BSAC TRAVEL CLUB - Trip Reports - Wrecks, Plymouth, Devon

TRAVEL CLUB

Plymouth on Freedom
by David Beading & Mark Kendall

This was my first (proper) weekend trip with the Club, although I have been on a couple of weekend dives since I joined. I knew a few of the people going and had come in as a late(ish) replacement for Jonathan.
I travelled down to Plymouth on the Friday evening having left work early but thanks to the trains and traffic I arrived last at the pub (at 10.45), the Boringdon Arms in Turnchapel and too late for dinner. Most of the group (Julia, Simon, Mark, Chris K, Barry and Paul) who were staying both nights at the pub were relaxing and enjoying a couple of beverages before bed. Dave T and Jo were stopping at Dave's Dad's on the way and met us at Mount Batten in the morning.
Saturday morning was clear and sunny, a most unusual occurrence! We met the boat, Freedom, skippered by Alan, at Mount Batten Marina - about a minutes drive from the pub. The plan was Eddystone for the first dive and at Dave's request something metal for the second.

The journey out to the Eddystone took a bit over the hour and was flat calm, prompting one or two comments about it feeling rather unnatural and shouldn't the boat be moving about more. On arrival at the site most people were in or almost in their suits but I obviously have a lot to learn as I was the first ready, by some way! This also meant I was first in the water and didn't have the pleasure of watching the elegant entries performed by the others. I believe Julia and Jo got top marks, managing to get stuck half way over. Chris said he didn't know whether to drag them back in or help throw them over the side. I'll leave you to decide which option won out?!?!
The dive itself was great, 40m with visibility of 10-15m and loads of life. There were deadman's fingers, urchins and sea cucumbers as far as you could see, with the slightly less frequent spider crabs and dogfish. We spent about half an hour pottering around and enjoying the scenery before surfacing and just managed to avoid decompression stops in the process. Once back on the boat the usual post dive analysis took place together with a look at Mark's photos.

The second dive was decided, the Egan Layne and Alan duly set off. The Egan Layne wasn't too busy when we arrived. I suspect this was because it was lunchtime and the RIB divers were all back at Bovi enjoying their bacon butties. The vis was again good, about 7-8m which meant it was possible to appreciate the size and shape of the JEL properly. This dive lasted 45 minutes and gave us the chance to explore the entire wreck. By the time we left it was starting to get busy. There were several RIBs up top and five or six divers on or by the shot. I think it was a good job we arrived when we did.

The trip back to Mount Batten was made more interesting than usual as HM Armed forces were putting on an air display for an event taking place on Plymouth Hoe. The highlight was the Sea Harrier buzzing low over the Sound at high speed before demonstrating the advantages of being able to hover. I suspect the Tornado which followed later will be best remembered for the amount people jumped as he flew over the first time, surprising how quiet a jet travelling towards you at 600mph is and how noisy after it has gone passed!

The evening was spent socially over a meal and a few beers but the number of people ordering food seemed to overstretch the kitchen and waitresses so some of us had to wait what seemed an eternity for the food.

Sunday morning was another clear day. The plan was to dive the SS Rosehill first and then decide on the second dive depending on where the vis was best. I have to confess I'd not heard of the Rosehill (I should invest in a copy of Dive Cornwall I guess) but apart from being largely flattened she provides a nice dive site, 32m to the bottom. I got the chance to witness first hand the stylish entry methods divised by the others to get off the boat this time as Paul and I decided we'd jump as one of the latter pairs. The shot was on the boilers and as neither Paul nor myself knew the wreck we took a guess and headed along the plating towards the stern. We decided to turn around before getting all the way to the stern and missed out on a huge prop and rudder. The vis wasn't as good as Saturday but it was still an enjoyable dive.

It was decided that the Mew Stone would be the final dive site of the w/e as the vis was reported as 10m or so but before we got that far we ran into a bank of sea mist which reduced the vis above water to 50m. A rather eerie situation to find ourselves in as it was the middle of a hot summer's afternoon. After talking to some of the other skippers in the area we decided instead to dive the Poulmic (a Free French minesweeper that sank after hitting a German parachute mine in WW2) just outside the breakwater. The wreck itself lies in 16m and is very scattered as she was blown to pieces before she sank but this meant we just bimbled around enjoying the wildlife. The site is covered with seaweeds and algae and there were plenty of fish, not to mention a few too many divers as we were all either lining off the shot or following other people's lines so we could find the boat again if it was still misty when we surfaced. This turned out to be completely unnecessary as it was bright sunshine when we got back up top.

We were treated to another air display while unloading the boat, this time by the RAF in the form of a Jaguar and a Tornado.
The only thing which spoilt the weekend was the fact that we had to go home, rather than keep on diving and enjoying the nice weather. Thanks to Julia for organising the trip and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Kingston & Elmbridge Branch www.kingstonbsac.co.uk

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