Winter Diving on Scimitar
February 2007

by Alan Ewart


February! Mid winter, dark days, darker nights, frosts, storms, cold, a time when most UK divers are either in the middle of their hibernation period, heading to warmer climes to get wet for a week or suffering the cold in one of the inland quarry sites around the country.

I am not keen on quarries, they have their place, are useful for training but for leisure diving they really are a last resort for me. Surely it doesn't have to be like this, I live on the south coast for goodness sake. Surely it is possible to get in the sea? Thankfully it is: leave the quarry behind there is another way!

Scimitar diving are a new operation working out of Weymouth & Portland using a nice shiny new 'evolution 38' charter boat. They have now been running for about a year and are fast gaining a great reputation. Scimitar offer a winter weekend's diving with two nights Bed & Breakfast at the Portland Lodge guesthouse and four dives for just £50 per day. This price includes lunch between dives. The beauty of this system is that Scimitar will look at the weather situation on the Thursday and make a call on whether diving is going to be possible or not. If not then the weekend will cost you nothing and you won't travel hoping that you will be able to get a dive in. No arguments with hotels or guesthouses because you have to cancel rooms at the last moment.

Obviously at this time of year it doesn't pay to have high expectations in terms of getting out to offshore wrecks, so you should expect to be diving on local sites like The Black hawk, Alex Van Opstel or the Bennidijk but in good conditions it is possible to get round Portland Bill to visit the M2, or even the Salsette. Alternatively you could end up diving inside Portland harbour to keep out of the poorer weather conditions.

I have spent more than my fair share of time this winter in quarries, mostly due to the really horrible weather conditions in this part of the country, so it was with some relief that I saw a forecast of a high pressure area settling over the south coast and winds coming from the north east but dropping as the week progressed. At last, a chance to dive in the sea. I rang Scimitar and booked my buddy and I onto the boat on Sunday 4th February. As I live just a few miles from Weymouth we didn't need accommodation and had an easy drive through arriving in plenty of time for the 0900 collection.

The boat arrived bang on time to pick us up and what a great boat it is, shiny, very very shiny. So what makes a boat a great boat? Well for me a number of features sort the good from the run-of-the-mill.

Firstly, getting on and off the boat is important. Scimitar has a side access gangway that means you don't have to climb over gunwhales with a heavy twin-set or a rebreather on your back. It also means that the boat is accessible to wheelchair users. The boat also has a diver lift so no need to carry all that heavy gear up a ladder when your dive is over. Both great features if you have a less able diver in your group. There is a very large (and very clean) toilet accessed from the dive deck. This will take a wheelchair too if necessary.

Room to store gear and kit up is increasingly important and Scimitars benches are at exactly the right height to allow you to kit up comfortably. They are also wide enough to allow technical divers to set up stage bottles etc. The boat has a hold to allow storage of extra cylinders, a large freshwater tank to allow you to hose down your kit when the days diving is complete. The dive deck is extremely spacious and with plenty of room for kit stowage under the benches there was no sign of divers falling over each other. The boat also boasts the latest in electronics. This should ensure that you get to and from the dive site safely and dive what you want to. The 500HP Cummings engine will make sure you can do so at a decent speed too.

The boat carries all the requisite safety equipment including two constant flow o2 kits and a 80% o2 drop bottle for use in an out of gas emergency.

There is plenty of stowage in the bow for dry kit, changing and so on, there are even four bunks to allow those who suffer from seasickness to lie down. The cabin is spacious and will allow good shelter in inclement weather. It would be cosy if 12 divers, skipper and crew tried to squeeze in though. There is also a well-equipped galley, copious hot drinks and a very decent lunch. We were provided with hot pasties, fresh fruit and a selection of biscuits and cakes.

Scimitar diving have obviously put a lot of thought into ensuring that their customers get a great service on the boat. This extends to carrying a crewmember. When I was onboard owner Smudge skippered the boat and Alice crewed. Both were exceptionally friendly and helpful. Alice helped everyone out with getting kitted, kept a wary eye on those getting on & off the boat and had a hot drink ready for you as soon as you got out of your kit. As you can tell I was impressed.



OK, so we have established that this is a great boat, but what about the diving? Well this weekend saw big spring tides and with some easterly in the wind we were never going to get great visibility. We had a bright sunny day, but with the storms we have had over recent weeks there was still quite a swell and with a fairly stiff breeze blowing we decided the most comfortable diving would be inside Portland harbour. In the event we dived the Queenie and the Spaniard, two little coasters which sank in the early 1900's. The Spaniard is believed to have broken her moorings, struck the breakwater and caught fire. The Queenie went to her rescue and also unfortunately caught fire and foundered after her crew abandoned her.



As was to be expected the underwater visibility was not great at around 3 - 4 metres at the maximum depth of around 16 metres. Both wrecks are permanently buoyed so finding them was not exactly a test of Smudge's skippering skills. We spend an enjoyable hour bumbling around the wrecks. It was hardly challenging or exciting, but with a water temperature around 10 degrees and with at least some fish life around we got an enjoyable winter dive and it was warmer than the quarries. Smudge picked us up post dive with the minimum of fuss.

We had a great day out on a really nice boat. We were well looked after by an excellent skipper & crew and we got some sea diving done in the UK in February. In my view it was a considerable step up from spending the day in a quarry.

So if you fancy a Winter weekend's diving or a day's charter to get your gear wet and keep your hand in, give Smudge or Helena a ring on 07765-326728 or have a look at Scimitar's website for further information Here


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