Saturday 26th November 2023
Delph Quarry, Chorley
Second time in the planning 5 set off at 8am with the view of arriving at Delph for 10.30am, Andrew & Laura setting off from Morfa Nefyn and Mike, Shem & Dewi setting off from Pencaenewydd. The journey went well with only light traffic which saw us arrive at our destination for 10.20am. The car park was busy but both vehicles got spots close to the shop with registration and payment going seamless, a quick question ascertained the water temperature was 10 degrees on the surface and 8 degrees at the bottom.
Vehicles backed up to the astro turf platform for gear / equipment preparation and kit up. Quick visit to the changing rooms to change into under suits with some having not dived since the 27 degrees waters & 30 metres viz of Egypt, this really was going to be a culture shock. With Dewi using his dry suit for the first time in 4/5 years which had been smeared in silicone sealant this was also going to be a culture shock. Buddy pairings decided with Andrew taking Shem to get his final Ocean diver exercises completed and Mike, Laura & Dewi going for an exploration dive.
Both teams entered the water at virtually the same time with the plan of going out with the wall on the right and navigating around the quarry to return to the slip. Stride entries completed we descended down to 11m and navigated to the wall on the right only to be met with a blizzard of silt with viz being reduced to zero, we continued for about 10 minuted in the storm before coming across the armoured personnel carrier , followed by the an empty container, we decided to follow the ropes attached to the container which led us around the quarry to the sunken cruiser where Mike saw the sturgeon fish, however given the viz neither Dewi or Laura spotted it. We continued along the ropes which eventually led back to the slip.
With Dive times of 45 minutes and depth of 19m for Andrew / Shem recorded and successful completion of the CBL, dive time of 35 minutes and depth of 17m recorded for Dewi, Laura and Mike. With Mike beaming on his successful spot of the sturgeon fish he decided upon shore cover for the second half. With surface temp of 5 degrees it took some time and coffee to warm up.
A surface interval of 1 hour was decided before commencement of kit up, some minir adjustments were made to weights with Dewi ditching and Laura increasing. With Shem leading Andrew for the final completion of his Ocean diver qualification and Dewi / Laura deciding to enter via the slip this time and navigating to the rope route in order to familiarise themselves with the underwater scene, viz was a lot clearer this time and both teams being rewarded with sightings of Sturgeon before successfully exiting via the same slip as entry.
Following de-kitting and change, it was a visit to the cafe for a quick panad before heading off for home arriving at about 5.30pm.
Conclusion – a good day, ideal for keeping your diving skills up to date, and continuing your training. Laura needs some new gloves (Christmas is coming) , Mike needs to switch on his heated vest before going diving and Dewi seriously needs some Go Pro lessons having completed an inadvertent video of the whole kitting up process, 1st dive and surface interval, draining his battery for the 2nd dive.
Dewi