been on the sea bed for some years proved rich in marine life with soft corals competing for space especially on the starboard side where the current seems to be strongest.
With the benefit of the two Ribs no one was left on the quay waiting for a space to become available, with just two members of the party mixing their diving by having to use their offspring as a baton between them.
Some Divers wives also came down for the trip and not to be outdone visited the splendid National Aquarium, where they tell us the life and visibility was even better than we’d experienced, other diversions for them were porting their spouses credit card into the shopping centre or visiting local National Trust properties to consume copious quantities of cream teas until the Ferryman advised one at a time please as they boarded.
 What a cheek! There is only one of me they retorted. Opp's sorry my dear I’ve got me wrong glasses on, I wondered why I ‘ad so many passengers but only ‘alf the cash
Four of us stole an extra day, and managed to have a great day which comes highly recommended for any bank holiday or to extend a weekend into Monday, as we did in Salcombe this year
Steve has already posted his photos of the trip onto Facebook, they are mainly of himself but you can see some other activity going on behind.
 
 
 

 

 

5 Go Diving in Salcome

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Last Updated on Thursday, 19 August 2010 09:33 Written by david Tuesday, 03 August 2010 12:39

 

Edward, Sarah, Stephen David & Gillian were at Trevor’s  sharing some Ginger beer when Stephen crossed his arms stamped his foot and petulantly said,   “Well, I want to go to Salcome”. Edward said “we couldn’t go there because we always go to Plymouth for August Bank holiday now.”
 “Well said Gillian we could always go at another time that’s not a bank holiday”
.
“How would that work”? Asked Stephen with a puzzled look.
“Well,” said Gillian “you just choose a different time in the year”
“I say” said Edward “that’s a jolly good idea. We could go and dive the Maine.”
“Could we” said Stephen, “could we really” he asked his eyes becoming moist and he had to pull out a big red handkerchief and blew a manly rasp on it.
 
And so they agreed to meet in Salcome and ran home to get their stuff, bring the boat!, shouted Sarah,  OK Said David, I will.
When they got there David pushed Gillian toward the harbour master whose name was Michael and he had a beard and a clip board.
“Ok” said Michael through his beard, “it’ll be £6.50 per day if I let you put your boat in for 3 days but if you put it in for 4 days well then I’ll only charge you £42.00 for the four days”.
“I don’t understand” said Gillian, “Don’t tell him about the fourth day” said David looking at the loose change that he had.
 
So all 5 went out in the boat weaving quickly down the estuary toward the open sea, yachtsmen in their small boats stopped to wave vigorously as they went past, some weren’t concentrating and their boats fell over, or bashed into one another as Edward quickly steered through them at high speed
 
They got to where the SS Maine should have been, but there was only some other boys and girls in boats and they said that the ship had sunk but if you followed that piece of string tied to the canister it will take you to it, “absolutely wizard” said Sarah, Stephen already had all his kit on and wanted to go and have a look straight away, but Edward said that he mustn’t go on his own in case he got into trouble.
So Edward, Stephen, and they had to take Sarah as well, or she said she would squeem and squeem until she was sick unless she was allowed to come too, so they all went down together.
 
When they came back Stephen said "crikey, that was ripping wasn't it.  I  saw a fish” he said excitedly, “and I saw a lobster” said Edward proudly, “I was swimming behind Stephen and I didn’t see anything”, said Sarah rubbing a rather nasty bruise on her forehead.
“We'd better get back and get some butter on that" said Gillian.
 
“Its only Sarah lets have another dive on the way back to Salcome”. Said Edward, “Shall we? Asked David, “Yes” said Edward and so they went in and saw some lovely mussels with some jolly big Spider crabs looking after them and lots of lovely orange Starfish. The sun shone down all weekend and  and they all got funny suntans around their sunglasses.
 
That was great said Gillian, lets come again shall we and camp at Alston farm like we used to.
“Rather”! said Stephen, “lets do it next year, and look;” he said pointing to an insect in the flowerbed outside the toilets, “there is a B in salcombe.
 
You too could be a B in Salcombe don't be a chump, run home now and put it in your diary for next year.

 

 

The M2 6th June

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 22 June 2010 05:37 Written by david Saturday, 12 June 2010 19:41

The M2 is the sort of boat that a small boy might draw. Imagining the ability for a submarine to also contain an aircraft is the stuff of a vivid imagination, but the M2 has it, or had it for in 1932 whilst sea training the hangar door was left open.  Adjacent to a runway this is not a problem, but in a submarine it means disaster and death as 60 officers and men lost their lives when if flooded and sunk onto a shingle seabed at 34 metres off of chesil beach

M2

Click the image to join us on the dive                        

Despite being warned in West Bay that the site was likely to be busy, we arrived to find only one other rhib and the divers on board it shot back a grin like a signal lamp flashing. This was because their sounder had failed and now with our arrival they realized that they hadn't had a wasted 23 mile round trip.

My Buddy and I descended the line onto a carpet of Brittle stars with the shadow of the wreck off to our right.  The shot had landed just wide of the starboard stern hydroplane and we started our dive at the stubbed ends of the prop shafts, the propellers no doubt previously salvaged by a family of aquatic tinkers. We moved through schooling fish and traveled along the port side to the torpedo tubes and bow, large Wrasse seemed to be using the growth on the hull like a huge salad bar.

The side of the submarine resembled a high wall until we reached the bow where as we turned across it, it  changed from an inpenetrable plane  into one long vertical line like a monstrous pencil

With our no stop time eroding fast by being on the seabed, we moved up onto the deck and along the anchor chains set into a channel in the submarines hull, these channels provided accommodation for many edible crabs and  large tompot blennies. Further back we encountered  the aircraft's catapult mechanism and the hangar.

 A hole had appeared in the roof probably accelerated  by the countless divers who had left their exhaust bubbles trapped in it.  So a light shone in and the hangar,  normally filled with fine silt  had been largely flushed out and access gained further in, with controls fixed to the walls clearly visible.

Up onto the conning tower to inspect the periscopes and snorkel festooned with bright purple jewel anemones, tick tock down over the retracted gun fitting to return to the stern. With the 15 metres visibility that we had been given the shot line appeared easily and we rejoined it and  back to the Rhib to give someone else a turn to enjoy what was was a splendid dive.

I think the word generally used to describe the dive we had experienced was cracking! yes a cracking dive, absolutely cracking, had we, I wondered encountered the spectral spirit of the aviators and their colloquialisms.....?

Roger!

   

Arfon 23rd May

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Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 June 2010 21:20 Written by david Monday, 24 May 2010 13:45

 Illustration courtesy of Max Ellis & DiveNet
 
7 Divers visited the Arfon on Sunday 23rd, Clear skies, and a slight sea made the conditions perfect to venture the 7 miles out from Kimmeridge, we arrived 93 years and 23 days too late to be of any assistance in the rescue of the crew of 12.   Of whom 9 sadly lost their lives when the armed trawler hit a mine and sank in a minute
 
The wreckage appeared on the sonar standing a few metres above the seabed and the shot weight was dropped . For a short period the shot buoy appeared to be making good way, but the current slackened off and 7 of us journeyed down the line into the plankton rich gloom to reach the wreck, it was dark and visibility greatly reduced, but it still proved to be an interesting and atmospheric wreck, We arrived on top of the boilers, a hole  revealed some of the steam tubes.
We adjusted our trim before continuing toward the stern along the prop shaft to inspect the propeller which was richly covered in anemones, and surrounded by schooling Bib. The rudder had fallen away and lay on the seabed.
Because of the depth and the temperature of the water we had a short tour and we returned to mid ships and found ourselves on top of the triple expansion engine, this seemed  like a good place to fire off the delay and ratchet our way back to the surface and into the warming sunshine.
 
As the Arfon quickly disappeared into the gloom below I thought I heard her say ‘Thank you for visiting, do drop in again soon'.
 
 
Well, we certainly shall,  Eddie'll be after that generously proportioned Lobster he allowed to escape, 
Once back in the boat and with his DV eased out by tapping gently with a wieght (well it was cold!).he vocalized his disappointment
'bejazzer's oi had da perfect pot fer dat lobster now I've only got dem 2 onion sacks full of scallops fer moi tea! he said.
 

 

 

609 2009 video of us in action!

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Last Updated on Friday, 21 May 2010 10:14 Written by david Saturday, 08 May 2010 09:08

Join us from your armchair to view the activities of the club from last season

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0WSHN3tNls

   

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