 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
July 2009 Club Weekend Trip to West Bay, Dorset
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On
the weekend of the 4-6th July, the club organised a camping
diving event in West Bay, following
the best traditions of club diving to maximise members involvement.
The club was not backward in coming forward, and responded well,
proving the popularity of such an event. 15 divers and families
turned up to support the event, along with 2 ribs and a small
hard boat,
which came around the coast from Poole. We all converged and
met at West Bay Holiday Park, where the club had block booked
an entire
terrace for our use. Most of the club had arrived by friday evening,
tents went up and beers went down, as members swapped travel
stories and met with old friends in the July warmth.
Ron
and his boat had arrived from Poole earlier, and it now bobbed
in the harbour. He had brought 1 crew and 2 other divers with
him,
intention
to dive on the way over. However, it was a windy, 6 hour very lumpy
passage in F6 winds. This scuppered the diving, and those with
strong stomachs consoled themselves with Bacon and donuts. This
did not go down too well
with the 'motionally challenged' in the crew, who instead spent
most of the voyage turning themselves inside out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
other 2 boats arrived by road without incident, the club boat
residing in the Holiday Park, and Martins boat was launched into
the Harbour
on arrival. The initial excitement over, we discussed plans for
the
morning,
and headed down to the hostelry to drink more beer and tell outrageous
tales that even fishermen would find tall.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
local hostelries were excellent, serving fine traditional ales,
which were hoovered up with industrial
efficiency by members keen to ensure that the quality of the products
matched the fine descriptions. It was a serious business requiring
immense concentration (and consumption) and a witless crew eventually
stumbled back to the campsite.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
An
underwater correspondant re-hydrates on local produce. He's a thirsty
boy that Nudger. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Diving
Saturday
It
was an early start, but with crews already allocated to boats,
everyone managed to get ready, and on their alloted boat by 9:20am.
The diving logistics was a bit of a mare, as the distance from
the campsite to the harbour was too far to walk with kit, and there
was insufficient parking at the harbour to leave cars there. This
meant shuttling kit down, and the drivers finally removing cars
back to the campsite and walking from there. Once we had launched the
club boat, we opted to leave it in the water for the rest of the weekend,
for which we paid a mooring fee.
Baygitano
The
three boats raced out in convoy, heading WSW towards Lyme Regis. The
Baygitano lay some 7 miles away, across low bumpy swells. On arrival
we discovered this to be a popular destination, with diveboats
already in attendance. A local skipper allowed us to use his shotline,
on condition that we retrieve it and return it to West bay. He gave
his contact as the local pub! Happy to oblige, we dropped our divers
in, and all had a stunning dive on this fairly shallow wreck. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Baygitano was a schooner rigged steamer armed with a stern gun,
sunk by torpedo on March 18th 1918. Two crewmen were killed in
the blast,
the remaining 37 escaped by lifeboat. The wreck today is broken
and scattered, the biggest sections being around the large boilers,
which
are home for impressive congers. On our dive we saw large shoals
of Bib and pouting, with a very inquisitive large cod between the
boilers. The depth is approximately 20 metres, and we had 8-10meters
visibility. It can be dived at any state of the tide.
In
the afternoon we dived Highpoint reef, a much closer site to Westbay.
Due to everyone wanting to dive, we were diving in waves, which
meant the boats were at sea for longer to cover back to back dive
groups. Highpoint reef had a max depth of 13 metres, and had a
small wall to swim along on the seaward side. It was a relaxing
scenic dive with lots of marine life. Once we had finished diving
for the day, it was a race back to get cylinders filled, and get
the BBQ jacked up!
|
|
|
|
|
Cuckoo
Wrasse on the Baygitano |
|
|
|
|
BBQ
at the Campsite
On
returning
to WestBay, our first problem was geting cylinders filled for
Sunday. The local facility was WestBay Watersports which required
cylinders
in by 4:00pm for a turnaround by close of play. This was frankly
unachievable. Luckily we had an-ex member diving with us who
was now a local. Malcolm managed to make an arrangement with
a local
skipper who would fill our tins overnight. We pooled our tins
at the quayside, where they were collected and taken
away.
It was time to manage our kit back to the campsite and light
the BBQ. This was organised by Jeff and Lindsay, and supported
and assisted
by the club. Meat and fish appeared from all directions, as well
as fresh venison from Guy, and of course the usual accompaniment
of non-meat
girlie products. Washed down with a few beers, the night soon drew
in, and a contented bunch headed for their tents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| "I
told you last week to fix that door. Its no use trying to put it
back on now!" |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guy
eating his own venison. No wonder he looks pleased. Meanwhile Jeff
lifts the lid of the giant Spittoon expecting a trick shot in-off
Guys head from the cheap seats. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Diving
Sunday
The
wind had picked up overnight, and when we awoke, flags were flapping
and hay bales were blowing across the campsite. Our plan to dive
the St Dunstan on slack water at 9:00 was looking unlikely. We
postponed diving until 9:30am hoping for an improvement, and
were rewarded with a drop in the wind. Some divers had dropped
out
for the day, so we were now down to 2 ribs, with the luxury of
each one having a non-diving cox. With both crews loaded we sped
out across the 5 miles of water in slightly bumpy conditions,
at a pace of about 20 knots.
We
reached the wreck site in about 20 minutes, another rib was already
on station. Due to weak tides
in Lyme Bay, most sites can be dived at any state of the tide,
we would try this out on the St. Dunstan. The wreck was expertly
shotted by Ron, and the boats quickly dropped off their divers in
the bright sunshine, into the clear blue waters of lyme Bay.
Visibility
was a stunning 10 metres plus, with sunlight penetrating down
to the wreck at 29 metres. These were perfect conditions for
a UK wreck dive, which are uncommonly encountered. Result:- Divers
like kiddies in a sweet shop. |
|
|
|
A
Blennie on the St Dunstan
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
St. Dunstan
The
St Dunstan, originally built as a bucket dredger was torpedoed
on 23rd September 1917 whilst in temporary service as a minesweeper.
She is a 200ft long iron vessel which now lies upside down on
a gravel sea bed. Both props and rudders lie on the sea bed at
the
stern and the prop shafts are clearly visible. Along the length
of the upturned hull you can see the doors where the dredging buckets
would have been deployed. Although well broken there is much machinery
to see and an abundance of life gives the wreck a bright and
airy feel, there are also
many scallops around the wreck so something for everyone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Conclusion
We
arrived back at west Bay at lunchtime, and with winds increasing,
we opted to finish the diving then, thus giving ample time to recover
boats,
pull
down tents,
and pause to relax before journeying home. It had been a great weekend,
enjoyed by divers and families alike. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
