Southern Trip by AndyP

[Andy Phillips]

OK,

To be honest, I DON'T LIKE PORTLAND VERY MUCH.

Let's face it, it is not the most attractive place. I like to dive in the sea and drink in the countryside, and I mean via my mouth and my eyes.

So, how's about we do a trip to Devon or Cornwall, we were in Pembroke this weekend just gone and it was fabulous. So much so we are going back in a month (I would invite but it is a partners / wives trip).

Give me some ideas on the type of dives that would bring you down here, no questions asked, and I will put it together.

I know some pretty good places, but the diving can be very different just by travelling 10 miles down the coast.

We need to be pretty quick as I have found booking whole boats is getting harder as we move into August.

Andrew

[Rob Evans]

Just got back from the Inspiration weekend in Plymouth.  Mad mad weekend.  The sight of 50-odd RB divers all piling onto the James Egan Layne on Saturday & Sunday afternoon is an experience I won't forget in a hurry.
Getting to the point, one of the hard-boats we used was 'Furious'.  Furious by name, fast & furious by nature.  The thing went like the absolute clappers (cruises at 20 knots fully loaded with tekkie types and all the crap they bring with them), had bags of room and possibly the easiest ladder I've ever climbed, the skipper was a great bloke AND he's cheap.
If you're interested, you can charter the boat for £300 per day (12 divers and you don't need to be a tekkie - we were doing mostly sub-30m stuff with him) and he also does B&B for £12 per head for up to 12 divers at his home.  Can't vouch for the accommodation, haven't seen it, when all's said and done all you need is a pit to get your head down after a hard day's sploshing anyway.  Do the maths - a day's hardboat diving plus bed & (continental) brekkie for £37 per day?  Lovely.
Best of all, he's not fully booked yet for this year so there's an opportunity to get a good gig going if you're sick of inland lakes.

As for the diving..... James Egan Layne - lovely dive and nice and shallow so tons of time on the wreck; lots of life, light and some great swim-throughs - very cathedral atmosphere in bits.
Eddystone lighthouse reef.  Gorgeous scenic dive, again loads of life, light etc. I think that was a 25m max from memory, so again plenty of time to admire the scenery.
Vis this weekend was a minimum of 10m wherever we went, and that's with the remnants of the May plankton bloom still hanging around so it's going to get better as the Summer progresses.
Maximum vis was 20m today, but that was a fair way offshore and in.........68m ;-)

Have a look at this link if you want to get in touch with Pete, the skipper.  You really could do a lot worse.  The diving out of Plymouth is the mutts nuts as far as I'm concerned - something for all levels, great vis, great facilities (Deep Blue Diving at the Mountbatten Centre for your fills etc) and a great city to mooch around if you fancy a lemonade afterwards.  Can't recommend it enough.

Note to self - win lottery so I can re-locate to Devon ASAP.

TTFN
Rob

Link: http://www.subaqua.co.uk/organisation/eddystone.html

[Mr T.]

Err...I've tried, and I can't fault a word of the above! You don't know what a help that's been Rob, cheers mate. As someone who has never dived this neck of the woods, I think we can take that as a green light to go on pretty much the above mentioned itinerary?! Good to go.

AndyP,

you wanna do the necessary or do you want me to do it? Just let me know mate and we'll try for securing the necessary soonest.

[Andy Phillips]

Hi,

Will call them later

Andrew

[Lou]

I was diving out of Looe on the weekend 23rd May.  It was really great diving so I can second the above without hesitation!

The JEL is fantastic, crammed with life and interesting engineering cargo and I would love to do it again.  We were supposed to do the Eddystone but didn't get out there because of the weather so another shot at that would be superb.

The wreck of the Rosehill is worth a pootle and stuffed with giant conger - I found 2 and I *never* see any!!.  You can tie off on the gun to bag off at the end of the tour which is interesting.

Three weeks ago we had 10m viz and the end of the plankton bloom.  The fish-life was cracking - dogfish, wrasse of all types, huge shoals of bib hanging around, a shoal of shad hanging in the current feeding outside the JEL, blennies, eels, bass, bream, large crabs........oh, and if you go to Eddystone you get one of your best chances off the British coast to meet a Mako.....hmmm!

Go on!!

Lou

p.s forgot to say DO NOT book with Looe Divers or the Morning Glory.  My letter of complaint is with them as I type!

[Andy Phillips]

OK,

have held the boat, now going back over to the original thread

Andrew

[Adrian Kelland]

I also suggest;

Persier (sunk 1945) 18-28m deep, well broken up, but 3 boilers, engine, spare prop, prop tunnel, rudder can all be seen. Can be dived pretty much any state of tide. Launch RIBs from Hope Cove or Challaborough. Hard boats from Plymouth or Salcombe (longish trip). Owned by Plymouth Sound BSAC

Maine (1917) stern in 37m, almost complete hull standing upright. Must be dived on slack. Launch RIBs from Salcombe or Hope Cove, HB from Salcombe. Owned by Torbay BSAC.

Riversdale (1917) 45m. Superstructure well  swept, but still a worthwhile dive. Also owned by Torbay BSAC. Dive from Salcombe.

Adrian

[Andy Phillips]

Hi,

OK, I just got of the phone with Bren Tierney, we have decided that this has got a bit confused. I am starting a third and final thread on this trip. This one will be closed asap, please do not post here any more.

Thanks

Andrew