Wave Shape
Wave Shape

Amlwch, Anglesey June 1999

Wave Shape

The grey skies finally parted like a reluctant gigolo’s fly zip. The rays of sun penetrated every corner of the Julie Anne, lighting up each nook and cranny like a demented arsonist. The boat rose and fell with new vitality. The bow of the ship thrust eagerly into each oncoming wave, reminiscent of one of Alan Harper’s rams at tupping time and who did it copy it from??. Faces lightened up and smiled. All was going to be well we were going to get some diving.

Well all except Neil’s face which looked like the sort of grey one has come to associate with a corpse. Neil was not well. We felt for him, but at a safe distance, and up wind.

All aboard the “Julie Anne” (36′)
L to R: Neil, Paul, Ian, Carl, Stuart, Elfyn (Captain)

Eight o’ clock in Amlwch, ready for a dive? On a Sunday? Bloody nora. But then diving was never for the faint hearted. The convoy, after several abortive attempts which involved playing follow my leader around Amlwch behind the DO who hadn’t a clue where he was going, finally arrived at the quay side. Everyone slightly the worse for having got up at six o’clock and some worse than others. The weather didn’t help, force 3 to 4 sometimes 5, showers, medium visibility said the shipping forecast and it felt like it. Malcolm was unable to come, with us anyway, and the gloom deepened when Don announced that he had forgotten his diving suit and so couldn’t join us. Two down and we hadn’t even got onto the boat. Oh yeah those intrepid divers from the Lleyn Club were Ian Lawrence, Paul Williams, George Newsham, Carl Rawlinson, Stuart Winstone and Hugh Evans.

Unfortunately the sea state was a little bumpy on the way out of the harbour. It was windy and cloudy. After a look at the vis and the weather to the NW it was decided to have a go on the wreck of the Dakota which had chosen to go down just outside the harbour. Down a shot-line right onto the wreck; visibility terrible. It was an excellent wreck which had a propeller shaft running along one side. Pollock and at least one conger was seen.

It was straight back into harbour to wait for the tide around West Mouse to slacken. It was 6 hours before we dived again. However time was not wasted. Soon the smell of bacon and burnt toast could be detected coming from the galley. Not for me was it to be cold sandwiches eaten while sitting on the exposed deck of a rib. This was luxury (as was the peeing in private). However the fragrant smell (from the kitchen not the toilet) was not enough to encourage anybody else into the cook house. George had to leave us to get back home. As we started off for West Mouse the weather lifted. And things were getting better. The helmsman did have a sense of humour, not appreciated by Neil, by making a point of steering for the roughest water en route. Well we laughed. We waited for a short time in the lee of West Mouse and then made for the wreck at Coal Rock.

The tide was still running which made getting onto the shot line buoy rather interesting. Each couple was dropped up tide and had to drift onto the buoy before making the descent. Once down there the visibility was much better (even though as we heard later Neil had puked his guts up at about 4 metres and had to abort his dive with Stuart) and we had plenty of time to see the wreck and the surrounding area. The pick up was equally interesting since the tide at the surface was still running. Then it was back to port and home. A good time had been had by most.

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