David and Hugh took Arwyn and Mick in for their second open water dive in Vivian Quarry. This was the Club’s first visit to Vivian Quarry since the new owners took over. We had to register and have our photographs taken and at the end of the open water lesson we were able to pick up our registration cards.
Both Arwyn and Mick have developed their diving skills since the last visit to Vivian and both completed the lesson with flying colours.
Ever ready to try something different today’s club dive was in Llyn Gwynant. Neil, David and Hugh with Malcolm to be a bit late as he was putting some heating in. Conditions on the surface were ideal. The sun was shining and a bit of a cooling breeze. Unfortunately the same could not be said under the water. The first ten seconds were interesting as we descended. The visibility was passable at about 2-3 metres. Bottom of course was mud. Not just any mud but an extremely deep jelly-like substance. We slowly finned across the lake. We went down to 6 metres, then up to 2 then slowly back down to 8m. By then we had become very familiar with the mud and decided that a fin back on the surface would give us better scenery. It was a lovely day.
9 o’clock at Malcolm’s. It doesn’t get any easier. Wind for 3-4 NE, 5-6 later. But we wanted to do the dive. The surface was quite choppy but it was calm beneath and the visibility was good. The site was teaming with fish. If it hadn’t been for the lack of colour of the fish one could have easily imagined oneself diving off Gran Canaria. We returned to Porth Ysgaden to join up with the trainees and to try out the 15″ prop. We had to see whether it could cope with a full boat of divers. It did and you can see the loading in the photograph below.
The last dive on the dive plan. A 9.9 metre tide and a force 3-4 from the north west. Bardsey here we come. OK so the dive plan said ‘Braich y Pwll’ but we were young and foolish. A 9.9 high tide at Aberdaron doesn’t give you much beach for launching but there was no holding us. Our target Carreg Y Honwy on the West side of Bardsey. Malcolm wanted a drift. No, my mistake. Malcolm wanted a fast drift.
We sniffed the inlets around the north side of Bardsey but we were not tempted. Round then to the area to the south of Carreg Y Honwy. Slack water!! “Evans does it again”, I thought. But they are a suspicious lot these Jones’s and Turkentine’s. Would look a gift horse in the mouth they would. A spring tide to blow the regulator out of your mouth and what did we get. Are you sure it is a good dive site”? Malcolm and I regaled them with the old stories; who had dived there, what they had seen, what was said, who did what to who and so on. They finally gave in and it was with a sigh of relief that we saw them dip below the surface. Lunch time at last. I never thought that we would get them down. It had taken longer than normal. Maybe they remember the last time Malcolm and I put them in first. Whatever.
An amazingly short time elapsed before they were there bobbing up and down on the surface. Did we get smiley faces looking up at us as we took the weight belts from them? Did we see tears of delight as they removed their masks? Did we get any thanks? No. Did they moan, whinge, and complain about the lack of life and the poor visibility? Yes. There is no pleasing some people. “Take us half a mile south of Bardsey it looks better there!” I said.
Malcolm and I were put in 34 metres of water (we wanted 30) We only got a 20 minute dive and there was no drift to speak of. Did we have smiley faces and little tears of delight, of course we did. Did we complain? The very thought.
The Paul and David decided that we must have had a better dive site than them and so insisted on going down exactly where Malcolm and I went in. With the GPS and natural talent we hit the spot. In they went. Up came both SMBs. Up came the divers. We went over to get them. Did we get smiley faces looking up at us as we took the weight belts from them? Did we see tears of delight as they removed their masks? Did we get any thanks? What do you think?
After a brief dive off the Bardsey harbour to rescue an anchor we made for home. It had been a wonderful day.
Neil organized Wednesday evening’s night dive on the Menai Straits in the area of the telephone cable, as low water slack coincided nicely with dusk at about 8.15 pm. The dive attracted Mickey to the Straits for the first time, Neil & Malcolm for the first time in about 5 years, as well as Lee, Carol & David J.
The viz. looked good from the bank but proved to be slightly cloudy. Never mind, the sea garden was flourishing in spite of the August drought!!. Strangely, the yellow sponges appeared green and the dahlia anemones were all reddish in the torch beam at night. Why??? There was the usual assortment of crabs, including lots of tiny spider crabs (leach’s?), although the bigger edible crabs had mostly gone, or had migrated to deeper water in the centre of the channel, where Mickey managed to sniff them out.
Lee and Malcolm failed to disturb a dozing big lobster, and everyone saw loads of butterfish and scorpion fish, with the occasional wrasse, pollack & poor cod. Mickey described it as his best ever shore dive (out of ??? ), and Malcolm overcame his disappointment at not being allowed to do a drift through the Swellies and back ( for scientific reasons of course, to check out the prevalence of brittle stars perhaps !!! ). All in all a brilliant dive. DWJ.
