Now, you may recall in my previous post I explained how Jester and I were now cocky, experienced Scottish RHIB divers, well my cockiness was quite misplaced. As I prepared myself to meet the Lady Isabella Barque I rolled or, perhaps, slipped backwards into the water on what was one of the worst boat roll entries ever made. Even as I sank, I heard the gentle ribbing of K-Pep ringing in my ears.
Lady Isabella Barque was once a graceful sailed barque carrying a load of nickel ore, now she lies in the shallow waters off the southern tip of Little Cumbrae, I wasn't expecting much (I think K-Pep intentionally talked her down) but she was rather beautiful. As Jester and I moved round over her seaweed heaving ribs, we spotted sunstars, three varieties of nudibranchs, ballan wrasse and edible crabs.
Nearing the end of the dive we finally found the remains of her narrow holds and, being a gentleman, I gently penetrated, popping my head in to have a look. There was little to see though.
After we had all dived her, we spoke of how much we'd all enjoyed the dive. The calm waters, on a point that is often exposed, made for a great second dive. As wrecks go she's incredibly shallow sloping from two to fifteen metres. Jester rated her in his top five dives. K-Pep, who'd last dived her 15 years ago, was also highly complimentary. It seems, that despite lying on the seabed for more than 100 years, the Lady Isabella still has her charms.
The blast home was a much more choppy affair and I regretted, my decision to partially remove my drysuit instantly as the spray soaked my face and shoulders. As compensation Mother Nature threw one last curve ball - a lone porpoise.
And with that, we returned to base.
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| Lady Isabella |
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| Lady Isabella |
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| Candy striped flatworm |
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| Nudibranch |
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| Sunstar |
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| Lady Isabella |
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| Lady Isabella |
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| Candy striped flatworm |
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