Pembrokeshire Weekend - Part 1

[Fiona]

Having waited what seemed like an eternity for this trip to come round, it finally did.

I arrived in Pembroke and almost ran in to John on a single track road naughty John was on his he was just about to go to the dive centre and meet up with Mary who was already there, I had to go about another 50 yrds down the road to the cottage I had booked. I unpacked my stuff and walked back to the dive centre to meet up with John and Mary. We sat around chatting and Mal arrived next, bit more sitting around and we decided to go to the pub (no surprise there then it is a dive weekend). While we were in the pub, Gary (WWD) arrived followed by Daz and Clare and Simon brought up the rear.

Couple of beers and some dinner in the pub preceeded a steep walk back up the hill, at this point I should point out that Clare was wearing 4" heels not the usual footwear for a dive weekend but if there are comfy go for it.

The next morning I meet up with everyone at the dive centre as John knew where to pick the boat up, which was at Neyland Marina. There was a guy called Simon also having a coffee at the dive centre while the rest were tucking in to their brekkie, by this time Howard and Rebbecca had arrived having left home about 2am. I think everyone was a bit confused and thought he was Simon (SML) who was diving with us in fact he was there to do an OW course, I chatted to him and even mentioned that he should eventually do a rescue course, apparently this is what PADI pro's do having talked to Mal in the pub, I couldn't beleive I was actually selling him his future courses.

We all set out in convoy to the marine and arrived a little later than we were supposed to do, never mind John did say he knew the way.

It's a few days ago now and I think the weather was dry so we set out hopfull of some nice diving, it is quite a long way round and a bit bumpy through Jack sound although this is normal. I don't think Gary was too happy with the ride.

Dive 1 - Friday

We dived a site on the Martins Haven side I have written North Point but I could be wrong, beleive me it wasn't memorable. I lasted about 12 mins and reached the seabed at 22m, having lost Mary and John about 2 inches from the surface, the viz wasn't great (an understatment) I decided to surface and others were already there, John went back down and I think the last one up was probably Digger.

Dive 2 - Friday

I haven't written the name but I suspect it was Rye as we did it again on Sunday. Marginally better viz at least John and I stayed together so couldn't have been that bad lasted 38mins max depth was 16m. Some nice life but very little fish maybe we can blame the seals for this, I used my new reel for the first time on this dive. When I sufaced and passed my DSMB up I had forgotten to lock off the reel and promptly watched it disappear down to the bottom luckily the line was fastened to the reel and someone wound it up for me, phew.

Again another bumby ride back to the marina, but everyone had survived. Packed up and headed back, We had decided to have a BBQ so Mary went off to Tesco's and purchased what we needed, back at the dive centre Rebecca and I were issued with instructions and set about preparing veggie and chicken kebabs, salads and steaks. Rebbecca did a fine job with the strawberries and raspberries. Probably the best BBQ I have had.

Dive 3 - Sat

We dived Milford Sound today to save those who didn't quite have their sea legs to have a day off so we dived on the Thor, sorry but I really can't remember too much about it.

As an excuse not to dive with me anymore John's back went and he decided not to dive the next one.

Dive 4 - Sat

Weck of the Dakotian, having been abandoned by John I went in without him on this one, I found a huge shackle but decided to leave it where it was. As usual and as I don't like some ladders I dekitted in the water, unfortunately I must have pulled my wieghtbelt buckle open along with my harness waistband, good job it was attached to one of the legpockets as this prevented it from dropping to the seabed, I did however loose my OMS pocket with two backup torches and shears in, so if anyone finds them they are mine.

Saturday we were booked in to a restaurant but unfortunately we failed to find it so we booked in to The Bistro in Little Haven and had a lovely meal. Howard had taken the Landie down and we all and I mean all (9 people) loaded in to it for the journey up the hill, Digger and Daz did want to ride up on the running boards but we told them no.

Dive 5 - Sunday

Some people wanted to do the Lucy, some didn't so we had an earlier start on sunday morning, sorry Simon. Those doing the Lucy kitted up first and we followed doing Rye Reef which is the wall and reef by the wreck. I dived with Mary and I think we had a nice little dive getting to about 25m, some very nice life on it including two lovely Pink Sea Fans.

Dive 6 - Sunday

We then headed off across the sound to Junkos reef as we arrived on site we spotted some dolphins so had to go and have a look at them, the seagulls were diving for small fish aswell.

I decided not to do the dives on Monday so I could travel home in daylight so someone else might pick up on the Monday ones.

All in all the weekend was a good one, the viz wasn't great in fact it wasn't good really good company and was great to meet some new YDer's.

Oh and as John had left on Sunday morning and kindly left demijohns of his latest wine, I brought them home for him, at the moment there is about half a demijohn of wine left, there may be slightly less by the time I get them to Mull.

Almost forgot you pay Dive Pembrokeshire for your fills, they are filled by a guy who runs the compressor. They advertise they fill to 300 bar but neither Clare or Mary got anything like 300bar.

The advertised rate for fills is Air £3 per cylinder, twins are classed as two cylinders and Nitrox is £6.50 per cylinder.

I spoke to him on the first day and asked him how much for twin manifolded 7's and he said he would fill as a single 15.

[Tim Ingmire]

Sounds like you guys had a fun time. I wish I could've made it but alas I'm the t'other side of the Irish Sea. Still, Galway wasn't a bad alternative.

[Mal Bridgeman]

Somehow it falls to me as the YD gig newbie to do the trip report. The report is therefore written from that newbie perspective. I could write a book with the number of incidents and laughs that I had so the following will probably be a not so short ramble through the ones I remember....I am sure the rest of the guys can fill in blanks where I have forgotted.

Before I start though, I'd like to thank Mary for organising the trip...it seemed to me that throughout the life of the arrangement thread that hardly any one from the original list actually went but that did not distract from the enjoyment for me...though I am sure the organising was more of a headache.

With the exception of SJL, Warmwaterdiver and me pretty much everyone knew every one I think, or at least had some experience of YD gigs.

I drove down on the Thursday which turned out to be not too bad a journey and met Mary, Fiona & John who had arrived earlier. Since no-one was expected imminently it was decided to go to the pub ....and so the tone was set.

We talked about diving in general, YD gigs and YDers. To the newbie this was quite a confusing period but thanks go to John for providing a useful YD Dictionary service.

We were joined by Gary(Warmwaterdiver), Simon(SJL) then eventually Daz(Daz) and Clare(Gledders) and enjoyed the pub fayre.

When we arrived back at the lodge, after a nice stroll up the hill, we were met by a quiet unassuming young man called Jack(Digger). The smokers sat outside whilst Digger announced that he did not want to talk about DIR and Gledders said she did not want to talk about politics. We then spent the next 2 hours discussing politics and DIR!

Next morning Howard and Rebecca had arrived and, after a hearty cooked breakfast (beans is an integral part and there is no opt out on them), off to the boat (thank you God for inventing SatNav) where we met Alan and Len.....some kit fettling and off we went....round to a site I think was called Hen & Chicks (if anyone knows the real name please let me know). The journey was quite lumpy.

Now, at this point I should explain, this trip was partly because I wanted to do some UK sea dives because I had been told how great they were. I had dived in Pembrokeshire a while ago but it was in a semi dry and all I could recall was being cold.

How things were different this time. Nearly everyone had twins, (upright, invert manifold and indies!!) everyone had drysuits and there was one home made rebreather! Even the single tank had a pony.

I had already arranged to buddy up with Daz & Clare, so we got ready and jumped in...."Mmm the viz is not too great" I thought as we began our descent.....we arrived at the seabed....(careful not to disturb it for fear of ruining the viz) when it dawned on me that with 50cm viz nothing we could do would spoil the viz! In such vis there was no surprise when I looked round for Daz & Clare to find them not there....so I called the dive (as was arranged) and ascended on the dSMB.

Next dive was Rye Rocks which was very surgy and the viz was only slightly better than the morning. Again not a great dive, saw some crabs and starfish, but a seal was waiting on the surface at the end, which was nice.

That evening Mary rallied the troops for a fantastic BBQ....steak, veggie kebabs, salad etc plus strawberries and raspberries with a cream, creme fraiche and chocolate ice cream option (I am spending too much time talking about the food I fear but it did stick out more than the diving!)

That evening, the entertaining young Jack regalled us with some entertaining stories of different diving trips, and lifetime incidents.....and by about 1am he had exhausted his first volume so most went to bed

Next day breakfast ... mysteriously those who opted for "No Beans" got a double helping....How could that have happened? A preference for more chocolate in the lunch pack was expressed which reaped immediate benefits for the chocoholics amoungst us. It seems this was a popular move with the ladies and also Howard & I. I noticed a look of annoyance in his eye everytime Rebecca offered the chocolate around .

On account of the weather and poor viz some decided to give the diving a rest. The rest of us trotted off dutifully to the boat and onto a couple of wrecks the Thor and The Dakotian. The viz was a little better but still not so great.

During the dive on the Dakotian I decided to entertain Daz & Clare by clipping my contents gauge onto the boltsnap of my reel. When I was confident I had got the boltsnap stuck so well that it could not be got off easily I positioned myself over a spider crab and asked Daz for some assistance. Daz gave me the universally recognised "You need to improve your diving skills because frankly, if you were a better f*ck*n' diver that wouldn't have f*ck*n' happened" sign. I sniggered and flooded the mask and carried on the dive safe in the knowledge that the reel was unusable!....fortunately I still had a spool back up if required....and I won't ever do that again! (BTW if it was not immediately obvious...this was a c*ck up...and not planned by me )

During the day Digger got some of the best "spidge" of his life and this cheered him no end (look out for it on eBay).... ensuring he would be enthusiatic about volume 2 of his entertaining stories.

That evening we went to a local restaurant to celebrate Mary's birthday. It was not the one we were supposed to be at but that's another and quite long article in its own right. It really was a cracking meal and one or two light refreshments were consumed too.

We returned to the Lodge...in one car!!! thanks to Rebecca...and has some more entertaining conversation...most of which I think has since been forgotten....!


Next day, since John had hurt his back he decided he would go home but was kind enough to leave a demijohn of his finest home made wine.

The boat journey was much smoother than day 1 and some dived the Lucy whilst the rest dived the Rye Rocks. The vis had improved considerably meaning that both sets of divers had more enjoyable dives. Next dive was on West Junkos where we agreed to descend the shot .... unfortunately there were two tails to the shot and whilst I waited alone at the bottom of the proper shot to give Daz the universally recognised "You need to improve your diving skills because frankly, if you were a better f*ck*n' diver that wouldn't have f*ck*n' happened" sign a new dive plan was required...ho hum.

Food again was arranged by Mary but with added input from Rebecca meant that a choice of excellent fish & chips or Indian takeaway was available....all topped of with some fab ice cream!

Final day's diving had a much reduced crew of Gary, Digger, Daz, Clare & myself. We dived the Behar wreckage and I was treated to an entertaining vision of Digger doing shutdowns at 6m .... text book stuff of course. The dive was largely non incidental though surge and large bits of wreckage appearing out of the murk did create the odd entertaining moment.

The final dive was on the Landing craft.....or should I say..... was *meant* to be the Landing Craft.....but the shot missed. Daz, Clare & I ended up doing a sea bed search which was actually quite good fun with several anemones, crabs and a flatfish of some sort to entertain us.....along with empty beer bottles. Digger retrieved more "spidge" which I doubt will go on eBay!!

And that was that....we returned to the marina and put all our kit away.

Finally the Daz Clare & Mal team managed to pull off a perfect manouver and, whilst diverting Diggers attention, a Go-Dive sticker was attached to the back of his car ensuring at least 200 miles of free advertising from Digger!!!

Overall it would be fair to say that the diving was not great but the company, stories and laughs make up for it completely and then some. It was truely one of the best giggles for a long time and I hope we get to do it again soon.

Rgrds
Mal

[Clare Gledhill]

Well this weekend I doubled my number of dives in the sea - from 8 to 16 - or at least I think I did - I can't quite be sure.

First dive jumped in with Daz and Mal and descended - Ok this is good, bouyancy reasonable... trim OK... equalise.....get ready to flow check....

....

....

....

Bugger - who turned out the lights?.....

Turn my torch on....

Hmmm.... it IS on....

Bugger...

Where's the bottom.....

Where's my computer....

Where the bloody hell is up? .....

Hmmm....... don't really like this.

Mummy........


So welcome to British sea diving - where vis is an optional extra.

Back on the boat after a grand total on nine minutes we find most people have beaten us to it. Howard and Fiona who had bent my ear before the trip on how good the sea is compared with a quarry - spent the next few hours trying to convince me that it doesn't have to be like that. No fears guys, the next few days may not have shown me sea diving at its best but even I can see that its a bit more fun than inland diving

I won't go through all the dives (although I think Daz, Mal and I were the only ones to do all the dives) but the weekend was brill. Lots of new experiences for me - current, surge - not too bad to see the interesting bits of the dive two or three times over. Well, I use the word "see" but apart from the dolphins and the seals which were on the surface, it was mainly impressionist diving - a glimpse here - a glimpse there and that was just how I saw my buddy.

At one point in a gully, hanging on to the rocks with one hand and Daz with the other while he tried to deploy an SMB I did think fondly for Vobster.... and when I was tossed in the air by the ladder after one of the dives (it was OK I broke the fall with my calves ) even getting in and out of the NDC seemed easy, but nevertheless it was great fun. The bruises are interesting too - everywhere and symetrical

Moments.....

First ever time in the water on my own.... for a seven minute stop... quite peaceful really - and I had nicked Daz's spool on the way up so I had something to keep me occupied.

"Frankly, if you were a better f*ck*n' diver that wouldn't have f*ck*n' happened" became the phrase of the weekend in the Digger and Daz show...

Seeing the spider crab reaching for Mal's crotch strap - with him totally oblivious

Seeing Howard, the diving dude, in all his finery - he attached my three year old's Bob the Builder figure to his rig - Howard we want regular updates on Bob's diving.

Howard eating chocolate.... Digger not eating beans... John's wine

Coming up clean to be told by the skipper that I clearly wasn't cut out to be a wreck diver - and then seeing Daz and Digger plastered in mud and silt from the waist down .

Digger spidge....... anyone thinking of buying a computer on ebay - DON'T. Digger - put it back - you don't know where it's been. On second thoughts... girls... put Digger back - you don't know where he's been

Having a scallop dance up and down on my hand on the boat. OK it's not that spectacular but helped me understand why a quarry will never be the same as the sea.

Seeing Digger survive - whereas most people make up for bad technique with good kit - Digger makes up for bad kit with good technique - Jack - you are unique and long may you stay that way.

Most of the conversations would not play back well, like holiday wine they don't travel especially when you are sober - and would have to be heavily edited by the mods anyway. You can therefore rest easy Mal

Sending Digger on his way with a Go Dive sticker on the back of his car was a poetic way to end a fun weekend.

Thanks to Mary - I truely wish you had enjoyed the diving more given the hard work you put in to the weekend but hope your cold clears up quickly and that you get back in soon. Fiona, John, Simon, Rebecca, Gary you were all really good company and it was a pleasure to meet, if not to dive, with you.

Daz, Mal - it was a pleasure not to dive with you so regularly on this trip

So if the first dive had been the last dive - look what I would have missed....

Can't wait for the next YD trip - although my liver may take to have a while to recouperate.....

[warmwaterdiver]

A quick load of thanks to

AndyP - for booking a cracking restaurant for us to eat in but not be able to give us the telephone number, explain where it was or what it was called

Gledders - for proving the "blonde" law isnt always right, the insight to politics and the G string incident

Daz - for taking the pi** out of Digger at every opportunity, and trying to make/light a roll-up fag in the rain in a force 6

Digger - for having a name like Jack Moon, the beans, the non DIR, the GO DIVE sticker, the homemade pile of sh*te rebreather, the found computer, trying to get off with the daughter at the B&B, the found anchor and for proving the Skoda can make it 200 miles & still look like it should be in a scrap yard

Howard - for reminding us all that very old people can still dive

John - for waking us all up at 3am, 4am, 5am and 6am, cheers for the noise

Mal - for being the "sexual deviant" for the weekend

Mary - for the organisation, the form filling and the BBQ

Rebecca - for that lift home, memorable having 10 in a Disco, dont forget to ask your Dad next time you and 8 of your mates want a lift home!

Fiona B - for proving the fact that the cottage would have been a better place to sleep after hearing John

Edit

Dive Pembrokeshire - for giving us a 20 min car journey to the boat, then a 90 min boat ride to the dive site, only for it to actually be 10 minutes out from where we were stopping

The "air fill man" - for being the most miserable git of the weekend and for trying to rip people off on airfill prices

GOD - for the weather, thanks for the bumpy seas God, much appreciated, I'm sure the fish wanted a fried breakfast or two

and yes this is my dry sense of humour

[MATTBIN]

Originally Posted by warmwaterdiver

Mal - for being the "sexual deviant" for the weekend

Surely some mistake there?????

Glad you all had a good time, especially the OLD boy

Nice write up guys (and girls)
Matt

[daz]

Highlights for me... well numerous really.

Jack for being Jack and especially the comment when drinking capabilities were being discussed... "Daz, Give it up, it's like Orcs versus hobbits"

Clare and Mal for being superb buddies for the dives.

Clare for buggering off with my spool and SMB whilst on a safety stop.

Mary for organising everything trying to keep everyone in check.

Jack for throwing a mask of water in my face.... in itself not funny, the fact that he asked for my mask full of water and I gave it to him... now that's comedy.

Howard for providing the colour and frankly making a complete dogs dinner of moving bands on a twinset.

Clare (again) for basically crapping herself at the first sight of kelp

Rebecca for being Howards daughter and treating him with the contempt he deserves

All the girls for sorting out the BBQ while we just talked complete bollocks.

Overall the diving was pretty poor but the company and entertainment was superb. It was worth the trip just for the socialising. Everyone appeared to have a good time and a laugh (normally at someone elses expense!)

The final laugh... Jack doing free advertising for Go Dive for 200 miles on the way home Jack, basically Hobbits are devious and Orcs are stupid

Daz

[dry suit diver]

Originally Posted by warmwaterdiver

A quick load of thanks to



Gledders - for proving the "blonde" law isnt always right, the insight to politics and the G string incident

I am now intrigued!

[daz]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

I am now intrigued!

Sorry but sometimes what goes on tour, stays on tour

You really had to be there

[Diving Dude]

Yup, twas a blast.

Best dive for me and Rebecca was the one dive on the Lucy, 35 mtrs to the deck, 40 to seabed, a majestic, tropical, dark 1.5 mtr vis, exactly what l'm used to diving the South East.
The wreck is intact and, for a change, exactly as the skipper described it.
The doorway to the large wheelhouse to the rear looked inviting, however l wasn't going in with my daughter, maybe if l was with someone like Digger l'd have gone in, it wouldn't matter if l left him in there.

Because of this dive l will go back maybe a two day midweeker later in the summer.

The rest of the diving wasn't really that good, only about a zillion times better that the warmest clearest puddle

The skippers daughter asked me if we were all from Yorkshire??????

l told her there was only one who couldn't speak the Queens english, l had to correct her when she thought it was Daz not John.

Sharing the bunkhouse with John has now made me wonder whether it was a good idea to share a room with him at the YD3 Farnes gig, feckin loud snoring or what???

In fact l think a different hotel would be the only solution.

Decided to miss mondays diving to miss the trafic back intoi London and keep wifey happy, the first part of the plan worked then l let it slip that l'm diving in Normandy in two weeks time.

A few decent people emerged from the bunch of tossers on the gig, strangly all girlies, Clare 'fight me for my choccie' Gelders, Dr.M for organising a great weekend, my daughter Rebecca for driving us to and from the restaurant and for having the coolest dad and of course Fiona, who unfortunately didn't drink enough wine.

We even ended up helping to tow a transit van and rib out of the water at Broad Haven