Join Me in the Club - 03/01/2019

Day two of my midwinter dive adventure saw Dive Aqaba take me to a beach club near the Saudi border for a couple of dives.

The first and by far the most impressive was The Bowl. The second, and the one I was meant to get excited about was The Cathedral. The Cathedral turned out to be a man made structure that housed a small lighthouse on the surface. The Bowl was where the action actually happened.

We had been swimming for some time when I first saw something in the gloom. The dive guide saw it too. It could of been a shark, a tuna, a turtle,or a dolphin. We'll never know as it only ever remained a shadow in the distance. However, once we gave up on seeing it came round a small rock formation only to see a remora.

I 'd never seen one before, but when I saw its suckers and its interest in me I knew instantly that I didn't want it to attach to me. I sensible kept my distance and performed manoeuvres that would keep it away. It was nice to see and gave credence to the larger creature in the darkness theory.

Dive two never saw anything that would compare, but we did see some nudis.

Nudi!

Shadow of the Cathedral

Hunting

Puffer

Remora

Cable Canyon - 02/01/2019

The diving gods were kind to me in 2018, and set a trend that seems to be continuing into 2019, as myself and Gill.I.Am took advantage of some cheap flights and a love affair with Jordan to allow me to dive again at one of my favourite parts of the world. 

Long term readers will know, I've visited and dived in this area before. However, I genuinely love this site. A wee bimble down a coral canyon to 43m then a turn and ascending under the man made cables connecting Jordan and Egypt, passing bright red anemones and delicate corals. Most importantly, considering all the people that dive from South Beach you won't see a soul until the shallows. That's because, they all want to dive the Cedar Pride. I did too, back then. But now it's so passe.

This time I was diving with Dive Aqaba, the company I'd used in the past was now kaput. I chatted Abdallah, tolf him of my experiences and how I wanted to see some old friends down deep on the reef I went, and there they were. I was, as the youngsters say, "totes emosh". 

We followed that up with a wee dive around the Cedar Pride, but I knew my wee anemone was still safe 4 years on. I was happy.

Then - December 2014

Now - January 2019

Snakelocks

Buddy for the day

Cedar Pride

Cedar Pride

Mind the Gap - 28/12/2018

The gap between Christmas and New Year is a sacred time when divers who:

a: wish to off gas excess turkey & trimmings
b: are full of festive cheer
c: climbing the walls with boredom

...can all get together and have a wee dive.

We had a fairly meaty group of six divers who all went in and out safely. There is little to say about it. Other than in his excitement to show me a pipefish, the trainee I took in unleashed a tsunami of silt that obscured half the loch. :)

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 

The Worm that Turned - 23/12/2018

After an overnight at the side of Loch Creran, a group of us gathered alongside our new friend Terry Griffiths to dive the Queenie Reef. My first dive of the day was with Jester. Our intention was to hunt for Serpula vermicularis. We found them, but they proved difficult to photograph as the slightest vibrations had them turning for cover.

I could tell the wee bandits were irking Jester too. Still, it was nice way to finish up diving for Christmas.

Floodlight Sonata - 22/12/2018

When Beethoven wrote his Moonlight Sonata, it was probably beyond even his imagination that it would be whizzing round my head when around 207 years later I was diving the Breda at night, floodlit with the Barrman. I mean, he had an impressive imagination, but I'm prepared to wager that he never composed it as a soundtrack to something of that ilk. In fairness, it was probably the Barrman that tipped it over the edge of probability.

We had agreed we wanted to do it some time ago, along with StewPatz and his good lady. At the time of booking we didn't know what the weather would do. As it was we were blessed with flat seas, low wind and moonlight. 

In the end the Barrman and I headed in and swam around the deck of the Breda. It was very relaxing, with lots of fish.

The Stranger in the Dark - 21/12/2018

With Christmas holidays fast approaching I took the decision that I could sleep later in the week and so embarked on 4 dives over three sites in around 40 hours.

It started with Jester and Chairman Andy joining me for a Friday night dive at St Cats. As Andy is heading towards his ScotSAC Masters Diver award we headed down beyond 30m to allow him to gain further experience at depth.

It was all pretty straightforward, then I saw a stranger. I hadn't met one in quite some time. In fact, I'd only met one once before a couple of years ago - the european squid. Thereafter it was pretty plane sailing but then something happened right at the end. As we floated at 5m doing a safety stop we could see a torch light glinting at the surface. Someone was on the surface waiting for us.

As we surfaced we could see the person on the shore. We got out and started chatting. Apparently we were chatting to nudibranch photography royalty in the form of Terry Griffiths. He was up visiting Scotland for one last diving hoorah before Christmas.

He was a nice chap and, as it turned out, he was going to be wildcamping in his van at the same spot as me the following night.