Total Eclipse of the Loch - 02/11/2014

A rare free Sunday gave me the opportunity head up to St Cats, Loch Fyne with Captain Al, TDFKAMF, the Vice President and Van der Brett. It took a little longer than usual to get there as the quickest road was still shut due to landslips (fortunately, it was open by the time way came back). 

We were the first people to arrive at the site, but a small group arrived from Splash Sports and a couple of guys from Bo'ness Sub Aqua Club. In addition, en route I'd spotted my own dive club diving a Twin Piers, Loch Long. I took the right course of action as I later heard that the visibility at the site was rotten.

By way of contrast, our visibility was terrible in the first few metres, but increased to around five below six metres. However, it was pitch black so it felt like we did two night dives as though it were a total eclipse of the loch. There was a nice array of life about on both dives. Life included:

• nudibranchs
• pollock
• cod
• scorpion fish
• pipefish

Emerging from the first dive boasting about the things we saw we started joking about a range of improbable spots (hammerheads, turtles, humpback whales etc). Which gave Van der Brett the opportunity to tell us about the time a encountered a great white shark while teaching in South Africa. When asked what he did he explained in great details that he tried not to look like a seal. There is a valuable lesson in there somewhere.

In dive 2 I took the opportunity to dive down to around 38m - a new depth record for me. This also allowed me to test the deco functionality of my Mares Matrix. It worked an absolute treat. Taking me to safety stops at 12m and 3m. The next test is to start using it with Nitrox.

That said, the best moment of the two dives was when TDFKAMF was a attack by an angry Yarrell's Blenny. Apparently, it was provoked by another inconsiderate diver!

However, the highlight of the day came when we returned to Aquatron at the tail end of their sale weekend and as well as my fills and usual banter I also got myself a bargain on a super sweet new Fourth Element Thermocline top as well as bumping into the Mermaid! Add to all this the fact that I recovered my lost Arctic sock (misplaced at the A-Frames on Thursday) and I'd say it was pretty darn good! Happy days.

Sealoch Anemone

Nudi

Squat Lobster

Cod

Greater Pipefish

Scorpionfish

Scorpionfish

Adventures in Biff - 10/06/2014

Biff  - Adj used to describe someone with little intelligence or something that requires little intelligience. E.g. Sam got a biff job at a warehouse yesterday.

The site was a midgie infested, but beautifully calm Furnace Quarry, Loch Fyne. While the runners and riders included The Zookeeper and The Announcer. It was a bit of a biff affair. Between the Zookeeper and myself we had a lot going on/wrong. I was test driving some new gloves - flashy expensive 4th Element 7mm mittens. which seemed reassuringly lobster like and epic. 

We kitted up and made our way through the midgie clouds to the entry. By the time I entered the water I was roasting but the mittens were so thick so as not to let any cool water circulate (I'll be glad of this come winter).

Until we got a bit of depth where the neoprene was compressed, I also noticed that it had hampered my dexterity. Not because of the mitten but because of the thickness of the glove. 

We swam along enjoying the deeplet anemones, wrasse and young cod reaching a maximum depth of around 26m - the girls went a bit deeper.

Me by the Zookeeper

My real problem was that my mask strap was too loose and as such my mask kept flooding. Hampered by the fancy mitts, I was unable to fix the problem. As a result, after 18 minutes I was already willing this dive to be over. Sadly, it had another 34 minutes still to run. On the way back, Laura papped me underwater and as well as my hoses looking like they've been dragged through a bush backwards you can clearly see my mask 1/3 filled with water.

We stopped numerous times to help entangled crabs. Last time at this site this was a source of great personal satisfaction. This time it was just another thing stopping the dive from being over. 

Having fists for fingers meant I never took that many photographs. I mainly took deeplet anemone shots.

Four learning points arose from the metaphorical ashes of this dive:

1. The midgies now mean that I don't want to dive in the evening again until September unless there is a strong wind.
2. I had a little bit of mask trouble on my last dive. Why didn't I remember to tighten it? It's done now.
3. The mitts will be good come the winter, but even then not for photography dives.
4. The rush to avoid midgies at kit up meant I didn't take time to properly arrange my hoses how I like them.

Nature likes beer

Pink Deeplet Anemone

Pink Deeplet Anemone

Deeplet Anemone

Plumose Anemone

Plumose Anemone & Seaweed

I'll Tell You What Really Bugs Me - 23/03/2014

On Facebook I 'like' Mares, Scubapro and Fourth Element. I like many of their products in real life too.

For example, I own:

• a Mares Abyss Navy Regulator
• a Scubapro Mk17 Regulator
• a Mares Dragon BCD
• a Fourth Element Arctic Undersuit
• Scubapro Seawing Nova fins
• Fourth Element Thermocline stuff

I also like hoods by Waterproof and my Oceanic Shadow mask, but I'll tell you what really bugs me are the string of professional film makers, professional divers and 'explorers' who endorse these products. When buying a product I'm not interested in 'celebrity' endorsements. I'm interested in how cost effective/efficient/comfortable/useful is it going to be for me?

How long does a drysuit take to dry hanging under my stairs? How expensive is the service pack? If it breaks, how good is your customer service?

Like the vast majority of people I have to pay for my kit and it has to perform and last. Wouldn't it be great if these companies, instead of expedition divers, used honest recreational divers to review and promote their products?

It would be amazing to watch a review of two products and hear the diver honestly say, that they can't tell the difference between the two regulators or after using these gloves my fingers were a wee bit warmer.

The current marketing of the big brands in SCUBA is a throw back to last century. Peer to peer marketing is the future it's time for the diving industry to embrace it.

Thursday Night Dive - 9th January, 2014

So last Thursday's dive to Loch Long's Twin Piers was a conger-fest. I have no good photo's as my camera was set to dive in blue water, which ultimately meant they were all the wrong colour, but rest assured, the eels came out to play.

It was my usual Thursday night buddy Laura who partnered me and we were accompanied by Andrea, Alistair and Edgar. I'll introduce them all properly in due course - it would be rude not to.

It was cold, particularly above 7m, with my computer recording a dishonestly warm 6c, but as we went deeper (around 20m) it warmed up to a toasty 11c. Thankfully I had my favourite Fourth Element Arctics and my number one 5/7mm Waterproof hood. On the downside I need new gloves.

This was the only decent photo I took.  I think they are the egg sacks of Dog Whelks which are relatively common at this time of year.