[JAG]

I promised that I would put a posting up and everyone involved in the trip could add their thoughts to it.. Milldog has started a thread here but I thought I should add one for all to chip in with.

Well, after several weeks and three attempts the weather gods were finally kind to us and we were able to take up Smudges kind offer of a couple of days free diving in return for an honest appraisal of his setup. Couldn't say fairer than that.

I will start off with my thoughts about the boat and then move on to the dives. (Jeez, I'm sat here typing this and still feel a swaying motion!)

After a very early start on Wednesday I arrived in Weymouth for about 0730, and promptly headed for the sea front for breakfast! I left early so as to avoid any potential problems on the M25, and the exmatelot in me hates being late for anything. Met Smudge at North Quay around 0900, loaded my kit onboard and parked the car.

My first impression on boarding Scimitar was how neat and squared away everything was. Having lived onboard ships for a few years of my life a seamingly minor thing like this had a big impression on me. No unneccessary clutter. The second thing was the benches. I found them to be superb. The right height, deep enough to be able to clip a stage on whilst kitting up without fear of it going for a wander and deep enought to sit on fully kitted up comfortably without hanging your arse off the edge. Plenty of room under the benches for wet gear stowage too. Next thing was the amount of deck space, loads! Very nice not to be fin over fin with the person opposite me! To the left, just behind the wheelhouse is the lav, with a flush. Plenty of room inside built with wheelchair access in mind. It was mentioned that a shower could be on the cards in the future also. At the stern are fresh and saltwater outlets which enabled us to be able to wash kit down and be "cooled off" whilst fully kitted up waiting to enter the water. Smudge mentioned that he wasn't entirely happy with his current bungee method of securing kit to the rails but a possible solution was in hand. I personally didn't have any problems the current method but other suggestions were made during the days and I will let those guys elaborate more. Just inside the wheelhouse is a "wet" seating area, once again I found no problems with it but the table is to be lengthened by a couple of inches or so.

Personnel - Smudge is the very first real "Yorkshire Diver" I have encountered! He struck me as very friendly and enthusiastic and very eager to accommodate his customers as much as possible. He's obviously spent a lot of time and effort in trying to achieve his goals. Alice was a great crew member helping us out wherever we wanted it, and keeping a steady supply of tea, coffee, hot chocolate and choccie biccies coming. The pasties between dives were very welcome and also a nice touch.

I found the dive briefings to be thorough and it was nice to see a tagging out/in system in operation. Only ever used this system abroad before.

Overall, maybe I'm easy to please but I really couldn't fault Scimitar Diving. The whole shebang struck me as very professional. A couple of minor niggles maybe but they are already being addressed. I would highly recommend him and look forward to diving with him on many more occasions. I'm sure the other guys will be along to add their thoughts and maybe it might stir my brain into remembering things I've overlooked. (I still feel as though I'm swaying..)

The Dives:

M2

Max Depth: 31.7m
Runtime: 46 mins
32% & 50% Deco

I'd heard numerous good things about the M2 and I had really been looking forward to my first dive on her for a long time. Unfortunately we weren't blessed with great viz, probably around 5m max. Saying that it was a great dive and as a M2 virgin still lots to see. (Apart from numerous large congars eh Simon ;-) Doesn't take much working out where you are on her when you are concentrating so much on the wreck that you headbutt the rear hydroplanes! It wasn't until we got to the conning tower that it really felt like a sub though and it was a great site. My submarine cherry was popped.



The only downside was that I had to call the dive about 4 mins before the planned time due to getting severe cramp and not being able to shake it off, and I was shocked at how much your breathing increases! Looking forward to seeing the profile on that one! The cramp stayed with me pretty much all day after that.

Aerials Drift

Max Depth: 17.4m
Runtime: 33 mins


I thought the Aerials described some geological underwater formation or something, but no, it doesn't ;-)

This was a very gentle drift drift dive along the 20m shelf, and I mean very gentle. Barely got above stationery. We were joined by Gary (WWD) on this dive as his buddy IanRMartin wasn't feeling great.

HMS SIDON

Max Depth: 34.4m
Runtime: 68 mins
32% & 50% Deco



We had a discussion and agreed that due to slack timings and that I personally would rather have one long dive instead of a shortish one followed by another drift that the only dive of the day would be HMS Sidon.

Having never dived a sub before the M2, to get a second one was more than I'd hoped for. So on a gloriously sunny and calm day we set off in anticipation. Smudge had wanted us kitted up a few minutes before we were due to enter the water to test out Alices idea of cooling down the troops with the hose beforehand. Trust me, this worked! It was a great feeling to have cold water being sprayed over you as you are waiting and takes away that feeling of I need to get in the water now!!



We descended the shot line and when the Sidon came into view it was awesome. Much better viz than the M2. We started off about midships finning down the port side going aft, me stopping to peer in as many nooks and crannies to not miss out on any congars. Got to the stern, turned around and let the very gentle drift carry us very slowly along the starboard side going forward, once again looking in all the holes and crevices. As we rounded the bows just swam the hole port side to the stern again, came up to deck level and gently drifted forward stopping numerous times hunting for elusive congars. As we got near the bows did a 180 and swam back along the starboard side, my intention was to swim 3/4's of the way back at conning tower level and just drift back again which we did. Not one bloody congar though! Had a good look round the conning tower then it was time to end the dive. I bagged up and we started our ascent and deco. A really good dive, thoroughly enjoyed it. At one stage we came across Milldog who was indicating my to look between his legs! That's pongos for you.. Once I realised he had a bag dangling I took a closer look and in it was this huge crab!



Overall a superb couple of days diving with a top notch boat and crew. Cheers Smudge!