RIB trip from Sea Palling September 2003

(by Pim Dekker)

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I had only been on the RIB twice before. The first time was in Stewartby, when Kevin Wileman organised a BedSAC boat-handling course. This was a thrilling experience during which we had a play with the RIB. The second time was during a Weymouth training trip. But on this trip I only dived off the RIB but was picked up by Tango so I still didn’t have a clue about how to get back in the RIB from the water. I had tried to get on a trip before but finally in September there was a place and off I went with Kevin Hopton. We met Kevin Wileman and Graham Hucklesby in Seapalling on Saturday morning. It would be just the four of us.We had to wait until the tide was right and we could take it relatively easy. So Kevin H and I went to the camping site to put up the tent. We then went back to the parking where Kevin W and Graham were preparing the RIB. As the time of departure came closer, we gradually got into our suits and put all the equipment on board.
When the tide was right, the trailer + RIB + us in it were towed to the sea by a big tractor. That was a nice little ride! The weather was relatively calm and there even was some sunshine.  On the parking Kevin W and Graham had spoken to some people from another club. They had the coordinates of a wreck that Kevin W and Graham didn’t have yet. They suggested we’d go there together, with two RIBs. This would be very practical for them as they could all dive together while Kevin H and I would watch both RIBs.  We would then do our dive after they’d returned.

Kevin H and I started kitting up just before the others returned. We entered and descended via the shot line. The viz was really good considering this was the North Sea, not exactly famous for its good viz! The wreck was rather broken up, but there was enough left of it. It wasn’t too deep (25m) so we had a good bottom time. One of the others had found a big piece of copper (some sort of shaft) but didn’t have a lifting bag. He asked if Kevin wanted to send it up with his bag, which is the first thing we did when we had found it. Then we explored the wreck: it had some of the biggest lobsters on I’d ever seen (not that I’d seen that many, but still ………). Also we saw quite a few cod. All in all it was a very pleasurable dive. After the dive Graham assured me this was about as good as it could get in the North Sea…… Lucky me, from now on it could only get worse, and it did the next day.

When we went back we had some very severe showers. The rain hitting my face actually hurt so I had to put on my mask. When we were back we were taken back to the car park by the tractor again. We got into our clothes and then Graham and Kevin W towed the boat to the place where it was stored. Back at the camping site we had a very nice shower, wrote in our logbooks and then went to the pub for a meal. There were quite a lot of other divers there, all talking about how good a day it had been for diving. We went back to the camping quite early because we had to get up very early the next day, to get the right tide. First we had to get the RIB from the place where it was kept. Then everything went in the same way as it had done the day before and before we knew it, we were at sea again. The coastguard was notified of our plans and off we went. This time we were going to do dive a relatively deep wreck (35m). I had borrowed a 15 l cylinder + pony for the weekend as I wanted to get the most out of my dives (and also not disappoint buddy Kevin H with short bottom time….). However, I had used it the day before because the weather had been so nice. This meant I only had a 12 l cylinder left for this dive. Not ideal for such a dive. Once the wreck was located and the shot line had been placed, it was agreed that Kevin H and I would be the first to go diving. However, when we were completely kitted up, it appeared that Kevin only had 100 bar left in his cylinder: the valve had been open a tiny bit, but probably during the whole night! So we had to make a new plan: Kevin W, Graham and I would go diving, while Kevin H watched the boat and pick us up. In the meantime we had seen a ship sailing straigt towards us. Fortunately it changed course in time and on board the French crew was waving and laughing. The viz under water was not very good and quite soon it became quite dark. Then the wreck loomed out of the dark. It was a lot bigger than the wreck from yesterday and in combination with the dark this resulted in quite a spooky but serene atmosphere. Again I saw a lot of lobsters and cod. Graham used a distance line to find the way back. After an interesting, educative dive it was time to head back for the surface if I was to have enough air for the little bit of deco we had to do.  At the surface Kevin H fortunately spotted us and picked us up. We de-kitted and headed back for the coast. I also got to drive the boat for a bit, which was really cool!

All in all it was a great experience! I’d love to go again and I can recommend it to everybody who hasn’t tried diving off the East coast yet. Graham and Kevin W now also have a number of wrecks, which are not too deep, so although you have to have some experience, it is not just for the pro’s. If you want to know more, please get in touch with Graham or Kevin W.