Peter was to do his dive marshalling demonstration. One dive on the Gwynfaen was planned. David, Wyn and Hugh were the other divers. Viz reported at 2-3metres. Wreck at 24.26m. Wind OK. 9.5m tide. Launched from Morfa Nefyn beach although there wasn’t much beach to launch from. The sun tried to come out as we moved away from the beach and over to the wreck. Just a little problem in getting the shot on the wreck, probably because of the tide. Just as Hugh and Peter were about to go in Scott Waterman turned up in his hard boat from Menai Bridge with a whole lot of punters.
Anyway in we went down into the blackness. Viz 1 metre! Soon the wreck was full of divers; like Blackpool on a foggy night. There were plenty of tompots, wrasse and bib. There were prawns but no congers nor lobsters. Although the viz was poor it was still a great dive. After 35 minutes on the bottom we made for the surface.
Next in were David and Wyn. Well they would have been in had they remembered to put on their fins. There was some frantic efforts made to get the fins on before the camera could record the event. See photograph. Eventually they went in and they too had a good dive. The current started up towards the end and they were picked up several hundred metres away.
The demonstration had gone well. Everybody had enjoyed the diving. A good day was had by all. It was the last dive on the programme but if the weather holds there will be another dive next Sunday.
Hugh.
Congratulations to David and Hugh for the completing the Advanced Instructor course successfully down in Milford Haven over the weekend. Modesty prevents me saying how well we did. What we can say is that members may notice some interesting (!?) changes over the coming months as we practice our skills for the practical element of the exam.
On the Saturday we were given an example of a lesson, then a project on which we had a dry run and then performed in the waters off the still and sunny waters of Milford Haven. During the project we had to teach a project skill, find fault in the instructor’s skill teaching technique and then do the correct version. Finally indoors we planned the dives for the following day.
The following morning at 8:45am we went out in a very windy and rough waterway for two dives. While above and underwater we were expected to look for and take advantage of teaching opportunities with our instructors. In the afternoon we did our 15min lesson, gave and received feedback and then to complete the course did the course feedback. A very interesting two days.
Fierce winds.
7pm on a lovely September evening. The waves gently lapping the shore. A slightly chilled breeze from the North, hinting possibly of the autumn to come. Seagulls doing what seagulls do and Lleyn Sub-Aqua members doing what we do best. Filling up car parks and talking. Eventually more members turned and it was on with the kit and off down to the sea again. The sea state was such that the divers’ bubbles could be followed throughout the dive and as darkness fell the divers’ probing torch beams could also be made out. Like the turning of the tide the groups of bubbles and lights eventually started making their laboured way back and finally in the dusk and the lights of Criccieth infront of them, our intrepid divers, with their thirst unquenched, staggered out of the surf and back onto land. Then off to quench their thirst.
The groups were: Robin & Nick Padi, Dewi & Simon, Lee & Carl, David, Wyn and Anja. Congratulations to Carl for only using 100 bar of air on his 51 min dive, providing the evidence if evidence was needed, that the days of the 15 litre are now over.
The dive organising started well with the organiser discovering the the Marshall (Malcolm) was in a DRAG meeting in the South of England. Whilst I know Malcolm has many hobbies I was surprised to find out that dressing up in women’s clothing was one of them- personally I think he’s a Thong man. Never the less Hugh was press ganged into accepting responsibility – pint for Hugh from Malcolm perhaps !!!. The weather predictions were OK and it was a pleasant change to dive the programme.
Launching from the main beach in Abersoch was OK – No visitors to obstruct and no car parking charges or so Dewi thought until he was ambushed by the car parking attendant on taking the trailer back. With Seawasp hitting 27knots it wasn’t long before we reached Porth Neigwl.
The morning wave consisted of a threesome of Tim, Carl and Irfon dropping in approx 150 metres Porth Neigwl side of Carreg y Tir. A gentle drift with plenty of life and a dive time 0f 53 minutes was recorded. Second in was Hugh & Dewi who dropped in approx 20 metres Porth Neigwl side of Carreg y Tir in order to drift passed the Island and beyond. Current had picked up and both soon realised that a backwards drift was called for because feet were overtaking head. Good amounts of life were reported, with Hugh taking plenty of photographs.
A return to Abersoch for lunch, with Tim dropping out and Wyn joining. A short hope over to Porth Ceiriad found the threesome of Carl, Irfon and Wyn dropping in and working their way to the point. All three divers surfaced (dive time of 55 minutes)with good reports and comment such “Its like an Aquarium”. With such excellent recommendation Hugh & Dewi decided to do the same and found the same abundance of life such as Shoal of Mackerel, Pollock, Wrasse, Pipe Fish, Banded Pipe Fish, Crabs and Lobsters.On surfacing after 60 minutes diving, Wwwwwwwyn (wetsuit) eeeeenquired where we had been, apparently the Cccccconger had turned into a Nnnnudibranch. Once again Dewi failed to conquer the Trailer Wreck, which is perfectly intact and in only 8 metres of water, what chances of the Segontium, nil I suspect.
Both Hells Mouth and Porth Ceiriad proved to be good dives with recorded vis of about 6 – 8 metres. A couple of notable milestones were achieved, with Irfon clocking up his 100th dive (congratulations) and also being converted back to South side diving.
Dewi
An early start was required in order to reach the Bull Inn Valley for our 8:30am start ! Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances ( the landlord doing a bunk ) the course was slightly delayed . We began the mornings lectures with a lesson on how lessons in the open water vary from those in the pool – ie everything’s a lot more difficult with gloves on – we proceeded to datums – ie different ways of deploying the smb and reel as shot lines and then on to planning the 45 minute practical exercises. All this was done with a load of acronyms, new slogans such as the buzz word of the day – ‘’ Make it happen !!’’ together with S.T.E.P.S, P.P.P.P, S.E.E.D.S, etc etc which was most confusing and probably a load of B.A.L.L.S !
Then it was on to our afternoon destination – Newry Beach ( Holyhead harbour). We were given 10 minutes to have our lunch and prepare a 45 minute lesson and get kitted up! It was raining and the sea looked less than inviting – but what do we do – we ‘’ Make it Happen !’’ We were split into two groups of three having been given our practical lessons and were to give these lessons as you would for real. This is where things started to go wrong. In my personal view we were split in to 2 groups in order to demonstrate the right way and the alternate way of doing things !
My group started off with mask clearing at standing depth – easy peasy ! so we briefed with all the correct risk assessments , seeds, dry runs etc got kitted up and each student given the job of either appraising with criticism or by recommending alternate ways of doing so – ie – good cop bad cop routine. In the water we go – however one of the students is a bit light – so I swim back to get a spare weight for him – sorted – only to lose a fin strap and get badly cut hands in the process, so back to it signal was given to go down however due to bad student placement one student is in standing depth – the other waist depth ! Meanwhile – clouds of silt erupted from the sea floor so sod it we abandoned the dive without even doing a single exercise !
My turn next with AAS – briefing went well – kept it to 5 minutes max – including dry run ( take note Hugh !) Kitted up – buddy check – one forgot to put his weight belt on, and then gave the signal ok and down we go – on to our knees in 2 mile viz on the beach ! Exercise was done – but had forgotten a few of the many easy steps you take for granted when working with qualified divers – and fair criticism was made and took on board afterwards.
Having stopped crying and wounds healed it was down to the final test – CBL which went as well as the mask clearing and someone forgot their weight belt again ! So we abandoned the third and final dive and went back to dekit. Lees group meanwhile were having a wail of a time – completing all their exercises in the water andgetting to see some of the delights of the harbour. I was very impressed with their level of competence especially as they continued the lesson all the way back to the cars with Lee demonstrating on how to dekit with the aid of a Mitsubishi . Needless to say our group had finished at least 20 minutes previously !
Back to base for debrief and a pint then home for repairs safe with the knowledge that as long as Lee is doing the instructing all Lleyn SAC trainees are in safe hands and that we will strive to Make things happen in the future !
Robin
‘Congratulations to Robin and Lee for the completing the course up in Holyhead over the weekend. It will be a great help to the existing intructors and the Club to have two more assistants. Hopefully within a short time they will take and pass the practical and theory exams and become fully qualified Open Water Instructors.
DO’.
Seven intrepid diving explorers ventured into the unknown in search of the long lost Criccieth Marine Reef. Story suggests that sightings of the reef had been made by delirious fishermen who had been caught up in the Cardigan Bay Triangle.
First in went the threesome Robin, Tim & Simon, all three decided to follow Simon’s homing beacon and headed off towards Harlech. Second in was the partnership of Anja & Irfon on a southerly bearing towards some lobster pots. Last but not least were the Master (David) and his apprentice (Carl), clearly David was short of money when he went for his fill (120bar) tut tut. They also headed on a Southerly bearing.
First out were Anja & Irfon with impeccable navigation, they reported that persons unknown had moved the Reef, however that didn’t stop Irfon trying to show off his Gurnard, with Anja claiming that she saw Irfon digging deep and eventually finding something Hard !!!!. Anja also reported being accosted under water, an investigation has commenced, the attacker is described as having a grey beard– a crimestoppers reward is available for anybody with information leading to the identity of what lurks in the abyss of Criccieth.
Next out were the Master & his apprentice with the first ever decompression stop following a shore dive at a depth of 1 metre for 15 minutes. Apparently they spotted the reef approx 2 metres off the shoreline (Rock Pool), which sent Carl into unknown territory 1 solid hour of diving ( congratulations). Finally out came the threesome having spent 69 minutes together traversing sand, the rule of thirds was ignored they decided to turn around having bumped into Harlech Castle, however a good bonding session was had.
Shore cover was provided my Dukie, Dewi & Hugh with his awaiting camera.
Dewi.
The forecast was for a force 4 – 6 westerly veering to the north later with rain and drizzle, so it was decided to dive off the south coast. 5 divers were up for it with Neil volunteering to helm the boat.
We launched off the Warren beach and made our way towards St Tudwals. The force 4 – 6 was beginning to materialise and with the spring tide the only suitable dive site was Chapel Bay (gin palace) now devoid of the jet set who usually anchor there. First in was Irfon, Anja and Wyn who had a 42 minute dive over seaweed and kelp with very little life seen, even the seals weren’t in the mood to play. Huw and Simon’s dive lasted all of 3 minutes, as one of Simon’s weight pods fell out of his stab jacket. With the bilge also packing in, the enthusiasm for an afternoon dive began to evaporate, however after lunch and a democratic show of hands, someone (I’m not sure who) decided we would carry on. We headed for the slip at Abersoch to pick up Carl, change cylinders and get some more lead for Simon – (well every little helps!!).
Then the most exciting part of the day for some as we fought the mountainous seas just to have a peep at Porth Ceiriad to see if it was possible to dive there. Not so I’m afraid, so it was back to good old St Tudwals. Irfon and Anja, Wyn and Carl, Huw and Simon were dropped by the cave on the south side of the island. The visibility had deteriorated since the morning dive but there seemed to be more fish about, with several large cuckoo wrasse and for those who ventured beyond the kelp, spider crabs, lobsters and edible crabs were seen. As we headed back towards Warren beach I couldn’t help thinking that this wasn’t the best days’ diving, but it must have been the perfect end to Irfon’s holidays – 2 dives at St Tudwals before school re-opened!!!
Wyn
