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Farne Isles - Seahouses23rd-25th June 2006 |
Trip organised by: David Martin at midnight on the 22nd June Report by: Simon Parsons within 24hours of returning
Trip members:
- Edvin Deadman
- Freija Glansdorp
- Ian Gregory
- Mark Hallworth
- Claire Kelly
- David Martin
- Stuart Moore
- Karin Muller
- Simon Parsons
- Holly Standing
- Matt Watson
- Louisa Whitlock
- Accommodation: £48 per person for weekend
- Transport: £21 per person to cover fuel
- Boat hire: £57 per person for weekend
- Air fills: £6 per person for weekend
- Additional: Pier parking £3 per car per day
- The one with the wall - Something blue?, max depth 20m
- The one with the good wreck - Brittanica?, max depth 12m
- The one with the seals - Crumstone, max depth 20m
- The one without much to see - Clove car, max depth 16m
Sample costs:
The dives:
Day 0, 23rd June 2006
10 members of the group managed to leave at assorted times throughout the day. Simon and Louisa led the way but due to an unfortunate misunderstanding with a roundabout and an exciting side trip to an extremely well chimneyed power station managed to arrive only minutes before the second wave who set off 2hours later. Following up the rear was Ian with Edvin, Holly and Stuart in tow. News reaches us of car trouble in London for our great leader, Herr Commandant D. Martin. Will he ever reach us in time?
Day 1, 24th June 2006
David and Matt set off from Cambridge in the early hours and arrive safely in Seahouses at around 5:30am. The bold 12 convened for breakfast at 8:30am and prepared for the excitement of the day with a hearty breakfast. Surprisingly, David and Matt were there and worryingly cconscious despite having only two and a half hours sleep. We travelled in convoy to the docks and after the requisite amount of faffing around were eventually able to board the boat with our gear, the adventure begins!
The sea was as calm as a millpond, the biggest waves being raised by the steady passage of our boat, the Sovereign III, as it ripped through the sea. Arriving at our first site in traditional CUUEG fashion we faffed around for a long time, David briefed us on the site, the Skipper briefed us on the site and after some formidable mathematical calculations on gas usage we finally began rolling off the side into the deep blue!
Our first dive of the trip was along a wall at ............................ Simon managed to lose his mask whilst doing an excellent backward somersault off the boat which was later retrieved by his best buddy David Martin. Keeping the wall to our right the various buddy pairs began exploring. Sadly, their were no seals to be seen but plenty of other wildlife and rocks for us to play with including a very large lobster hidden in a small cave visible only to a lucky few who stirred up the silt so much the rest had to give up. A scenic dive but not for the adrenaline junkies looking for a fix.
Once back on the boat we had an excellent meal of ham, cheese and Nutella sandwiches with the added bonus of watching people spread the Nutella without a knife.
The second dive of the day was on a shallow wreck in about 12m of water. Sunk during World War II the ship was blown apart by its cargo of grain which expanded on contact with water and ripped her asunder. We descended down the shot line directly onto the boilers. By all accounts this was an good wreck, with several people wishing for a return trip! The many nook and crannies created by the wreckage hid a plethora of wildlife including a large number of lobsters. David tried to show his two eager Ocean Divers a tiny pincered lobster but it didn't want to play. The sandy bottom was covered in small hermit crabs and the kelp harboured an enormous number of pipefish. The wreck had disintegrated considerably, however the boilers, bow and propeller shaft were still clearly visible. Watch out for live shells!
No seals for that day, we returned to port and had our evening meal in The Lodge and drank the evening away, in moderation of course, with a short walk down to the beach where Freija successfully landed comically on her behind whilst clambering over the rocks, not once but twice. Poor Freija.
Day 2, 25th June 2006
The second day of the tripped dawned as gloomy and overcast as the last but this did not deter us. After a solid breakfast we returned to the boat secretly hoping that today would be the day we would see the seals. The sea was not quite as calm as a millpond which caused some discomfort for a few of us! Still, it added a bit of excitement. Our first dive of the day was another wreck by an island covered in seals! Hooray! The wreck was hard to spot except for the large quantity of paving slabs lying on the seabed there was little to see of it. The main excitement was the seals who mainly fled from us as we calmly invaded their waters. Most groups were lucky enough to find several seals curious to find out who or what we were with several close encounters, including some fin nibbling. Aside from the seals the dive was excellent, large kelp forests and gulleys filled with sea urchins and deadmansfingers provided a very enjoyable dive for all. Everyone had lunch with a smile for we had met the seals!
The second dive of the day and last of the trip was another wall dive in the same place as our first dive of the trip. After the excitement of the morning this last dive was a bit of a disappointment in many ways, mainly due to a lack of things to see except sea urchins!
We returned to shore happy but tired! Some more happy than others due to the inherently more stable nature of concrete under their feet. The kit was washed, thoroughly, packed and the great journey back to Cambridge began. Louisa was delivered to Newcastle station, a meal was had at the Wetherby Whaler where mammoth portions of fish were eaten followed by ice cream for the very brave. Arriving back in Cambridge at around half eleven, the kit was swiftly and efficiently packed away. Good byes and good nights said everyone headed home after a big thank you to David for a fantastic trip.
