Portland July 2007 Dive Trip Report

Quick summary: We have a boat moored in Portland. There's good diving down there. It's perfectly feasible to go down for a day, get a decent day's diving in (three waves) and arrive back in time to land the boat. Let's do some more day trips - they're cheap!

Sunday 29th July, and seven of us set off from Oxford to head down to Portland to try out Day Diving - heading down early in the morning, launching the boat into the water as early as possible, doing some diving, landing the boat, washing it down and arriving back in time for tea (well, in time for a pint at least!). The reasoning behind this was that a large part of the cost of a diving trip is attributable to accommodation and associated costs (meals out in the evenings etc.) and by cutting these out, diving could become even cheaper (so we could afford more of it!).

With favourable weather promised, we met at the Hut at about 6.00am. We'd loaded up kit in advance, although I had 'omitted' to load my weightbelt (okay, so I forgot) so with that onboard, we set off for the coast! Traffic was very light and we made very good time, with Steve A and I arriving at the Aquasport hotel just after 8, early enough to secure free parking on the street. After a quick breakfast, we started kitting up. Paul and Cherry headed directly to the boat yard to launch the boat before heading around to pick us up and by the time they arrived, we were pretty much ready. On the first wave, we had Simon behind the wheel with Paul diving with Cherry and Steve and I as the second pair (with Amy kindly sleeping on the rest of the kit on shore). Destination - the M2. For those who don't know about this wreck, the M2 is a fairly unusual submarine. She sank early in the 20th Century but is distinguished by the presence of an aircraft hanger on the top! This used to hold a seaplane with foldable wings. The submarine would surface, launch the plane, then recover it with a winch before submerging again. Although I'm unsure of the truth of this story, I've heard it said that what resulted in her sinking was an attempt to get ever quicker in the launching and recovery of the plane. Apparently, the M2 tried to dive before the watertight hanger doors were closed and she flooded, going down with 60 officers and men onboard. Today, the plane has gone but the hanger is still there without doors so can easily be entered.

The wreck is on the other side of Portland Bill and so is a fair distance around. Despite relatively little wind, there was a fair amount of swell and we got shaken about quite a bit on the way, eager to get to the wreck on slacks. Simon piloted the boat admirably though, and we arrived to find an assortment of other dive boats already there, complete with a shot line (making the sub somewhat easier to find!). We rapidly kitted up (I'd forgotten how much more hassle a twinset was on a rocking RIB!), whereupon I realised that I had neglected to bring my fins. Obviously, this would have caused issues but Simon had his so I managed to use those. Almost immediately after, I had my drysuit feed blow the o-ring out, which then refused to stop leaking for quite some time (wasn't having a good day...). Eventually, I was in order and in we went, down the shot line to the wreck. Visibility was fairly good and I wasn't hampered by not having a torch (the battery had run down on mine and I'd lent out my spare - incidentally, has anyone got this?). The wreck itself was great. Covered in life (tompot blennies, a topknot, spider crabs and a mean looking conger) and with a lot of nooks and crannies to look inside, we were soon running low on no-decompression time. We were keen to not incur much decompression and so once the timer hit zero, Steve and I sent up our DSMB, ascending after it. We'd found Paul and Cherry at this point, sending up their blob too, so we ended up ascending in close proximity, with all three (?) blobs being tied together at the surface. Quickly back onto the boat without much difficulty, we were soon heading back to shore, with the waves this time and with a much smoother ride. Back at shore, we dropped off Paul and Cherry and picked up Shamil and Amy before heading off to the Countess for the second wave. Amy was doing her SO5 with Simon and I was going in with Shamil. Although I've dived this wreck more than any other (by a long way), as has Simon, when the viz is good, it's a great dive. Shallow enough so that dive time isn't limited much, its covered in life, including some blennies that I've never seen elsewhere and nudibranchs. This time, there were some enormous spider crabs and we found a single scallop. Back onboard, we headed back to shore where I dropped off my cylinders for filling and everyone got onboard for the final wave. This time, we were heading on a scalloping run with the newly qualified Sports Diver (well done Amy!) buddying Cherry, Steve going down with Simon and Paul and Shamil as the third pair. I was driving the boat and, as time was short, had instructions to get out there as quickly as possible. A bit of a shaky ride later, we headed across the bay to about 15m of depth, hoping to find scallops. There was a gentle current running and Steve and Simon dropped in first. Shamil then decided to feed the fish before they dropped in last, after Cherry and Amy. Unfortunately, in our aim for slightly shallower water, we'd abandoned our usual hunting grounds and sadly, the patch we chose was nearly empty of food. Shamil returned with a small crab and between the six divers, there were enough scallops for a single meal. With everyone back on board, we then shot back to the boatyard to land the boat. After dekitting and washing her down, we loaded the cars, handed in the keys and set off back to Oxford, arriving back and having kit away well before 9. 00pm

All in all, a great trip - three waves, including one to the M2, no accommodation costs and overall, a very cheap trip. My total costs (petrol, boat and air) came to about £30. Not bad at all!

Thanks to Simon for organising the trip, to the drivers for driving and to the weather for holding out! All that is left now is to organise the next one. Details to follow...

Cheers,

Luke