nudibranchs , sea hares and gobies , with crystal jellies and strange hydroids bobbing about in the green water . I was less enamoured of the Helford and Fal River dives , but the maerl beds are pretty special and host to many gobies and crabs . I just couldn ’ t wait to return to the Manacles and keep shooting the jewel anemones .
Evenings saw us checking out a different pub for dinner , pre-booked months earlier in my period of panic . The problem with eating out every night was that we tended to land on the tried and tested burger and chips , but at Porthallow ’ s Five Pilchards , Saeed went off-piste .
Admirably , he opted for the vegetarian option , which promised ‘ Portobello mushroom filled with chestnut and pecan , with new potatoes ’. Note the singular ‘ mushroom ’.
The meal that arrived did indeed contain a single , modestly proportioned
Close-up of a crystal jelly
Sentinel fan worm
mushroom , surrounded by a thumping surplus of spuds . “ They ’ ve got the ratio all wrong ,” Saeed moaned , prodding the titanic tubers with his fork . I pointed out that they were at least dressed in mint butter , but he was inconsolable . So I returned to my steak .
Diving from the Celtic Cat was a pleasure . Anyone who hasn ’ t visited should do so , if only to witness Michael ’ s method of getting divers from beach to boat . They use a towering wheeled walkway , tethered to a tractor , then reverse the boat up to the beach . Kit gets transferred to the boat from a precarious platform at the top of the walkway . Then the divers hop on and enjoy a lovely catamaran with a toilet and a double diver lift . Luxury !
We repeated the pattern ... the Manacles being the ‘ steak and chips ’ of the day , while the Helford and Fal provided our ‘ stuffed mushroom ’ moments .
Sand mason worm Peacock worm
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