Swanage - it must be Saturday

Getting up late having stayed in Southampton with family was perhaps not the best way to start the weekend but fortunately the trip at 6:30 am is not too busy and luckily with the Boat Show started I still managed to get on my way swiftly. My luck was in as I arrived at Swanage Pier just in time to get the last parking space and see everyone else already getting kitted up.

The weekend had been touch and go with poor conditions all week and an easterly wind that really is the worst if you want to dive out of Swanage.

First up on the agenda the Kyarra. The first time I dived on this wreck I had a new computer, uwatec smart tec and like most men I didn't bother reading the instructions. I paid with a 15 minute safety stop because the computer was set to ridiculously cautious micro bubble mode.

On open circuit for the first dive and no camera because I had Steve and Bill doing their deep adventure dive. Simple task of backwards name writing was the order of the day. The short trip out was a touch lumpy which was made slightly worse as we had to wait for a late tide.

The descent was almost uneventful, at it was when I opened Bill's drysuit dump valve. As ever the wreck was fascinating and there was plenty of life to be spotted. It was also a little like diver soup as it seemed that we had been invaded by boats just as we were ready to jump in. Recent weather conditions had meant that several perfume bottles had been found on recent dives. In fact the charter boat had a wiff of ancient perfume when we got on board, actually it was quite pleasant.

Having completed the skills the rest of the dive passed without incident and the weekend was off to a good start.

Getting back to shore the skipper told us turn round in 15 minutes. Some of the team didn't hear this and wandered into town for a bite to eat. An hour later we still couldn't find them. A quick search proved fruitless especially as the skipper was told to look for the chap with the odd hat on. Swanage this weekend was invaded by some form of national festival for Morris men. They were everywhere and I still don't understand why some of them black their faces.

Two down we set off for our second dive, a drift on the ledges. Steve joined Dave and I after a briefing on the techniques involved. Steve coped really well on his first drift and even added in some ballet movements or maybe they were rhythmic gymnastics as he threw cartwheels on the line.

The dive was very relaxing and again just what the doctor ordered. Towards the end I was delighted to spot some scallops which quickly found their way into my pockets.

Back on dry land we Dave and I decided to have a dive under the pier. It was like pea soup, unbelievably poor viz and it made both of us appreciate that we had already had two good dives with good viz for the weather conditions. It was the only dive I took the camera on too, not the right choice.

Having finished the diving it was off to the campsite. I have to confess to not recalling the last time I slept under canvas. Suddenly I discovered that Dave had invited himself to share my tent. Seemed fair actually as having scrounged the use of a frying pan he was quickly cooking the scallops and a lobster that Olly had found. Just enough to give everyone a taste. Wonderful!

A few beers later, a couple of songs later and I didn't even notice the hard ground as I went out like the proverbial light having had a really satisfying day.