A Chance Encounter -30/06/2017

A few months ago, while browsing the BBC website, I happened upon an article that piqued my interest. The article was about the latest Jason deCaires Taylor installation in Lanzarote. It appealed for a number of reasons:

1. I've been to the MUSA in Cancun  and enjoyed the combination of art and scuba
2. I was looking for an inexpensive* summer holiday location
3. Even Gill.I.Am fancied diving it

So I had a hunt around and booked a Thomas Cook package holiday to the H10 Rubicon Palace in Playa Blanca - home of the museum. The hotel is well placed with an on site dive centre (Dawn Dives Lanzarote) and the nearby Dive College Lanzarote - both get 5 star reviews on tripadvisor.

I followed both on a well known social media channel before deciding to to dive the hotel based Dawn Dives because:

1. It's basic price for 10 dives is cheaper - that may prove to be a mistake depending on how many boat dives I do
2. I'm lazy
3. They posted more pictures of what I want to see - angel sharks and seahorses

So there we have it. I'm here and about to dive. If you want to know more about what I'll be diving because you can't wait then check out this handy Lanzarote Dive Guide.

*Yes, I know inexpensive is a relative term, but Lanzarote is a pretty affordable destination for many of us living in Europe.

Twin Set & Pearls - 24/06/2017

It's no secret that since the start of the year I have put a concerted effort into getting 'more qualified' as part of a push to get myself ready for some more ambitious dives. My plan at the start of the year was to:

1. Finish the ScotSAC Master Diver Qualification
2. Do ScotSAC Deep Rescue
3. Do ScotSAC Deep Diving (50m)
4. Do BSAC Accelerated Decompression Procedures

With number 1 complete and 2 & 3 organised for July and October respectively, 4 had been cancelled for June. As such, I had a little window for some training. So with just seven twin set dives under my belt I decided to do the PADI Twin Set  Distinctive Speciality Course with an instructor friend - Lifeboatman Ken.  If you're interested in learning more about the course you can click here, but if you're in Scotland and interested in doing it message me and I'll pass your details onto Lifeboatman Ken.

When I arrived Lifeboatman Ken was waiting along with a few familiar faces who had decided on the same location for a Saturday morning.

It's been a few years since I've done a PADI qualification and to be honest I forgot the repetition of many of the skills one must demonstrate, Skills, that personally, I'd just take for granted - maintain control of your buoyancy, perform a safety stop, etc. Other skills included practicing going along on your side, sharing air..... but not shutdown drills - which to be honest I would of expected as part of the course.

As such, the real value of the course was just spending one on one time with a guy who has over 1,000 twin set dives. That's where the true pearls of wisdom are.

So what did I pick up? Well...

• where to put my reel & SMP that bests secures my long hose
• good tips for equipment doffing and donning in the water
• better ways to set up my regulators 
• more experience of diving with the twins

Well, that's another card for the folder. Next up for me in terms of training? ScotSAC Deep Rescue in July, but before that, time for something fluffier in warmer waters.

My Word is my Bond - 14/06/2017

When I offered to take Captain Al to Drishaig Reef I promised him three things:

1. a steep descent from the car to the shore
2. firework anemones
3. the potential of some thornback rays.

Captain Al had never dived this site, as many people haven't, it is not a desperately interesting place. In the main, it is a large silt bed, requiring good buoyancy and finning. I purposely under sold it as a place to dive and oversold the treachery of the slope - in fairness, it is pretty treacherous.

However, despite the slope, the Captain was pleasantly surprised by the ease of entry in his twinset, and also by the pebble beach as a spot for a BBQ.

We buddy checked and headed in to the amusement of some non-diving muggles up in the lay-by, Once under, we'd be down about 5 minutes when the first Thornback Ray popped up, then, while Captain Al was following it for a picture, another appeared. I felt vindicated knowing full well that firework anemones were a certainty.

No sooner had the excitement of the rays dissipated when we encountered the first firework anemone. An attempt to steady himself meant that Captain Al accidentally disturbed the anemone and it closed it up. However, at this site it isn't a problem - a short swim and we had a few more.

We turned back, both of us slowly leaking in the neck. Just as we were about to safety stop a third ray appeared.

As we ascended the slope to the car I felt like a man who's word is his bond.

Ray number 2

Anemone

Triple Threat - 10/06/2017

Ed mourns the loss of his 'latte'

With Scotland playing England at football (soccer for my American friends), Fast Ed and I decided that we would do just one dive slightly further afield than we'd normally go and then head back to get us home in time for the game. 

We had made a shortlist of three sites, but in the end decided on Triple Reef. We decided to follow Peter Gunn's suggested route in the comments of the guide.

The day didn't start well for Fast Ed who lost his latte to carelessness and also forgot his giant baby romper (undersuit). 

We crawled along the B8000 looking for the site we found it. Had a quick exploration and then kitted up.

Now both Fast Ed and I have a few dives under our (weight) belts and the guide was reasonably accurate. However, there was a triple threat even for the more experienced recreational diver.

1. The entry/exit is hazardous it's not worth pretending otherwise. I did it with my twinset and I won't lie the walk up was especially hard work.
2. It was all a little deeper than expected, with longer swims from point to point. As such decompression (for those who wish to avoid it) is a real risk if you are taking a leisurely approach..
3. We dived it mid flood and the current, particularly at around 15m,was seriously strong. Resulting in an increased SAC rate.

All this said, it was a great dive. The site was hoaching with fish, edible crabs, a conger eel, anemones. All with great visibility.

Back on the surface we took a little time to plot some additional, nearby sites in the sat-nav for a future trip.

Cushion Star

Northern Sunstar

Dahlia Anemone

Common Sunstar

Have You Ever Seen The Rain - 03/06/2017

Sometimes large groups of divers at a site make it impossible to do what you want. My plan with Ben had been to dive the A-Frames, but the presence of a local dive school had meant that there was no parking by the time we got there. As such, we headed round Loch Long to Twin Piers - a site Ben had never dived.

When we arrived we walked from the cars to site entry and I explained how the site works. It's pretty simple.

• Enter the water to the right of the piers and turn left
• Drop to 7m to see the truck axle
• Keep swimming left and drop to 12m to see the barge
• Hit the reef and look for congers
• Swim back in the shallows until you hit the piers

Ben seemed fairly comfortable with that.

Sticking to my guide for the site we found a few conger eels, but far more importantly we saw no rain. Apparently all the rain showers fell while we were underwater.

Redemption - 30/05/2017

According to the Kingmaker after my last dive at the A-Frames around a month ago I had to redeem myself by proving that I could navigate all the frames on a single dive. I was confident - as long as the vis was more than the one metre we had on our last trip to the site.

We kitted up, buddy checked and entered the water. Once we were all set we headed down to what I call the A Frame where the Kingmaker issued his favourite instructions....

It was set then. From there we headed down to the deep frame befoe returning to dive what I call Frames 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Relative disaster struck at Frame 3 where I began to feel water on my back. I had sprung a drysuit leak. I signalled that I had a problem and needed to go up to Kingmaker & Jester. They were cool with that.

As we headed back in I spotted a lovely, big, aggressive lobster, but as you'll appreciate, taking pictures wasn't high on my priorities. However, my navigational reputation had been redeemed.

Firework Anemone