SCUBAHUB her , like , like son son
It was vital that the dive was recorded for posterity and there was only person whom I knew would be sure to fulfil the task faultlessly . So Plymouth-based photographer Kirstie Harris was duly begged , threatened , coerced and blackmailed until she agreed to help , but her services don ’ t come cheap , and a price of one cheese and beetroot sandwich was reluctantly agreed .
On the day of the dive , we awoke to perfect weather conditions , with barely a ripple on the sea , and a cloudless sky . Having all assembled on the quayside at Fort Bovisand , I discussed photographic strategies with Kirstie , which is a waste of time as her ideas are always better than mine anyway . Then I briefed Angus , emphasising that there would be no training or drills to undertake as this was effectively a guided dive for him . We kitted up and conducted possibly the most thorough buddy check of the millennium . My wife Julie and Skipper the dive dog were there to provide shore support , and Skipper had chosen to wear his special doggy lifejacket for the occasion . As we shuffled down the beach and into the blissfully cool sea , I ’ m not ashamed to admit that I felt a lump in my throat , though I was sure that I hadn ’ t swallowed my mouthpiece . The fear that I had , well , feared was not evident , but it had been replaced by the fear that I might blub like a big girl ’ s blouse .
Just about holding things together , I let Kirstie go ahead as we waded into the middle of the small harbour . Then I gave Angus the thumbs down signal and we sank to our knees on the sand . For the first time , I was diving with my son . We were both grinning like Cheshire cats and we exchanged a ( manly ) hug . Now it was time to go for a dive , and I soon noticed that I wasn ’ t going to be working too hard to turn Angus into prime buddy material . He was always where I wanted him and responded to signals promptly and appropriately .
There was no need to cover a great deal of distance to give Angus a good introduction to our amazing British waters . There were nudibranchs ( don ’ t ask me the species ) everywhere , wrasse , pollock and blennies in their hundreds , and my new buddy was utterly enthralled , much as I still am 30 years after my first dive ! By virtue of my close monitoring , I was soon able to notice that ( a ) Angus had an impressively low air consumption rate , and ( b ) so did I .
Interestingly , this was how I realised that I was perfectly relaxed and didn ’ t appear to have switched to ‘ mother hen ’ mode . Now , nature had saved the best until last for us as we were surrounded by a huge shoal of sand eels just before we surfaced . Surfacing produced another surprise too , as my own parents were waiting with Skipper and Julie as we emerged , just as they had been when I first surfaced 30 years ago .
So all went like clockwork , or so I thought . Angus went off to change out of his wetsuit whilst we all chatted and drank tea . He had been gone some time , when an old friend from nearby Totnes BSAC came over and told me that my son had asked him to tell me that he was trapped and needed my help . A momentary pang of fear gripped me before I remembered that he was no longer underwater , and sure enough , when I tracked him down in the accommodation block , he had become stuck inside his own wetsuit seals and was completely immobilised in a neoprene strait jacket . I ’ m so proud of my son – he ’ s going to turn out just like his dad .
Who is SCUBA Bloke ?
Nick Lyon has been a BSAC diver for 30 years and has more than 3,000 logged dives . An Advanced Diver , Advanced Instructor and Instructor Trainer , he lives in Truro , Cornwall .
57