From wrecks to wolf fish and Belgium beers to Middlesbrough Parmo’s, all the delights of a week diving off the coast of St Abbs, Scotland. We had a beautiful house for the week with a scramble on Saturday night to pick the best bedrooms. We went our separate ways that evening, with some exploring, others taking in the sun on the harbour walls, while a few exploring the local drinking spots.

We started off our dives on the Monday with two dives planned. Stingray, the dive boat operated by St Abbs Charters, departed the harbour swiftly at 0900, with our first dive of the trip at Burnmouth Cave, a fairly shallow dive with lots to see including an array of lobsters, crabs, a dogfish, flat fish, grey gurnard and so on. After the dive, we had a lunch break, some had packed lunches while the ones who wanted the extra time in bed opted for the local bakery who produced fresh cakes and sandwiches every morning (I don’t call it lazy, I call it supporting local businesses!). The second dive was to Thrummie Carr. We couldn’t believe our luck with the weather and visibility, something that continues throughout the trip with the exception of the last day, but we will touch on that later.

The second day was another 0900 departure, so an early start for the group, but with great views and a nice morning warmth we were not complaining. The first dive of the day was to Black Carr, a renowned spot for the infamous wolf-fish, we all got into our buddy pairs and each came up with plans to spot this rare fish, some were to go deep, others shallower warmer water, some to head to the darker eerie spots, while others headed to lighter spots. After the dive, we all regrouped on the boat waiting to hear if anyone had seen one, sadly the group had no luck.

After lunch we dived a site called West Hurker, I can’t talk for the group, but for me this was an experience. Myself and my buddy, Howard, were finning along when we came across a large rock, I was behind Howard investigating and this is where I spotted the celebrity of the trip, the wolf fish. I was trying to get Howard’s attention but I had noticed he stopped, he was pointing under the opposite side of the rock to me and I was also pointing to my side. I finned over to Howard’s area and noticed that he had seen one also, two wolf fish under the same rock. I signalled that I had also seen one and we joked about who had seen the first one and as us men do, whose was bigger. The evening was filled with laughs and myself and Howard talking about our find with, maybe, a bit of exaggeration added….

Wednesday was a later start of 1000 with the weather not as great, the swell was greater today with someone’s sea legs giving way (myself *cough cough). We still managed two dives, but visibility had gone down slightly due to the swell. We ticked off yet another new site today, Anemones Gully, an amazing swim through with a big shoal of mackerel as far as the eye could see. The second dive in the afternoon was West Hurker again with the brilliant swim through at the beginning.

The penultimate day was the deepest yet, the weather gods were on our side, and we were able to dive a 30 metre wreck, the Glanmire, which is weather dependent. The wreck was beautiful, with both boilers still intact and the prop vertically on the ground where it hasn’t moved since the vessel ran aground in 1918. This was followed by a site called Ringholm (Odense)/Pettico Wick. A nice shallow dive after our 30 metre with yet another wreck, although to add, most of the group couldn’t find the wreck but we didn’t mind. The weather was great with perfect visibility and lots of marine life.

Howard had booked a special treat for us all that evening, a craft beer pub, with over 176 different beers from American IPA’s, Belgium blondes and a beer costing over £60, and that is not a spelling mistake. After a few beers it was food time, the delicacy is a Middlesbrough parmo, which is a chicken schnitzel topped with béchamel sauce, cheddar and a choice of toppings from mushrooms to chorizo and chilli honey. Something no one in the group had tried before but something we will all be making again at home.

The weather had taken a downwards spiral on Friday with the fog taking over and a pretty nasty cold wind picking up. Today was a special day, as we got to witness the release of some baby lobsters as part of a conservation project in the local area. There were some further spotting of the infamous wolf fish today with most of the group having seen them. (There’s always next year, Chris, Trevor, Mike and Paul!) The second dive was called off due to very low clouds descending along the coast. We didn’t mind as we all had an amazing week’s diving, and to tick off nine out of the ten dives in the UK is almost unheard of.

Friday’s dinner was an Argonauts tradition, Trevor’s pizza night. Trevor had tirelessly prepared enough dough for ten allowing it to sit for 24 hours making for an amazing pizza, it was toppings galore with enough food to feed the whole street. We all went to bed feeling very full dreaming of pizza, wolf fish and Belgium beers.

This was my first long trip with the Argonauts and I can firmly say it was amazing. I was able to pass my Sports Diver training there and almost doubled the amount of dives in my log book. A big thank you to Akiko for organising the trip, Danny our amazing skipper, Charlotte the deckhand and all-round tour guide, Trevor for putting up with me as a roommate, Chris, Howard, Ian, Mike and Paul for sharing your knowledge and makings the trip an amazing experience for all. Here’s to the next one!

Reported by Cameron, Photos by Charlotte, Cameron and Paul

Warm water diving, bright sunshine, gentle breeze to cool down after a beautiful days diving in the clear waters off the coast of Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote. What could be better we asked yourselves.

Warmer sea temperature for starters say Akiko and Emily. Less wind we all say. It’s fair to say we were taken aback by the cool water which managed to penetrate our ( mostly) hired 7 mm wet suits , including hoods.

When I say “we” were taken aback after the first dive, I don’t include myself, as I was left high and dry and warm by the jetty as everyone else boarded the rib ( see below) and set sail to the nearby dive site. Due to an equipment malfunction I tried the coffee n cake of a local cafe.

Poor Akiko was colder than Claude van Dam in the Coors Lite advert and later looked like ET during his famous bike ride scene returning from some dives. Getting in and out of the rib to steep, stone steps was not for the faint hearted or those weak at the knees. By the end of day one it was clear Katerina was in for a tough time with our dive guides, what also became clear was she was not in the mood to take any nonsense from them, although the offer of their octopus did come in handy from time to time.

It should be noted that the visibility was great, the rays were plentiful as we’re the barracuda, sardines, the volcanic rock formations gave a lovely contrast to the beautiful sea bed. This theme continued throughout the 3 days x 6 dives.

We were given good guidance not to disturb the resting female rays as they had come to give birth. Likewise an unwritten rule is don’t assault your fellow divers, trying telling Akiko this after Trevor battered her head with his fins repeatedly at 25m. With Trevor’s antics, the sea temperature, relatively strong current poor Akiko must have felt like she was being punished for some unknown misdemeanours.

Meanwhile back on shore Gareth had hired a sleek cycle and was hurtling up and down the hilly roads gaining his normal t shirt and shorts tan, which to the untrained eye looked very red indeed.

Following our local dives we headed off in the minibus to Playa Blanca, suddenly familiar to those who had been to Lanzarote several years ago. Only this time we were treated, Mmmmm, to the Italian Sardine magician. A well known local celeb who was pulling Sardines out of a tin, like a magician with a hatful of rabbits. He showed us his skills by as one witness said “yanking that Moray from beneath the rock” and feeding it MasterChef prepared Sardines. Once would have been enough, but oh no, Super Mario was not content until he had fed every Moray and Grouper within a 5 mile radius.

The return journey to the dive centre saw the wet pant duo of Trevor and myself banished to the small van driven by Guy the guide and former international fashion sales icon.

Our final meal was no more than 20 paces from our apartments, which was handy for the Eurovision party thoughtfully arranged by our Croatian representative Katrina afterwards. In fact the sight of the Croatian group in white Y fronts was one of the standout performances. Chris was probably the most enthusiastic viewer demonstrating his self confessed eclectic task in music by calling out a Sugababes number being covered by a previous winner, i feel Popmaster is awaiting your presence Chris !

Following a good night’s rest, sorry Trevor your illness was Akiko’s pay back, most of us made our weary way back to Blighty to resume the daily grind.

Many thanks to Chris for organizing a great trip and of course all Argonauts for making it another memorable Spring dive.

Reported by Phil J, Photos by Katarina and Alex

After two years of postponements (thanks to you-know-what), twelve Argonauts and two honorary Argonauts finally jetted off to the Maldives in late April 2022!

We spent a week with Emperor Divers, on board the Emperor Leo. It was a great boat and team – and we managed to pack in 17 dives along with some snorkelling too.

Starting and ending in the capital Male we journeyed through the turquoise waters of Alifu Dhaalu Atoll, Vaavu Atoll and South Male Atoll. We were lucky with good weather and water conditions throughout, but of course the Maldives is known for its strong currents! 

 

We had a real range of different dives from reefs to pinnacles and even a small wreck site (the Kuda Giro) on the final dive. Our dive on Fishhead Reef had particularly strong current and all we could do was hook in next to the butterfly fish, emperor angels and shoals of oriental sweet lips. On the Kuda Giro our searching in the fan corals was rewarded with a Longnose Hawkfish.

We saw at least four species of sharks, manta, mobula and eagle rays, leaf fish, morays and more. One day we were surrounded thousands of fusiliers being harried by jacks, clouds of cardinals and damsels floating above branching corals and friendly unicorn fish playing with our bubbles.  

 

We particularly enjoyed hooking in on the reef edges and watching sharks saunter past in the blue, oblivious to a dozen Argonauts watching in awe. We had a more up close and personal dive with a number of nurse sharks who were so curious and placid that they swam close enough to be fin-slapped!

One of the highlights was a night dive, where we dropped down to about twelve metres next to the boat and knelt still on the sand, torches held high above our heads. After about 15 minutes of waiting in anticipation the manta rays came to feed on all of the plankton attracted in our torchlight. Swooping, gliding and barrelling, just centimetres from our outstretched torches it was an incredible experience.

Aside from the diving we also enjoyed a beach BBQ and bonfire on a deserted island, watching the sun set and all of the stars come out. It was a wonderful trip, with a great bunch of friends and many laughs were shared – it really was well worth the long wait! 

Reported by Jess, Photo by Amanda and Sarah A, Video by Trevor

Uploaded in May 2022

The 8^th August saw our first club dive near Shoreham-by-Sea on Widewater Beach. It was going to be a scorcher with temperatures in the mid-30’s but calm seas, no wind and favourable tides (more on this later).

Six divers fought for parking space (Jess, James, Akiko, Chris, Trevor and Ollie) with four support crew (Sarah – DO, Alex DL training, Emma and Riley – the mascot for the day).

There were several firsts in the dive, Ollies kit, Alex’s training and Riley’s first time on the beach. We set up our stall on the busy beach and got the SEEDS briefing done before the divers inserted themselves into their dry suits. Risks we considered over and above the usual were jet-skis (deploy DSMB’s), fishing lines (take a line cutter) and getting lost (take a compass). Entry was down a shallow shingle beach with the dive being due south until a small ledge was found followed by a swim East until 1/3 air used and then a return. The dive was limited to 60 mins max…what do they say about plans never surviving first contact? It was noted that the yellow buoy should not be reached during the dive.

We tried to get divers in the water ASAP as sitting in a dry suit with temperatures in the 30’s is no fun. Jess and James were efficient as usual and in the water and diving but 12:50. Trevor and Chris got in next and were off 10 mins later with Ollie and Akiko getting in at 13:10.

With the divers out of the way, Sarah then went through planning with me (Alex) whilst Riley (12 weeks old) bravely went to the shore to see if he could eat the sea water.

 

Sarah and Alex then kept a watchful eye for DSMB’s to be deployed and sure enough after 60 mins one came around the corner of the groyne (the beach version) as James and Jess returned bang on time (a prize is on its way). Shortly after, Ollie arrived without kit from the path at the top of the beach. He and Akiko had drifted four groynes down so now had to bring their kit back. Finally, we saw the last DSMB deployed but way out past the yellow buoy. Binoculars suggested that this might be the Trevor/ Chris pair but this wasn’t certain. They did seem to have found a couple of paddle borders who stuck with them as the drifted further West. At about 14:40, Ollie, who had been dispatched to find the lost boys, found the errant divers way down the beach.

Everyone had a good time including divers, shore cover and of course the day’s mascot. Viz was about 5m and a variety of flora and fauna spotted including baby cuttlefish and long straight seaweed. It was a good shake out for equipment with also a couple of lessons for the dive brief. First, even a 0.1 knot current will push you the best part of 200m down a beach over an hour (a considerable distance with full dive kit on) and second if you cannot find an objective ensure that there is a plan in place.

 

By Alex

Photos&Video: ‘Riley’ by Alex, ‘Divers’ by Sarah A, Video by Trevor

 

 

Weekend conditions

Water temperature of 11 degrees Celsius.

Wind speeds of force 4-6 on Saturday, 2-3 on Sunday.

Friday 3^rdMay 2019

We made our way across to Swanage on Friday afternoon/evening, arriving at the Swanage Coastal Park, successfully navigating our way from the south east.

News from Bryan, the Skipper of the Mary Jo (our chartered weekend hard boat), was that high winds forecast for Saturday, meant no dives were currently planned for Saturday, unless weather conditions improved.

On settling into the Coastal Park, we made our way into Swanage for dinner and after dinner drinks at the Black Swan Inn!

Saturday 4^thMay

The next morning, we waited in anticipation for news of improving weather conditions, and Bryan confirmed the planned afternoon wreck dive to visit the Fleur de Lys was on! 

So, mid-morning we headed off to Swanage Pier and found sufficient car spaces to park up side-by-side off the pier and begun making our preparations, with the assistance of the shop/rental shop of Divers Downs.

With the Mary Jo ready and with divers and equipment safely on board, we made our way out into Swanage Bay to where the Fleur de Lys lay in waiting.

Following a successful dive outing and an opportunity for some of us to try our new equipment(!), we settled into pizza and pasta, followed by an early night, in anticipation for what was promising to be improved weather conditions for the forthcoming day.

Sunday 5^thMay

At 0630 we queued briefly for parking on Swanage Pier under clear blue skies and a rising sun, in anticipation for the days’ 2 planned drift dives. With parking and preparations complete, we set off once again on the Mary Jo.

<Peverill Ledges>
With slower tide speeds and improved visibility, Peverill Ledges gave us increased opportunities to spot wildlife and other maritime objects.

<Old Harry Rocks>
The tides were noticeably stronger off Old Harry Rocks and probably as close an experience as we’ll get to being flying superheroes (or being in a washing machine)!
With the second of the days’ drift dives complete, we began making our way home, for a well-earned night’s sleep, and fortunately with a Bank Holiday Monday to help rest up and recover.

Particular thanks to Trevor for organising!

By Ollie

We arrived at our cottage in St Ishmaels on the Pembrokeshire coast on a bright sunny afternoon. Sadly the weather wasn’t quite as kind the following morning, with stereotypical Welsh rain and too much wind for the dive boat to go out. But we took the opportunity to explore the area, with a trip up to St David’s – as well as an unscheduled trip to Halfords to replace a broken car battery… And we even cooked up a curry feast, followed by a blackberry and apple pie, decorated with an artfully crafted octopus! 

 

The weather was a bit breezy for the rest of the week (although no more rain and lots of sun), which meant the diving was spread over the week. Most of us managed to get in a good three days though. And the diving was great. The boat was very spacious, and the skipper Brian really knew his stuff, having dived here himself for years. He gave detailed briefings, and we were treated to lots of sealife. Unfortunately, the vis wasn’t great due to the weather, but we still managed to see plenty. The highlight for me were all the crustaceans, including lobsters, lots of different crabs, squat lobsters, shrimp and huge crayfish. Akiko and I even sotted a lobster who had clearly just finished a rather tasty meal of one of these crayfish, judging from the shell scattered around! There were also lots of fabulous sponges – more varieties and much bigger than I’ve seen in UK waters before. Another great spot was the huge scallops, half buried in the sand and busy feeding. There were plenty of flatfish and gobies, the odd tompot blenny, and the occasional wrasse appeared out of the gloom!

 

And when we couldn’t dive, we made the most of everything this beautiful place had to offer. We explored the stunning coastal path, with craggy cliffs, practically deserted and dramatic beaches, baby seals in the coves, and lots of birds. There was swimming in the sea, body boarding, and cycling. And some of us made the most of the wind to practise our kite-flying skills! It also turned into a bit of a gourmet trip as we made the most of the self-catering, with home-made pizza, pasta, and yet more blackberry desserts!

 

Twelve Argonauts, with kit, flew to the North Red Sea in May 2018 for a very memorable six days of diving aboard the good ship Whirlwind booked via Scuba Travel. 

 

We had a packed itinerary with the possibility of four dives per day including a daily night dive. We thus all chose to dive on Nitrox to ensure that we could get maximum value out of the possible 22 dives. 
Highlights of the trip were seeing dolphins (one doing a victory roll in front of us), a heart made of stones on the sea bed left after an undersea wedding, several trips to the Thistlegorm (both outside and inside) and to also to the Giannis D. 

There was some great wall diving with an abundance of both flora and fauna including a Spanish Dancer, lobsters, blue spotted rays, stone fish, moray eels, puffer fish, leaf fish, octopus, napoleon trigger fish, turtles, bat fish and a white tipped reef shark.

Aside from diving we developed the new sport of “fin cricket” played between those on the boat’s dive platform (with a fin) and those in the water (bowlers and fielders)
This was a great trip that was thoroughly enjoyed by all.
All, bar one, of the photos are courtesy of Tom Pepper and you can see more of his work onwww.tompepperphotography.comor on instagram @tompepperphotography

By Alex

In October, an intrepid foursome headed to Lanzarote for some autumn sun and underwater fun.

The weather was beautiful, hot, sunny and calm waters. The water was a balmy 22 degrees and crystal clear.

We did 7 dives in total, all of which were lovely and easy (max depth was about 27m, great visibility and no current) and with lots of life, especially fish.

We saw: barracuda, shoals of sardines and other unidentified fish, tuna, triggerfish, jacks, an ANGEL SHARK, sting rays, an eagle ray, octopus, cuttlefish, flat fish, nudibranch, squat lobster, cleaner shrimp, moray eel and SEAHORSES!

Plus, we visited the excellent [underwater museum](https://underwatermuseumlanzarote.com/en/) which was a really fantastic and unusual dive among the statues, all of which have a message. What’s particularly nice is that they limit the number of divers in the museum at any one time which means you really do get to enjoy the ‘exhibits’ – I wish they did this at some other dive sites!

We spent our evenings exploring the restaurants of Puerta del Carmen – a surprisingly good variety to choose from, and playing games at our lovely apartment.

Overall, a wonderful, relaxing and beautiful trip!

DETAILS:
We dived with Atlantis Diving: http://atlantislanzarote.com/nuevo/ who also arranged our apartment.

 

by Claire & James

A select group of intrepid Argonauts sports divers (James B, Mark, Alex and Jessica) braved October weather for a really enjoyable day out with Mulberry Divers, off Selsey. We woke up very early (for a Sunday morning at least) and headed for the South coast.  After signing our life away on various bits of paper we convened at the sea front for the all important bacon roll and coffee, before kitting up and heading out on the rib to the first dive site.

The Mulberry rib has a rather impressive engine and a very friendly skipper named Steve, who had a flask of hot Ribena waiting for us at the end of each dive. We were also lucky enough to have the boat all to ourselves – an Argonauts charter!

Wind over the previous days, large Spring tides and a HW slack all meant that the viz for our first dive, on the Far Mulberry was a rather murky 1-2m. This meant that we didn’t see an awful lot, I spotted a friendly looking Tompot Bleny and Alex caught a glimpse of a not so friendly looking Conga Eel. The weather on the surface however, was mostly blue sky and sunshine, so that was good for Rachel who was acting as our shore support (Rachel confirms that the cockles from the local fish monger are good!).

Things improved for our second dive at Waldrons Drift – better viz with the Ebb tide clearing the water slightly. We had a few nice sightings as well; quite a large Cat-Shark, Plaice. Long-Legged Spider Crab, Pollock, Dead Mans Fingers and big Edible Crabs all spotted.

All in all, a fun day out and a nice end to the 2017 UK dive season!

 

by Jess

Four club members made a relatively late booking to dive some of the sites in the southern Red Sea in September.  The itinerary and the port of departure seemed to change on daily basis, even up to the point of arrival, apparently due to exercises being conducted by the Egyptian coastguard.  However after a long flight and an even longer transfer we finally reached our boat at Hamata late at night and once the boat departed the tiring journey was soon forgotten.

We headed south, diving on sites at Fury Shoals and then St Johns. Most days we did three dives, one day we managed four and they were all excellent dives. We would usually be awoken early for a dive before breakfast and then do another before lunch. And so on… lots of diving, lots of eating, lots of relaxing. It’s hard to pick out a favourite dive as there were so many great ones, but I really liked diving at Abu Galawa Soraya which had a central lagoon surrounded by beautiful coral gardens – a very tranquil and relaxing dive. There was lots of sealife to be seen, including many things I hadn’t encountered before. Barracudas, stone fish, crocodile fish, trigger fish, moray eels swimming out in the open, octopus, dolphins and a couple of bonkers porcupine fish were some of the highlights. After a couple of days at St Johns we headed back north, diving at Fury Shoals again, Elphinstone reef and Marsa Shouna.

The boat itself, the Okeanos Xplorer was nice and comfortable and the dive guides and crew were very friendly and helpful and made getting ready for the dives and getting out of the water very easy. Food and drink on board was excellent and there was plenty for vegetarians – so no danger of losing weight on this trip. We returned to a different port, Port Ghalib so our return journey to Hurghada wasn’t so tiring. After 20 years of diving this was my first proper liveaboard experience and I’d been promised great things. I can say that I wasn’t disappointed, I had a great week and would certainly recommend it to anyone.

 

by Chris