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I saw dolphins! Dolphins at the Farnes! I’ve just arrived back home after a smashing day out at the Farnes!
The fun started yesterday when Jo (jorawley) and Alun arrived at mine mid afternoon and my house turned into a dive shop as we merrily fettled the hours away configuring various bits of kit. We partied right up until 9pm when the excitement overtook us and I retired for the evening with a mug of Horlicks ready for an early start the next day.
Having left South Shields just after 7.30am, we arrived at Seahouses harbour at about 9.00am and put the kit on Glad Tidings. Skip William Shileds took delivery of his new son only two days before so I’m sure he was glad of the eight of us on board to boost the Nappy Fund.
Glad Tidings has bags of room and a lift, as well as a portaloo which I personally put to good use throughout the day after William kept us supplied with endless cups of coffee.
I have been fettling again and have changed my ali plate for a SS one, adding some V weights and some Dive Rite pockets with a couple of kilo in them instead of using my Bowstone harness, so I was hoping that my weighting would finally be sorted. I also had my new 10w Salvo to try out.
Several members of my club cried off yesterday evening as they insisted it was going to be lumpy, but a flatter sea for February could not have been wished for and the sun shone all day, which always makes a big difference. More fool them, they missed a cracking day.
The first dive was the wreck of the Brittania near the Callers. It was very dark, but we did manage to find the boiler. The viz was only about 2-3m and very grainy, but there were lots of dead men’s fingers to see. My weighting seemed okay and I was well impressed with my new torch. This is the first time I have used a boat with a lift and I can certainly see the attraction.
Max depth 24.3m
Average 15.7m
Dive time 48 mins
Air used 125 bar
SAC 14.2
Water temp 7.9 degrees
The surface interval was the highlight of the day when a pod of about eight dolphins split into two then reconvened. Some of them came really close to the boat and I was beaming from ear to ear. Trust me to have left my camera at home, having anticipated poor viz, but I took a few shots on my phone and Aaran (Eeyore) will be along to post them soon. William was really accommodating and followed the pod with the boat so we got to see them for quite some time.
Unfortunately, in all the excitement I have forgotten what the next wreck was. It was near the Pinacles, so it may have been the St Andre, but I’m sure someone else will be along soon to correct me if I’m talking pants, which wouldn’t surprise me.
This second dive was darker still and after mooching round some plates we tried to head west towards the shelter of the reefs, but the current had picked up and we just got pushed further away eastwards. We ended up at 29m with nothing but brittlestars to see and so decided to give up trying to swim against it and called the dive. We took our time surfacing to be extra careful, so still got a decent time out of it though.
Max depth 29m
Average 17.3m
Dive time 40 mins
Air used 100 bar
SAC 12.8
Water temp 7 degrees
I had a great day, and even though the dives were so dark it was like doing a night dive, my trusty new torch gave plenty of light and I felt the purchase was well justified. My SAC was higher than usual, probably on account of being anxious about changing my kit and weighting around, but I’m very happy with the new set up and should be able to relax more next time.
Thanks to Aaran (Eeyore) for as usual being a great buddy, Brian from our club who tagged along with us, Jo, Alun, Moz, Dave (KeyLimePie) and Neilh for some excellent company.
I’m still grinning stupidly and wandering around saying “I saw dolphins, I saw dolphins”
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Originally Posted by jorawley 
