Climbing the Walls - 23/09/2018

When my local dive shop arranged a Mares Try Dive Day at Caolasnacon I was always going to be on it like sonnet.

I had wanted to try out a few different things - which in the end I didn't, but a number of my club members did. Examples include:

• the Mares goodman torch strap
• the Mares heated vest
• a Mares single tank wing

However, a suit leak on a wee training dive around the wall with a trainee meant that I chose to spend much of the day trying to dry out my suit and undersuit for an evening dive with Mares UK Sales Manager and his buddy.

Jester was accompanying me as we to Kentallan Wall for the first time in darkness. When we went, Jester and I promised very little. "Perhaps some nudibranch's and ray. No guarantees."

However, between the two of us Jester and I knocked it out the park. 

• Thornback ray
• Curled octopus 
• Sepiola Atlantica
• Nudibranch's

Oh, and let's not forget my magnificent navigation. 

Curled Octopus

Thornback Ray

Caolasnacon

Sepiola Atlantica

Northern Sunstar

Nudi

Nudi

At First Glance - 29/08/2018

I noticed while out for a walk with Gill - a quite unremarkable slipway. Clearly, rarely used. There was no dive guide on Finstrokes, or any other site for that matter. I had hoped it would be a decent training site. What we saw was in the end quite surprising. 

I'd taken Jester to see the site to see if he thought it was worth a dive. It was night and the weather was a bit miserable but he thought it was it too. So, we kitted up buddy checked and headed along the slipper rocks.

We descended through a halocline to about 3m and followed the slope down on a reasonable straight line using a compass*. 

We passed a few fish before spotting our first langoustine at around 7m, our first firework anemone at 10m and then many more. We swam out for around 30 minutes, both of us hoping for a ray sighting. A catshark hunting a langoustine, a sea mouse, more firework anemones.

Then as we started back towards the entry exit point we saw one. A lovely big thornback ray. Back on the surface we emerged entirely satisfied before heading off to find some food..

 

* It was dark and night time. I learnt the lesson a long time ago that in such situations on unfamiliar sites a compass is a thoroughly decent bit of kit to have on your person.

My Word is my Bond - 14/06/2017

When I offered to take Captain Al to Drishaig Reef I promised him three things:

1. a steep descent from the car to the shore
2. firework anemones
3. the potential of some thornback rays.

Captain Al had never dived this site, as many people haven't, it is not a desperately interesting place. In the main, it is a large silt bed, requiring good buoyancy and finning. I purposely under sold it as a place to dive and oversold the treachery of the slope - in fairness, it is pretty treacherous.

However, despite the slope, the Captain was pleasantly surprised by the ease of entry in his twinset, and also by the pebble beach as a spot for a BBQ.

We buddy checked and headed in to the amusement of some non-diving muggles up in the lay-by, Once under, we'd be down about 5 minutes when the first Thornback Ray popped up, then, while Captain Al was following it for a picture, another appeared. I felt vindicated knowing full well that firework anemones were a certainty.

No sooner had the excitement of the rays dissipated when we encountered the first firework anemone. An attempt to steady himself meant that Captain Al accidentally disturbed the anemone and it closed it up. However, at this site it isn't a problem - a short swim and we had a few more.

We turned back, both of us slowly leaking in the neck. Just as we were about to safety stop a third ray appeared.

As we ascended the slope to the car I felt like a man who's word is his bond.

Ray number 2

Anemone

Southern Men - 27/05/2017

Leeds isn't very north!

Neil Young once penned an epic song about the Southern Man. However, it is the response by US southern rockers Lynard Skynard that we all remember. It's funny, but whenever my pals from Scuba Leeds come to visit I'm always reminded of this particular episode in the annals of rock - that's ANNALS btw.

The reason, well, when you hang about the people from the North of England you often here them self refer to themselves as "Northerners", but when you look at a map, they're lucky if they're much more than two fifths of the way up the UK. They don't even know what north is!! At this point regular readers who live 66° north will have a little chuckle to themselves.

However, it was nature who had the last chuckle as I dived with Josh and the rest of the crew at St Catherine's.

Doing two dives, we had three unusual visitors. The first I took as an omen, that strangely enough I had been imagining on the way up - a pod of dolphins on the surface. Now the irony of this wasn't lost on me because on Josh's last visit to Scotland we dived at Anchor Point and I told him about all things it was possible to see, but won't - yip, pod of dolphins was on that list. We enjoyed them for a few minutes before we kitted up and headed in.

Once in the water the second unusual visitor to the site was... a northern sunstar. I've seen them here before, but only occasionally. We chuckled back on the surface as I explained to Josh that what we had just seen (to be said in my best "northerner" accent) "t'was a northern sunstar". If this is lost on you because you don't live in the UK, then imagine the voice of Sean Bean from Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings Fame.

Then on the second dive as I photographed some little nudibranchs Josh swam over the top of the largest thornback ray I have ever seen. Too big to photograph and get in focus I switched to video...

Josh and I ended the day happy.

Northern Sunstar

Flabellina Lineata

Flabellina Lineata

Limacia Clavigera

Northern Exposure - Part 3 - 30/04/2017



Diving Piste with lunge and kick.

Day 3 of our Highland adventure took us to the Laudale Slip. It was, for me, a perfect day for diving - bright, sunny, but with a cold wind. It meant that I would employ my "diving-piste" look.

 

In Scotland, it is the kind of day when your face gets burnt either by the wind or the sun - you never really know which element did the damage.

 

The surface marshall had already sorted buddy pairs and this meant that I would be once again diving with Ian, but this time we'd be part of a three with Claire  (who last appeared in my blog over two years ago).

 

As an instructor, Claire was able to extend Ian's range down to 20m and we agreed that we'd dive in the reverse V formation with Ian and Claire up top and me plodding along relatively self sufficiently at the back.

 

It worked a treat and I was really enjoying our little bimble which took us west to the main reef before heading back to a second reef east of the entry point and ultimately home.

 

Prior to the dive, we had agreed that Ian would put up an dSMB  as part of his Sport Diver training. As he began the skill I was a couple of metres below him and Claire. I watched as the SMB deployed and Ian moved up a couple of metres as a result of a little buoyant pull. I looked away for a few seconds, and then back and they were gone.

 

I waited a minute for them to reappear and then made my way topside, stopping for my safety stop and saw them on the surface safe and bobbing about 10m away.

 

A freeflow had occurred as a result of Ian using his octopus to inflate the SMB. He'd surfaced on Claire's octopus with zero air. Everyone was safe. Ian earned his new nickname Freeflow Bob.

 

The second dive saw Freeflow Bob and I head back in as a buddy pair. We pretty much did the same dive again only this time, as the tide was much lower, we glimpsed different parts of the reef. It was enough to give me the opportunity find a beautiful thornback ray - Freeflow Bob's first!

 

We surfaced, filled the tanks with the compressor and headed back round to base camp.

Freeflow Bob shows me where his freeflow occurred.

View West



View East

The Big Frewbowski & The Curious Case of the Missing Sock - 02/02/2017

Sunday's dive threw up a curious case of a missing Fourth Element Arctic sock. My initial theory was that I'd left it at Drishaig Reef last week. I convinced Jester that a return to the site was just what the Dr had ordered and explained about my lost sock. Inviting the Walkman along for the ride we met at Costa and headed up in what seemed to be storm like conditions.

Upon arrival in the I searched for the sock in the pouring rain before considering that it probably wasn't work the effort and opting to get changed in the car. Then just as we were heading into the water we entered the eye of the storm and a very sudden calm.

Now the Walkman hadn't ever seen a cuttlefish, a firework anemone or a thornback ray. The only thing we guaranteed was firework anemone's. 

The dive began slowly with a float down to around 30m, but it was on our return to the surface that real action happened. In total as a group we found:

• 3 thornback rays
• 2 cuttlefish
• 2 red gurnards
• >6 Firework anemones

In fact, I spent more time with thornback rays on the dive dive than I have in the preceding 360.

We returned to the surface somewhat astonished. I still haven't found the sock. The weather got worse as we dekitted.

I attach a trio of Jester original images of the three Thornback Rays.

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

Ray of Hope - 30/03/2016

Tonight Jester, legendary vintage clothing blogger Frocktasia, Mad Marx and I had raced the spring showers to St Catherines, Loch Fyne for an evening plunge. Our plan as always was to go down find stuff and come back, but Mad Marx was desiring to break his depth record of 31.2m and get a little more experience of being south of 30. Or, to put it in Mad Marx speak, go beyond the Thunderdome. Meanwhile coughing fits had meant that Frocktasia was just planning on providing some shore cover.

Now, I had been here at St Catherines just a couple of days before and the site had been entirely unimpressive, but tonight as we kitted up I had the feeling that it was going to be good. The others will testify to this fact. I had a little ray of hope that I'd see some good, if not unusual. My assumption was that I'd perhaps see some dogfish, cuttlefish or some other more fun regular. What I saw even surprised me even more than Jester's line in witty bants*.

We kitted up, buddy checked and headed in. It was at 10m and about two minutes into the dive when something unusual appeared. I almost passed over the top of it at first - its camouflage was very nearly perfect, but I've seen its cousin, the cuckoo ray, before. So tonight, a glimmer of recognition occurred in me before I realised I was looking at a Thornback Ray.

I've met divers who've seen them here before, but not recently or often. I grabbed my camera and couldn't get it to work. As it swam away I switched to video mode, hoping to grab a few frames. I got it - it happened.

Then we went on to the meat of the dive - a little bounce down to 35m and slow journey back. Success for Mad Marx who broke his own personal depth record.

On the way back up, Jester felt like he was at the Playboy Mansion as we spotted nudi after nudi and...... easter eggs!

My hope was rewarded.

The Sun Sets

Sea cucumber

Whelk

Lounging starfish

Scuba Easter egg

Jester & Egg

Flabellina Lineata

Cadlina Laevis

* Bants  noun

1. 1.

   the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks, an abbreviation of banter.