Saturday dawned bright and sunny, ideal to get down to the serious business of diving. The Glad Tidings boats were loaded with kit and divers and in no time at all we arrived at Longstone Island, the site of our first dive. The arrival of the boat elicited much excitement from the numerous seals sunning themselves on the rocks, several of whom slipped into the water to investigate. With so many seals around divers quickly finished their kitting up and buddy checks to get into the water. The best diving here is fairly shallow, perhaps 15-20m at most, as the inquisitive seals tend to stay in the shallower waters. With visibility at over 10m we were able to see lots of seals; one even came and nibbled at the end of my fins- the ultimate Farnes experience chalked up on Dive 1! A hugely enjoyable dive and I decided there and then, while still underwater, to put my name down for Farnes 2011.

We then had a long lunch break/surface interval, where the typical British Bank holiday weather kicked in and chased the sun away. The second dive was The Cut, beginning with a swim-through a gap in the rocks, through the sea kelp which was very atmospheric. The visibility again was excellent, and although we saw fewer seals this time (who forgot to invite them?) we did see several very large lobsters and hundreds of crabs. There is a wreck here, although not much remains of it apart from some rusted pieces of metal. This dive was also shallow, only 6m or so at some points, which is always a challenge for buoyancy control – especially combined with the vagaries of local currents! Again a great dive, although it was a little choppy upon surfacing, but Glad Tidings picked us up promptly!

With approximately half the K&E divers on the boat and the rest still in the water, the club then had to deal with a real emergency – a non-K&E diver from another boat was in distress in the water close by, and club members moved quickly to assist. I’m happy to say that the diver was quickly removed from the water and given medical treatment, incuding CPR and oxygen, under the supervision of a local doctor who had been diving from our boat. The casualty was then airlifted to hospital by the emergency helicopter (guided by the ever-excellent RNLI boats that arrived to support the rescue within minutes of reporting it). A very sobering reminder of the potential hazards of sport diving, but also a confirmation that all the hours spent by divers and instructors on theory lessons and open water practice drills is worthwhile, and can in fact be the difference between life and death. Some O2 and First Aid courses / refresher sessions are being planned for those who want to ensure their skills are up to date.

Sadly, that was the end of the diving for the trip as gale force winds hit Seahouses and made it impossible for the boats to go out on Sunday and Monday. Several brave souls enjoyed a bracing hill top walk, while others enjoyed the more sedate pleasures of the on-site pool and spa. So, all in all a good trip – some top rated diving, great encounters with the Farnes seals, the satisfaction of having been in the right place at the right time to offer genuine and much needed assistance to a fellow diver, a little sunshine and time to socialise with other club members. Hopefully next year it’ll be a lot less windy and less eventful too.

By Leanne Collinson

Also, with Seaking in it’s seasonal home on site, RIB diving with the club has become so much easier. No meeting at the clubhouse before and after the day. If you haven’t been diving on the RIB this year yet, I recommend you give it a go!

Thanks to Dean for organizing the weekend. Only marred (from my point of view) by being heckled by “we know bloody well everything” fishermen as I tried to maneuver the boat a couple of feet and ended up across the harbor

After several setbacks: people dropping out, Jim Molyneux breaking his ankle, and it snowing in Ibiza the day before we arrived, we finally got the very early Easyjet flight from Gatwick. We were met by a very chirpy talkative character named Jeff Richardson from the Seahorse diving centre, who transferred us to a small resort (Las des Torrents) where our excellent self catering accommodation was located. We settled in very quickly and went to a large supermarket to stock up with food and refreshments for the week and then found the best local bar for the cup final! The holiday started well with Chelsea completing the double, England winning the 20\20 cricket world cup, and the sun coming out very hot immediately we landed. After all that excitement and with an early diving start on the Sunday morning we were fairly early to bed that evening.

The next morning we met at the dive centre on the local beach and were transported to San Antonio by van to meet the dive boat (Lil Pegasus) to start kitting up, watched by the passing wearied eyed clubbers making their way home from the clubs the night before. The usual 1st day kit faffing ensued: forgotten masks, dry suit hoses left at home, and 1st stage adaptors not thought of, mainly done by the same nameless person. Jim came along for the boat ride and with only 3 club members diving – myself, Kevan and Nick Tulip – and a local PADI diver called Charlie we set off in bright sunshine for 2 good 1st day dives. Nick immediately became the butt of most jokes being the new boy, especially from the skipper Jeff, with things like “can he dress himself”, “boy and lad”, “sit down you’re blocking the sun out” and inquiries as to whether he had “pulled” the previous evening. But he took it well and gave as good as he got with his diving and air consumption improving all week.

The diving also got better as the week went on, with the Don Pedro and the Margueritas caves the highlights of the week, closely followed by a sheltered wreck called The Noseque, which was so good we dived it twice. Jim managed one day’s diving (on one leg) on the 4th day although he needed a tow by Nick on the second dive in a slight current and a full butler service (fins, weight belt and BC removal) before climbing the ladder back onto the boat for both dives.

The visibility and sea life was good all week and consisted of Barracuda, Cuttlefish, Morays and Congers, various types of Wrasse and millions of Jellyfish. The water was a balmy 18°c so no gloves or hoods were needed if you didn’t want them but we all wore dry suits. We dived most dives without a guide and still managed to find our way back to the dive boat. We didn’t manage the proposed 2 night dives because of the temptations of San Antonio nightlife and its various types of bars, especially Sgt Peppers (don’t ask about a broken hearted Jennifer). We were joined one evening by the Monmouth Rugby club on tour and their forfeit games and almost ended up having a late night bungee jump.

There were 2 non-diving members of our group (Mary Hards and Audrey Molyneux) – our catering managers – who must have covered most of the Island on the local buses during the week. Many thanks to them for doing the shopping. We all had a great time and will go back there again soon. We were very well looked after by Jeff and Therese from the Seahorse diving centre and I thoroughly recommend them for a good week’s diving. They are located on the beach with two excellent restaurants either side of them, in a very nice little sandy bay and have a very fast hard boat that gets you out to most dive sites within half a hour.

Good holiday!

 We headed out in almost flat calm seas to the City of Waterford, the 9 mile trip taking just 20 mins (close to a hour if you were on a hard boat). The Waterford sits in 34m of water upright and very much intact with brass portholes still in the bows and a huge variety of fish life constantly in view. 

 All too soon, slack was over and with all back on board and the coastguard notified, we were heading back and into some fleeting pools of sun shine. Dredging activities limited vis on the second dive (luckily they won’t be dredging for more than a few days) so we were soon back on the road home after a pint and some discussion over plans for some more adventurous outings very soon.

 So far this season the club has already dived the City of Brisbane, the Fortuna, the Pentrych and the City of Waterford, to name a few. Think you might be missing out? The list is on the board and there are spaces on almost every trip still, and trips almost every weekend.

 Hope to see you soon!

Saturday morning dawned – grey and cold. Powered by one of The Bunker’s excellent breakfasts, six of us (Chris Hunka, Rob, Tom, Dorothea, Lisa and I) headed off to Portland harbour to launch the club RIB, Sea King, starting with a dive on the Countess of Erne. With three relatively new divers on the boat and the first sea dive of 2010 for many, Day 1 was a bit like Carry on Diving – fins that kept making bids for freedom (successfully in my case), a new dry-suit that refused to fit with the inflation hose, a dropped (and recovered) torch and a diver kitting up while still wearing a life jacket. All very patiently borne by the RIB’s more experienced divers.

Located  in Portland Harbour, the Countess of Erne, a paddle steamer at 14m, was my first ever wreck dive and is a great site, very atmospheric and we had fairly good visibility. The second dive was preceded by a bracing RIB journey through a hail-storm – UK diving at its best! We then did the Torpedo testing site in Portland harbour, a great place for crab spotting with some real giants lurking in the depths as well as all types of random junk!

Another small group of club members was diving through local dive shop, Fathom and Blues, identified by the mysterious code-name “The Ian 3” (aka “Posh” Dave, John Webb and Marc Stubbs). They dived the M2 then the Countess relatively successfully, although were also hit by the Day 1 curse in the form of a pesky dry suit zip that worked it’s way open, leaving a very damp Dave to abort his first dive. Saturday was rounded off by a BBQ at Margaret’s, where the club members diving off the hard boat were staying. A spectacular haul of scallops was the highlight (many thanks to Brian, Len, Chris(s) Knight and Drewett and anyone else involved in donating these) before the rain sent us scuttling inside / to the pub.

Day 2 saw us head out again to the Countess, for another really enjoyable dive (so good it was worth doing twice). It was pretty busy underwater, we encountered two other groups of 5-6 divers in the 30 minute dive, but conditions were fairly calm and visibility was good. Exceptionally cold weather and the threat of strong winds blowing up in the afternoon meant that was the only dive of the day, so we retired until Monday.

On Day 3 I sat out due to feeling a little “under the weather”, but by all accounts the RIB divers had an excellent day on (and under) the water, diving The Spaniard and then the Bombardon Landing Craft at 17m. Lots of DSMB deployment was practiced before the end of the day! The other group on the F&B RIB (Dave, John and Marc) had a very different experience – the plan was for a relaxing drift dive on the Aerials. However, a stronger than anticipated current ended up with them travelling about three miles in 20 minutes, losing two reels and one SMB along the way! Luckily all three emerged unscathed. Then it was time to pack up and return home, tired, slightly damp but having enjoyed a really great weekend and some excellent diving.

Leanne Collinson

There is plenty to do in this fantastic area, so well worth going up a few days early, as half of us did. We all stay in an award winning caravan site with excellent amenities, with a large indoor swimming pool to retire to after diving if needed and a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi to relax in as well. Also a Health and Beauty shop for the girls, us rugged men divers don’t need it as much!? The rest of the crowd followed us up on Friday 28th at various times with the last 3 people to arrive being Marius, Ian and Gail; they arrived in the early hours. They were our Farnes virgins along with Rory and they all did very well in choppy and sometimes cold conditions and managed 20 dives between them.

We always try to take along as many newcomers as possible; it’s a good opening to UK diving and when the seals want to come out to play, as they did again this year, it’s fun as well as a good test of buoyancy skills in shallow waters and some currents. Sunday was especially good with the Seals, with many very close encounters, Gail having to push one over enthusiastic seal away several times and Marcela stroking and tickling one for ages, I thought she was going to take it home with her at one time. Gren was busy filming all of this as usual, assisted by Sarah, as you’ll have seen on the website. One sneaky seal came up behind me and undid my BC pocket and let out my Delayed SMB, it just floated past my eyes to my utter amazement. Unfortunately as a precautionary measure, we had to call out the helicopter on the Sunday for one of our group, who was lifted to the surface by an upward current from 7 metres. He was put on O2 immediately and was taken to the Hospital for further O2 treatment as a precaution after saying he felt sick. They continued his O2 treatment for a further four hours and then he was released later that evening and returned to take part in the BBQ.

We had the usual kit malfunctions and mishaps, not untying tanks first, almost forgotten weight belts, dry suit zips not being done up, torn seals (the drysuit variety), my zip finally decided to give up the ghost ( it’s teeth fell out, that’s what happens when you get old). I had to borrow Duncan’s ( a dive boat crew member) dry suit for the rest of the weekend and the equipment officer ( Bret) decided to go diving with NO neck seal at all, obviously needs more training. Graham found a novel way of wearing his weight belt, round his ankles when he got back on the boat, watched in amazement by his buddy Venessa, good to see her back in the water after James. Graham also forgot to mention his split hose and un-zipped suit as well. He had a good weekend! And that’s just the mishaps I noticed or they owned up to. But we all got in, got out and managed over a hundred dives between us. Many thanks to Gren for yet again organising the 40 plus tanks each evening which needed filling and for sorting the finances for them as well. And thanks to my assistant dive marshall (Marcela) and also to everybody for loading and unloading the boat each day so quickly and efficiently.

We did our customary group meals on Saturday and Monday evenings at the Lodge and only just managed a BBQ on Sunday evening avoiding the showers by the skin of our teeth, many thanks to the chefs Brian D and Chris K and all my lovely lady salad makers and my caravan monitors, who supplied the basics for each caravan. At the BBQ plenty of beer and wine was drunk and then Marius appeared with some Slovakian fire water, which had to be sampled. Everybody then seemed to migrate to my caravan to continue drinking, as there was no obvious party caravan this year, we must be all growing up at last or the bad boys and girls didn’t come this year!?

Most afternoons where spent relaxing in the pool area after the diving, although some people ventured along the beach or toured the village shops. We had several non-diving trip members and children with us, so it was good to link-up with them in the afternoons as well. Seahouses is a lovely village with numerous pubs which always seem to be packed, especially when our crowd get up there, Drinking must be a national pastime up here. We were partly joined by Hampton BSAC, consisting of several ex-K&E members, for a drink one evening. Good to renew old friendships!? Some faces not seen at the club for a long time. On the bank Holiday Monday there was a fair overlooking the sea and a RNLI exhibition and the village was packed with people, with a great atmosphere and lots to do and see. I just followed tradition and went to the Ship Inn with some of the regulars and dive boat crew for a few beers and de-Briefing, I’ve been up here a few times now and I’m starting to understand the locals now. As always it was a great week and the weather just about stayed good for us. I will be doing this trip again next year and the list will be going up very soon, so watch out for it on the board.

The wreck was the Clodmoor. A steamer, built in 1902, she spent most of her days carrying wheat until 3 May 1917 while on route to Newcastle was torpedoed 5 miles south of Newhaven. Although powered by a triple expansion engine, this was nowhere to be seen during the dive. 

After an uneventful descent down the shot and a little bit of searching, Kevin and I found the wreck and a fair few fish. I’m sure that if we had been able to see anything it would have been great but alas, the viz wasn’t up to much and after 35 minutes our (pre agreed) time was up. Back on to the vomit comet we headed back to shore for a bit of lunch.     

Having regrouped, Sarah (our manager for the day) and Dave T mooted the possibility of missing the second dive because of poor weather. The dive being suggested was Seaford ledges – so a 6 metre dive, with no viz in lumpy conditions. Most of us didn’t need to be asked twice and made our way off for a well needed cuppa, while a crazy few (Dave, Kirstie, Dean and Gren) headed back out. 

Some of us had managed to find somewhere to stay over and after filling our belies headed off for an early night as everyone was to meet at 7.30 the next day. Despite the forecast not being very good, most people managed a couple of dives on the Sunday; this time the Lancer II and that old faithful, Seaford Ledges

Despite the weather it was a great weekend with some good diving. Shame some idiots decided to let down one of the trailer’s tyres (all of them including the spare!). Not to be put off by something as trivial that we were soon on the road and back to the club putting Sea King and Britvic away until another weekend.

You can have two bags if one of them is sporting equipment but you may be charged for the bag (no lies this is what we were told). For example, if you took your golf clubs that would count as sporting equipment and could be in a separate bag, this is a piece of sporting equipment in official terms apparently, but you may still get charged for the bag (confused yet). Otherwise it should all be in one bag, unless it is a piece of sporting equipment. This is the exact explanation given to me and Chris at the check in which drew completely blank stares from both of us at which point she gave up and checked our bags anyway.

A simple departure accompanied by several beers and a snack with the discussion on diving and just how cold the water might be. There was little in the way of expectation of really warm weather (oops). So I’m glad I packed three warm tops! Two and a bit hours later touch down in Split and the group grew by two (my wife and Andy met us there).

We met our congenial host for the week who wasn’t called Borat! Anyway Borko led us to our transport and we started our holiday proper heading for the very pretty Rogoznica.

The group was led by Uncle Len Hards, Dive Marshall and master of ceremonies – He was ably assisted by Marcella (Cousteau) Turanova, Asst. DM. Then the rest of us: Sandra (Barbie) Argent, Glen (you’re all mad), Jim (Octo) Molyneux, Chris (Jordan) Knight, Andy (I don’t need a dry suit anymore) Ethel And me;

And, not forgetting the non divers (the beautiful ladies), Mary, Cathy, Audrey and Rebecca.

Bourco showed us to our apartments which most of us agreed we would never find our way back to in the dark. Very nice, comfortable well appointed and convenient for the dive centre and the pub (in no order of importance).

At this point I was very glad that I had packed a couple of pairs of shorts!

Needless to say once the kit was dumped we found the bar and found some beer. Borko enlightened us to the joys of Croatian diving and what to expect gastronomically for the rest of the week and said to use his name any where in Rogonica as it might help and, in this instance, genuinely seemed to. Several beers later we retired to bed.

Diving was due to start at 09:00 hours the next day. The sun was shining and it was decidedly warm walking to Dive Pongo (something to do with a dog Borko once owned) with all the kit required. The centre was literally at the waters edge and the boat was moored outside. You couldn’t of asked for a nicer location (unless of course there was a bar and restaurant next door) and the view across the Adriatic was amazing. We met Borkos able assistant, who wasn’t called Gorko (shame really as that would have been too good to be true) and sorted our kit out. Goran went and got the boat and we duely loaded up. We set out at 1000 hours, well we were on Croatian time by then!

You could say the mix of equipment being used was a bit different, wetsuits and twelves through to dry suits and twins but other than Andy and the local boys none of us knew quite what to expect (not exactly sure I came away any the wiser either, it all seemed to work, Borko dived on twins in a dry suit, Andy on twins and a wetsuit and Goran on a twelve in a wetsuit, so take your pick really.

So what was the diving like? All in all pretty good, we knew it would be a little murky and colder than later in the season but it is still pretty spectacular. Lots of big walls, amazing Gorgonia and plenty of critters.

The first couple of dives were the usual adjustment dives, getting back into the swing of things after which we all settled in and took in the scenery. Of note were the Mig site (none of us actually managed to find the majority of the wreck), the fallen lighthouse, the still standing lighthouse and the blue cave (not much of a cave really and I would imagine really spectacular when the water clears). It was octopus mating season so they weren’t in the usual abundance but that made the encounters (ink and all) all the more special. Wrasse and scorpion fish everywhere (including the biggest I have ever seen), John Dory and angler fish making an appearance along with loads of different shellfish.

From a personal point of view I think my favourite was one of the last, the fallen lighthouse. We’re not talking big winding staircase and porthole windows, it was a big concrete block with a big concrete pillar. Blown up in WW2 it sits top end down in about 4 metres of water in its own crater which drops to around the 7 to 8 meter range, doesn’t sound that great but it is so out of place it just looms at you and has a very eerie feeling. Very cool.

Things of note, hmmm! Len won’t be asking me to zip up his dry suit again, Marcella has decided that she either needs a Bathescape or a trimix rebreather, me and Jim did some equipment testing, Glen discovered the joys of being a trainee diver and Chris became Borkos model of choice for the week (he looks good in the water apparently).

Most of the diving will no doubt be reported and debated elsewhere, so on to other stuff!

Croatian cuisine is on the whole simple but very tasty (ask Chris he did the majority of the menu in one restaurant). The fish and shellfish were fresh and wonderful, Audrey has become an addict of the garlic oil (probably more garlic than oil but very tasty), the girls discovered the local wine, served in litre jugs was pretty good (at any time of the day) and Len had chips, a lot. Ice cream is a big thing everywhere in Croatia and can be purchased until closing time (we should know).

Not expecting much from the weather we were more than pleasantly surprised. It was sunny and warm everyday (we measured up to 33° on the boat one day). We did have one rain storm, it lasted what seemed like about 30 seconds (Rebecca stayed on and said that their was what seemed like a monsoon a couple of days after we left but even that didn’t last long). The only drawback to the climate was the mosquitoes, not much of a problem during the day but they liked to bite at night. It didn’t take too much repellent to deter them.

As diving was usually done by three most days there was some down time and we headed for the sea and swimming. You can’t really say headed for the beach as they don’t really have beaches. What they do have are little concrete platforms (left over from the communist days) that reach out a little way into the Adriatic which you can lounge on and swim from, really rather civilised. And there was a lot of them.

The last day was our down time (break before flying) and it was decided to do some sight seeing so we headed for a rather beautiful little city called Trogir. A walled centre with winding narrow streets, a cathedral, a castle and lots of bars and restaurants. Some of us made our way to the top of the bell tower (no way would the health and safety squad of let you do that in the UK) for some truly breathtaking views. Borko had recommended a restaurant to eat at, the only problem with this being was finding it, talk about out of the way. But he was right, very atmospheric, good service and pretty good food. Len had some chips. Croatian hospitality extends to complementary drinks before or after the meal (or both) and they served some interesting rocket fuel.

The accommodation was pretty good, most of the group in one villa with two separate flats, and Rebecca, Andy and I in a slightly smaller villa round the corner. We had no problems in our little flat and essentially neither did Len and the posse apart from the owner who apparently was a fundamentalist member of the green party (a severe dislike of any unnecessary use of electricity) who liked to go to bed early. Well if you are going to have wild parties you should read the rules first…

No major injuries were sustained, Len and I both got savaged on our toes by the ridiculously high door frames, Glen spent a little too long in the sun (think lobster) and Cathy got ravaged from behind by a rampaging anemone.

Altogether a quite splendid trip, major, major thanks to Len for organising a truly unforgettable holiday.