Selsey - Saturday at Oh my Word O clock

[MATTBIN]

BRrrrrrrrrrr!! What the **** is that at 5 in the morning on a Saturday, oh I know my damn alarm cos I was silly enough to agree to go diving from Selsey at 9.30 (AM!!!!). Oh well I'm awake now I might as well get ready and go. In truth Tom, Ian and I wanted this dive to be a goer as it was going to be 30 odd mtrs and we needed it to build up to our next planned dive of 35m (ish).
A very pleasnt drive down the M1/M25/A3 past some very pretty villages as I got slightly lost, not unusual, but then the weather started to close in as I neared Chichester. With a heavy heart I pulled into the carpark (east beach) and spotted Lou/Caroline through the now heavy rain. 8;15, so I had made great time but it was looking like it was in vain. Called Dave and as soon as he answered I just knew it was going to be a no-go. He came down had a look round as declared yes to getting us on the wreck but very doubtfull as to getting us back onshore. Bollox. (sorry). We discussed the options, including NDC, fortunately that was discounted as too far now. With that Ian decided to go home, cant say I blame him, he'd stayed in a B&B aswell last night, as did the other group of divers we briefly chatted to. Tom and I said we'd stay for the next dive i.e. a Mullberry at 14:00, Lou and Caroline agreed and Dave said he had 6 others from Welwyn (or somewhere) booked on too. Decamp to cafe for a natter (a long natter), tea, toast, breakfast and Tom trying to get out of paying with some limp excuse of having lost his wallet.
He found it again.

So off to the harbour, kit up and get sorted. I noticed I had brought my son's weight belt instead of my own, fortunately he has almost the same weight in it as I do mine and I had packed some spare, 8Kg should do, I was a bit light last week with 6. Time will tell, I'm diving even if I pop cos I'm not doing 250 miles for bugger all. The other guys never showed, we boarded Eclipse, Dave waited, and waited until he could wait no more, no phone call, nothing. So off we went and done a Mulberry (again). A good tug on the chain and I was dropping, so the weight looked OK hopefully. The tug cos the tide was, er, running? a bit anyway. Viz looked OK too, water seemed warm (ha!). What a cracking dive. not a huge amount of fish but what was ther was BIG. A lovely black and white spotted Wrasse, some other stuff, dead mens fingers, a nudi thingy and just as we were about to fire the blob a dogfish, that Tom hopefully has on video. During the dive Tom wanted some snaps so I posed, he took the shot then scuttled off, I thought I'd join him, only to find I couldnt move, bit odd as I know there's no netting on the 'wreck'. Hmm!! Now either I sort this or I wait for Tom to come back, he would have done I know him well enough. I rolled onto my back and there just above me was my fin - impalled on one of the rebars that have corroded to form a needle sharp spear. Flicked it off and joined Tom again. A short while later I pushed Tom off one of the many rebars just before it sliced through his suit, he knew it was there he had just pulled himself along by it, but I'm guessing the current pushed him back towards it. 50 mins up and I fired the smb, a nice slow ascent, a stop at 5/6m and a further one at 3m saw us up at 58mins, we had told Skipper 60, so I was well pleased with that. Back on board we didnt dekit, Skipper handed us coffee and we headed home.
Struggled up the shingle and dekitted. Thoroughly enjoyable. Caroline handed round the chocolate muffins (which I cant eat, ho hum!) and we started to pack our stuff away. One nice touch though was when this little old guy started to chat to us about how nice it must be to dive and our kit looked very expensive, and how nice it was to have young lads with us, not so sure Lou thought that was a compliment though
2 and a bit hours to get home, no drama, except I got lost again and saw some even prettier villages in Sussex.

A great day out, great company. I'm still waiting to dive the Mullberry in benign conditions and when I do I think it will be a fabulous dive.

Tom also saw a lobby and Lou a rather large crab, it was this <--------> big!!!! to quote Lou.
Dont ask about her 'new' torch though.

Oh yeah and we tested the battery/compass theory, they do pull the needle a long way off true, even a dive computer battery, especially the torch battery Lou has!!!!

Matt

[D.D.J]

they sound nice

[Ian@1904]

It was touch and go whether I drove down on the Friday night after a grim week at work, but I did it anyway. Sobriety on a Friday might is never a good thing.

Driving round Selsey to the car park with windscreen wipers on full meant that maybe I had misheard the forecast of a little light rain. Skipper was in good form offering to take us out but unable to deliver us back due a 4.5 knot current that would be running along the beach.

I really really hate having to cancel a dive but the mulberry was just too long a wait when combined with the necessary post dive nitrox fill and drive to Bedfordshire.

Having made the fatal mistake of entering Selsey diving emporium my spirits were lifted by lots of Oceanic dive kit and I was able to purchase a yellow mask to replace my much loved but damaged original mask.

It was good to meet up with everyone, and I am looking forward to next weekend in Gosport.

[Lou]

A 4.30 am start, a blown-out dive, an expensive weightbelt masquerading as a Halcyon Pro 14 (I didn't charge it properly!), a 250-mile round trip for a 10m dive that made me seasick due to the surge......

....and then some old codger calls me "young lad"!!!

Now I know that I don't start off in any way glamourous and diving kills any possible atttempts anyway but even in my drysuit I would have though it was fairly obvious that I have some "female attributes"...silly old git

Still, I had a loverly day....... Back home about 7.30pm to collapse on the sofa and struggle to stay awake to watch CSI:NY.

Lou

[Andy the Coastie]

Matt,

You not got one of them GPS / route planner things in ya dive mobile ?

[MATTBIN]

Nope
she stays at home when I go diving.

Matt

[Ian@1904]

Originally Posted by MATTBIN

and how nice it was to have young lads with us,
Matt

Surely he was referring to Tom?



Lou and Caroline appear to be very attractive ladies IMHO
Ian

[MATTBIN]

Tom, young lad? I was going to ask when you next see the optician, but you redeemed yourself with the comments about Lou/Caroline.

Matt

[tom]

I have insufficient time at the moment to adequately respond to all the insults being thrown at me (some of us have to work for a living).

Normal service will be resumed shortly though!

Thanks for the day out though guys.

[MATTBIN]

Originally Posted by tom

I have insufficient time at the moment to adequately respond to all the insults being thrown at me (some of us have to work for a living).

Normal service will be resumed shortly though!

Thanks for the day out though guys.

and ladies?

Matt