There ’ s been little opportunity to get out diving in the last 12 months . But this issue marks , I hope , the beginning of an end to the constraints imposed upon us . We can now look forward hopefully to our full , unrestricted release into the wild blue . And , to mark this opportunity to get out and to meet people again , where better than a familiar site and in the company of a familiar face ?
The vast majority of the photos featured in the eight years this column has been running have been the work of Dan Bolt . We first snorkelled together in the summer of 2011 , the summer of Britain By Snorkel , and he ’ s joined me on many an exploit since . Our first outing was to London Arch , a little shore dive under Devonshire cliffs and looking out over Torbay . The waters under The Arch are sheltered and sit between five and seven metres depth so it ’ s the perfect spot to return to for a shakedown after a prolonged hiatus . There ’ s also a relatively safe swim-through and the walls are covered in sponges and soft corals , with the chance to spot more life in the profusion of nooks and crevices .
I hadn ’ t been in the sea in over three months . That ’ s a record for me , even with the year we ’ ve just had . It was a balmy nine degrees and the visibility was a solid , British three metres . Nothing spectacular , nothing new but a chance to simply get wet . Over decades of diving , I have become more selective . Gone were the early days of ‘ any time underwater is a good time ’. I like there to be a point to my dives – testing kit , training , filming , exploring – or something worth investing the time to see .
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