UKDIVING
Aerial view of Dunstaffnage Marina , Oban it may as well have been night . I was the first to get out after 20 minutes or so , reasonably confident my suit would see me through a basking shark encounter or three . I expected the others to follow suit , but they were rocketing around the lagoon like seals , egged on by Andy ’ s whoops of encouragement .
Andy is a great guy to have on a boat – buzzing with enthusiasm , interested in everyone and obviously a mad keen diver . As I dozed in the covered section of the boat , I could usually hear him providing commentary on some passing seabird , or a distant rock that looked a bit like a shark fin . On quite a few occasions we had common dolphins alongside the boat , and an early sighting of Risso ’ s dolphins ... but of basking sharks there was a deficit .
Storm snorkelling
On the third day , the wind was too high to go out to sea , so Andy proposed a visit to one of Coll ’ s renowned white sand beaches . I took the opportunity for a leisurely breakfast , safe in the knowledge there was little danger of it making an unwelcome reappearance at some later point .
Eventually I found my way to the beach , a mile-long expanse of ivory-white sand guarded by high dunes and divided by streams . The purity of sand and the turquoise water were such that I could have been walking along a beach in Grenada . However , fierce gusts of wind sent weaponised particles of sand into my face with sufficient ferocity to put an end to any Caribbean reverie .
Eventually my shipmates arrived with their snorkelling kit and managed an impressive wild swim across the lagoon , sheltered by a string of rocky islets . I was more than happy to act as shore cover , impressed by my new friends ’ determination to get wet in such gnarly conditions . I had no doubt they would all be safe , though the two well-mannered girls wisely opted to stick to the shallower of the lagoons .
I watched as the snorkellers braved the churning water , picking their way through the islets . Every now and then someone would stand up looking completely lost , then disappear into the foam . [ I later saw a video clip of the snorkel , in which the heroes get lost and have to scramble over kelp-strewn rock . Someone says ‘ don ’ t tell Simon ’].
White sand , black neoprene
37