On Wednesday 7th October 11 members of the club met at Stoney Cove for the night dive. We had 5 divers and 6 other members who came to assist with kitting up and marshalling the dives. Water temperature was a tepid 15 degrees and visibility was good. Wayne and Tracey entered the water in daylight and emerged smiling at dusk. Garry, Mick and Kevin were determined theirs was going to be a proper night dive so waited until 7 o’clock before entering the water. One of the aims of their dive was to find the newly sunk wreck ‘Defiant’ but even with the prize of a bag of nuts for all who were successful they failed the challenge. However they did have a very enjoyable dive which was also useful as they practised their buddy skills and use of equipment in the dark. Julie made an excellent Dive Marshall keeping tabs on everyone. After the diving we retired to Nemo’s for a drink and 6 of us enjoyed a meal together. The next night dive is in 2 weeks on Wednesday 21st October. Garry and I will be there from 5 o’clock and hope to see as many people as possible either in the water or just coming for a drink and to eat.
Although the night started a little flat, with Tracy’s tyre getting nailed early on, “Jack” had her up in the air and Gary and Wayne had it changed in a time that would put Lewis Hamiltons pit crew to shame !
As the old rusty gate to the bus stop swung open, an interesting array of visual light aids filled the Stoney Cove car park, a quick buddy check ensured that Tracy had in-fact wimped out and was wearing her hood, her penance for forgetting her baby shampoo meant she was given the pleasure of washing out my mask before dropping in. Couple of blasts of air and a big splash and we found ourselves descending from the twilight on the surface to almost immediate darkness, any thoughts about not needing the torch for the start of the dive were immediately ignored and the road was alight with our beams. We continued our descent down the road, took the obvious left turn along the hole and having stumbled upon a pile of rocks, left again found us arriving at the bus,how appropriate having started at the bus stop ! The plan was to try and miss the Stangarth, which we achieved with relative ease and instead head for the Mini, as this was the first night dive this year (well one that was dark anyway !) , we took great pride in our achievement to miss the 18 Meter, 46 tonne steam powered tug and find the 8 foot x 4 foot Mini, phase one achieved, the remainder of the plan was to then avoid the newly sunken “Defiant” and find the much harder street light , once again Phase two achieved. Having dived into the wall we decided a slow ascent up the wall to the brake drum concluded that we also managed to miss, sorry I mean avoid the Nautilus thus concluding an almost perfect 40 minutes around the 20 meter shelf, along with the usual attractions we saw two of the largest Perch ever seen (well by me anyway ), one hiding under the platform @ 6 Meters and more crayfish than the Tescos Fish counter, we popped up bang on time @ 45 Minutes, concluding a very enjoyable night dive. No nuts this time but like all good American Governors……………….we will be back !
Night diving is the first and third Wednesdays of every month and we plan on being at every one. Please join us and bring your better halves. If you need a buddy or want any more information contact Gary