Trip Report - Portland 2006

The Beginning...

We left Leeds at different times, the van leaving first, then a minibus full of crazy divers and a few cars of stragglers picked up the rear.

The mini did indeed have crazy divers inside, most notably Sam Jones and Emma Lawson with their comical and if at times a little scary attempts at singing. That combined with Adam Nagus's constant stream of sexual innuendos and terrible jokes made for an interesting journey down.

It took some groups a little longer than others to arrive. I'm not sure who had the record but I like to think that my car was close to taking the longest with our impressive stop to Stonehenge on the way, which I'm told isn't on the way . Um!

We all met in the pub where we stayed that night and had some emergency beer rations. Ben, Chris and I briefed our groups, while attempting to ignore heckling bystanders (thanks Lou and Beast).

Whilst in Chris D's brief Elena was introduced to the concept of spanking by Matt Bivins and Si Mutton whilst enduring the world's longest pre-dive briefing from Chris.

Group 1 by Martin

My group had to be in the harbour for 7.15, so some of us managed to eat a full English breakfast, which was the only time I saw it that day, but it was touch and go for a while due to at least 100 foot seas at some points of our boat trip which some people struggled with.

Our first dive was on the James Fennel, a nice broken up ship which every one enjoyed. Lou unkindly forced me to swim about 700 metres (if not further) to get her SMB that she had decided to throw away.

We then had a relaxing lunch and did very little until our next dive on the Countess, this wreck inside the harbour is what I now call a "silty site" but was nevertheless very worth while, with cool swim though in the cargo bay, just try and stay off the bottom otherwise it's like having a mask full of sand

Saturday night meant that we stayed in a hostel, a traditional cor don blue dinner of _ _l l _ _ _ _ C _ _ N _ yes that's right you guessed it, fed us all really well and prepared most of the group for a night dive on Chesil Beach. This was the first night dive for some divers and buddy pairs even managed to be caught by the fishermen, congratulations Al!. A quick van pack and then to the pub for some..., with my group at the harbour by 6.45, which certainly felt like it to me!

We then dived the Black Hawk, a 45 min drive out, passing the now infamous Durdle Door arch, this site was my best dive of the weekend, a gentle current meant a relaxing dive over a interesting wreck which seemed to go on for ever!

This was the last dive for some people but we went on to do a 4th dive on the Spaniard inside the harbour, a nice silt covered wreck, I have no idea what I really saw but it was all very eerie, and I nearly managed to get Chris D's fin, maybe next time. There were lots of spider crabs waiting to be picked up.

Thanks to every one that came, drove, dived and laughed, and especially Lou! Cheers ... Martin.

Group 2 by Chris

Group 2 had to have had the best of both worlds, the ability to have a lie in and then back on dry land early enough so not to be completely knackered. We started Saturday by meeting in the dining room at 9:00 for a round of full English breakfasts (to the delight of Bivins with his fetish for 'pork and pork related products'). After that we had a nice leisurely stroll to the harbour for kitting up and loading the boat.

The trip out to wreck hit some harder than others most notably one member of group who thought that being sick just before diving would be a good idea. The dive itself was on the bow of the Black Hawk, descending on the shot line was made difficult by the current but everyone eventually made it down.

After the long trip back and some well deserved lunch we ventured out again towards the Countess of Erne for a lovely low-vis silt dive. Although Si Mutton and I did decide to have a photo shoot together after randomly meeting each other on the starboard side of the wreck (photos to follow!).

A short trip back to shore was followed by de-kitting, filling cylinders and the traditional chilli and potatoes. Some people were also tempted by the prospect of a semi night dive off Chesil beach.

The evening that followed was a fairly sedate affair with tbe select few having an early night and the remaining motley crew enjoying a few well earned pints. The next day followed a similar pattern, with the exception of my boat leaving at 9am! Not good when I'm really not a morning person.

The first dive of the day was on the James Fennel which was a fairly long boat trip away from the harbour but was a generally well enjoyed dive by all. After returning to the harbour the group split, with Helen Ellwood and me joining group one to dive on the Spaniard whilst the rest of group joined with group 3 for a dive on the dome reef. I'm sure Ben's report will cover this in loads of detail.

After this was the long trip back in the mini bus for most of us, but this time it was much more of a sedate affair, as every one was knackered. With the exception of Nick M, who showed his darker side with a fine example of road rage to which we all p!ssed ourselves laughing at.

Once again thanks to all those who help out on the trip, most notably Lou, Martin and Ben, but also to Nick, Rob, Paul, Sam, Elena and Charlie for driving. Oh yeah and to anyone else I've forgotten. Ta.

Group 3 by Ben

If you've read down this far and you weren't in Group 3, then I'm seriously impressed with your wiki-ing.

The trip started with us all looking forward to a six hour drive down to Portland. With most people cramped in small cars and the minibus, I feel I got the better part of the deal travelling down in Paul's spacious transportation, sitting back and listening to radio 2.

The first to arrive in Portland were dismayed to find we'd been double booked at the youth hostel and would have to stay the first night at a hotel (the name of which I cannot remember). This didn't work out too badly however as we were to be supplied with a free full English in the morning, and a thirty second walk to the boat.

The night consisted of the pre-trip briefs (during which I foolishly suggested a numpty-of-the-trip award, which was duely won by yours truly for reasons explained later) and a relatively early night, although there were some strange goings on in Room 1.

My group had the best of the morning starts with a late morning first dive and lovely lie-ins for all. Followed by a hearty breakfast, this meant we were raring to go.

When the early birds of Martin's group returned, we set off to dive the Black Hawk, a wreck I'd mistakenly described as a German U-Boat the night before. After clearing up that it wasn't actually a German submarine but was a British boat torpedoed by a German submarine, we kitted up and jumped into the water. The shotline led down to seemingly nothing, but a bit of exploration led to a fantastic array of artificial reefs, good swim-throughs and giant foot-long crabs. All in all it was the best site of the weekend for me personally, and everyone else seemed to enjoy it too.

After drying off in the glorious afternoon sun, it was time to get wet again and dive the Countess of Erne. As mentioned by Chris and Martin, this dive was a bit too silty. I was initiated into what an unzipped dry-suit feels like on a thirty-five minute dive, so I didn't mind the silt too much. In spite of my many prayers, no-one topped my claim on the the numpty title, despite a good effort from Sam Jones. Brendan and I also encountered a bit of underwater road rage as we ascended a nearby rhib's shot line, being simultaneously kicked from above and tugged from below throughout the duration of our three-minute deco stop.

After heading back to the hostel for Lou's traditional Chilli 'n' Tatties evening feast, some people headed off for the dubiously entitled night dive. However, having the night dive during the day did provide the observers with an awesome sunset to marvel at. Another award of invention-of-the-trip has to go to Bivins for his expertly hand-crafted shoes made from some sponge and string found lying on Chesil Beach after he decided to walk down barefoot from the hostel (thinking about it, this is also a good claim on the numpty award). An evening in the pub then followed.

The morning after gifted Group 3 with another lie-in, as we departed for the James Fennel near midday. Rivalling the Black Hawk Bow on the previous day, this wreck was an admiralty trawler that sank after running into the rocks off Blacknor Point in thick fog. There were plenty of things to look at and holes to peer in, but nothing large enough to get a body and a tank through. Group 3 did surface with an impressive haul of sunken treasure though, including lead shots, a weight belt and a rechargeable torch.

Some people then went off on the fourth dive whilst some others went back to the hostel to clean up, but mainly gorged themselves on all the leftover food.

As I didn't go on the fourth dive, I'm probably not the best to comment on it (thanks Chris), so I will leave that for someone else to add if the inclination so takes them.

After a weekend of great diving, it was back on the road up to Leeds, unpacking at stores and bed...

Thank you to everyone who helped with the trip: Chris and Martin (DP2), Claire (DP1), Lou (everything plus cooking), Nick (watching me like a hawk when you weren't sleeping), Beast and Paul (general stuff), and all the drivers (Nick, Rob, Lou, Paul, Elena, Al and Charlie), and apologies to anyone else I forgot.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...