Today’s dive with Wightdiver has been cancelled, due to the weather. This was a dive on the 'Lord Percy' a working barge with concrete cement bags on it and yes it is the one named after me!
I am not to upset as after the bad weather and the rain the viz would have been terrible!
Next dive booked is the Mulberry Night Dive on the 12th December on Wightdiver.
So far this year I have had 8 cancelled dives! The joy of a UK Solent diver.
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Sunday, 7 November 2010
The Waldrens drift dive 19th September 2010
This was the first time Dan or I had done a Waldrens drift dive, we were diving with Simon Bradburn (Southern Coastal Charters) on his boat Stormforce 2.
For the first time ever I stupidly forgot to spit in my face mask before a dive. The result was a mask that constantly kept fogging up so I was constantly flooding it to a have a clear mask.
Sadly the viz in the dive was not that good at 2~3 Metres, so it was a touchy feely dive as we floated along. Therefore the video is not as interesting as I would like and the gloom does give it that ‘sinister’ feel to it, which was not the case.
The bottom is a mix of sandy areas, reef and large boulders that are about ~2 Metres across. There is a complete mix of life from the Pollock, Bib to the very friendly Wrasse of all types.
I was rather please with the first piece of underwater video where I was able to keep Dan in the frame on the way down. It is nice to have on record a very text book safe decent procedure; we were only some 2 Metres max apart with Dan keeping his eye on me all the way down.
Dan and I went equipped with hooks for any crabs or lobsters. My ‘hook’ has a flatfish spike function so I was seriously on the prowl in the sandy areas.
Dan caught two Dogfish with his bare hands, we saw another 4 Dogfish but at some distance.
This was a very good drift dive with a constantly changing sea bottom. With a good visibility this would be a fantastic dive site. The variability of the sea bottom coupled with the large boulders, gives shelter for fish means that there is a lot of fish about. There would be even more fish to see with better visibility.
Odd that there were not as many crabs or lobsters to be seen as I would expect. Either ‘picked clean’ or because we were on a drift we did not have enough time to look down their deep hidey holes!
This dive lasted for 70 minutes and was 15 Metre deep at the beginning slowly rising during the drift.
The weather was taking a turn for the worse; we all knew that, so the trip back to shore was a bit on the bumpy side.
Or go staight to the video website use the link Waldrens drift dive 19th September 2010
For the first time ever I stupidly forgot to spit in my face mask before a dive. The result was a mask that constantly kept fogging up so I was constantly flooding it to a have a clear mask.
Sadly the viz in the dive was not that good at 2~3 Metres, so it was a touchy feely dive as we floated along. Therefore the video is not as interesting as I would like and the gloom does give it that ‘sinister’ feel to it, which was not the case.
The bottom is a mix of sandy areas, reef and large boulders that are about ~2 Metres across. There is a complete mix of life from the Pollock, Bib to the very friendly Wrasse of all types.
I was rather please with the first piece of underwater video where I was able to keep Dan in the frame on the way down. It is nice to have on record a very text book safe decent procedure; we were only some 2 Metres max apart with Dan keeping his eye on me all the way down.
Dan and I went equipped with hooks for any crabs or lobsters. My ‘hook’ has a flatfish spike function so I was seriously on the prowl in the sandy areas.
Dan caught two Dogfish with his bare hands, we saw another 4 Dogfish but at some distance.
This was a very good drift dive with a constantly changing sea bottom. With a good visibility this would be a fantastic dive site. The variability of the sea bottom coupled with the large boulders, gives shelter for fish means that there is a lot of fish about. There would be even more fish to see with better visibility.
Odd that there were not as many crabs or lobsters to be seen as I would expect. Either ‘picked clean’ or because we were on a drift we did not have enough time to look down their deep hidey holes!
This dive lasted for 70 minutes and was 15 Metre deep at the beginning slowly rising during the drift.
The weather was taking a turn for the worse; we all knew that, so the trip back to shore was a bit on the bumpy side.
Or go staight to the video website use the link Waldrens drift dive 19th September 2010
Saturday, 6 November 2010
The Seahorse Drift Dive, Selsey 18th September 2010
The Seahorse Drift Dive Selsey 18th September 2010
Again a diving video that has been delayed by sickness and too much diving (could you believe that)!
This was a drift where for the first time I had a real plan to catch some fish. I had even spent money on a hook/spike to catch flatfish. My previous 2 attempts with stabbing a flatfish with my diver’s knife proved to be unsuccessful. The fish proved to be so strong that they lifted me up and then swam down and away. So the spike was on trial!
The drift dive was excellent! 3~4 m viz, three Plaice seen , one small thorn back ray seen, none of these were on video as I was in hunter gatherer mode. Also one very large thornback ray on video but sadly caught in a large net that was along the sea bottom. Too dangerous to try and free as we could have caught as well.
The sight of a monofilament net was rather scary needing to keep clear of it and we had to stay with it as our drift track was almost running inline with it for a while.
The water was very flat with clear blue skies at the time.
I suppose it was the fish catching that made this dive, the sea bottom was rather flat and boring to be honest but that was the type of bottom that the fish like. The 4 fish we caught were all filleted on the day and put in the freezer and the left over bits were dipped in flour and pan fried after the filleting and eaten by all.
This was the first time I had ever filleted a fish and used Youtube to learn the skill. I felt that it was importance to respect the fish by making the best use of it.
I caught it so I had to fillet it!
Or you can follow the link to video website:Seahorse Drift Dive, Selsey
Again a diving video that has been delayed by sickness and too much diving (could you believe that)!
This was a drift where for the first time I had a real plan to catch some fish. I had even spent money on a hook/spike to catch flatfish. My previous 2 attempts with stabbing a flatfish with my diver’s knife proved to be unsuccessful. The fish proved to be so strong that they lifted me up and then swam down and away. So the spike was on trial!
The drift dive was excellent! 3~4 m viz, three Plaice seen , one small thorn back ray seen, none of these were on video as I was in hunter gatherer mode. Also one very large thornback ray on video but sadly caught in a large net that was along the sea bottom. Too dangerous to try and free as we could have caught as well.
The sight of a monofilament net was rather scary needing to keep clear of it and we had to stay with it as our drift track was almost running inline with it for a while.
The water was very flat with clear blue skies at the time.
I suppose it was the fish catching that made this dive, the sea bottom was rather flat and boring to be honest but that was the type of bottom that the fish like. The 4 fish we caught were all filleted on the day and put in the freezer and the left over bits were dipped in flour and pan fried after the filleting and eaten by all.
This was the first time I had ever filleted a fish and used Youtube to learn the skill. I felt that it was importance to respect the fish by making the best use of it.
I caught it so I had to fillet it!
Or you can follow the link to video website:Seahorse Drift Dive, Selsey
Friday, 5 November 2010
Diving the Far Mulberry 4th September 2010
This dive was with my son will on his 5th dive since he qualified. He does have trouble with his ears going down due to the constant ‘bugs’ he picks up at his work. Apart from that Will has taken to diving like a duck to water, It is a real joy to see his relaxed nature underwater and still carrying out his checks as per his training.
I have now dived 17 times on the Far mulberry but I still enjoy it, always exploring different sections of it and finding new and finding interesting things to see. I have dived it in less that a 1 metre viz and still made our why back to the shot line! I was really impressed with that dive, even though it was rubbish!
This time the skipper was Simon Bradburn, who runs Southern Coastal Charters with his boat Stormforce 2. This was Wills first trip with Simon.
This time I took the clockwise route around the Mulberry. I have a tendency to take the anticlockwise route, as at the wreck it is the hardest to start that route and hence not taken by most dives. Less divers less kicked up silt and so better viz, it is plan maybe not the best but a plan.
A soon as we got to the bottom of the chain we could see the number of shoals of fish. The Pollock appeared to be out in great numbers. The best area for fish was the ‘bow’ of the Mulberry with a large shoal of fish just hanging there.
Just off from the ‘bow’ a large shoal of fish swept past, to be honest I don’t have a clue what they were but I will leave that to the viewer to work out for me.
So again a great dive on the Far Mulberry for me as well as being able to see Will discovering the wonders of the sea life underwater. Note the scene where Will carefully picks up a brittle star and places it on a rock to hold in his hands while he can observe it.
The nice thing about diving the Far Mulberry is that you can get an hour’s dive easy and the only limit is the skipper telling you that you have to be back up in an hour!
Or go staight the video lin Far Mulberry 4th September 2010
I have now dived 17 times on the Far mulberry but I still enjoy it, always exploring different sections of it and finding new and finding interesting things to see. I have dived it in less that a 1 metre viz and still made our why back to the shot line! I was really impressed with that dive, even though it was rubbish!
This time the skipper was Simon Bradburn, who runs Southern Coastal Charters with his boat Stormforce 2. This was Wills first trip with Simon.
This time I took the clockwise route around the Mulberry. I have a tendency to take the anticlockwise route, as at the wreck it is the hardest to start that route and hence not taken by most dives. Less divers less kicked up silt and so better viz, it is plan maybe not the best but a plan.
A soon as we got to the bottom of the chain we could see the number of shoals of fish. The Pollock appeared to be out in great numbers. The best area for fish was the ‘bow’ of the Mulberry with a large shoal of fish just hanging there.
Just off from the ‘bow’ a large shoal of fish swept past, to be honest I don’t have a clue what they were but I will leave that to the viewer to work out for me.
So again a great dive on the Far Mulberry for me as well as being able to see Will discovering the wonders of the sea life underwater. Note the scene where Will carefully picks up a brittle star and places it on a rock to hold in his hands while he can observe it.
The nice thing about diving the Far Mulberry is that you can get an hour’s dive easy and the only limit is the skipper telling you that you have to be back up in an hour!
Or go staight the video lin Far Mulberry 4th September 2010
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Diving the Boxer & Bembridge Ledges drift 1st August 2010
It has been some months since I have updated my blog. It was a combination of a lot of diving followed by a long spell of some bug or bugs giving a protracted period of man flu and a cold. This also followed me over into my holiday and stopped me diving in Cornwall.
The dive on the Boxer was interesting on two points, it was a three diver group and it was a dark dive. The darkness was due in part to the plankton and part due to the silt.
No one got lost, which was very good and also it was a good dive. A good dive mainly because we took our time looking in the nooks and crannies for the life that was there.
The video makes it look a lot darker than it really was and with the torch light it always appears darker.
I dived with Dan, my regular dive buddy, and Brendan, who we met up on Wightdiver. Normally I really don’t like threesome diving as it is so much hard work checking and keeping together. This time with Dan where we know each other underwater so well it worked.
We made our way to the base of the wreck and worked our way around and then slowly worked our way to the highest point of the wreck. Diving on a wreck in the dark means that it appears to be a totally new wreck compare to have previously dive it with good viz.
We found 5 lobsters all small and a very larger conger eel. The Bib were there and close up but the Pollock were just on the limit of visible distance away.
We dived at slack water but the tide started up as we were starting to ascend.
I think that is one of those dives that only regular and hardy Solent divers would enjoy, all other divers would just chalk it down to experience!
Or go to the link Diving the Boxer & Bembridge Ledges drift 1st August 2010
The dive on the Boxer was interesting on two points, it was a three diver group and it was a dark dive. The darkness was due in part to the plankton and part due to the silt.
No one got lost, which was very good and also it was a good dive. A good dive mainly because we took our time looking in the nooks and crannies for the life that was there.
The video makes it look a lot darker than it really was and with the torch light it always appears darker.
I dived with Dan, my regular dive buddy, and Brendan, who we met up on Wightdiver. Normally I really don’t like threesome diving as it is so much hard work checking and keeping together. This time with Dan where we know each other underwater so well it worked.
We made our way to the base of the wreck and worked our way around and then slowly worked our way to the highest point of the wreck. Diving on a wreck in the dark means that it appears to be a totally new wreck compare to have previously dive it with good viz.
We found 5 lobsters all small and a very larger conger eel. The Bib were there and close up but the Pollock were just on the limit of visible distance away.
We dived at slack water but the tide started up as we were starting to ascend.
I think that is one of those dives that only regular and hardy Solent divers would enjoy, all other divers would just chalk it down to experience!
Or go to the link Diving the Boxer & Bembridge Ledges drift 1st August 2010
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