A Giant Stride for Mankind - 02/12/2018

OK, so it would be an exaggeration to say accomplishing a stride entry is a big deal, but when we noticed the tide was high enough at the Caves for a stride entry it was too good an opportunity for the Barrman and I to miss. We grabbed two trainees, who required to do the skill to complete ScotSAC's branch diver award and took a step into the relatively unknown for them.

I never took any pictures.

1,646 Days Later - 26/11/2018

It's been over 4 years since I last saw one. I hadn't thought about the fact I hadn't seen one in years, but when I saw it I was relieved.

Myself, Jester and the Big Easy headed out in my packed car to St Catherine's (for my 116th dive there) and curiously enough the Big Easy's first ever Scottish night dive.

We kitted up, with all of us testing out some kind of new toy. I was test driving my new Mares XR Heat Vest. I feel as a gentleman of a certain age I deserved to be able to enjoy the finer things in life.

We headed down, and as I swam towards the site's little speed boat I heard the Big Easy laughing into his rebreather. I turned and saw the flashing of Jester's camera. They had found something, something unusual. I approached. 

I recognised it straight away. I had seen one 1,646 days earlier at a secret site the Zookeeper and I explored - a cuckoo ray. It was a special memory for me, as it would become for both my buddies, who, prior to this dive, had never seen one.

We spent the rest of the time looking for a little cuttlefish which I had told the Big Easy were 99.9% guaranteed. We never found one. 

Oh, and the vest - even on medium heat - was toastie!

Cuckoo Ray

Cushion star

Spiny Squat Lobster and Spider Crab

The Next Generation - 11/11/2018

It's interesting watching the next generation of scuba divers come through the ranks. They are the guys who will be the club instructors in 3-4 years time. I may or may not even be diving.

At Drishaig Reef I took in three different trainees.

• Freeflow Bob (Master Diver Trainee)
• Smyler (Drysuit Diver Trainee)
• Chico (Branch Diver Trainee)

It was genuinely fascinating watching them all psyche themselves up for things that I now don't even think about, but 8 years ago would of caused nerves. It dawned on me - no one likes being assessed. The one plus they all have is that they all had me as an instructor. 😁

First up was Ol' Freeflow who needed a 30m assisted ascent assessed. He'd failed one and passed one before. It should of been pretty straightforward..... and it was. Afterwards we chatted about ascent rates and how it's better to be slower than too fast.

Then I moved onto drysuit skills with Smyler. He's a PADI AOW diver with limited experience and no drysuit experience. Like Freeflow, it all went exceptionally well except for a wee wobble just before we did a safety stop. I held him down, righted him and then proceeded.

Finally, it was Chico time! I was taking him in for his second dive. We went down to 9m and finned about, turned and came back up slowly. He too had a wee wobble at 4m, but I was expecting it. 

All in I emerged kind of proud of myself. Three training dives, three passes. What's more, they all loved it. That was a win. 

Chico on his 2nd dive

We may have misread the tide

 

The Only Way Is Up - 03/11/2018

So there are two guys in my club, I like them both and I'm desperate to get both of them through their ScotSAC Master Diver Award. We had managed to secure a date when they both could have a go at rescue lifts and also perhaps a 30m ascent.

The weather forecast had predicted that we'd be battered by the tail end of a hurricane that had caused havoc on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. However, by the time it came to us it was just a bit cold an miserable - miserable enough to deter most others from diving.

We headed to Conger Alley where aside from two other club members we had the place to ourselves. We kitted up and headed down for 30m assisted ascent. It never went well. In the first instance we struggled to get the depth, then when we did the area was super silty. We began only for one person to start suffering from a dark narc. It wasn't worth it so we simply headed back. I'm glad I took a compass heading as I led them back through the flat silt.

Our second dive was going to be two 15m rescue lifts. We had time for one go each. Both of them succeeded in delivering an excellent lifts but failed to stop for the required safety stop.

Afterwards we chatted about the computer data. I tried to put a positive spin on it for the guys but I was disappointed for them, because I know they can do it.

Return to Normal - 29/10/2018

Me photographing the cuttlefish below.

After training dives, a trip overseas and a wee break. I returned to my normal night diving routine with Jester as a barely tolerable buddy. We kitted up wondering where exactly the loch was. As it was, it turned out it was low tide and I mean Barry White low tide.

We meandered down planning to dive to the small speedboat then to the bottom of the reef (taking advantage of the shallower depths) and back up. It was a pretty

Everything went to plan with loads of cuttlefish, pipefish, gurnards, scorpion fish and only a small amount deco that was worked off before we even got to the ceiling.

It was thoroughly pleasant way to spend 62 minutes, an experience only added to by the glow of the Milky Way above us as we emerged from the water.

Short Spinned Sea Scorpion

The cuttlefish I was photographing

Greater Pipefish

Gurnard

Dive With The Devil - 07/10/2018

After my experiences earlier in the year at Scapa Flow I was definitely sure that I wanted to continue my diver education and look at accelerated decompression. Now, technical diving isn't for everyone, but continually working to improve your experience and your skills is.

For that reason I never found it too hard to find a buddy to enjoy me on the IANTD Advanced Recreational Trimix Course. On this occasion, it was Alex that stepped up to the plate.

There are a number of benefits to both accelerated decompression and trimix. These include:

• Reduced narcosis at depth (T)
• Less time in the water getting cold (AD)

My original plan had been a to do an accelerated deco course (I was already qualified to 50m), but our instructor looked at out experiences as divers and suggested the trimix course - which also covered accelerated deco. That meant that Alex and I would be playing with voodoo and the devil!

We spent one day at Prestonhill Quarry and a second at a pretty weather beaten Slates doing drills, planning dives on trimix and 50% O2. 

It was overall a great learning experience and I'm not ashamed to say that Alex was better than me at almost every skill except for one. However, it was a great experience to share with such a fine young buddy. Henceforth, known as the Devil's Buddy.

My congratulatory post final dive handshake

Devil divers

Night Dive Before Dawn - 28/09/2018

I'd never dived Brackley Point at night so when the Barrman suggested that the club head there for a training day I was keen to go the night before to experience it in the dark, because, as we all know, diving is always better in the dark. StewPats stepped up to the mark and we took the opportunity to also get down below 31m so that the dive could also count towards his master diver training. 

We kitted up and headed in and down. The slope was much steeper than I remembered, but the visibility was immense- easily 10m.

We pottered about enjoying some nudi's, a scorpionfish and a little cuttlefish before heading up and to the wreckage of the old barge. Upon arrival it became clear that we were surrounded by one of the largest schools of pollock I have ever seen. Hundreds of them, everywhere. The vis was so good that I could soo Leigh on the surface looking out for us with her torch. We were still at 10m. Back on the surface she said she thought we were about to surface.

The following day I took Freeflow Bob in for a wee dive. during which he successfully completed his master diver striptease and also happily pottered down below 31m. The kids grow up so fast these days. 

Climbing the Walls - 23/09/2018

When my local dive shop arranged a Mares Try Dive Day at Caolasnacon I was always going to be on it like sonnet.

I had wanted to try out a few different things - which in the end I didn't, but a number of my club members did. Examples include:

• the Mares goodman torch strap
• the Mares heated vest
• a Mares single tank wing

However, a suit leak on a wee training dive around the wall with a trainee meant that I chose to spend much of the day trying to dry out my suit and undersuit for an evening dive with Mares UK Sales Manager and his buddy.

Jester was accompanying me as we to Kentallan Wall for the first time in darkness. When we went, Jester and I promised very little. "Perhaps some nudibranch's and ray. No guarantees."

However, between the two of us Jester and I knocked it out the park. 

• Thornback ray
• Curled octopus 
• Sepiola Atlantica
• Nudibranch's

Oh, and let's not forget my magnificent navigation. 

Curled Octopus

Thornback Ray

Caolasnacon

Sepiola Atlantica

Northern Sunstar

Nudi

Nudi

Farne Way - 14/09/2017

It’s been a few years since I last dived at the Farnes. Sometimes you forget what it’s like. I mean, you remember the visuals, average diving, seals, the village of Seahouses, but I always forget just how playful and fun loving young seal are.

I was taking young Sarah in for her first taste of seal action. I explained the rule was to always let them come to you.

We did. They came, they posed for photos, they nibbled our fins, they tried to bite our fingers, they played with us. I think 

It genuinely has to be Farne away one of the best places on earth to dive with marine mammals.

Switch Around - 12/08/2018

It’s not everyday when I turn up at a dive site and lend my entir kit to a buddy while I used his. 

We were heading to Anchor Point to help Alex get a little more twinset experience and also enjoy what seemed like my first night dive of the season.

We headed down to 22m spotting a very pleasant little nudibranch before bumping into a dogfish.  Both of us were a little of balance. It’s funny how when using a different BCD you sometimes need to change the angle of dumping air etc..

We came out the water in darkness.

Hull of Kintyre - 08/09/2018

I have friends who consider me a depth junkie. I'm really not, but some of the best dives require deep training and a fair bit of commitment. Some time ago when chatting in the pub I had mentioned that the wreck of the SS Kintyre was one of my dive highlights. The Barrman was enthused. He wanted to dive it there and then. Shiny also decided it was special enough to lure him in for a dive.

I promised to keep my eyes peeled for suitable dates. In the end we plumped for Saturday 8th September. High tide was 12.16pm. As such if we entered the water at around 11.15am  we'd nail the tides. The weather forecast looked promising. It all came together as it had once before for Jester and I the previous year.

I was buddying Shiny, the Barrman was with the Wylie Fox and we were joined by one half of Das McLetchies and his buddy John. 

Shiny is always slow at kitting up. I mean, painfully slow. Although, he'll point  out that it means that he has everything just right. And he did, but it meant that we were last in the water and at the back of the queue.

We never saw the rest of the divers disappear down the pipe. Instead, we made our own way down and onto the wreck. Both qualified beyond recreational limits, we headed for the stern and ended up recording 49m. It was a pretty relaxed affair, but made me realise the best bit of the wreck is 40m on the deck. On the way back up along the famous jobby pipe we met the other divers. I was asked if we'd been to the boat. I signalled the affirmative. The rest, it seems, hadn't found it. I never said much about it the dive - nobody wants to be "that guy".

The Learning Journey - 04/09/2018

I' had agreed to take a branch diver out for a wee dive post work. We headed to the almost proverbial A-Frames for our 20m bimble. My buddy was essentially exploring a whole load of new kit, so it was always going to be a little up and down. 

We swam about for a bit before realising that my buddy was running pretty low and headed out. All in all it wasn't very interesting for me, but my buddy seemed fairly excited by everything.  Apparently, someone has been doodling in the area too.

Once More With Feeling - 02/09/2018

The end of summer is definitely approaching. The sea may  stay warmer for a few weeks and then starts to cool for winter. With that and mind, myself and Jester headed to St Abbs to dive the Glanmire before doing a shallow dive at Skelly's Hole. 

As usual we were diving with Pathfinder. We were diving to plans on the first dive and as a buddy three. We dropped down in great conditions and went in search of the props. On previous vists, the visibility has made navigating the wreck a little more challenging, but today in around 8m the wreck made a lot more sense to me. It was nice to see it more fully too. Definitely worth the last minute decision to go.

We bimbled around for about 34 minutes, going a little deeper than we had originally planned and headed up doing our deco stops on the deeper plan. Simple. 

After a quick surface interval we headed to Skelly's Hole for a few swim-throughs and out over the gullies. We buzzed about for a bit before surfacing and congratulating ourselves on a very decent days diving.

Prop

Anemone

Lobster

Bloody Henry

Anemone

At First Glance - 29/08/2018

I noticed while out for a walk with Gill - a quite unremarkable slipway. Clearly, rarely used. There was no dive guide on Finstrokes, or any other site for that matter. I had hoped it would be a decent training site. What we saw was in the end quite surprising. 

I'd taken Jester to see the site to see if he thought it was worth a dive. It was night and the weather was a bit miserable but he thought it was it too. So, we kitted up buddy checked and headed along the slipper rocks.

We descended through a halocline to about 3m and followed the slope down on a reasonable straight line using a compass*. 

We passed a few fish before spotting our first langoustine at around 7m, our first firework anemone at 10m and then many more. We swam out for around 30 minutes, both of us hoping for a ray sighting. A catshark hunting a langoustine, a sea mouse, more firework anemones.

Then as we started back towards the entry exit point we saw one. A lovely big thornback ray. Back on the surface we emerged entirely satisfied before heading off to find some food..

 

* It was dark and night time. I learnt the lesson a long time ago that in such situations on unfamiliar sites a compass is a thoroughly decent bit of kit to have on your person.

Last of the Summer Wine - 26/08/2018

Despite being a bank holiday somewhere in the world, but not Scotland, it certainly felt as though Jester and I were enjoying the last of the summer wine at St Catherine's. What had promised to be a very pleasant turned out to be pretty wet and miserable. To the extent that we decided one long 1hr+ dive to 38m and then on Gill.I.Am's request we headed for lunch at the old Inverbeg Hotel.

The dive was quite unspectacular but for a couple of scorpion fish. I paused briefly to take a couple of snaps.

Dude, What Do You Bench? - 19/08/2018

Recovery

So after our last epic failure lifting the anchor Jester and I returned to have another go. This time we were joined by the Wylie Fox & the Wee Barra.

We were working on a two dive strategy:

Dive 1 - Locate and buoy anchor, survey

Dive 2 - Controlled Lift

This time we had two LOMO 70lb lift bags with dump valves and a further 25kg bag borrowed from a friend.

We planned to fill one bag at the top of the anchor and partially fill the second at the same place until the anchor was neutrally buoyant. Then we'd control the lift by dumping air from the full bag. Meanwhile we'd attach the second bag to the chain attached to anchor. It would all be attached using a 23kn screw gate carabiner. The Wee Barra would be charged with reeling in the marker SMB. 

We began and to our surprise it worked perfectly. Our only problem was at the shore where the lift bags no longer shared the combined 100kg weight.