Gurnards & Not So Fast Cars - 24/08/2016

With what seemed like the last glimpse of summer, the Zookeeper, Jester and I met up for a twilight dive in Loch Fyne. This wasn't our original plan, but parking at our chosen site was full. 

We kitted up in fast fading but brilliant sunshine, buddy checked on our march down the beach and skipped into the water. 

It seemed like the fates were with us as we landed on our first huge catshark of the day. I haven't seen one for a few months. So it was nice to reacquaint myself with an old friend.

As we continued down in search of an alleged firework anemone that Jester is convinced is down there, my torch caught a glimpse of what I think was a seal. Moments later there was a flurry of large fish swimming towards us using us for shelter. This confirmed my theory. However, the initial sighting never materialised into a full blown encounter, sadly.

Instead, we stumbled along the bottom chasing langoustine and gurnards before hitting the reef and heading up to the shallows. 

It was, however, catsharks that were the atars of the show as we encountered at least two and the largest one twice. They were very relaxed around us especially as Jester approached with his National Geographic-esque camera set up.

We emerged 67 minutes later, hampered by hunger and cold on my part, packed up and cruised home behind some not so fast cars. 'Twas a good night.

Catshark

Red Gurnard

Cushionstar

Catshark

The Deep & The Disaster - 17/08/2016

At the dive club one of the members was saying he needed to get in a few dives below 30m to work towards his ScotSAC Master Diver award. Myself and Campbell volunteered to go with the Bearded Mountain Man of Cambuslang to help accomplish the task.

We met up at our usual spot and headed to Loch Fyne for some fun and games.on what was probably the last sunny day of summer.

We kitted up in the warm, relatively midgie free glow of the sun and headed into the water after a buddy check. I should point out that all of us were trying out or using new pieces of kit including the BMMC who was using a drysuit he had hired from Aquatron while his own Otter suit was away for repair. So we were acutely aware that we were only going deep if all of us felt comfortable. As it was, we did and we pottered down to 32m before turning and heading back. It was all uneventful and we even managed to spot a particularly nice cushion star.

Back at the surface the world had changed. Midgies were swarming to such an extent that we spent most of the interval in floating in the warm water away from our nemesis. The sun was setting and by the time we reentered the water to dive we were going to be night diving.

Again, checking everything was OK we headed in and down. As we approached 10m disaster struck. My own drysuit hose stuck on - which I quickly removed and replaced solving the problem - Campbells mask started giving him grief and I looked round to find BMMC floating to the surface, looking like the Michelin Man. I looked round at Campbell and we both signalled "up".

At the surface we found BMMC with a stuck on drysuit inflator valve - something he'd never experienced before.I took off the hose and it seemed it was the valve on the suit that was stuck, rather than the hose.

We called it and went home.

Cushion star

Mark A-ah! Saviour of the Universe - 07/08/2016

"Mark! A-ah! Saviour of the Universe"

OK, so perhaps I'm exaggerating a little. However, when you arrive on site and you realise you've forgotten your drysuit, then a guy called Mark let's you use his because he's done for the day - it's pretty sweet and you do feel a little indebted. Jester too felt this, as we went on to have an excellent dive which would never have happened without the intervention of Mark. 

The guys from Aquatron were packing up for the day when we arrived. They reported pretty poor visibility, but the incoming tide was bringing fresher, cleaner water.

Feeling a little awkward in Mark's snuggish suit, we entered the water and went down. The visibility, it seems , wasn't as bad as the guys had made out in fact, it was alright - probably up to 4m.

We swam from frame to frame hitting a very definite thermocline at around 20m. We bimbled along staying deep enough, for long enough, that my computer ordered a deep stop.

The visibility was clearing constantly and by the time we exited the water, despite the wind and the rain, even the shallows had cleared up.

A good day. All thanks to Mark.

Bloody Henry

Anemone

Bloody Henry

Scallop

Edible Crab

Back to Life, Back to Reality - 05/08/2016

With my one month sojourn to the USA complete, this week it was back to the hard grind of work and scuba diving locally. Jester picked Seal Reef, St Catherines as our spot. While packing the car I noticed that my tank was out of test so if I did two dives then I'd lose out on the ability to dive at the weekend. So while Jester was keen on two dives, I wasn't so much.

As it is we did one nice 57 minute dive down to 37 metres. The vis was chronic in the first 6 metres, but cleared up markedly as we got deeper. To the extent that actually it was like doing a really clear night dive.

We saw some nice crustaceans, but the nudibranchs stayed hidden. 

Afterwards we headed to the pub leaving the fishermen to the beach.

Escape From LA - 09/07/2016

My original intention when I decided to come to Los Angeles for a month was to use the opportunity to head up to Washington State and dive there. However, poor communication by the dive shop that runs the trip meant that the opportunity slipped through the cracks of life. As B*witched once said, "C'est la vie "

Instead, as though in compensation, my Los Angelino friends offered to take me to Santa Catalina Island and dive at the Casino Point Dive Park in the city of Avalon. 

Santa Catalina is primarily a resort island, which in its hay day was the playground of LA's rich and famous it and owned by the Wrigley family. Today, it's a kitsch entertainment district and wildlife reserve that includes a vibrant marine reserve.

Our plan was to take the 6.30am (yes, early starts are the domain of divers the world over) ferry from San Pedro to Avalon. I won't lie I'm not a fan of the early start, but to be amongst the first in the water was satisfying ex post.

We arrived at the site where Gill (my wife) and I hired tanks, weight and BCDs. We were diving as part of a mixed ability group that ranged from relatively new open water divers to me, amongst the most experienced in the group with a little over 300 dives.

Gill and I buddied up, did a quick buddy check and swam out to the marker buoy that marks the edge of the park and the wreck of a glass bottom boat.

The vis was a respectable 10-15m at a depth of around 25m. I was glad of my Fourth Element Thermoclines beneath my 5mm wetsuit as we passed through a thermocline that tipped the water temperature below 17c. Gill, in her drysuit, was oblivious to the cooling temperatures.

In terms of life there was lots to see. The star of the show is California's state protected fish, the Garibaldi. The Garibaldi is essentially a bright orange damselfish. For those with a keener eye you'll see moray eels, a variety of bass, spiney lobster and nudibranchs all lurking amongst the giant kelp forest.

It's not unheard of to see a variety of sharks at Catalina too - including Horned, Blue and Great Whites. Unfortunately for me, the closest I came to a shark was a 5 foot Bat Ray gently passing between myself  and my buddy for the second dive - by coincidence named Ray. Perhaps I should have dived with a buddy named Shark. I'm sure someone in California has a name like that, right?! Sadly, I got no pictures of it as I had just packed away my little camera in preparation for exiting the water at the steps 

I wouldn't describe this as the best dive I've ever done - that accolade naturally goes to the A-Frames, Loch Long *coughs*. However, if you're in LA with a day to spare you could do a lot worse than spending $75 on a return ferry ticket and up to $75 for full kit hire at Casino Point. Beyond getting there, there is no cost to diving in the marine park, Which means that you can squeeze in up to 4 dives for $150.

Entry Stairs

Moray Eel

Turbot

Spiney Lobster

Bass

Sometimes a Dive is a Metaphor - 24/06/2016

While the last few Brits decided whether or not hey wanted to leave the European Union, Jester and I decided to head to Seal Reef, Loch Fyne for a quick dip. In many ways, the weather had been kind to us:

• It was warm
• There was a breeze keeping the midgies temporarily at bay
• There was drizzle, again discouraging the midgies.

So we kitted up and casually headed into the water.

There was a bit of chop and the silt had been stirred up in the shallows. This led to Jester dropping his GoPro and us then having to spend 10 minutes trying to find it in poor visibility. He did, thankfully.

After that we headed down to St Catherine's famous speedboat encountering a small red gurnard and a lobster en route. It was nice. Although dark the visibility opened up and it reminded me of my preferred night diving exploits - dark but clear.

In total we pottered around for an hour finding numerous nudibranchs and yarrell's blennies. It was all rather pleasant until we surfaced and dekitted in a midgie infested hell hole. What a difference an hour made.

Britain choose to leave, Scotland to stay. Scotland now must leave.

Flabellina Lineata

Red Gurnard

Flabellina Lineata

Lobster

Flabellina Lineata

Portencrossing Over - 16/06/2016

Meeting locals

In search of some variation Jester, the Zookeeper and I headed southwest as opposed to northwest for a change of scene. With weather conditions ideal it took us to Portencross, Ayrshire for a dive round the point and into the small bay next to the castle.

If you're into history or an american with a fascination with Scotland, this dive site will appeal. It has a castle, a sunken Spanish Armada galleon  (we never knowingly found it) and a quaint little fishing village.

It's shallow, and requires a light northerly or easterly wind to make diving conditions ideal. We followed the Finstrokes guide to the letter, although our good friend - the Mermaid - recommends a dip around the pier to the north of the castle for a shallow photography dive.

Before entering the water we went for a stroll and met some of the locals. They were a fine mix of local cyclists and high, drunk hippies. It made for an entertaining start to the evening.

We kitted up, continually pestered by midgies, and waded out into the sanctuary of the water. There was a lot of seaweed which made finding interesting life a little tricky. However, we found:

• some good nudibranchs
• tompot blenny
• macropodio rostrata

As a dive I'd probably not revisit again without a site expert (I'd like to actually find and see the wreckage of the galleon) and I'd possibly do a different type of dive at the pier. 

The views

Considering the dive

Polycera quadrilineata

Castle and boat

Polycera quadrilineata

Macropodia Rostrata

Tompot Blenny

Surfacing

Rope to boat