Castaways Sub-Aqua Club
	A Branch (Branch No 2071) of The British Sub-Aqua Club

Fun in the sun or...
It's not my trip!

Weymouth

10-11 July 1999

Why is it that it is never uneventful when I drive down for a weekends diving? This time the "I won't stop for petrol, there is bound to be another garage before we need it" decision lead to free-wheeling down a hill to pull in to the next garage while the engine was running on the fumes left in the tank. Oh well, we didn't actually run out! After that the drive went smoothly, and we managed to meet the others in the pub in time for a couple of beers. As the B&B was in walking distance this was ideal.

Despite some dubious room allocations (the floor was comfortable, honest!), everyone met at the harbour rested and relaxed. There was a suspicious air about the place as we loaded the boat. After a while I realised that the sunshine and lack of wind had unnerved everybody. It was as though we were all silently waiting for the bad weather to break. This couldn't be a British diving weekend, where was the rain and wind?

Happy divers, worshipping the Sun God

The morning's dive was to be on the Sidon, a submarine that had the misfortune to sink twice, and was finally put where it now lies as an ASDIC target. The journey out showed us why we had managed to book this boat at such short notice - it was probably the slowest boat in Weymouth! This didn't really make much difference in the sunshine on flat calm seas. The divers amused themselves by either sleeping, eating or holding cherry pip spitting competitions (Suzanne managed to get her's clear of the boat sometimes).

Obligatory picture of Suzanne's hair

When the boat arrived on site and put the shot in, the divers were halfway to being kitted up when the skipper announced, "Slack is a little late, maybe 30 minutes. Sometimes it doesn't come at all". To this some bright voice at the back piped up "Then two come along all at once!"

The skipper was right, the tide was running. To keep cool the divers who had put on their drysuits decided to run some lines of the back of the boat and go for a little dip. As well as keeping cool, this provided endless opportunities for fun and frolicking.

He was right, it was running a bit!

The Sidon is a really good wreck to dive on, and well worth a look instead of its more famous cousin the M2. There is plenty of marine life around the outside, a nice swim through under the stern, and the conning tower is still fairly intact. The viz was really good, and we found a nice size Conger asleep near the conning tower.

Justin is amused by Kevin's sleeping form

Because of the times of slacks and the speed of the boat, it was decided that the second dive would be a scenic on the way back to Weymouth harbour. By general consensus of opinion it was decided to dive the outside wall of Portland Harbour which had been such a success during the Club Diver training weekend. I was able to enjoy this site much more than previous without a trainee in tow. Suzanne and myself had a really nice gentle drift, doing what we like best, looking in holes and close up for the macro and sessile marine life. We found many Nudibranchs, European Cowries and a sleeping J edible crab.

That evening we decided to make a run to a seafood restaurant recommended to us by Gill's mother. However, an accident that completely blocked the coast road put paid to that idea and we ended up in a great pub (surprise!?!?) for a very pleasant evening.

It was during this evening that Nigel's Just-in-Time approach to life became evident. An example of which was everybody meeting in the B&B lounge ready for dinner just to hear Nigel saying "I just need to have a shower, won't be long!"

The following morning and the party was on more familiar territory, the wind had sharpened and it wasn't as hot. The swell on the way out to the first dive sight wasn't too onerous (despite the boat's tendency to roll), however the trolling backwards and forwards to find the wreck seemed to have a very adverse affect on a number of people's stomachs. Despite this most people managed to dive, and enjoyed the dive.

Joyous scenes after the dive

This dive was on a boat called the Bennendijck, which is mainly a set of fallen plates around a couple of its boilers. I was diving with Jake this time and we both took a minute at the bottom of the shot to check ourselves out. After a quick check of connectors and tightening of straps our queasiness had passed and we continued on to have a really great dive. Unfortunately at about 12m coming up the shot I started to feel distinctly ill again. I now can tell my trainees with a knowledge born of experience that you can throw-up through a regulator.

Justin trying to look enigmatic

For those of us that were feeling less than 100% (that is nearly all), the run into shore to find a sheltered spot seemed to take hours (I think it did take hours). But we were soon anchored just outside of Lulworth Cove for lunch. The sun had come out, and the wind had either dropped in strength or we where sheltered from it.

For those whose stomachs had returned to a semblance of normal the second dive was along Lulworth Banks, fairly close in to the cliffs. I sat this one out, but from the grins and excited chatter from the other divers I think it proved to be a popular dive.

Is that a Deco-blob in your pocket…?

The journey along the coast back to Weymouth harbour was idyllic, with the sun out. We even got chance to see the Weymouth over 50s topless sailing team during a practice session. Despite some hiccups (should that be throw-ups? Ed.), this was a very pleasant weekend, one of those occasions which reaffirms the reasoning behind this diving lark.

Anthony Peacock

Photographs courtesy Anthony Peacock and Gill Savage