Four members of the Lleyn Club +1 joined with members of the Pennine Orca Sub-Aqua Club for an expedition to the Isle of Man. David, Lee, Hugh, Mike and Alan Kibble (non-member). 10:00am at St George’s Pier Menai Bridge on Scott Waterman’s 30′ boat the Endeavour. A bit of a rough crossing but we managed a dive before arriving at Port st Mary on the Isle of Man. The accommodation, the Bay View Hotel had character and found dealing with 11 divers, all at once a bit of a problem. The dives were as follows:
There seemed to be more sea life, the slack periods shorter, current stronger and the kelp a little deeper than we are used to. The boat was great especially with the lifting platform at the stern which lifted us out of the water like removing the giblets from a chicken. There were many memorable moments. The caves; the strong current which lifted us off the Clan Mc’Master once the DSMB was deployed; Mike doing a moony on the hotel’s CCTV; the basking shark; the motorcycle racing; the range of different nudibranchs and the numeracy and inquisitiveness of the wrasse especially the cuckoo wrasse; to mention a few.
The village of Port St Mary seemed deserted for the whole time we were there. Plenty of parked cars but few people. The area was very rural and unspoilt. One afternoon most of us we were able to see some of the Southern 100 Motorcycle Races on the Billown Circuitout outside nearby Castletown. Racing Solos, sidecars and classic bikes. Mike was in a state of ecstasy He hadn’t seen bikes go so fast since he was on motorcycle patrol. His radar gun trigger finger was twitching.
Many thanks to members of the Pennine Orca Sub-Aqua Club for making it such a good dive holiday and especial thanks to Ros for organising it. (Photographs David & Hugh. Detailed Id will be done later).
