The Comeback King - 27/04/2019

It had been almost a year since the Kingmaker dived. I broke him back when we were in Egypt last year on a liveaboard.  I mean, I say "I broke him" but, some kind of stomach bug broke him. I was just the diving conduit there at the time.

Anyway with him about to come on a trip to Kinlochbervie with my club, we felt he should at least do a dive to see if his kit still works. So we headed to Anchor Point for a quickie to 30m. 

We pottered about looking for different nudibranchs. Well I was, the Kingmaker has no regard for nudis. He's a big life kinda guy. It all went. 

Big Beryl - 05/03/2019

I was had convinced Jester and the Big Easy that Conger Alley would offer us a great location for a night dive. I can't explain why, I just felt it in my bones. The others were doubtful. 

We kitted up and headed in and down to 30m. There was little life about except for a large lobster that disappeared into the silt kicked up by one of my buddies. 

We had hit decompression after some time and started coming back up. It was then that we were joined by Beryl the resident seal. 

Now, I hadn't realised that the Big Easy was little phobic of seals. When he had mentioned it I genuinely thought he was joking. As such it came as surprise when one of my buddies became the tightest of buddies, no more than a couple of inches from me.

We continued up and Jester asked me using hand signals where were the nudibranchs I had promised him. Immediately we found them, all huddled on a rock - a variety of species too. I smugly took a snap and then followed Beryl on little fishing adventure.

As we returned to shore I was feeling satisfied and decided to briefly check for bio-luminescence. It was there. Genuinely, my luck was in. I should have bought a lottery ticket.

Apeks RK3 Test Dive - 15/01/2019

Apeks RK3

Despite sounding a little like a droid from a Star Wars film and also being the actual name of a blaster used by the Galactic Empire, Apeks RK3 are the latest fin offering from Apeks. Designed for the rough and tumble of the US Military, they are based on the pretty standard vented rubber fins popular among military, professional and technical divers.

As a club, Eastwood Divers decided to spend some cash on new fins. We bought three pairs of Scubapro Seawing Novas and three pairs of RK3s (as a starter) to allow members to try different fins before they jump in and spend the best part of £100 on their own purchase. As I happened to be diving with Gusto Leo and the Barrman on the day when the Barrman picked up the fins from the local dive shop I opted to try out the RK3s fresh from the box at Conger Alley.

I'm a Scubapro Seawing Nova user, so this type of fin is a little different for me and I'm predominantly a frog kicker due the silty bottoms I dive in. On my dive I did helicopter turns, some reverse finning, took a few photos and tried frog kicking along with standard flutter kicking. So, here's what I liked and didn't like. 

PROS

• Helicopter turns were very easy, helped by a shorter blade length than I am used to 
• Reverse finning was super easy, which helped reduce silt after stopping to take a photograph 
• The short blade also meant that flutter kicks threw up less silt than a Scubapro Seawing Nova would 
• They seemed pretty robust, and the length was certainly more compact than my existing fins 

CONS

• Frog kicking lacked power compared to my Seawings 
• Seawings are super easy to put on, RK3s aren't bad, but they certainly aren't as easily donned and doffed. 

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• We've bought the standard RK3. As a regular shore diver I was pleased to see they float. It means you can walk in wast deep, let go of a fin put one and then easily grab the other. If you want a heavier, negatively buoyant fin consider shelling out a little extra wedge and buying the RK3 HD. 
• Apeks also have a very generous instructor discount 

Am I going to buy a pair for myself? Well, mibbe but that doesn't mean I'm a convert, it just means I can see the advantages of them for different dives. Let's be honest every gentleman spy / scuba diver should have more than one tuxedo or pair of fins . :)

Oh, and as for the dive, it turned out to be thoroughly decent...

Carronella Pellucida 

Sepiola Atlantica 

Firework Anemone 

Facelina Bostoniensis 

Bloody Henry 

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.

Judge Dredger - 05/07/2018

When a relatively new company Wreckspeditions put up an offer to dive the Greenock Dredger on a warm sunny night, myself, the Wylie Fox and Jester thought it seemed like a decent idea. As a result, we gathered up a further 5 divers to fill the boat. My buddy for the evening was Jim. We were planning for 30minutes at 30m on a 32% mix. The weather, as forecast, was ideal, and we headed out full of optimism. 

As the last buddy pair to enter the water we were charged with making sure that the temporary shot line was free of any blockages. Once Jim and I hit the bottom there was already a fair amount of silt at the touchdown point, meaning I had a bit of a hassle moving the shot to a clear spot. My first attempt failed as in the gloom I didn't know I was dropping it into a second whole. Eventually, after a couple of minutes I felt I got it onto a spot that would be ideal. 

With that Jim and I headed off to the stern of the ship looking for the prop and rudder, before sheltering from the current up the port side to the bow. At that point Jim was getting uncomfortably* low on air. So we began our staged stops 7 minutes earlier than planned.

It was a weird dive, particularly gloomy, as most Clyde wrecks are, but recognisable as dredger with the old hoppers still lying on the deck.

* He still had plenty, 80bar and a full pony, but we didn't want to push anyone's comfort limits.

Shutter Eye - 23/06/2018

When a member of my dive club asked me if I could help her take better photographs. I said yes, but explained that I’m not really that into the details of photography and that where I could really help was by spotting things to take photographs of.

So we headed to Anchor Point  a site with a bit of everything - sandy bottoms, a wall and a rocky reef.

We got the cameras out and went looking...

Scapa Flow Day 7 - The Junkyard of Orkney - 15/06/2018

The last day of our trip to Scapa Flow was to provide us with a brilliant ending. We were repeating a dive on the SMS Konig then we were heading to one of the debris fields (SMS Seydlitz . I wasn’t sure about doing a debris field, but the two Flying Dutchmen on the boat zwere super keen and, well, we’d bullied them into doing all the sites we wanted. It seemed only fair.

The Konig was fairly uneventful, but the debris field was spectacular in terms of small life. I genuinely loved it. 

There were loads of nudibranchs, a baby shark, a sea mouse and a whole host of little macropodia rostrata, but surprisingly little debris. 😀

Scapa Flow Day 2 - SMS Dresden & the Copa Cobana - 10/06/2018

OK, there is a slight possibility I misheard the name of the wreck when I was informed of the day's itinerary. However, my error made the second dive of the day feel a little more tropical. However, I'm getting ahead of myself. 

The SMS Dresden was to be our 2nd ship of the High Seas Fleet to be ticked off. It is deeper than it's sister ship the SMS Karlsruhe and in better condition. So I was prepared for the wreck action to really start to heat up. To compliment this I'd bought an additional Fourth Element thermal from Scapa Scuba because I knew that long deco stops = cold Frewbowski.

The SMS Dresden was definitely more like what I expected. Even I could recognise the guns and enjoyed numerous easy swim-throughs that allowed you to feel that you were exploring something a little bit special. Thanks to my top I also definitely stayed warmer as WF and I racked up around 20 minutes of decompression.

It turned out our second dive was a blockship - the SS Gobernador Bories. She was a pleasant little boat in the shallows surrounded by kelp and nudibranchs. Lots of nudibranchs - including some of my favourites! 

The wreck also provided a confidence boost to the Landlady who was a little reluctant to swim in an overhead environment. She and the Barrman joined #teamdeeppenetration and never looked back after this point enjoying her first wreck penetration, first drift dive and first nudibranch.

I was genuinely excited by the volume and variety of nudibranchs around the wreck. I'm not sure I'd ever seen such a concentration. I briefly thought of Jester who'd of been burning his camera battery at the sight.

With that, diving was done for the day.

Dresden 5" Gun

Aplysia Punctata

Janolus Cristatus

Sea Lemon

#teamseeppenetration

Looking through

Drifting

Deco stops

More Than One Direction - 02/06/2018

Amidst the nonsense of training, my buddy (Walker Texas Ranger) and I decided to mix things up and swim in the opposite direction of where we'd conventionally dive at Drishaig Reef. We didn't think much would come of it.

We had expected the reef to end and a silty seabed to stretch on forever. For much of the dive it did. then, as we gave up hope the seabed unfurled its skirts and revealed a curious reef. Small, and stretching over a few square metres it contained a variety of life.

Multiple dogfish lazed amongst the seaweed. Large nudibranchs slugged across the rocks. While highland dancers gently laid their ribbon eggs. It was quite remarkable to see so much life in one small bit of reef.

We surfaced and wondered how many people had ever rebelled against the dive guide. It would seem sometimes there is more than one direction.

Highland Dancer

Flabellina Lineata

Catshark

Cofeve - 07/08/2017

It may sound like something that something that US President Donald Trump would tweet but one of the joys of Anchor Point, Loch Fyne is that it is home to Cuthona caerulea - one of Scotland's more colourful nudibranchs with its vibrant blue and yellow frons.

This evening Jester, Jim and I headed out to find Cuthona amongst other things. There was a little doubt about how the weather hold up and if it did if the midgies would strike. As it was the weather was glorious. To such an extent that even the jellyfish has opted to sunbathe after high tide.

We kitted up, thankful for the a small breeze keeping the evening midgies at bay and buddy checked in the water before dropping down.

We headed straight to the bottom of the wall and began working our way back up in a fairly brisk current. It made taking photographs fairly challenging, but as always Anchor Point proved to be bountiful. First in terms of bloody henrys and cushion stars then as we hit the nudibranch sweet spot I spotted Eubranchus Farrani before bumping into a nice gully complete with dahlia anemone and Cuthona Caerulea. I was pleased. This was thew first time I'd spotted CC without buddy assistance.

We continued and eventually surfaced through a maze of lion's mane jellyfish tentacles. It was a nice dive. Now is good time to grab a cup of cofeve and head to a Scottish sea loch.

Cushion star

Eubranchus farrani

Bloody Henry

Deeplet anemone

Cuthona caerulea