SCUBACHAT
Surprise crab at Lundy
Meet the Monday Club
COULD WE BE BSAC ’ S SMALLEST branch ? Formed in July 2020 , we have a total of 10 divers , which just reaches the requirements to create a new branch . We called ourselves ‘ The Monday Club ’ and dived initially on Mondays at Stoney Cove , as a group of likeminded divers of a certain age . With travel restrictions easing , we have just returned from our first club trip abroad to Cyprus . We had six days diving with Alpha Divers on a number of wrecks in Larnaca Bay , the highlight being a deep dive into the engine room of the ferry , MV Zenobia .
It sank on its maiden voyage on 7 June 1980 and now lies on its port side at 42 metres , with a length of 172m and a beam of 28m . Today , it is widely considered to be one of the top ten wreck sites of the world .
There had been much preparatory work by two club members who wished to
Weight watcher complete their Dive Manager tasks for the Advanced Diver and Dive Leader grades . Using Cyprus Admiralty Chart 848 , they were able to plan and dive four wrecks in Larnaca Bay to meet their Dive Manager criteria by producing comprehensive documentation for the trip . Well done to Kev Jamieson , who has now qualified as an Advanced Diver , and Alan Thompson , who is working towards his Dive Leader .
As for me , I had replaced my mask with a new shiny one with prescription lenses , so this trip has opened up a whole new vista for me !
Many thanks to Chris , the owner of Alpha Divers and his team , Neris , Sean and George and the resident turtle who seems to have made his home in the lift shaft of the MV Zenobia . DAVE PLUMB , The Monday Club , BSAC 2606
WHEN I SAY ‘ ALL OVER THE SEABED ’, I ’ M NOT REFERRING TO DRINK CANS , PLASTIC bags , or other human jetsam , I ’ m talking about BCD weight pouches . I have found them on dives all around the British Isles , abroad and even on the Zenobia wreck .
I ’ m not saying they are badly designed , or that all divers who use them are careless , but something is definitely amiss . In my club alone , I have been witness to at least half a dozen lost pouches . Not only does it spoil your dive but , your buddy ’ s too . Some of our members have even gone back to using a weightbelt .
The answer , of course , is a more thorough buddy check . Are the pouches fully ‘ clicked in ’? It ’ s a question every buddy team should ask each other . CHRIS GREGORY , Wirral SAC
I HAVE JUST come back from a brilliant trip with the club at Lundy Island , North Devon . Obviously , the main focus with Lundy was the amazing seal colony , which did not disappoint ! However , it was while on a drift dive there I observed something a little more unusual .
So , while drifting along at a site called Pete ’ s Pinnacle I noticed that one of the sponges that are scattered around the rocks there appeared to be walking . As a marine life enthusiast , I ’ m quite confident sea sponges do not walk ! I swam closer for a better look and was astounded to see an odd-looking crab with a sponge on the top of his head . The crab itself is unusual to me also . I ’ ve been diving in the UK for a few years and am used to our usual brown , spider and swimmer crabs , but this looked very different . I took some video of him for a bit and then carried on with my dive .
I explained this sighting to the guys on the boat and truth be told they all thought I was perhaps a bit under the influence of nitrogen !
We filled our cylinders at the very welcoming local BSAC branch at Ilfracombe , who have an amazing clubhouse with their own compressor room and a bar upstairs ! We were welcomed for a beer while our tanks were filled . While in the bar supping on a pint of Devon ’ s finest , I recounted the spongehatted crab story to the woman behind the bar , who happened to be a highly experienced local diver . She told me it was an incredibly rare sighting of Dromia personata – the sponge crab !
I gave this little critter a good googling and it turns out there are only a handful of sightings ever in UK waters ! I was very pleased to hear this and consider myself a very lucky bloke . PHIL SPARROW , Swale BSAC 787
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