Devon knows it makes sense – Kirsty Andrews has realised her dream of a move to the coast, and she’ s loving it
KIRSTYANDREWS
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Devon knows it makes sense – Kirsty Andrews has realised her dream of a move to the coast, and she’ s loving it
I
’ ve finally done it- moved to Devon and to a much closer proximity to the sea. I know I trailed this some months ago in my column and more fool me for doing so; the reality was much more prolonged and frustrating... I shall say no more about the travails of moving house... I’ m in!
I can’ t see the sea from my window or anything, but the coast is a mere hop skip and a jump away( under 30 minutes). It’ s quite revolutionary for me, so far.
Now much more easily open to me are evening snorkels, evening dives even. Blissful boat trips after work in the summer, kayaks through the golden hours and darker shore dives in winter, I hope, in search of midnight feeding frenzies.
There’ s also potential for a different attitude to a dive. No longer need I pack up for the full weekend and play on the motorway for a couple of hours to get to my chosen bit of coast. If I choose to, I can look
out the window over my morning coffee, decide it looks good and pootle on down. Then, be back in time for an afternoon of household chores, with kit already drying in the sun. Who am I kidding, this is highly unlikely in my case; it’ s much more likely to be a walk on the moor, but it’ s nice to have the option. Of course, it may not always mean more diving: I have noticed a tendency in my local buddies to be a bit more choosy. Being closer gives the luxury of seeing the conditions, or the local traffic, or an infestation of inconvenient jet skiers and making a decision to do something else today. Less easy to do when you’ ve planned the trip for four months and driven for three hours to get there.
As I write this I’ m just commencing week three in my new salty home. It’ s started well- I moved in on a Friday and the Torbay BSAC Splash In was on Saturday. So I made sure that even though all other belongings were boxed up, the dive kit and camera gear was fully accessible.
The following two weekends I was Plymouth-bound enjoying old favourites of the Persier and Eddystone reefs, but with a far shorter commute. An evening shore dive took the edge off the hottest day of the year( so far). I even took an impromptu day off midweek to snorkel with blue sharks- well it was very hot, much more comfortable to have a sea breeze at my back, and a lastminute space was just too tantalising to resist, when so conveniently close to home. Meanwhile, those boxes are fine where they are for now- nobody unpacks immediately, right? I can see myself having to reel back on a few of my diving impulses soon, but not quite yet.
I do like to‘ have it all’ though. Although I have the South Coast at my fingertips, I still have a hankering for other parts of the UK; many of my favourite stomping grounds are in Scotland, or Cornwall, or Dorset, and I’ ve got plenty of plans for the rest of the year in a variety of locations- so I’ ll be packing up and playing on the motorway soon enough- see you there. �
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