CLUB DIVING
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Top left: A starfish scavenges an octopus
Above: A wolf fish posing for the camera
Above right and Far right: Undersea discoveries – hydroids and brittlestars
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The Skellies
Day two started early with the essential pot of coffee. Dive number three coming up, but I’ m feeling worn out due the adrenaline, the fresh air, and carrying all my kit and I come close to sitting it out. I’ m so glad I didn’ t. Referred to as Anemone City, the description of the dive couldn’ t have been closer to the truth – it was like something out of a Disney animation. I saw a vast expanse of sponges that looked like cotton puffs in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours, all interspersed with dead men’ s fingers and starfish. To top it all off, after spending some time trying to coax a lobster from its hiding place, we turned around and found ourselves surrounded by a massive shoal of pollock. It was magical.
I don’ t know where
For my fourth dive, we were on Topliner with skipper Paul Crowe and I had to do my first backward roll entry which was fun but definitely not graceful. This dive was the only one where the sun shone throughout and it completely changed the scene under the water. I was with Richard and the terrain was rocky and open so we set about looking for marine life. Our key spot was not one but two wolf fish peering out of their holes. We got very close to the first, enough for it to try and bite me before it came completely out of its lair so we got to see its full length before it scuttled back in again. A short while later
I experienced my first, albeit only slight, drift dive and it was amazing. We drifted towards what looked like a meadow of swaying grass but which was in fact thousands of brittle stars
mixed with black starfish and we surfaced from a spot in the middle of them.
Sadly, surfacing meant we had reached the end of the weekend. All that was left to do was pack up the gear, grab a cuppa and a piece of cake and head back down the A1 in the rain.
As I said at the beginning, I’ m just sitting here trying to work out who is to blame for the bruises, expense, tiredness and the fact that I can no longer use my garage for my car because of all my diving kit. I’ ve come to the conclusion that it’ s the fault of everyone in the club for being so welcoming and supportive and I’ d like to say thanks because I’ ve just come back from a brilliant weekend and I’ m hooked on scuba. �
Below: Think Hayley’ s happy?