 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
|
July 2010
Club Diving/Camping
W/E West Bay
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Weekend Starts Here!
On
the weekend of the 09th-11th July, the club headed out to
West Bay in Dorset for a Diving/Camping Weekend. We stayed
at the
West Bay Holiday Park which was selected for its prime location
to the harbour and pubs, but proved to be pricey for camping
and not customer friendly.
Nevertheless,
the weather was looking fair for the weekend, so we put up
our tents, spread our wares, and firmed up the diving weekend.
An issue arose Friday evening with the club boat and trailer,
which sadly removed it from the weekend plan. Martin Kite offered
to bring his boat down as a replacement, and turned up early
Saturday morning and slipped the boat in the new harbour. At
the same time, two other club divers arrived for the day, and
we slotted them into the days diving program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Left:-
West Bay harbour at low tide.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Above:-
video of entry and dive around
the WW1 sunken Merchant ship, the Baygitano, at a depth of
20 metres. Filmed on a HERO GO-PRO HD camera mounted
on my torch
handle.
Below:-
Divers enter the water over the Baygitano.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
first dive of the day took us WSW approximately 6 miles to the
wreck of the Baygitano. The Baygitano was WW1 Merchant ship sunk
by a torpedo strike, and now lies at 20 metres. The underwater
visibility on the day was 6-8 metres, with a water temperature
of 14 degres C. There was a prolifice amount of marine life present
on the wreck (See video) and we even amaged an encounter with a
large conger eel. There aer still some large sections to explore
in spite of its age, although there are no opportunities for wreck
penetration.
The
second dive of the day was the St Dunstan, another WW1 wreck, of
a derdger converted to minesweeping duties. Last visit to this
was a stunning dive, sadly this weekend, the viz started well at
the surface, but at 30m on the wreck, was reduced to a disappointing
1-2m.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
afternoon dive was a reef dive in the area of East Tennants
reef. We spent some time trawling with the echo sounder to find
prominent
drop-offs but failed miserably. We did a weak drift at approx
20metres depth across the seabed.
In
the evening Ross organised a BBQ around his caravan, and old
friends and former club members
came to visit and catch up on gossip. Malc and Jude visited,
(Malc is now DO of the local dive club) and gave us some numbers
for a decent reef dive for the morning. We compared sunburn
injuries and after a few tinnies, a few tired divers turned in
for some
shut-eye.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
West
Bay new harbour and slip for temporary moorings.
|
|
|
|
| Wreckage
on the Baygitano |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUNDAY
The
following morning weather looked nice and sunny, and we headed
out ESE about 4 miles to investigate Malc's numbers. We dropped
into some rocky ledges at 25metres depth, some of which rose
to a height of 3metres. Marine life sheltered in the nooks and
crannies, and the dive provided a fitting end to the weekend.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
