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Tonga September 2008
By Jovin Lim on 10 October 2008 - comments
Whales are memorable
My heart skipped a beat as I watched in awed when the 40-tonne mother humpback whale breaches her entire gigantic body out of the water within point-blank range from our boat. The sound of her landing back onto the surface was amazingly powerful, the splash huge. Together with Natalia and Jake, I was sitting on the bow of the boat, some on the top deck while others still in the waters, we were all caught by surprise and were screaming in excitement but none of us has our cameras ready for this magical moment of life’s greatest wildlife encounters. That captivating display was the finale for my whale watching experience in Vava’u group of islands in Tonga and I took home with me many cherished and unforgettable memories.
Southern hemisphere humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a baleen whale and a rorqual whale that sings amazing songs. An adult female humpback whale can grow up to 16 meters in length and weigh as much as 45 tonnes. Adult males are slightly smaller. A humpback whale calf at birth is around 3 meters in length and weighs around one tonne. The humpback has a bulky head with bumpy protuberances (tubercles), each with a bristle. Humpbacks are acrobats of the ocean, breaching and slapping the water. They live in pods and have 2 blowholes. The name humpback describes the motion it makes as it arches its back out of the water in preparation for a dive. It spends around eight months of each year in Antarctica, feeding on krill, small prawn like critters, and shoals of herrings. The South Pacific kingdom of Tonga is one of the only places on the planet where tourists can swim with humpback whales. From July to September each year, the humpbacks migrate to Tonga to mate and calve in the island-nation’s warm, sheltered waters. Boisterous courtship displays and mating occur during these months … it’s an exciting time to be observing the whales of Tonga.
Hellopes - Penzance
By Mark Milburn on 10 October 2008 - comments
Redeemer had a charter for the weekend out of Penzance, he had headed down there during Friday daytime to be able to get out early on Saturday. If we wanted to do our normal Friday evening dive it would have to be out of Penzance, and if we were diving out of Penzance we would have to dive the Hellopes.
The Hellopes was a 97m long steamship carrying a cargo of coal, it sank on 21/12/1911 on its last voyage before being scrapped. It had been in a collision a short time before and deemed not to be worth keeping afloat. With its last cargo on board it headed for Falmouth to be scrapped, but it started sinking off Lands End after its cargo shifted in strong winds, eventually going under in Mounts Bay. The 2774 ton ship ended up on the sea bed at a depth of around 36m on low water. That was the state of tide when we were going to dive it.
S.S. Hampshire
By Mark Milburn on 9 October 2008 - comments
On Call
On Friday I had a call from Colin, did we want to dive the wreck of the Hampshire on Sunday. Colin had dived it many times and had told us about it, so why not. The tides were good, the wind was still south easterly although a little stonger than yesterday.
We launched from Hayle at 12:30, low tide was at 2pm so we had plenty of time, which was a good thing as the wind was picking the waves up, the return journey wasn’t going to be so much fun. Eleven miles out and we found the wreck by it’s boilers and engine, everyone started to kit up together. Four of them jumped in while I waited for Sharky, a few seconds later we saw one of them back on the surface, his computer had packed in and he didn’t have a slate with the dive plan on it. So we had to stay in the boat on the rough water for a bit longer. Luckily I had taken my sea sickness tablets beforehand.
Cornwall's Second Most Popular Shore Dive
By Mark Milburn on 5 October 2008 - comments
Five German U-Boats
At the end of WWI the captured German navy wasn’t all scuttled at Scapa Flow. The rest of the fleet was dispersed between the Allied Forces. The Royal Navy had a surplus of ships and had no need for the war battered remnants. A lot were to be used as target practice but 5 of the German U-Boats escaped being shot at one last time.
As they were moored up in Falmouth Bay awaiting their time, a storm brewed up. They broke their moorings and blew up onto the rocks at Pendennis Point. A few years later they were heavily salvaged, but some large parts do remain.
North, South, East and West
By Helen Hadley on 5 October 2008 - comments
Every dive is special
It’s an hour or so of my life in which nothing above the water matters, a time where I get to see animals and places few others do. Time out from life.
This is an account of four of my dives, my most northerly in Orkney, Southerly in Malta, Easterly on wrecks close to the river Tyne and Westerly off the west coast of Scotland. All of these dives were fantastic, the images fresh as if I had surfaced minutes ago, salt still drying on my skin.
Costa Rica and Cocos Islands
By Jovin Lim on 2 October 2008 - comments [3]
Island of the Sharks
To kick-start 2008, I traveled halfway around the globe to fulfill one of my greatest dream to the remote Isla de Cocos, better known as Cocos Island for some of the wildest and most adventurous diving experiences.
Cocos Island is situated 375 nautical miles out in the Eastern Pacific, off the coast of Costa Rica. The main Island covers an area of approximately 24 square kilometers, the majority of which is covered in dense tropical rain forest.
The landscape is very rugged, thus forming many waterfalls, some of which are spectacular as they plummet from great heights to the sea. Cocos Island was granted UNESCO recognition as a World Heritage Site in 1997 and has a 12 nautical miles fishing exclusion zone for commercial and sport fishing around the perimeter of the island. Rangers of the Costa Rican Parks Service, who maintain two ranger stations on the island, the only human habitation now remaining on its shores, administer the island.
The Whelps
By Mark Milburn on 1 October 2008 - comments
Still very windy
The ever growing intensity of the northerly winds had meant that todays dives were going to have to be sheltered by the south coast. The winds were forecast as being force 3-4, so we planned to dive The Whelps which is protected by Gull Rock, which lies close to Nare Head.
We left Falmouth on Jason’s Westbay Lass. The estuary was quite choppy, the sea state was a 3-4 there! We rounded St Anthony head and it flattened out in the protection of the land. That was the last bit of flat sea until the protection of Nare Head, it was a fun journey, it was more like a force 6-7 out there. The Whelps looked reasonably flat, so we kitted up and Jason dropped us in close to the rocks.
Raglan's Reef, The Manacles
By Mark Milburn on 1 October 2008 - comments
The Manacles
Situated on the eastern side of the Lizard is a series of pinnacles that have caused many a wreck over the years. They are exposed to the weather and some strong currents, this means a great feeding place for all sorts of marine life. It has been several months since I dived Raglans Reef, which is one of the pinnacles that do not break the surface, and it was about time. We headed out on Shaun’s boat ‘Redeemer’ for our usual Friday night 6pm dive. It wasn’t long before we got there and jumped in the water.
Caroni Rivers in Falmouth Bay
By Mark Milburn on 1 October 2008 - comments
Vegetable, Oil and Wine Tanker
Due to the recent bad weather any diving had been done very close to shore. The Caroni Rivers lies about one mile offshore, we had tried to get there last Friday but the wind beat us. So we decided to try again on Tuesday evening. The Caroni Rivers was on equipment trials after being repaired in Falmouth when the 138m long ship hit a magnetic mine.
We left Falmouth on Jason’s Westbay Lass, a little later than planned, and headed out hoping that the wind had died down enough. It was getting late and by the time I was in the water it was 19:45, being cloudy above as well as being so late made it very dark down there.
The Veritas
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
Temporary Repairs
The Veritas was going to be our last dive over the bank holiday weekend. It is privately owned by the original owner of Seaways Diving, John Ellis. He even gave Shaun the marks for it. The 1,100 ton, 135 foot long Veritas sank on the 5th of August 1907, whilst carrying a cargo of pit props. It had recently been in a collision and was making way for Cardiff after some temporary repairs. They were obviously too temporary.
It started to take on water too quickly and the boiler fires became extinguished. Some tugs from Falmouth tried to tow it into Coverack, but it went down, vertically, with its stern out of the water for two days before disappearing below the water.
Another Friday Evening Dive Out Of Falmouth
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
It depends on the weather
The continuing winds had decided to switch to westerlies – this hopefully meant that the Friday evening dive would once again be on. The boat was fully booked by all the usual suspects. They were all eager to get a dive in after the bad weather over the last few weeks.
We had hoped that the phone wouldn’t ring to cancel the dive, and it didn’t, so off we went to Falmouth to see where we were going this foggy evening. It was high spring tide which meant very few steps to carry our kit down to the boat; in fact it was virtually level with the quay. As soon as the last one was on board(it’s always the same one – the one that lives closer than everyone else and turns up late!) Shaun powered off.
A Weekend at Porthkerris - Sunday
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
Chynhallis Reef, Spyridion Vagliano and The Mohegan
After a nice relaxed evening and a good night’s sleep, it was up early for ropes off at 9am. We had left our kit on the boat the previous day, only taking off our cylinders to be filled.
So all we had to do was to collect our cylinders, put them on the rollable jetty and wait for the boat. It came to the jetty at 9am and off we set.
Keeping Busy
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
A few dives planned for the weekend
This weekend was going to be a mixture of diving. Friday evening was going to be a reef dive on Pencra Reef. Saturday we were going to play with air lift pumps in some shallow waters, around the remains of a 17th century French Galleon, know only locally as the Queen. Sunday was going to be one of the local wrecks, most likely the Volnay.
It was another Friday evening on ‘Redeemer’, the sun was out, the wind had stopped and the sea was flat. We normally end up on the Manacles, but today we were going to try the reef near to the Manacles, called Pencra Reef, off of Pencra head.
A Weekend at Porthkerris - Saturday
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
The Citrine and The Volnay
Even though Porthkerris is only 45 minutes away for me I had decided to travel down on the Friday evening to avoid any rush or traffic on the Saturday morning. The holiday season is under way and Saturday is the day when most people travel down to Cornwall making the roads busier than normal. Camping in the car park, right next to the beach, it is an idyllic place to wake up in the morning or spend a peacefull evening.
The boat wasn’t going to leave until 12:30, so we had lots of time to get ready and introduce ourselves to each other. The trip had been organised by ‘sch’ from the Yorkshire-Divers forum. I had managed to get a space after Sean, another YD member had to cancel his weekend.
St Just Pit Falmouth
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
A Diver friend of mine, Andy, works on an Oceanographic survey vessel, he works six weeks on and six weeks off. Every time he comes back from a working trip he wants to get in the water as soon as he can. He got back on Thursday and asked me what diving I was doing, I explained the problem we have been having with the weather, mainly the wind, and that the sea was too rough to go out. On Saturday I was in the local dive shop chatting with the owner, Colin, and he said they were going to dive the St Just pit in the Falmouth estuary as part of an advanced Nitrox course they were running, and there was room on the boat if we were desperate to dive. As always we were desperate to dive, so Sharky, Andy and I turned up in Falmouth to leave the quay at 12:00.
The Port Napier
By Jane Wilkinson on 27 September 2008 - comments
Enroute for a weeks diving off the northern end of Skye, half of us had arranged to dive the Port Napier. Meeting up at Kyle of Lochalsh for the dive it was nice to see some familiar faces that I had dived with up in Scapa only a week before. The skipper was Dave from Lochaline Charter Boats and having left at two in the morning to bring the boat up from Lochaline he was already there with The Brenden when we arrived.
The wreck sits very high in the water and is visible from the shore at low tide. She is generally dived from Kyle of Lochalsh being only a five-minute trip from the pontoon, which is in front of the hotel by the harbour.
Scapa Diary Day 6 - SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm and YC21
By Jane Wilkinson on 27 September 2008 - comments
Today was to be the last day that we would officially be Scapa virgins (as the trip had been called) and on the agenda today was the awesome Kronprinz Wilhelm.
Incredible battleships
With sister ships the Konig and Markgraf, who also lie in the watery grave of the flow, these are some of the largest dreadnoughts that the world has seen. Coming in at around 25,388 tons and over 570ft long the Kronprinz is a massive ship by anyone’s standards. Her array of firepower was equally awesome having ten 12in guns, fourteen 5.9in guns and eight 3.45 anti aircraft guns.
S.S. Runswick and the Quies
By Mark Milburn on 27 September 2008 - comments
At your leisure
Low water slack was going to be around 5pm. You do need slack water to dive the Quies, the currents that run around there can be pretty quick. If you look at the charts they are the fastest currents on the north coast, something like 5.5 knots at mid-water springs. So we had all the time in the world to get ready.
I had gone through all my cylinders over the last 2 days and only had a single 12L with 210 bar in it! So I strapped a 3L pony to it and hoped I had enough for a decent dive.
Scapa Diary Day 5 - Gobernador Bories & SMS Coln
By Jane Wilkinson on 26 September 2008 - comments
A later start today gave everybody the chance for a lie in and an opportunity to drop into the cafe en route to the boat and have an egg and bacon burger for brunch. Still thinking about the fact that I was unable to get into my old dry suit, I declined! The day had started with some watery sunshine but this was already beginning to disappear and get a little gloomy as we got ourselves ready for the days diving.
Local names
We were doing a reverse profile today for a variety of reasons and had to be at our first dive site to catch slack, otherwise we would be in danger or getting whizzed off the wreck by the tidal rip and end up miles away in the Atlantic – it has happened!. Our destination was the Gobernador Bories or go bananas as it was fondly known by the locals!
A Long Weekend in Plymouth, The Scylla
By Mark Milburn on 25 September 2008 - comments
U.K.’s most popular wreck
The Scylla has now got to be the most dived wreck in U.K. waters. Ever since the ex-Naval Frigate was sunk as an artificial reef in 2004, thousands of divers of all levels have swam around it and through it. My first dive on the Scylla was a few months after it had been sunk. It was full of holes for divers to swim in and out of; covered in signs warning you to check your air, it was all a little contrived.
Still it has been a huge success, with many people returning again and again – some because it’s such an easy dive and some to watch how it becomes colonised by marine life. I was a little indifferent about diving it again. Originally this story was just going to be a a few lines about a second shallower dive of the day, but it is worthy of a lot more than that.
Scapa Diary Day 4 - SMS Dresden, Karlsruhe & F2
By Jane Wilkinson on 25 September 2008 - comments
As I set out on the twenty-minute walk from the campsite to the harbour the sky looked a bit grim. The air was filled with a fine rain that made everything have a misty appearance; it certainly was not the fine weather that we had been promised. However with three good dives planned for the day there was plenty to look forward to.
Not so deep
The first dive on the agenda was SMS Dresden, so after sorting out fills we were on our way. She is a light cruiser of around about 5530 tons and part of the German fleet. Once it was realised that the German ships were being scuttled she was taken in tow by the Clousin, the idea being to beach her on the island of Cava. However, with her decks already awash the Dresden continued to take on water until she finally sank so quickly nothing could be done. It is around 16-18m to her starboard side which is uppermost and then 34m to the seabed, so she is quite within the capability of the majority of divers.
A Long Weekend in Plymouth, The James Egan Layne
By Mark Milburn on 24 September 2008 - comments
Long before the Scylla was sunk as an artificial reef off Whitsand bay, there was another attraction, the James Egan Layne. The WWII liberty ship was sunk in March 1945 by a torpedo from U1195 and although some salvage was undertaken, the war finished soon after and apart from the later salvage of the propellor, propshaft, condensor and some brass shell cases, JEL lies fairly intact.
JEL has been a favourite of divers for years, the combination of its shallow depth, the amount of cargo on it and the pure size of it makes it the most likely wreck in any U.K. divers logbook.
Scapa Diary Day 3 - The Radiation and HMS Rodean
By Jane Wilkinson on 24 September 2008 - comments
The weather looked a bit brighter as we made our way to the boat on the third day, hoping for a little more sun than we had had the day before. We had another diver joining us for the rest of the week who had just passed his AOW whilst up at Scapa, so two shallower dives were the order of the day before we did something a bit deeper. Motoring out of Stromness we headed down south to dive the Radiation, an old trawler that has been deliberately sunk as a shallower dive.
As I was going to St. Ives........
By Mark Milburn on 23 September 2008 - comments
I met a shop called Dive St. Ives….....
One of my dive buddies, Andy, had booked us on their rib for two dives. The first was the St. Chamond, better know as the train wreck. It was a WWI German submarine victim sunk on 30th April 1918 a couple of miles out of St. Ives.
Her deck cargo included several steam locomotive engines; stories vary between five and seven in total. The St. Chamond had two boilers, of which only one has been found, so the steam engines could be anywhere.
Whale Watching Tonga
By Mark Milburn Roan Lavery on 23 September 2008 - comments
A little bit of a departure for Travel-Dive here, in that it doesn’t involve getting seriously kitted up, but having been whale watching in Tonga for the last few weeks I just had to share.
Whale Watching Mounu Island Tonga
Tonga, it’s safe to say, probably isn’t at top of many peoples lists of places to visit. In fact, most people I’ve mentioned it too have replied with a blank expression and “where’s that?” It’s partly down to Tonga being so far away (for us in the Uk anyway) and also the fact that it’s still relatively untouched by major commercial tourism.
Scapa Diary Day 2 - Karlsruhe, Seydlitz & Barge
By Jane Wilkinson on 23 September 2008 - comments
The boys on the boat were looking forward to the first dive today because the ship had big guns!
The Karlsruhe
With a slightly earlier start to the day we motored out to the light cruiser The Karlsruhe which was to be our first dive of the day. She lies listing on her starboard side at about 26m, with much of the deck ripped open leaving twisted wreckage and gaping holes of blackness so deep that most torches are unable to penetrate. The shot was about midships which was ideal and gave you the choice of whether to go towards the stern or bow. Looking at the diagrams beforehand each looked like good routes with plenty to see.
Diving the British Virgin Islands
By Kevin Bieri on 22 September 2008 - comments
The first time that i headed off to the British Virgin Islands for a week of diving, most people asked why i was flying across the Atlantic to go diving when the Caribbean is a mere 4 hour flight from Texas. After patiently explaining that the islands were in fact in the Caribbean I was mostly met with blank stares and comments about how I should be traveling to Bonaire or Grand Cayman if i really wanted spectacular diving in the Caribbean.
Anemone Reef & Sharkpoint
By Mark Milburn on 22 September 2008 - comments
We had arrived back from the Similan trip just two days ago, my travelling companions were in no rush to get back in the water, but I was. Having been to Thailand seven times previously and logged over two hundred dives there, I was surprised when going through my log that I had never dived Anemone Reef. Anemone Reef was famous for being the reef that the ship King Cruiser struck, it holed one of the catamarans hulls, which caused it to sink. I had already planned another trip to see the King Cruiser and Sharkpoint on the next Tuesday, but my only opportunity to dive Anemone Reef was going to be on this trip, so I booked it.
Similan Epilogue
By Mark Milburn on 20 September 2008 - comments
The Similan Islands certainly do live up to their name as a world class dive site, including the islands of Koh Bon, Koh Tachai and Richelieu Rock. The range of underwater life is varied and interesting, the sites are diversified but not too challenging. The most challenging thing is the amount of dives on a trip like this, nineteen dives in 5 days is more likely to challenge your fitness than your diving ability. I enjoyed all the diving, as did everyone else on the boat, the crew were friendly and helpful and the boat was pleasant enough.
Similan Liveaboard – Day 5
By Mark Milburn on 19 September 2008 - comments
It was our last day of diving on this trip. I remember having so many different feelings at once, I was feeling sad that it was our last day, I was looking forward to the last three dives, I had mentioned the sites I was interested in, and they happened to be the ones we were doing, I was looking forward to dry land, a decent nights sleep and real Thai food.
Malta - A divers guide
By Helen Hadley on 17 September 2008 - comments
Slowly I fin out of the steep sided gully and away from the engine noise from the small tourist boats. This is my first ever solo dive and the rush of adrenaline pushes me onward as I follow the 10m contour south out of the bay. The freedom of not having to keep an eye on anyone else allows me such freedom, and soon I find myself stopping to notice all manner of animals such as sea hares and geological formations I would normally miss.
Soon a large barren rock looms from the blue and I rest on it, watching the fish, shadows in the blue, the shafts of sunlight dancing like silk curtains in a breeze.
Scapa Diary Day 1 - The Mara and the V83
By Jane Wilkinson on 17 September 2008 - comments
At last I was to dive the famous Scapa Flow!
It had been on my ‘to do’ list for some time but I had been frustrated in my efforts to find a suitable boat and group to dive with. Trips seemed to be very technically orientated with divers using twins, rebreathers, stages and doing a lot of decompression diving. However, at the beginning of the year Hazel skipper of Stormdrift advertised a ‘Scapa virgins trip’ on the Yorkshire Divers Forum. This was aimed at people like myself who were diving on a single cylinder with/without pony, doing no stop diving and people who wanted a ‘taster’ of what the flow had to offer.
Similan Liveaboard – Day 4
By Mark Milburn on 15 September 2008 - comments
We were now heading back towards Phuket, three days of solid diving done and only two more to go. Everyone on the boat was friendly enough, and by now we knew each others names and would have conversations about all sorts of things and not just diving. Even after twelve dives everyone was still looking forward to the next one. For some reason I was up early, so was nearly everyone else, all drinking tea or coffee and eating toast, when it was time for the briefing everyone was already there.
Dolphin Dive
By Kate Hardy on 15 September 2008 - comments
My only dream in life was to swim with wild Dolphins. I have never agreed with captivity and exploiting them in the way that they are. To be able to swim with or be with any animal in their natural habitat must be breath taking. And my first experience of it was!
The First Time
It was November 2003 and we had just clambered back into the rib after our final dive on the Thistlegorm. We all started to take off our kit to head back to the boat when one of our divers grabbed my knee with one hand and pointed with the other.
Krakafat, Witu Islands, Papua New Guinea
By John Boyle on 14 September 2008 - comments
PNG never ceases to blow my mind with the diversity of its diving, the pristine corals and the huge schools of fish. Once all the planet’s oceans must have been like this before man made his mark. You can start a dive among huge schools of fish and end it staring at tiny creatures that you never imagined even existed – it is impossible to decide what camera set up to use on many dives. And anything can come along out of the blue – from orcas to the most amazing drifting oceanic beings – on one shallow dive I was amazed to encounter the world’s longest sea creature – not a giant whale but a siphonophore – a linear colony of individuals all with their own specific roles, reaching as long as 40 metres and trailing through the ocean with their deadly stinging cells.
Comedy Buddy
By Mark Davies on 13 September 2008 - comments [3]
Don’t get me wrong – my buddy is great. We’ve had some top quality diving trips together, we dive together well and we get on with each other very famously. Truth be told, once he gets himself in the water he’s a really good diver – probably more capable than I am. The problem though is getting him into the water!
To save his embarrassment we’ll change his name.
We’ll call him Biff.
The lights are on . . .
The thing with Biff is he’s a little forgetful. Okay – I’ll expand on that. He’d forget his head if it wasn’t screwed on. Not that forgetting his head would prove much of a handicap, as most of the time I’m sure it’s filled with nothing more useful than cotton wool!
Kanteong Dredging Arm at Fowey
By Jane Wilkinson on 13 September 2008 - comments
Jumping starfish? maybe not, but ones that just let go and float to their next resting place. I was diving the Kanteong Dredger and felt something on my head. As the little sea star floated down past my mask I assumed I had accidentally dislodged it from the ceiling as I was swimming through parts of the structure. However, later I was to spot one or two other small common sea stars do exactly the same thing. So I came to the conclusion that this is obviously how some of them move around at times a sort of drop and float method.
Around Mulbury Harbour
By Juliet Savigear on 13 September 2008 - comments
Mulbury Harbour, West Sussex
What a great dive that is so easy to get to from London.
As is often the way with my boyfriend, who hates planning anything much ahead, we booked our dive with www.witteringdivers.co.uk late on the Friday afternoon and then made our way down to Wittering bright and early on the Saturday morning.
SMS BADEN
By Mark Ellyat on 11 September 2008 - comments
Wreck diving is my passion, whether deep or shallow. As a child I would visit naval dockyards on their yearly open days, and explore huge battle ships as much as time and energy allowed. When I learned to dive, my interest grew even more, as now I could explore huge ships from propeller to mast without breaking a sweat!
A Long Weekend in Plymouth, H.M.S. Elk
By Mark Milburn on 9 September 2008 - comments
In service twice
H.M.S. Elk was originally built in 1902, a 108ft long, 181 ton fishing trawler. Requisitioned as a minesweeper in WWI, then returned as a trawler after the war, then requisitioned again as a marker buoy layer in WWII. Then hit a mine and sunk, irony!
On the road to Boonsung, West Thailand
By Dive Safari Asia on 9 September 2008 - comments
Mystery Tour
I think we fell into the same trap as everybody else when Paul, owner of a Wicked Diving, first asked us if we wanted to make a dive on Boonsung Wreck, this being the first time we had heard of it.
Diving in the Rainbow Nation
By Daniela Marchesi on 7 September 2008 - comments
“Now remember there is no need to panic. Just remember to keep breathing and what ever you do, stay close to your buddy. Now let’s go down and enjoy every minute of it!” These were the last words of wisdom Gabby shared with us before we went down on our first dive in the Indian Ocean. We were told this was going to be a life-changing experience, one beyond our wildest expectations, but no matter how many books I read and photos I trawled through, nothing could have quite prepared me for life deep-down in the Ocean.
Weathering Weymouth
By Mark Davies on 5 September 2008 - comments
Why do we do it?
It’s a question that must have passed the lips of every UK diver there has ever been. At the time I uttered them I was sat in my car in a huge traffic jam. I’d barely moved more than a mile in the previous hour, queueing up to get through a set of traffic lights near the end of the M67. I’d left home almost two hours previously and had travelled about 20 miles. It was the Friday of the late May Bank Holiday – reputedly the worst day of the year on Britain’s roads, and I could well believe it!
S.S. Stanwood
By Mark Milburn on 5 September 2008 -
The Stanwood was a 4158 ton steamship, that had been confiscated from the Germans at the end of the Great War (WW1). It was used for carrying cargo for many years, until one day in December 1939, she caught fire.
Ocean Gladiator: A Deeper Interest
By Mark Ellyat on 5 September 2008 - comments
Work as diving instructor can be very seasonal. To stay busy you need to travel to other holiday destinations as the tourist seasons rotate. After a year in Barbados, I felt a return to the United Kingdom was on the cards. Arriving back in London gave me itchy feet almost immediately, and I phoned around for work in various holiday destinations around the British south coast even before my tan had faded. In 1995, I’d had my first laptop for over a year already, but the internet still resembled semaphore and websites where just glimmers in a ‘net-nurds’ eye.
In the Shadow of Manado Tua: Part5
By Tim Ingmire on 4 September 2008 - comments
Day 15 – Macro
- Mike’s Point
- Wori Bay
- Odyssea Point I
Dolphins. Lots and lots of dolphins, all around the boat on the journey out to Bunaken. Spectacular jumps and leaps. Very, very nice.
A Long Weekend in Plymouth, Persier and Fairylands
By Mark Milburn on 4 September 2008 - comments
Europes Diving Capital?
Devonians like to claim that Plymouth is the diving capital of Europe. I am sure that a lot of people would agree and maybe more would disagree. There are certainly a lot of diving centres and boats operating out of Plymouth.
Minke Whale Expedition
By Jovin Lim on 3 September 2008 - comments [1]
I absolutely love the seas and have always been fascinated by this beautiful mammal called whale. Some of them are the oldest species on this Earth and they have been around much longer than we have. I have always been in awe when watching these magnificent creatures on documentaries and it is my dream to watch, swim, snorkel or dive with them some day.
Similan Liveaboard – Day 3
By Mark Milburn on 2 September 2008 - comments [2]
Richelieu Rock
Today for me was going to be the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of Thailand’s diving, three dives on Richelieu Rock. Richelieu was our most northerly dive site on this trip, located east of Koh Surin at 09 218N 98 013E. It has a pinnacle that breaks the surface at low tide, other than that it is in the open seas. My previous visits to Richelieu have always been very productive when it comes to photography, it is covered with life of all shapes and sizes, hopefully thing hadn’t changed. I even changed the memory card in my camera so I had plenty of space.
The Heroine - A Colony Of Congers!
By Jane Wilkinson on 2 September 2008 - comments
The townsfolk of Lyme were woken by the loud sound of canon fire reverberating across the bay. Quickly they rushed down to the Cobb, as they knew that a ship was in trouble for the date was 1852 and this was a distress signal. Undeterred by the raging storm that lashed the walls of the Cobb the watching crowd could just make out the distinct shape of a ship that was now beginning to sink; it was the Heroine, a wooden sailing barque on its way from London to Australia.
Technical Ventures – The Return
By Mark Davies on 2 September 2008 - comments
Okay, the weather had improved – but only a little
On our second visit to Capernwray we at least didn’t have to contend with snow on the ground, but it was still mighty cold! There wasn’t the same thin film of ice over the water but it hadn’t warmed up any at all in the intervening week – still a very chilly 5c!
Similan Island Liveaboard: Prologue
By Mark Milburn on 1 September 2008 - comments
The Similan Islands are a group of 9 island in the Andaman Sea, some 60km west of Khao Lak, or roughly 90km north north west of Phuket, Thailand. It was supposed to have been one of Jacques Cousteau’s favourite diving locations.
SS Yongala - One Of The Best!
By Jane Wilkinson on 1 September 2008 - comments
It’s in the top ten!
SS Yongala is regarded as one of the world’s best wreck diving sites. Whilst everyone has their own personal favourites no one could possibly dispute the amazing sight of this awesome wreck with its mass of marine life.
3 dives off the North Cornish Coast
By Mark Milburn on 31 August 2008 - comments
Fridays dive is off
Our normal Friday night dive had been cancelled due to Redeemer being repainted, so we had to make alternative arrangements. We assumed that it would be out of the water for the weekend so we looked at the weather forecast and made our own plans.
New deep wreck in Hurghada, Red Sea
By Paul Vinten on 31 August 2008 - comments
The number of technical divers discovering the wonders of the Egyptian Red Sea is on the steady increase with the availability of support now for both open and closed circuit divers. The numerous deep reefs around Hurghada, Sharm and Dahab provide a multitude of sites for visiting ‘tekkies’, but it is nearly always the wrecks which get the adrenaline of a deep diver pumping.
A Day Trip Out of Falmouth
By Mark Milburn on 30 August 2008 - comments
Cancelled Trip
Finally the weather was improving and our hopes of getting in some more diving were looking promising. Shaun’s boat ‘Redeemer’ had been booked by a group of divers who were going to have to travel a fair distance for a long weekend out of Penzance, but the weather forecast had forced them to cancel.
This was bad news for Shaun, but good news for us. He had managed to get a couple of people wanting to do some diving on Sunday, so we decided that we were going to tag along. The dives were going to be a drift dive over ‘The Bizzies’, a long reef system, and a return to the wreck of the Hera.
Similan Liveaboard – Day 2
By Mark Milburn on 29 August 2008 - comments
After a decent nights sleep I was up bright and early, assembling my camera after charging the batteries and re-greasing the ‘O’ rings. I took it up to the briefing deck and got some tea and toast, this would become a habit I’m afraid.
Technical Ventures
By Mark Davies on 29 August 2008 - comments
Mortality
When I was a young man still in my late teens, like everyone else of that age, I thought I was immortal. Life was going to last for ever and nothing I did I thought of as dangerous.
I was rock climbing in those days; testing myself and pushing the edges of the envelope. It was simply a personal challenge and I never considered it genuinely dangerous. But then someone I knew was killed in a climbing accident. Graham wasn’t a close friend to me; he was a school friend of my older brother. They had climbed together though Graham and I hadn’t. But he was a very dear friend to the young woman who today is my wife. She really felt his loss.
3 Dive Day Trip, King Cruiser, Shark Point & Koh Doc Mai
By Mark Milburn on 29 August 2008 - comments [1]
Today was going to be the last of my diving in Thailand for this trip and I was to be accompanied by Sharky and Neville once again. We were picked up from our accommodation at 7:40. I don’t like early mornings really, especially when I am on Holiday. We were taken to the pier at Chalong and then transferred to the boat, Calypso.
A Cornish Shore Dive
By Mark Milburn on 28 August 2008 - comments [1]
Hidden Cove
There is a tiny cove, hidden along the North Cornish coastline, that, in my opinion, is perfect for open water courses, or for shore diving. A couple of my dive buddies had been out spending money; one had a new BCD and regs, the other a new twinset. So it was decided that the best course of action was a shore dive.
Its just another jetty…. isnt it?
By Jane Wilkinson on 27 August 2008 - comments
Hidden under the waves at Busselton is probably the most incredible riot of colour that I have yet to encounter on a pier or anywhere else that I have dived. Bussleton Jetty was to become one of my favourite sites during my travels in Australia, which is ironic as it wasn’t even on my itinerary when I started!
In the Shadow of Manado Tua: Part4
By Tim Ingmire on 27 August 2008 - comments
Day 9 – Macro
- Gabet
- Wori Bay – Ebbing Tide
- Wori Bay – Flooding Tide
A dive to 313m...successfully
By Mark Ellyat on 27 August 2008 - comments [2]
I like to dive deep, I like a challenge and it’s rewarding to do something difficult and return safely. In February 2003, I almost dived my last dive, and this was my first major diving incident in almost 3000 dives. This deep dive was to 260m as a practice dive for a deeper one soon after.
The ascent plan was aggressive time wise, but I had built confidence in this particular decompression algorithm and had dived it “deep for long” many times. How mistaken could I have been? The decompression schedule proved woefully inadequate and the injuries I sustained will probably take a lifetime to fully recover from. During my rehabilitation I couldn’t do much but read books and try to make the best of it. I went over my dive plan again and again, It was not until after the dive that I discovered that although it was commercially available dive software, It was not tested in any way, and had no place suggesting it could provide an ascent solution from a depth well within its stated specifications.
Why Ginnie and I are like peas and carrots
By Agnes Milowka on 27 August 2008 - comments [3]
Ginnie (Devils Cave System) was low on my list of favorite Floridian caves when I arrived back in the US from Australia. Sure, the size of the tunnels was impressive as was the visibility but somehow it failed to really capture my heart. The flow was a nuisance and it all seemed a bit too much like hard work for relatively little reward… although admittedly spending my dives fighting flow up the gold line probably didn’t help in this regard.
So no one was more surprised than I when I started to spend considerable chunks of my time diving Ginnie.
Fish Rock Cave
By Jane Wilkinson on 26 August 2008 - comments [2]
I gazed at the diagram of Fish Rock Cave on the wall of the shop and wondered whether I was really biting off more than I could chew. I had heard a lot about it during the course of my journey around Australia, about the wobbegongs that lie at the bottom of the cave and the chimney ascent.
Looking at the diagram on the wall in South West Rocks Dive Centre it looked so straightforward. Without wanting to commit myself I tentatively started to ask about diving the cave.
Copper Mine Dive
By Mark Ellyat on 25 August 2008 - comments [1]
Saturday 26 Oct 2002, the date for my latest sortie into Coniston Copper Mine. This would be dive five in the mine, planned dive depth 237m. At this depth the original copper ore work face would join the main shaft, according to the mines original plans. The four previous dives were carried out to obtain video footage and feel more comfortable with the 309m deep, 2m square shaft with its 9’c water temp and pitch black darkness.
Saturation Monday – Thai Style
By Mark Milburn on 25 August 2008 - comments
After my trip to Anemone Reef and Sharkpoint I fancied going to the islands of Racha Yai or Racha Noi, sometimes referred to as Raya instead of Racha. I had dived both islands before and there has always been fewer dive boats around. I went to my normal dive shop and asked if they had anything going there. Saturation Monday I was told would go to both islands; 4 dives in one day. I like the sound of that so I booked it. I wondered what the Thai interpretation of ‘Saturation’ would be though.
Similan Liveaboard – Day 1
By Mark Milburn on 25 August 2008 - comments [1]
I woke during the night to a sudden silence, we had arrived at our first dive site and the engines had been turned off.
Bang! Bang! Bang! “Dive Briefing”, it was 7:30am. I made my way to the meeting/eating/briefing area and grabbed some toast and a cup of tea. The dive groups had been sorted and were written on the white board, next to it was stuck a sketch of the first dive site, Hide-away corner. Mats started the briefing describing the site and what we might expect to see, it was an easy site and was always used as the first dive site to make sure everyone was comfortable, more likely to make sure the divers were as experienced as they said they were. There were two moorings lines, one at each end of the reef, we would drop down and go with the current, the south end of the reef.
Purge The Soul In Ireland
By Mark Davies on 25 August 2008 - comments
Loose Planning
Ever since Tim had gone over to Ireland for work it had been on the cards that I’d go over there some time to do some diving. He popped over here last March and we had some lovely zero viz diving in Anglesey so we decided it was about time we sampled Ireland’s west coast and made a commitment. We’d both had a dreadful run of bad luck with our diving that winter (hadn’t everyone?) so were desperate for some good dives. To give us the best chance we settled on a neap tide weekend, that happily coincided with me having some days off work.
To dive or not to dive
By Mark Milburn on 24 August 2008 - comments
Bad weather
All week the weather had been building, dives were being called off everywhere. Several people had called me to see what I was doing. I had been booked on a boat for the weekend on a trip organised by Colin, the local dive shop owner. Some of his ex-dive club members from ‘up north’ were on their way down for a long weekend of diving.
I had been watching the weather forecast all week and it didn’t look good. I called Colin and he said it was going to be up to the skipper to call it. Not always the best move – they need to make money after all. I was booked on, so I would see what was going to happen.
The Hard Hat Experience
By Kate Hardy on 24 August 2008 - comments
Winter – Not for me!
While there are divers all around the country that are more than happy and tough enough to dive throughout the year, I am not one of them. And I suspect I am joined by a hefty majority. Not only does winter mean shorter days, going to work in the dark, going home in the dark, thick jumpers and sturdy umbrellas, but also the end to my dive season.
But is it?
It doesn’t have to be!
Phuket Local Dives
By Mark Milburn on 24 August 2008 - comments
Dive 1 – Koh Pu, East Side
Lying on the western coast of Phuket is the island of Koh Pu, translated as crab island, Koh being island, as in Koh Phuket, Koh Samui etc. The island lies about 1 mile offshore from Kata Beach.
Raglans and Porthkerris reefs
By Mark Milburn on 23 August 2008 - comments
Diving in the UK is probably best known for its wrecks. Most divers, if asked to name their favourite reefs, would probably name a site in some far off, tropical waters. Few would list a site in British waters.
But our shores offer some spectacular scenic dives that could rival many found in more exotic climes.
The best of these may be found in Cornwall. Mark Milburn tells us about two of his favourites; Raglans and Porthkerris.
Raglans
The Sphene
By Mark Milburn on 22 August 2008 - comments
It was about time
We have all been living the easy life recently. All our recent dives have been off hard boats, usually Shaun’s ‘Redeemer’, which has a lift, heated cabin etc. The sun had been blazing all week and there were no spaces left on Shaun’s boat. Nothing had been planned, so it was about time I took my RIB out.
Anglesey - All Is Forgiven
By Mark Davies on 21 August 2008 - comments
Those of you who have followed my ramblings will know I have had mixed experiences at Anglesey in the past. It is a challenging diving environment with strong currents and often very limited visibility. Over the years it has been a place where I have learnt a lot about diving – and more still about myself. It is easy to find yourself in a spot of bother and you need to have a bit about yourself at times to get out of it.
The Derbent
By Mark Davies on 19 August 2008 - comments
Anglesey is beginning to win me over. I’m starting to realise that there are two sides to this, my most local sea diving location. There is no doubt that when diving inshore, where depths of less than 30m can be found for regular no-decompression diving, the conditions can be . . . variable. Visibility is rarely great, tides can be strong and difficult to predict without expert local knowledge and the weather is very changeable.
This all adds up to some challenging diving. However, extend the range of your diving, as I have done recently, and you are then able to explore the deeper, offshore waters. Head further out, generally in depths of about 40m, and conditions are much more favourable. Added to that, there are some great wrecks to be found.
Testing Times in Tenerife
By Kate Hardy on 19 August 2008 - comments
Most dive holidays pass off without incident with a series of pleasant dives but sometimes things don’t go quite as we’d like. Diving in the UK we almost expect to have problems but in more favourable conditions abroad is there any less reason to be careful? Sometimes we need those reminders that diving is a risk sport wherever we choose to do it.
I have just come back from a trip to Tenerife. It was a cracking holiday and lots of fun and for the most part the diving was great – but here is the story of two dives that I did which, for very different reasons, became particularly memorable.
HMAS Swan - First Down Under
By Jane Wilkinson on 18 August 2008 - comments
I wasn’t very interested in diving this wreck. Divers I came across kept asking me had I done it and what was it like, but to be honest I wasn’t that interested.
HMAS Swan like the Syclla in the UK are what I personally refer to as ‘designer wrecks’. They are ships that have been deliberately prepared for diving and sunk, all in a very sanitised manner. There is nothing wrong with this but I just prefer my wrecks ‘au natural’ and if they have a bit of a story behind them even better.
Drifting Along In Skye
By Jane Wilkinson on 13 August 2008 - comments
With visibility around the 20m mark, a speed of around three and half knots, flying over massive areas of deadmens’ fingers (that I named fields of fingers), seeing a skate with a wingspan that was at least four foot, this was possibly one of the best UK drift dives I have done. It certainly was the most memorable.
In the Shadow of Manado Tua: Part3
By Tim Ingmire on 12 August 2008 - comments
Day 6 – Wide Angle (18-70)
- Fukui
- Sachiko
- Aba Point
Diving The Ajax
By Alan Ewart on 12 August 2008 - comments
It’s been a bit bizarre down here in the Poole area lately. I mean Easter was in Mid-April and divers were reporting 10 Metre visibility on some of our popular wrecks. On the 18th of April I went out to Dive the Kyarra on an evening dive and did in fact enjoy 10M visibility. The following weekend I dived her twice and found the visibility even better. Out of curiosity I checked my logbook and found that I dived the Kyarra on the 17th April last year and the visibility had been so poor that I lost my buddy on the shot-line!
Grey Nurse Sharks of Australia
By Jane Wilkinson on 11 August 2008 - comments
Looks aren’t everything!
I had never encountered a shark before going to Australia and was quite worried what my reaction could be. However, by the time I reached the east coast of Australia I felt I had got pretty cool about shark encounters. I’d been on several dives by this stage in my travels, including a shark feed out on Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea, so had come across several different types of sharks.
However, I wasn’t really prepared for just how close you could actually get to the very timid and shy Carcharias Taurus, better known in Australia as the Grey Nurse Shark and in the Americas as the Nurse Shark. Did I say ‘timid’ and ‘shy’? This seems a contradiction in terms but this is exactly what they are like.
Red Sea Holiday Mayhem
By Kate Hardy on 11 August 2008 - comments
We work hard all year and save up our money to get the things in life that we enjoy. For me one of those things is an annual diving holiday to the Red Sea. It is an escape from life’s stresses and is supposed to be a way to relax. We all hope everything will run smoothly, and for most of us it does. But what happens when it doesn’t?
This time round I really needed my holiday to go well after a particularly tough spell, but it wasn’t to work out that way. So rather than a report about a stunning dive holiday here is my story about when a holiday goes wrong.
Wreck Detectives
By Jason Gibbs on 10 August 2008 - comments
Jason Gibbs provides us with an insight into the trials, tribulations and frustrations involved in running an underwater shoot for the recently screened TV diving series ‘Wreck Detectives’
I Wake up wondering where the hell I am and, for that matter, what am I doing here? Looking around my hotel room I remember that I’m in Normandy, working as Underwater Producer and Cameraman on Channel 4’s ‘Wreck Detectives’.
Hairball Too, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
By John Boyle on 9 August 2008 - comments
Every time I dive this place – and I must have done well over fifty dives on this spot alone – I think of a worm tank I used to have when I was a kid; a glass tank which at the surface was just flat earth, but in cross section showed the worms and their incredible tunnels and tracks. I always wish I could see the substrate of Hairball Too in cross section to watch the incredible array of creatures that live in the semi liquid fine black volcanic sand that makes up the sea floor in the strait.
Ningaloo And The Navy Pier
By Jane Wilkinson on 8 August 2008 - comments [2]
I found it very difficult to control my excitement as I took a big stride off the pier and hit the water with an almighty splash because of the huge drop. This was my second dive off the Navy Pier in Exmouth and although the visibility had been pretty grim the first time I knew what was waiting below the surface; hence the second dive and my excitement.
A Story Of The Bends
By Kate Hardy on 8 August 2008 - comments [2]
Not long after I had first started diving I remember commenting how it would be interesting to get a bend, just to find out what it was like. Someone, misunderstanding my point and being rather over-zealous gave me a telling off, suggesting it was an irresponsible thing to say.
But the point is, as divers we all fear the bends but do any of us who haven’t had one really know what they are like? Do we know what to expect and could we recognise a bend if we had one?
Pursuing my curiosity I did a visit to a recompression chamber – just to get an idea of what it was like and what would happen if I were ever unfortunate enough to need treatment. As it turned out, it wasn’t long before I was glad I had made that trip.
Paddling in the Clyde
By Ron Mahoney on 7 August 2008 - comments
In 1789 the Scots steamboat pioneer William Symington began to experiment with engines suitable for propelling a small boat. He developed the first paddle-powered craft that was capable of 6 knots and was designed for ‘dragging vessels’. This ‘new technology’ was viewed with as much consternation as nuclear technology has been over the past four decades. By the 1830’s most sailing ships were being fitted with steam engines for extra power on ocean voyages, but the amount of coal they could carry was small and the engine would be used in conjunction with sail. The epitome of this style of ship was the huge Great Eastern. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Great Eastern was built to carry enough coal for voyages to India and Australia.
The Magic of Scapa
By Jane Wilkinson on 7 August 2008 - comments
Standing nearly ankle deep in sheep shit I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what the place would have been like all those years ago. I could almost hear the constant hum of peoples’ voices, doors opening and closing, the louder more obtrusive sounds of the typewriters clattering away. No gentle clicking noises of a computer key board in those days. Where was I? I was standing in the middle of what had once been the command centre for Scapa Flow during the Second World War.
This was my second visit to Scapa Flow and I was back again for another week’s diving, but this time on MV Halton with skipper Bob Anderson. Not only had I come and dived here, but I had visited many of the places associated with the history of the Flow. Most of the skippers running dive trips up here will take you to places during the surface intervals that allow you to explore Scapas past.
In the Shadow of Manado Tua: Part2
By Tim Ingmire on 23 February 2006 - comments
Sites:
- Aba Point – House Reef
- Sachiko – Bunaken
- Tiwoho – House Reef
Aba point is a stunning wall dive which drops to about 18 meters along the wall. The wall is draped in blue and green tube sponges which put me in mind of an old ruined temple in a jungle, covered with ivy and with the occasional stone feature jutting out from the structure. In this case, the ‘stone features’ were more barrel sponges of all size. This was a fantastic dive and became another firm favourite of mine for this and other reasons.
At Sachiko we found another of the tiny Hippocampus sp. that we had seen at Fukui (although his one was a brown colour) and just like Fukui, this one was a bugger to photograph as it was sited right at the base of another boulder and beneath the skirt of a Porites which covered the rock.
Astove wall, Astove Island, Seychelles Archipelago, Southern Indian Ocean
By John Boyle on 22 February 2006 - comments [3]
Though the main holiday islands of Seychelles and grouped together an easy hop from each other, this nation’s territory actually covers over a million and a quarter square miles of ocean, stretching almost to Madagascar in the south. Lost in this massive tract of sea are a handful of tiny coral islands, in the main uninhabited, and one of the most southerly of these is Astove.
While some people will have heard of legendary Aldabra, the world’s largest raised coral atoll with its population of over 150,000 giant tortoise, now a world heritage site, very few will know the name of its neighbour Astove – and even fewer will have visited this lonely spot.
My 3 favourite dive sites on the planet
By John Boyle on 14 February 2006 - comments [1]
It’s a question I get asked so many times – what is the best place to dive? There is no best place; a dive spot is as good as the pleasure that you get from diving there, be it Stoney Cove or the most exotic tropical location.
However there are three places on the planet’s oceans that I could never tire of diving – give me gills and I would be happy never to surface. And for a photographer or film maker these sites offer unlimited opportunities for world class images.
Travel Dive will be publishing Johns favourite dive locations over the next week so you can experience his favourite places underwater.
In the Shadow of Manado Tua
By Tim Ingmire on 14 February 2006 - comments
It has been a long time since I’ve had goose bumps purely from excitement, longer in fact than I can remember; but as I stepped from the airplane at Manado’s Sam Ratalungi airport my skin fairly tingled with them. This was first real foray into SE Asia outside of the one city country of Singapore. What I saw as I walked along the windowed sky bridge into the terminal building was hills thickly covered in coconut trees – absolutely picture perfect but not a patch on what I hoped to see over the next three weeks. I had wanted to holiday in an exotic tropical paradise and here it was, I couldn’t wait to see more of this country both on land and underwater at some of the world’s best dive sites.
Where there be Dragons
By Jane Wilkinson on 13 February 2006 - comments [4]
Emerging from the tendrils of green, a tangle of weed slowly took shape. Suddenly fronds of foliage became more alive, a weedy sea dragon ascended from its hiding place, its perfect camouflage betrayed by its movement.
Sea dragons, which are unique to Australia, sat near the top of my list of ‘things I wanted to see’ whilst diving in the clear warm waters surrounding this incredible place.
I had done my homework in preparation, trawling through reviews and trip reports on a variety of web sites and forums in order to draw up a list of dive operators who would give me the best chance of catching a glimpse of these fantastic creatures.
Camera Capers at Capernwray!
By Mark Davies on 3 February 2006 - comments
Diving in quarries isn’t really my thing. After all, every time you go it’s always the same. How some people seem to spend their entire diving careers at inland dive centres baffles me. But it does have its uses and the one time I will visit such a place (except for the odd social event) is to test out some new kit. My centre of choice is Capernwray.
“Crap ‘n’ Rainy” it used to be called. Well, it’s often rainy but it’s unfair these days to call it ‘crap’. A great deal of money has been spent in recent years and it has excellent facilities. There’s a reasonably well stocked dive shop, good toilets and changing facilities and a very nice café selling decent and good value food. Though I have other sites nearer I prefer the longer drive just so I can have a much more comfortable surface interval.
Return to the Shadows
By Mark Milburn on 1 February 2006 - comments
It was now a month since the quarry had been last dived. The poor conditions out at sea had left everyone desperate to get wet, even if it was a muddy puddle. I had been contacted by a few people from South West Mafia wanting to visit the quarry, even by certain people who have said they only dive salt water.
Once again we had arranged to meet at Sharkys’ house, not only for a cup of tea and a chat, but to get a plan together about the dive ahead, and to tell them of the problems we found last time. Whilst drinking our tea I did mention that due to the rain, the visibility may not be as good as before, little did I know that the rain would cause other changes to the days plan.
The Hera
By Mark Milburn on 28 January 2006 - comments
Her decks awash with foaming turbulent water, the wallowing, groaning mass of the Hera slowly begins to disappear beneath the waves, only her masts and rigging above water, the crew clinging to the wet ropes for their lives. With one whistle between them, they passed it along and blew in turn until the Falmouth lifeboat, guided by the whistle rescued them.
Air escaping her interior rushed through the open doors and hatches, sending sprays of water high into the air, the last dying gasps of the vessel as the inevitable pull of the seabed drags her under, a few hundreds metres from the rock that finished her. The raging sea having achieved what it had spent the previous hours trying to do. Another ship made her way to the bottom of the rough waters off the coast of Cornwall.
Diary of a Scapa Skipper
By Hazel Weaver on 10 January 2006 - comments
The bow of the Stormdrift surges through the crest of the wave, salt spray is sent high into the swirling air and rains onto the wheelhouse window, obscuring the view of the turbulent waters ahead. Outside the wind rages, intent on denying the divers their goal, to dive the wrecks of Scapa Flow hidden 30m below the angry surface.
Hazel’s boat
Hazel Weaver is at the wheel, one of the few female skippers in the UK, she proves her skill and seamanship (or should that be seawomanship?) by dropping the divers right by the small shotline buoy despite the conditions. Scapa Flow offers some of the best wreck diving in the world, the remainder of the German Fleet entombed in her cool green depths for eternity.
Many charter vessels run to the wrecks, and there are a plethora of reports from divers of their experiences of the islands. Travel Dive strives to see things from every point of view, so here we have an account from her unique perspective as a skipper in one of the worlds premier dive destinations.
Psychopathic Geography!
By Mark Davies on 2 January 2006 - comments
I have been thinking about my diving recently; recalling all my memorable dives with a view to writing about them. Of course I have thought about those amazing encounters with sharks and turtles and seals and the like, the stunning, atmospheric wrecks festooned with life and all the usual things that would come to mind. But I’ve also considered those dives memorable for different reasons; the challenging episodes when not everything quite went to plan. Whilst pondering these moments a rather startling realisation hit me. The more I thought about it the clearer it became. I have now come to a rather frightening but undeniable conclusion.
