For the August Bank holiday, it was a four day trip to St Abbs and the Farnes, all of 30 miles apart but in different countries, for some relatively easy diving.
For me, it all started at about 6.00 am on the Friday, when
Teresa picked me up, helped load my gear, and we set off through London,
missing the worst of the rush hour traffic, arriving at our accommodation in nearby
Eyemouth by mid afternoon. At which point we found that our boat (MV Shore
Diver) was temporarily out of commission, with a duff engine. Fortunately, our
skipper (Paul Crowe) had sorted us out a boat for the following day. In the meantime, we fed the seals in Eyemouth
Harbour and then ourselves, with a gentle meander back up the
hill to our accommodation.
The forecast for the weekend was a little on the blowy side
(primarily south easterly), but there are sufficient sheltered scenic sites, so
that although it was a bit of a bumpy ride there and back again, the sites themselves
where fairly smooth. This did, however, put the kybosh on the anticipated wreck
diving on the Glanmire.
Saturday was the earliest of the starts we had at St Abbs –
a small fishing village in South East Scotland, St Abbs Head being the point at
which the coast of SE Scotland turns west into the Firth of Forth, and on good
days you can see (and dive) Bass Rock. On this day, we were with Pete Gibson,
on his boat Stingray. And a new experience for us all on loading the
boats. The harbour, as with so many in
the UK, is virtually dry at low tide, and there are no steps in the harbour,
just the usual ladders recessed into the harbour wall. To load the boat
therefore there were a couple of small derricks with ropes on which to fasten
kit, and then carefully lowered on to the boat. We picked up the process quite
quickly, and with people at both ends of the rope loading and unloading was faster
than might have initially been thought. It also helped once the tide came in as
there was less distance for everything to travel.
St Abbs is a marine reserve, with only the local fisherman
in day boats being able to take anything. This means that marine life is quite
prolific.
All the dives were in the vicinity of St Abbs Head and
varied between about 15 and 25 metres. The
visibility was good by the standards of the usual south coast dives that we
usually undertake. However, it was clear
that the about 10 metre vis was considered quite poor by the locals as they kept
apologising for it.
As we were pretty much confined to the same sites, the flora
and fauna were much the same throughout. While there were the familiar lobster
and crab, these were by the score, particularly the lobster. Carpets of brittle
stars, plus sunstars and other starfish were found. In addition to different
sorts of anemone - dahlia, plumose, crabs edible and velvet, others saw wolf
fish and even a conger.
Sunday was overshadowed by hearing that a diver from another
boat had been lost. All the divers about to set off, including us, were asked
to dive the site where he had been in case we could find him. When we arrived
at the site the RNLI were already there, as were several fishing boats as well
as the dive boats, and the air sea rescue helicopter joined in, unfortunately
he was not found. From the little information we had though it would appear
that he and his buddy had separated early in the dive and then continued their
respective dives (which apparently was common practice for these two people) –
which is a lesson to us all to ensure that on separation we surface promptly.
Monday the wind came up sufficiently so the planned 30 metre
dive on the Glanmire didn’t happen, but a sheltered one by Pettico Wick and the
other side of cove did. The swell made it too difficult to dive in the more
open sea.
A bumby ride there and back, but quite calm once within the
cove. A pleasant picturesque dive, with similar things that we had already seen
– lots of lobster and an octopus. I spotted a multi tasking male! (crab),
fighting another, presumably male, crab whilst mounted on a female crab waiting
for her to moult before having his wicked way.
Tuesday, it was off to the Farnes, all of thirty miles down
the road. We arrived promptly at Seahouses. There were several other boats
going out, including one that seemed to be full of underwater scooters, perhaps
they were going to try and keep up with the seals!
The first dive was very shallow, so shallow that Andy’s
computer didn’t register that we were underwater, albeit at less than 2
metres. We were supposed wait for the
seals came to us, while we swayed with the kelp. They did eventually, but only
two or three, and then very fleetingly, so we moved somewhere a bit deeper 6-7
metres and a few more came and investigated. While we were waiting we spotted a
few crab, not many fish of any size, the odd sea urchin etc. After about an
hour of this we surfaced. Had a bite to eat and went back in at another nearby
outcrop of rock, which the seals frequented.
We then slid back to the depths of about 20m and swam partly
round the island and back at about 12m, a few shrimp and crab were the main
invertebrates on display as well as lobster, until the seals joined us
particularly on the swim back where they decided to put on quite a display
especially once we’d stopped and were considering surfacing. When an especially
playful couple decide to investigate us and play with our fins, it became a
shame to finish the dive, but it was captivating watching their dexterity so
intimately.
Then back to Seahouses for the long drive home.
We were well looked after by the various skippers, and it
was pleasing to find that they thought we were a good bunch, including the
feedback from Seahouses “Toby
said that you guys were one of the best crowds he has had for a long time, and
for my brother to say something says a lot, so thank you".
