Beadle's About was a pretty crass TV show here in the UK during the eighties and nineties. Basically it's presenter would play stress inducing pranks on the public before coming in disguised to remove the tension and allowing hilarity to ensue. Today, our adventures on K-Peps RHIB were pretty similar for me.
Jester and I had agreed to meet K-Pep for a dive out of Largs on his boat. Once we were there we decided on one of the Clyde's most famous wrecks - The Beagle.
The Beagle collided with another boat in 1865 only a year after her launch. Much of the structure has rotted away over the years, but you can definitely still make out the structure of the boat with most of the hull still intact. She lies upright in about 32m.
The day started well with a smooth ride across the channel to Great Cumbrae , but as we neared the wreck site the swell picked up. As Jester and I kitted up a couple of Minke whales passed by the port side of the RHIB. It was surely a good sign, but when the handle on my tank broke any good feelings I'd picked up vanished - I was nervous.
I won't lie, whenever I do a new site I get a nervous tingle - it's part of the reason why I do it - but I'm also fairly confident that I don't like small boats, a swell and descents down a rope to nowhere. It's probably my trinity of bad conditions. As such, both Jester and I opted to leave the cameras on the boat.
Then just as I was about to roll in, K-Pep said something. Something that inspired confidence and caused my nerves to dissipate. Here's what he said, "You'll come back laughing." I've been here loads of times and every time it has been true, I have come back laughing.
At that, I went to the line and dropped. I found myself at 20m before I realised Jester was 5m behind me and struggling to equalise. I waited a moment and then he was there. Down we went and we were on it. A wreck that has quietly sat here for 150 years waiting for me. It was recognisable as a boat. The hull was intact, the stern clearly visible. The point where the Napoli had pierced her hull could still be seen. The only difference was that today it was crawling with sea life:
- nudibranchs
- cod
- anemones
- cup corals
I wished for a moment I had my camera, then I remembered how I'd felt on the surface.
We pottered about for 20 minutes before the spectre of deco began chasing us back up the line. As we did deep stops and safety stops we messed about chuckling to ourselves. Then, just like that, we were back on the RHIB laughing - just as K-Pep had said.
With the weather worsening and Stugeron not taking full effect on one of our party we headed back to the marina with a win tucked safely into our log books.
Afterwards we went into Nardini's and had an ice cream. When in Largs...
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| The size of his head |
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| Nardini's |
