Murk - 08/05/2017

It is a rare occasion when so many of the Avengers assemble, but tonight was one such night.The Kingmaker (in his new drysuit), the Zookeeper (with shiny new regs), Jester (with his usual bad chat) and me. We had deliberated over sites, but house on the back of a truck had convinced us to stay at Loch Long in what was to be a poor decision.

We kitted up at the roadside next to Conger Alley before splitting into to Red & Gold Squadron. Jester's job was to was to ensure Paul didn't have a drysuit disaster and mine was to make sure the Zookeeper was alright with her new kit.

It seemed simple enough as we slipped into the calm water on a bright sunny evening. However, once we got to 5m the true nature of our dive was revealed as the murk set in. Quickly visibility dropped to around one metre. A distance that was enough for Jester and the Kingmaker to be separated.

Without too many problems the Zookeeper and I successfully navigated the reef even spotting a nice sea lemon en route. 

Other than the banter, it was quite unremarkable.

Dragonette

Sea cucumber

Bloody Henry

Sea Lemon 

Archidoris pseudoargus

Leeds Reunited - 29/05/2016

Regular readers may recall that I, along with some friends, went to Egypt where I met load of great diving folks. Well, this weekend the guys from Scuba Leeds were coming up to my patch for some shore diving. Being the friendly person I am, I offered to meet up with them and take them round some local sites.

In total there were around 12 of them which limited our options considerably. so the plans had to be ammended and condensed into a couple of dives at St Catherines (Saturday) and a couple at Finnart (Sunday) when I was joined by Jester.

Saturday started well with me teaching Josh from Leeds how to spot nudibranchs, while on a nice deep route around the reef. By the end of the day the score was 4 nudis to Josh and 6 to me with two seamice.

I'm not sure if it was the variety of life or the constant, reliable mediteranean West of Scotland weather, but I think a few of the Leeds people were starting to consider moving to Scotland and if the weather on the Sunday held up the deal would be done. As it was Poseidon was smiling on the Leeds divers and by the time we kitted up at Finnart on the Sunday people were rushing into the water to cool off.

The dive threw up a selection of sea lemons for Jester and I, while the surface interval threw up technical problems that meant I gave Jester my kit for the second dive. I didn't mind, I'd had a good weekend.

Seamouse

Northern sunstar

First nudi of the day

Josh's first nudis

Sea lemon

When Life Gives You Sea Lemons... - 18/02/2016

So, as the old saying goes, when life gives you sea lemons make sea lemonade! Or something like that. 

Tonights diving adventure was held at the Council Yard, Loch Fyne. This site is actually a little bereft of life, but every time I've dived it it has thrown up a couple of nice things. This time, with the Zookeeper, was no different.

The dive started badly with the zookeeper, switching undersuits and was hopelessly buoyant. We decided discretion was the better part of valor and she headed back to the car for some extra weight. Eventually after about 10-15 minutes in the cold surface water we went down. 

We followed the edge of the reef out into the middle of the loch, where at about 30m it ends. At this point I shone my torch a little deeper and spotted the firework anemone. It was the first point in the dive when I thought , 'yeah, I'll take a picture of that'.

As I said, the reef is a little lifeless, but I always seem to get decent visibility here and I quite enjoy some navigational challenges. 

At 31m and a couple of minutes from deco we turned and headed back up to the shallows. It was on route here when I spotted my first ever Sea Lemon. I've seen them before, but always spotted by someone else. My first solo spot for the sea slug win!

When we got to the surface Jester was there, but Neither the Zookeeper or I could face a second dive in the cold. I offered my apologies and we went to the pub where, by way of apology, I bought the chips.

Firework Anemone

Sea lemon

Cushion star