(by Ann Bracey)
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When asked
to write a few words about the 24th July visit to Stoney all that
came to mind was ‘oh heck’.
Though after some thought I decided that the day spoke for it’s self.
For me, the 24th started at about 2.40am when I opened one eye, looked at my
bedside clock, turned over and went back to sleep.
Little did I know that our intrepid instructors where already on their
way to queue for the lakeside parking.
It worked, they where right beside the ‘bus stop’ steps, it
couldn’t have been better. The weather looked good and proved to be a lovely
day (lesson - don’t forget your large ‘T’ shirt for protection between
dives, otherwise sore shoulders). The 24th was my second visit to
Stoney. My
impression I had hadn’t changed – a beehive of divers.
They were everywhere including their valuable kit, with vehicles of every
shape and size trying to avoid it.
I saw at least two near misses. Our visit was well organized with
everybody arriving on time.
After the main briefing we where kept busy putting kit together and
finding out who our dive group leaders and buddies were.
We started to collect for the briefings; I was with Clive, Helen, Judith
and Dominic. This was to be my first open-water in my dry suit.
I’ve experienced a few weight problems, which are very close to being
sorted out. We
started with weight tests for Judith and myself, we both needed adjustments,
with the addition of ‘rocks’ for me during the dive – did I really say
‘close to being sorted’? We made our way over to the Viscount cockpit then
on to the Nautilus; it was a nice relaxed swim, there were plenty of roach and
perch. We ended
up in the blockhouse under the pub.
Clive indicated, with a sign not found in the diving manuals, that water
was not the only liquid above our heads. While there we found crayfish hiding
under the stones. One
managed to attach it’s self to my glove, which seemed quite at home and had to
be encouraged to leave.
It was a nice moment, spoilt only by the picture in my minds eye –
fresh baguette and seafood mayonnaise!! We made our way back to the bus stop,
I‘ve known easier exits but who ever said that diving was an elegant sport.
Ninety minutes and a bacon roll later we started our second dive.
To conserve air we surface-swam to the Stanegarth buoy, we descended the
shot line onto the deck.
It was my first visit and my first time inside a wreck.
A really good dive, though Clive’s impression of Kate Winslet on the
Titanic didn’t quite do it for me. We surfaced and returned to the pub
blockhouse to carry out a controlled buoyant lift with a 25mt tow.
Our exit was the jetty – piece of cake!! After debrief and stowing of
kit I went for a very welcome shower (2nd lesson of the day –
don’t leave your shoes in your vehicle after putting on the dry suit).
‘Steve, thank you once again for the loan of your sandals’.
I felt vindicated later when I noticed that Steve was still
shoeless, it appears that I wasn’t the only one that day. We
finished the day with the final debrief on the pub veranda.
We sat in the late afternoon sun, looking out over the lake drinking and
chatting – what more could you want?