Location: Scylla and Wembury

13th of August 2005 to 14th of August 2005

Dive report for weekend 13th -14th August 2005

Sitting at Wembury outside the beach café on Friday the sun was hot and the sea was like the proverbial mirror. As I tucked into my cream tea (Jen was adamant that it was against the law to come to Devon and not have a cream tea) I daydreamed about the HMS Scylla dive that was planned for the day after. Flat calm seas, sun shining, 30 metres viz, the wreck to ourselves………. ! Back at the campsite and back to reality, Brian told us that the weather was closing in the following morning, and diving the Scylla probably wasn’t an option. The vision I’d had of the Scylla shimmered and faded into the distance and the picture of a murky Plymouth Sound dive slowly began to materialize. (shudder!!)
The weekend had been planned and organized by Brian Marsh using the Sunfish Charters rib which is usually based at Brixham. Brian crossed the skipper Mike’s palm with silver and he had agreed to bring the rib to Fort Bovisand at Plymouth for us to do the Scylla on Saturday. Sunday was to be a shore dive type bimble around at either Thurlestone or Wembury.
There was due to be 11 of us on the rib on Saturday, teamed up as follows:-
Brian, Caroline and Kim Marsh, Bill Newton and Colin Studholme, myself and Richard Aston, Kevin Lea and Dave King, Paul Spence and Barbara Brooke-Read.
Martin and Jo Knapman were coming down on Sunday to join us at whichever beach we decided to terrorize.
I led the convoy to Fort Bovisand (good navigation practise) along what seemed like miles of country lanes and arrived at 8.30 to find Sunfish already there and waiting for us. Skipper Mike was hopping up and down doing a good impression of a cat on a hot tin roof and asked us to get a wiggle on. Apparently the predicted weather had arrived early during the night and we had a window of opportunity to dive the Scylla before the next blow. Not needing telling twice, the rib was loaded with kit and divers in record time and we set off into a choppy sea which was getting less pleasant by the minute.
Colin wasn’t feeling so clever before we set out and by the time we got to the dive site he was feeling quite poorly. Kim was also suffering from a slight case of mal-de-mer by the time we were kitted up and dropping over the side. Why she actually waited until she was underwater to be sick is a secret best kept to herself however. Mind you it might explain the lack of fish on my side of the wreck as they were probably all following Kim full of the expectation of a free lunch.
As it turns out, the weather had done us a right favour as there was only one other dive boat on the wreck when we arrived and they were just finishing their dive as we kitted up. Richard and I followed the shotline down to the stern, where we found a very respectable 4-5 metres viz. Making our way along the port side of the wreck, we looked in all the nooks and crannies that had been thoughtfully provided for our amusement. It made a nice change to see a wreck that still looks a bit like a ship (apart from the honking great holes cut in it). Arriving at the bows, I did the arms outstretched Titanic thing (yawn) much to Richard’s amusement. We sat astride the anchor chain which stretches from the bow to the seabed and looked back up at the wreck, we were just so pleased to be there. Heading back down the starboard side, the dead mans fingers and anemones on the side of the ship lit up like Christmas tree decorations in the torchlight. It’s amazing how much life has accumulated so quickly on the Scylla. Arriving amidships, our air was by this time running low so we sent up a dsmb and reluctantly headed topside.
The sea when we got to the surface was decidedly choppy to say the least, but everyone had enjoyed their dive, apart maybe from Kim who came up feeling even worse. My observation that the only cure for seasickness was the shade of an oak tree didn’t help for some reason, perhaps because we were still 2 miles and 1 hour away from the nearest one.
Back on terra firma we lost 3 of our number for the next dive, Barbara, Kim and Richard decided that the sea was a bit too lumpy to venture out again that day, so Brian quickly rehashed the buddy pairs. Skipper Mike was once again jumping up and down to get us back in as quickly as possible because of the weather, I reckon he was either on a promise or there was a good film on the telly that night. So in next to no time at all, cylinders were filled, divers still green from the last trip were loaded and we were off again. The sea was really picking up by this time so we opted for the sheltered side of Plymouth Sound and dived Cawsands. I was diving with Paul Spence now, and we slipped over the side into calm water. Fingers of kelp covered rock stick out at right angles from the shore here with sandy gullies between. Paul spotted a cuttlefish which was rapidly flashing from light to dark, he definitely didn’t want to play and soon shot away indignantly. Pollack were hunting along the sandy areas and I spotted a small conger eel in a rock crevice. We followed a line of lobster pots for a while which showed a distinct lack of lobsters. Maximum depth was only about 8 metres but it was a very pretty dive. Back on the boat we all exchanged notes on what we had seen, Kevin and Dave had seen a large flattie and were trying to decide what it was. Various suggestions were put forward, but it’s identity remains a mystery at time of writing. Back to Bovisand, kit was unloaded double time and skipper Mike quickly disappeared to his secret assignation.
Dave King, Paul Spence and Kevin Lea had to hit the motorway to go home and the rest of us returned to our respective dwellings, being a mixture of tents, caravans and hotel rooms for a rest before the evening get together.
We had a table booked at a local pub for an evening meal and we had all worked up quite an appetite. A hearty meal, and a good time was had by all and we left well stuffed and ready for a well earned nights kip.
Sunday morning saw clear blue skies and a light northerly breeze, perfect! Once again the convoy weaved it’s way along country lanes to Wembury Bay (navigation still holding up) where the sea was fairly calm and very inviting.
Caroline and Kim were first in, they kitted up at the carpark, wobbled all the way to the beach down the steep steps, hardly stopped for a buddy check and fell in to the waves exhausted. Bill, myself and Richard took to the water soon after in a much more leisurely fashion. The first thing that becomes apparent at Wembury is the lack of depth. Even though it was approaching high tide, we struggled to get 5 metres by burying our computers in the sand. A tiny cuttlefish jetted away from us, inking madly as it went. We found a small flat fish and some good sized bass on the central sandy area and Pollack and wrasse in amongst the rocks to the left hand side of the bay. On the way back, we bumped into Martin and Jo who were just on their way out. Just before coming out of the water I spotted a weever fish which buried itself in the sand like magic, a rather anti social behaviour of theirs which often gets them trodden on. Brian and Barbara went in as soon as we got back.
Barbara was on a roll by the time they came out and couldn’t wait to go back in, taking charge of a dive with Bill by successfully navigating and taking the smb (nice going Barbara, remember those early dives when you held my hand? I thought it was because you liked me at first). Wembury is a nice comfortable dive site with parking, toilets and a café all at close hand. The lack of depth was slightly disappointing, but that was more than made up for by the serene beauty underwater (and the cream teas in the café helped). Most of the divers managed two dives apart from Brian who was buddyless and waterless. The sea had receded too far down the beach for comfort by this time and we all started putting kit away before leaving the beach to get back to some semblance of normality after the Stroud invasion.
Thanks to Brian for all his hard work and patience in putting another successful SVSAC weekend together. Thanks to Mike the skipper for doing an excellent job, and for not letting Barbara drive the rib. Thanks to all the divers (and non divers) involved for making it a great social occasion.
Nice one!!

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