SCUBA December 2021 Issue 121 | Page 5

o I just got back from the club summer trip on the west coast of Scotland . Great weekend of diving from the club hoverboats , Necessary Faff and Pleasuremin although for the first day I had to sort out the ‘ Mr Fusion ’ on Faff as it had water in the fuel cell . Drained it , popped a very black , half-rotted banana skin in and was good to go .
Getting there is pretty straightforward now that the new King George VII hoverhighway is open . We just loaded the hoverboats up in Nottingham , set off with all 24 divers aboard and an hour later , we pulled into the accommodation in Lochaline , as remote and lovely as it ' s always been . Jean is still serving haggis burgers from her wooden hut next to the old ferry slip that we use to access the sea , so we had a quick breakfast then got into the planned diving for the weekend .
First dive we took it easy , just 80m down off the pier . Naturally , we were all supplied with a week ’ s supply of oxy-pills that allow us to store oxygen within our tissues in the same way that whales do . One breath and you can stay submerged for nearly two hours , although we always come up at 80 minutes , sticking to the rule of thirds . Davs left his adaptive suit set to ‘ tropical ’ until halfway through the dive – you could see him start to shiver before he realised and reset it to ‘ temperate ’ mode . He won ’ t be doing that again ! If you haven ’ t invested in the adaptive suits yet , they ’ re great . Wear them like normal clothes every day as they ’ re selfcleaning , change style automatically so they are suitable for whatever social engagement you are going to ( from digging the garden to a royal garden party ) and change their insulation depending on how warm your body is and how cold the environment is you ’ re in . Very smart , especially in 1973 ‘ Spandex Disco ’ mode .
For the second dive we hoverboated out to the Rondo – at 50m it ' s ideal for the novices , as they can ' t really get lost . The auto-skipper took us straight there ; bang on slack , without a single hitch , the shot-omatic deploying the line that automatically ties into the stern . The wreck is looking quite broken up , with only the ribs and bow remaining stuck together – the rest of the wreck has fallen to bits and lies in various piles of plates down the slope . The video from my GoPro Hero 69 can be seen on MyTube . Now that all wrecks older than 50
Century wrecks are at least protected from the magna-crowbars and electro-hammers g g
R The future of diving ? Graphic © Ian Legge

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Learning Curve

CONTENTS

6 SCUBA HUB
All the latest BSAC and diving news
12 Critter Compilation
Paul Naylor ’ s top 10 favourite marine creatures
19 Kirsty Andrews
A farewell to Fort Bovisand ( for now )
21 Yo-Han Cha
Reporting from Kernow Fest
22 Michelle Haywood
The science of gas mixes
24 Centres forward
Plymouth Sound SAC on their relationship with local centre Sandford & Down
26 SCUBA Chat
Your letters and announcements
28 Club Focus
Trafford Sub-Aqua Club is keeping busy
34 Protect Our Seas
E-learning with the Nautical Archaeology Society ; Sharks in a Changing World ; Planning a dive project - advice from Jane Maddocks .
38 Snorkelling
Andy Torbet ’ s advice for winter snorkelling
40 Learning Curve
Jacob Broughton-Venner on BSAC ’ s Primary Donate Workshop
44 Test Centre
Sealife ’ s ReefMaster RM-4K Pro 2000 Set ; Oceanic Viper 2 Fins & Duo Mask combo ; Scubapro ’ s Nova 850 Tec torch
48 Introducing the SCUBA Selection
Your portal to prime features from SCUBA ’ s 10-year archives
145 Crossword
Another brain-teaser from the desk of Charles Wheeldon
UKDIVING
Future shock
The sea temperature around McMurdo Station in Ross Island , Antarctica has remained the same for the past 25 million years , just a shade above -2 ° C

Atlantic isles

THEFUTURE
S
Marine ecologist Richard Shucksmith and keen Seasearcher Matt Doggett regularly visit remote habitats around the UK . A trip leaving Orkney behind for the distant North Rona promised much
2073 : AClubOdyssey
What will a traditional club trip be like after another 60 years of BSAC diving ? Alex ‘ Woz ’ Warzynski of Nottingham University SAC gazes into his crystal ball to reveal a vision of the future
British dives
to thrill and inspire
years are legally protected under the 2050 ‘ Just Leave it Alone ’ Act , the 20 th and 21 st
TRAVEL SPECIAL
Galapagos Islands Pelagic partytime !
SCUBA Editor Simon Rogerson reports from the Galapagos Islands
– can this legendary big fish destination live up to its reputation ?
To celebrate this 100th issue of SCUBA magazine , Anita Sherwood and her friends from Worcester BSAC choose their Top 10 UK dive sites . Here they are , in no particular order …
Freeze-frame
SCUBAMEDIA
The film crews behind the BBC series Frozen Planet have captured some remarkable underwater footage . Simon Rogerson reports on the revolutionary filming techniques employed by the underwater units
The Garland Stone
LOCATION : Skomer Island , Pembrokeshire , Wales DIVE TYPE : Reef / boat dive GPS : 51 ° 44 ’ 48 ” N 005 ° 17 ’ 58 ” W , 20km from launch at Dale SLACK WATER : Two to two and a half hours after low water Milford Haven DEPTH : around 38m
VAbove : The sun sets over North Rona
SBelow : Sula Sgeir means ‘ gannet rock ’. It does what it says on the
tin – it ’ s a rock , with 8,000 gannets
THE FUTURE
FOR ME , THE GARLAND STONE CAPTURES THE IMAGINATION . ARRIVE IN JUNE ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������
Left : The beautiful colours of a curled octopus in the jade waters of Pembrokeshire �
Garland Stone
Eilean Donan
SS Sphene
Hatt Rock
Loch Carron Slip
HMS St Dunstan
MFV Fraoch Ban
Greenend ’ s Gully
Black Carrs
SV Royal Adelaide
SCUBA100

48 SCUBA Selection

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