It must have been a better day than it was a dive, 'cos the next morning the feeling of mild sun burn reminded me that a few hours spent at sea on a reasonably sunny day is a good way to catch the rays! I think we all, that is Simon , Tad, Ernie, Trez, Sean & 2x Chris, probably spent slight more time in the sun and slightly less time under water than we predicted and hoped for!
It was a fair enough day for a ride out to the Fortuna aboard SEA ZONES, a light swell and at the start a little overcast. On arrival the fishermen on another boat above the wreck did their best not to look annoyed at all this blasted scuba-divers and even 'stood aside' to let us shot the wreck and get in. It didn't look too encouraging from the surface with plenty of particles in the water and a very short view of the shot line. It was about 30m to the highest parts of the wreck but by about half-way down it was torches on and keep an eye on your buddy!
On reaching the wreck it was pretty damn black, with about a metre's visibility. With some monofilament line lying around the place it had the feel of 'how long will it take to get caught-up' ! But we moved carefully and looked around to check for snagging risks. All the same , it was hardly one of our better dives and Simon and I only managed about 2o minutes before thinking 'that's enough'! One of those dives (for us) in which you think that sending-up the buoy is a highlight! Still on reaching the surface and the day had improved and with Mick's famous buttered scones & tean on the aft-deck beckoning it was only going to get better!
We decided to 'can' the planned second dive in favour of a gentle run back to Newhaven and a visit to the not-so-greasy-spoon that now 'substitutes' for the old and lamented 'Coral Cabin' . What's it coming to ? A distinct lack of damp undersuits and biker leathers in the café these days! I said it was good way to catch the rays , and so it was, as we met-up with old buddy Ray and talked about some of our mutual acquaintances in the weird world of diving!
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2 comments:
beginning to think that the last few years of diving has all been a very strange dream
I got more wet biking to Le Mans this weekend! Never mind it's early days, the dives can only get better.
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