Saturday Team: Andy, Holly, Niall & Sam
Sunday Team: Andy, Reg, Niall & Sam.
Part 1 (Sam)
Our weekend began early on Saturday morning, with two of our party sneaking onto the Richmond Explorer armed with colourful balloons for Niall’s birthday. He was delighted with the effort & the well wishers on the club Whatsapp group.
Despite the force 4 weather, Niall expertly battled treacherous waves for an arduous 40 minutes to get us to the Aeolian Sky. Upon arrival we weren’t sure if it was going to be ok. A biblical storm front was creeping towards us from the south, the waves were rolling & cresting. Then one of us threw up & we decided it was probably too much.
We abandoned the Sky and headed north for the safer waters above the Black Hawk Bow… or so we thought. What followed below the waterline was a delightful dive of the Hawk, with us discovering more of the wreck than we had ever seen. This included the enormous prop shaft which we were later told had been uncovered only recently due to bad weather. All was well until we heard the emergency engine revving signal on our safety stop.
The previous 30minutes above water had been a different story. (Legend has it…) as the divers slipped below the surface the army began a barrage of cannon fire and musket volleys aimed at the Richmond Explorer. Niall & Holly bobbed and weaved the Rib as the shells splashed around them. As the smoke cleared the Royal Navy range safety vessel appeared and informed us that the internet was wrong… and there had indeed been live fire training exercises planned. Until we arrived anyway.
As Churchill nearly said… “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.… whilst on a Rib in Dorset”
After barely making it out alive, and some birthday cake for Niall (thanks Cat), a second more relaxed dive was in order. So we joined 4 other ribs & every diver in club Ariel on the Hartlepool. We had a good explore, although the divers outnumbered visible sea-life by around 4 to 1.
On day two we geared up in twinsets & side mount for another epic explore of the Bombardon. The vis was a record breaking 15cm. Three of us went in, and 10 minutes after slipping below the water, three DSMB’s surfaced within 5 meters of each-other. We saw nothing but skills were well exercised.
After a torn drysuit, our three divers were down to two. With the epic prospect of the 36m deep HMS Sidon Submarine beckoning beneath a perfectly flat sea. Niall & the two survivors pushed on…
Part 2 (Andy)
Niall expertly took us around the bill during the worst of the races, and we found the sea at HMS Sidon the flattest we had encountered all weekend. As we got to the bottom, we found the shot nestled under the hull, with the line tightly wound around some wreckage. We used our entire no-stop time at 37m trying to free it, and eventually had to cut the line to be able to lift the shot. After this, we enjoyed approximately 2 minutes on this huge, intact, upright submarine, before beginning our ascent.
At the safety stop Reg helpfully pointed out that we were in a swarm of mauve stinging jellyfish - that he knows I am not entirely happy to share the water with - to which he enjoyed a host of regrettable language shouted at him (and the jellyfish) through my regulator. I emerged unstung, Reg caught one on the lip.
Luckily on the surface there was no sign of shell splashes, gunfire or other military activity, and we happily returned to the marina, minus 2m of shot line.
All in all it was an eventful weekend with a few adventures, and a few disappointments. Despite this it was a happy boat, a thoroughly enjoyable RSAC weekend, and a pleasure to celebrate Niall's birthday again.
More photos on the RSAC Casual Whatsapp.
