Death Ray - 26/01/2017

As regular readers will know last week Jester and I were hampered in our attempt to dive Drishaig Reef. This week there were no such impediments to our plan. We arrived under the cover of darkness and dived.

As we kitted up I was wondering if this my first ever night dive at this site. Well, as it turns out it is indeed the first time I've ever dived it under the cover of darkness. Although I have dived it on a summers evening and on the odd occasion when the light has been unable to penetrate much beyond 10m. So tonight was a first.

The site itself is pretty unspectacular - a steep muddy entry to the beach, a small sparse rocky reef and a very silty bottom. Aside from being home to some of the most easily accessed firework anemones it doesn't have a great abundance of (interesting to me) sea life.

Tonight was a little different - as we know every dive site improves with the onset of night.

As we descended Jester scored first with what would ultimately be the winning goal when he spotted a young thornback ray. I shot back with a big sea scorpion, a cuttlefish and two red gurnards. However, Jester was not to be bettered when he countered with two nudibranch species and a mermaid's purse.

What made the dive interesting for me was that I took my UV torch with me, but not unfortunately my yellow mask screen. It was clear that a few things will fluoresce:

• Corkwing wrasse
• Firework anemones
• Cuttlefish
• Flabellina Lineatas

After 35 minutes I was starting to feel the cold having forgotton half of my undersuit. So we slowly made our way back to the surface and celebrated the sighting of what we affectionately called the Death Ray.

The following photographs are all Jester originals.....

Firework Anemone

Sea Scorpion

Thornback (Death) Ray

Mermaid's Purse

Road Works - 19/01/2017

With Captain Al and the Zookeeper deciding tonight wasn't their night to dive, Jester and I headed to Drishaig Reef only to find the lay-by filled with large truck. So it was an about turn toe St Catherines, Loch Fyne. 

Now I've dived this a lot recently and there are rarely surprises to be found here, but tonight turned out to be a real winner, especially for those who love the nudies. 

Between us we found three different species of seaslug/flatworm. However, it was the proliferation of flabellina lineata that was amazing. We easily spotted 15 (mostly small ones) in a location that only a week or so ago yielded barely one.

However, for me the dive highlight was introducing myself to a squat lobster. We briefly regarded one another, shook hands and went about our business. I feel in a week when the world is divided it was a metaphor - even the diver and a squatie can be pals. 

The same cannot be said for the squat lobster and the shore crab. Despite both being technically crabs they seem to enjoy fighting - a lot.

"The diver and the squat lobster regarded one another" by Jester

A Late Start - 07/01/2017

The Announcer, like me, is no fan early starts. In fact, the nature of her job means that diving at any time can be a hassle. So I was delighted when she said that she fancied diving but later in the morning due to her shift.

We met for elevenses and headed up to Loch Fyne. We were rewarded with stunning views and light. Reminding s why sometimes the diving is actually secondary to the journey, At the site our good fortune continued with Mother Nature rewarding us with 8m visibility and two very pleasant dives. In each case, we false started.

The first was most definitely my fault, having entered the water with my primary torch, er, safely lodged in my, er, fin. Upon entering the water I forgot this flipped my fin upside down and began putting them on. Only as I dropped down to 10m did I realise that I was 'sans torche'. 

A quick signal and we went back up and floundered in the shallows until I struck gold finding my misplaced £150. :) 

*Mental Note: Remember to buy new lanyard / clip to put on torch.* 

The second dive also started with an aborted descent, this time the Announcer had wrongly connected her drysuit hose. Fixed in a jiffy, we surfaced and headed down enjoying nudibranchs and some familiar favourites. 

Cold, but with the appearance our favourites, it was good day to dive.

Yes, Scotland really is that beautiful.

No, really.

The Calm Before the Storm - 02/01/2016

The first dive of the year proved to be a very calm experience. Jester and I had joined the SFTW crew for a trip to St Catherines, Loch Fyne. When we arrived we were not the only ones. In fact, the site was hoachin'. So much so that Jester and opted for our occassional deep (40m) night route round the reef to avoid the inevitable poor vis in the shallower parts. 

It was a great decision. We never saw another diver until we met Cptn Al at 10m. It was a mutually beneficial moment as I spotted a nice cushion star and Jester a sea lemon. We pointed them out and continued along our safety stop.

Alone again in the shallows Jester spotted one of my favourite nudibranchs - Eubranchus farrani.

It was a lovely 60+ minute run. I've attached some pictures taken by Jester below so that you can share the love.

Cushionstar

Sea Lemon

Eubranchus farrani 

Christmas is Cold - 30/12/2016

An acquaintance of mine was once in a band that recorded an alternative Christmas song - Christmas is Cold. Today saw a few of us head up to Loch Long or a festive dip. The plan was to do two dives, but 3c water temperatures meant that Jester, Fast Ed and I decided to call it quits after one dive.

We were diving as a group of 5 but after about 5 minutes we'd already lost one buddy pair in the poor visibility. We returned briefly to the surface to make sure nothing untoward had happened - it hadn't.

So we continued as a 3 down to the bottom of the reef and worked our way back. It was all fairly dull proving that not every dive is a corker.

We surfaced, parked up and headed to the pub for some grub. That was the highlight.