For those who don't remember the period of about 6-8 weeks leading up to this weekend had had glorious weather. With the South experiencing record high temperatures and a very long dry spell. For this reason we had high expectations of the weather on this trip.....
WRONG.....
We arrived at various times on Friday afternoon/early evening and the weather was fine. The accommodation is right on the waterfront and it is ideally placed for the boats and RIBS. It is also a short water taxi ride into the town centre. The Mountbatten centre has been totally refurbished for divers and other water users. The accommodation is very modern and clean though the rooms are a little small. It has its own bar, restaurant and training rooms and was perfect for what we wanted.
Unfortunately when we woke up on Saturday it was awful. Cold, cloudy, misty and heavy wind and rain. It was touch and go whether we could dive at all. Most of the RIBs abandoned the day as it was too rough for them. We set off anyway, as the skipper though we could find a site inside the breakwater. We did, and we dived around the base of the fort you can see in the pictures. It was a bit crowded since almost everyone was trying to dive it due to the bad weather. Quite a good dive, though vis wasn't too good due to the weather. We also managed to get a second drift dive in the afternoon before turning back. Not a great start to the weekend. Unfortunately the rough sea was having a bad effect on some people (Dawn and Mark) who were regularly sick on this trip. The whole point of the trip was to dive the Scylla and The James Egan Layne. With weather like this it wasn't going to happen !!!
When we got up on Sunday the weather was great !! The sun was back and the water was calm (or at least calmer) and yes we were going to the Scylla
The Scylla is the wreck of a British frigate sunk deliberately for divers. This is the first time this has been done anywhere in Europe. More information can be found by following this link. It really is a fantastic dive. It is perfectly upright in about 20m of water making it ideal for almost all divers. There are many holes cut into the structure so it is safe to go into. It is very difficult to describe it after only one dive. It is well worth seeing and it would take several dives to really do it justice.
Again people were being sick (Mark, Dawn) though they still seemed to enjoy the trip. After lunch we then went onto the James Egan Lane, which is still a great dive and should not be underestimated. This is a very simple and relaxing dive and again suitable for all levels of diver
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