The Border Raid (2) - 30/05/2015

With a BBQ chicken burger safely stored in my belly,we al headed for dive two. IT began rather strangely with an underwater stramash - an attempt to take a group photo. Eventually, Jester and I headed down in search of the pig gnomes.

Now, I have attempted to fin to these before with a small 10l tank using the direct midwater approach. Needless to say, on that occassion I failed. Today was different. I was using a convaluted route, but it meant that I had way-markers.

The route was - plane, podsnap, cannon, pig gnomes. It was fool proof!

As we hit the back wall of the quarry we intentionally turned the wrong way to ensure we hadn't overshot them to the left. We hadn't. We turned back and began swimming watching as out air slowly dwindled.

Then, they appeared. They were impressive. Giant dancing pigs and gnomes, lot's of gnomes. We hung around for a wee bit before beginning a journey back that took us by the Candida, the Helo2 before moving up onto the shallow plateau.

We made it back safely, only to find out that we were the only ones willing to squeeze in a third dive. We said goodbye after a snack and headed back in. This time it was a short dive to the Cessna where we were joined by some freedivers. They never came close enough for us to play some fin grabbing tricks on them.... the only downside of the day.

Dancing Pig

Dancing Pig

Pride of place

Gnoming

Jester pig groping

Swimming

Cessna

Bowsprit

The Border Raid (1) - 30/05/2015

Today a large group of 11 charged across the Scots-English border to make a Scuba raid at Caperwray Quarry. I've dived here a few times over the years, but Jester, my buddy for the day has not. On that basis it was quite fun to take the lead and go round some familiar and previously unseen attractions.

The crew consisted of The Mermaid, Captn Al, Das Von Winklehoffs, the Thomson Twins, the Mexican, BT and Dave Lee Arbuckle.

Jester and I had decided to adopt a three dive strategy, while the rest ultimately plumped for two. The Mermaid was also planting something at the infamous pig gnomes - an area of the quarry I'd never seen before. 

Kitting up it was decided that the Von Winkelhoffs would come with Jester and I. The first dive saw us swim through the plane, before exploring the Podsnap and some of the shallower attractions towards the end. One half of the Von Winkelhoffs seemed to be having a few equalisation issues. So progress, especially at the start was slow.

The plane itself was like a busy traffic junction with various groups defying the great British convention of queuing for their swm throughs.

A couple twists and turns later we were back at the entry. Jester and I both had over 100bar, so we lift the Von Winkelhoffs to make a safe exit while we went on and sought out the Devil, Lord Lucan and Shergar for Jesters initial induction.

After the dive we came out chatted with the other groups and hit the cafe for some snackage.

However, it was dive two, that brought us to the pig gnomes and the Mermaid's deposit.....TBC

Hoss

Sturgeon

Devil

Carol

A Quick Dip - 26/05/2015

It was an eclectic bunch of divers that turned up to dive at the A-Frames, The Mermaid had put out an invite on West Coast Divers and a few folk had turned up.

The Mermaid (natch), Captain Al, Jester, Edward BSAC and too new young guns with just a few dives under their belts. I teamed up with Jester, determined to work on my weight.

We kitted up and headed down, the dive wasn't the best we've ever had, but it the vis was decent and a suspected seal sighting were enough to convince me to go down for a second look. The second dive, being later in the evening, was darker which meant that more of the life was coming out to play.

I had also decided to go in with a few less kilos after doing a weight check with an empty tank at the end of dive one. It seemed to work a treat.

After having whipped round a few of the frames we encountered a lovely little stickleback and yarrell's blenny. There were perhaps the dive highlights. Their presence at around 5m at meant that our safety stop was accomplished without evening knowing. There was no sign of the seal.

Sea squirt

Whelk

Sea Cucumber

Squatie

Ane-moon-e

Stickleback

And finally, Bloody Henry by Jester (too beautiful not to share)

Eurovisibility - 23/05/2015

I first visited Austria in 2001 with my then blushing bride on our honeymoon. Neither of us dived nor did we have much interest in the SCUBA related delights that sit in the midst Austria's Alps. Fast forward 10 years and a SCUBA diving course or two later and all of a sudden I had an inkling to visit the country again.

You see, the internet is a beautiful thing. It has the ability to expose you to places, things, activities and thought that you haven't considered before. Click-bait links with titles such as "10 Places That Will Blow Your Mind" or "21 Places in Europe That You Must See Before You Die" spark the imagination and the spirit of adventure.

It was one such link that introduced me to the Gruner See (or Green Lake in English). The Gruner See is a small alpine lake in the middle of a country park a few hours west of Vienna in the village of Tragöß. Once a year, the snow on the surrounding peaks melts and flood the park for a few weeks every year. Add to that the presence of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna and it seemed like a great weekend to revisit Austria.

We took our own kit (a drysuit is required), but hired BCDs.

We were collected from our hotel early and two hours later we were in the middle of an alpine village, surrounded by cars from Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Germany. It was truly international, but thanks to diabolical rain, it felt a lot like home.

The set up itself is pretty similar to Capernwray in that you pay 10 euro to dive the site and there is a cafe serving schnitzel, strudel and hot chocolate. Unlike Capernwray the site has no covered changing facilities, as such we kitted up in the pouring rain and headed down to the lake.

I won't lie, it is beautiful, and on a nicer day I'd imagine its charms would be amplified. As it was, there was a howling wind blowing right up the lake to the entry point. The result was a large build up frothy sludge. You can see it in the picture opposite.

We skirted round the side and plopped in. As the 7c water hit my face it didn't feel as cold as it does back home. There must be some sort of scientific explanation for this, but it felt more like a Scottish 10c.

I continued down following Norbert, my Austrian guide, staying a little above him.

We max-ed out at around 4m, following the lake shore. It was after about five minutes that I realised this wasn't going to be the wonderland dive I hoped for. 

I could tell that Gill was getting pretty bored, as we turned and went back. I think some other divers had got bored too as there were various romantic rock formations made by amorous divers determined to impress a significant buddy with their puffer fish impersonations.

Back on the surface I discovered that our planned second dive had a submerged bench, but the look on Gill's face said she wasn't interested and Norbert was expressing how he soaked through due to a drysuit leak. He'd have bravely led me round the other bank, but who were we kidding, this wasn't that much fun. Instead we dekitted in the pouring rain, warmed up with a hot chocolate and headed back through the rain to Vienna where the weather was starting to clear up for the Eurovision festivities.

Follow da leader

Gill

Flooded Path

I thought this was a fish...for a moment

There is a bug here somewhere

SCUBA love

Norbert & Gill

Distant SCUBA love

I don't even know what this means

The Rope to Nowhere - 10/05/2015

Diving St Abbs area on Scotland's south east coast has been on the "to do " list for quite some time. Previous trips haven't suited my hectic schedule, but finally I was able to make it. We were to be diving the Glanmire followed by a shallow scenic dive departing by boat from Eyemouth.

Captain Al and I had had a pre-dive discussions about diving the Glanmire, which lies in 30m. It's a square profile dive which is well suited to a 32% Nitrox mix to extend your bottom time by around 5 minutes. We both plumped for that. Sadly, it meant I had to get one of my tanks O2 cleaned at Aquatron, my local dive shop at short notice, but they were very accommodating!

I won't lie, I was feeling a bit unwell even on the trip over. I took a variety of medications to soothe pending sea sickness, and I knew from previous experiences I'd be fine in the water and while the boat was moving.

Anyways, once on the boat we kitted up and prepared to go in. We dropped in last and went down the line. I felt like I was following a rope to nowhere, then at about 15-20m I started to see the wreck take shape. The current was strong on the line and I knew that if let go before hitting the deck we would be blown off - as happened to my chauffeur for the day Jim and his buddy. 

As we touched down, at 30.1m, amongst the ships boilers I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned round to see Captain Al in a maelstrom of bubbles. On the surface I'd later find out it was free flow. I offered my octopus, but he was well equipped with his pony and we started to ascend. Heading back up the line he seemed to temporarily fix the problem and suggested going back down, but to be honest. I've always erred on the side of caution and, despite his best intentions, I rejected the offer in exchange for both of us making it to the surface without any further problems.

So that was it, my visit to the Glanmire was fleeting. At the surface Captain Al apologised for 'ruining my dive', but in all honesty I think my dive would have been ruined by not making it back to the boat safely. That constitutes a successful dive in my view and, as a bonus, at least we saw the wreck. Moreover Jester had made me promise not break Captain Al prior to the trip. I like to think I held up my end of the bargain.

There were a number of people who while they made it back alive, didn't make it back safely and had to sit the second dive out as their computers had locked them out for failing to maintain safety stops, missing deco stops or some other misadventure. :)

After a brief vomit over the side of the boat I was feeling good for the second dive. For that we entered a small bay behind St Abb's Head and dropped into a fairly shallow 14m to the wreck of the Odense. You can read about through the link, but aside from some metal and a boiler there isn't much left. There are, however, some nice anemones, the odd wrasse, edible crabs and lobsters. Oh, and great volcanic rock formations.

A note to the Glanmire: I'll be back.

Odense

Odense

Dahlia Anemone

Dahlia Anemone

Rocks

Dahlia Anemone

Deeplet Anemone

Captain Al

A Return to Form - 02/05/2015

I start this blog with an apology. The month of April saw me do a few dives but they were pretty unvaried. Sorry. Despite May having a bland scuba beginning it will reach a crescendo of excellence. So, stay tuned in and true to the faith!

Anyway, back to today's 'adventure'! Today with a rare Saturday morning off, I headed with some regulars (The Announcer, Jester, Cptn Al, Didier, and a Lawyer). Myself and the Announcer teamed up to as a buddy pair and plopped into the cool waters of Conger Alley, Loch Long for a quick dip before I returned to Glasgow to take in the unique brand of football that is Partick Thistle.

It started badly and improved drastically. The visibility was initially poor and The Announcer was having trouble with her regulator. Once sorted, we swung over to the other side of the reef where the visibilitity increased from 2m to around 6m. 

We pottered around for three quarters of an hour. It was all very pleasant with a nice array of life and to top the day off Partick Thistle won 3-0.

Conger 1

Sea Cucumber 

Bloody Henry

Sea Lemon

Ballan Wrasse

Conger 2

Three Is The Magic Number - 30/04/2015

When the Kingmaker asked me if I wanted to "go down baw deep" I was worried. So worried, in fact, that I decided to bring the Zookeeper as a human shield to protect me from the Kingmaker and his advances.

Now the Kingmaker and the Zookeeper have met before, but didn't really know each other very well. The car journey to St Catherine's was a dance of sorts with each participant endeavoring to find the lowest common ground. In fairness to my good chums, they found it pretty quick. 

On arrival we were the only ones at the site and by the time we kitted up the sea was flat calm and the sun, while slowly setting, was out.

The Kingmaker led us down to beyond 38m. The Zookeeper, who always dives on my left recorded a personal depth record (PDR) of 39.0m. So congratulations. 

As we hit 37m I started to giggle to myself. I was feeling a little narc'd. Now this is quite unusual for me, but I haven't really been diving very deep lately. This however marked the first time in my life that I've experienced a happy narc. I can assure everyone, that the differences are stark between a eupho-narc and a dark narc!

We turned and on our gradual ascent we brought out the cameras and started to snap the nudis and life we encountered. It was all very chilled with great visibility and two good buddies.

We surfaced, selfied, then headed back to the car. Where the Zookeeper, who'd sprung a leak in her drysuit, "dekitted" and dried off.

At the surface we met the next batch of late night divers -  Pat G, Doctor K and Kevin.

On the way home we chatted laughed and discussed the basic principles of the law of diminishing marginal utility. I like to think Hawdit and Dawdit left the car a little more erudite and with a new appreciation of the metaphorical uses of the Mars bar.

The Kingmaker leads the way

Flabellina lineata

Flabellina lineata

Scorpionfish

No selfie stick required

The Flasher of Conger Alley - 26/04/2014

So Bridget is still getting used to her new dry suit. Today we headed up to the head of Loch Lobg to Conger Alley for a wee Sunday afternoon dive. 

We had seen Captain Al dekitting at nearby Twin Piers and knew the visibility in the bay was decent.

At the site, I'd forgotten that not everyone has acclimatised to getting changed at the road side. B was a little bemused by the number of cars passing as she changed. I made a recommendation to maybe consider more modest attire for the next dive. :)

We went in and headed down. I was kind of hoping for a seal, but with life at a premium I'll settle for a lot of edible crabs, a conger eel, a large ballan wrasse  and a safe, trouble free dive. I never really took many photographs, instead I chose to keep a careful eye on my buddy.

The visibility was a patchy 4-8m,

B celebrates a trouble free dive