UKDIVING
Good conditions after the storm
Divers on the Harvester
The Harvester – have you been here before?
Grandness achieved
Confident the weather gods were not going to let us down on Sunday, ropesoff for 8am was agreed. The question was how many divers were actually going to make it after a night of martinis? Amazingly they all did, and were perfectly fit to dive.
Rothwell and Stanley SAC in the marina lock
We planned to dive the Harvester( a wreck, not a restaurant) in 15m and then after a short surface interval we would head to the Ella, at a depth of 20m. Off we went through the lock into the open sea. This time, the weather gods had blessed us with a sunny Sunday morning – conditions could not have been better.
Clare recalls:“ Sunday was all about wrecks. The first dive on the Harvester near South Gare Light House revealed a barnacle encrusted site teeming with cod, ling, nudibranchs, crabs and lobsters.” The tide was completely slack, with visibility around 4m.
Condor then made the short journey to a site known locally as the Heugh Wreck, which lies at 20m. It was alive with dead men’ s fingers, pouting, flatfish, crabs and a huge lobster. The boilers were full of tompot blennies, crabs and butterfish. Visibility was an amazing 8m and there was only a slight current. For the journey back to Hartlepool Marina, Condor was coxed by Tim Waistell, his first time since training back in the spring. We made our way through the lock and safely onto Condor’ s pontoon berth.
Meanwhile, Bradford SAC had been diving the Maidly Hill – another of the Tees Bay wrecks. Everyone agreed this was our biggest and best Grand Day Out, with RIBs from Bradford BSAC, Rothwell & Stanley Sub Aqua Club and Darkside Divers, plus the South Bay Scuba RIB and of course our own Condor; we had a total of 25 divers.
South Bay Scuba thanked everyone who turned up and enjoyed themselves but especially Paul Crinnion, Simon Wilkinson( Darkside Divers), Hartlepool Divers for their hospitality and Hartlepool Marina for their kind support. Everyone promised to return to sample the fantastic diving in Tees Bay and the warm hospitality of the locals. �
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The next South Bay Scuba Grand Day Out is scheduled for Saturday 8 August 2026. As always, everyone is welcome! For more information, please contact Anne Morrison via DM on Facebook. https:// tinyurl. com / bdfc28rf