Clidive

Ed Wilde and Bart Wagrowski trainees of year - newcomers

2011-11-26T11:13:00.002Z

2 friends that learns to dive back in january and are now dive-mad!
Passing ocean diver and straight onto sports diver they proceeded to buy all their own kit (Bart bought 1 item before even doing open water - the biggest knife you've ever seen!) and fill every waking moment day-dreaming of diving. They did seasearch, wreck appreciation and have been enthusiastic and re-invigorated the club.

Well done guys!

Natascha Gewaltig Trainee of Year - advanced

2011-11-26T11:07:00.004Z

With so much training this year, Clidive decided that we should have 2 traine off the year categories this year - advanced and entry level. Natascha learnt to dive with clidive 2 years ago and through hard work and determination she has progressed through to Dive Leader. (merely 6 months after starting it - a record!)
This year she did boathandling, VHF, IFC, became an assistant open water instructor, did her compressor operator and chartwork and position fixing.

A well-deserved award!

Ben voted Instructor of the Year 2011

2011-11-26T10:52:00.003Z

With so many great instructors, it can be hard to choose. This year, Ben was awarded this accolade due to his dedication and help with such varied training.

• Came most Thursdays during the Mad Sports diver course
• Helped Open water in Plymouth at Easter

• Ran the Open water weekend in October

• Taught on 2 BH courses, signed off 3 other BHIs
• Taught Advanced Diver theory
• became a Diver Coxn assessor
• Taught ADP theory
• became a Gas blender, then a Gas Blend instructor, taught 6 people

• Did loads of training during Shetlands expedition

• Taught 5 VHF Radio courses

• Encouraged others to do their AI

• Is loved by all the students who think he's GREAT!

clidive has 5 new assistant instructors

2011-11-24T11:36:00.001Z

Congratulations to Dan, Lucy, Neil, Orlando and Elina on completing thier IFC!

Boathandling on the Thames Nov 2011

2011-11-24T09:44:00.004Z

I joined the boat handling course not only to get a feel for driving a small boat but also because I have a passion for diving so figured it was something I needed to learn one day, even if I can’t quite afford my own boat just yet. I was pretty nervous about driving on water – imagining myself being pulled uncontrollably by the waves into other boats, however, after spending several hours on two different boats I was confident enough to call myself a cox’n, if only for those couple of days. The course covered all aspects of driving a boat with several hours of hands-on experience over two days.

I had no experience driving a boat before yet thought it would be great to learn in the case I ever needed to take divers out to a site or in the unlikely event I found myself abandoned on a boat at sea. We were 6 students and 3 instructors. The day started at the Poplar Rowing Club in order to unload and launch one of the RIB’s (rigid hull inflatable boat) at a slipway then drive it to Wapping where the classroom lessons would take place.

We all brought along warm waterproof clothes, hat, gloves & our own lunch as we were expected to have to stay on the course full time for the two days. Only 2 minutes after meeting were we taught about the different parts of a RIB, and how to prepare it to tow it to a launch site by car. After launching the RIB our teacher drove us to the classroom, much more speedily than I ever anticipated a small boat could drive. We spent half of the first day in the classroom where we listened to three lectures covering: the different types of small boats; equipment on a boat & how to operate one; how to read charts & plan trips; the rules at sea; buoyage; understanding the effects of weather & tide; learning the difference between a GPS device & an echo sounder; and also what to do in an emergency situation & what to say on a VHF radio. We were also taught about sea legislation and learnt how to distinguish between all the different coloured safe-water & isolated-danger marks. Most importantly we practiced remembering which side of a boat is port & which is starboard and where to drive in relation to the red & green coloured buoys at sea and also to always keep a lookout. We spent the rest of the day on a four-stroke engine RIB getting to grips with the most fun part, the steering & gearing.

First we had practice filling the fuel tanks and squeezing the bulb to prime the fuel line (expelling any air), and also turning the engine on after clipping the kill button cord to anything it would clip to on our clothes. We drove at both low and high speeds getting a feel for the difference in handling the steering. We were trained how to speed & turn, reverse, approach a buoy and also drive up to & reverse from the shore - should one want to drop off divers. We spent the rest of the time driving out to sea, or actually only a few hundred metres past the Thames Barrier before returning back to the pier & receiving a de-brief of the days tasks. In the early hours of Sunday we stood on the pier practicing rope knots & hitches, which was not really the easiest thing to learn first thing in the morning (yet it was lots of fun). The rest of the day was spent on the water, this time on a 2-stroke engine RIB. In turn we drove under the ten bridges to the Houses of Parliament, then returned back to the Tower of London, where we ran through more skills such as: learning how to deploy an anchor in a current and also retrieve it again; how to approach a dive site (in our case a buoy) to drop off divers and how to use the current to pick them up again. We also practiced how to speedily spin the boat around & get back on its course in a ‘man-overboard’ situation and how to moor the boat alongside the pier, where we then needed to try our best to remember how to tie the right knot in a rope. From the whole wet-eyed weekend of speeding along the Thames’ surface, I think I most enjoyed flying over the bumpy waves and practicing the super-fast spinning-the-boat-around task as it was something that I feared beforehand, thinking one of us might actually fall out, into the chilly river on the steep turn. It was also good to learn how to anticipate and avoid a collision with any other vessel, in one of the lectures we had, yet luckily none of us actually had to put this into practice. We were also able to admire the sometimes-nice, sometimes-wacky architecture along the Thames. Overall the two days boat handling were a good addition to the BSAC Chartwork & Position Fixing course as well as a great basis for the VHF radio course & the BSAC Diver Cox’n assessment. The final words we were left taking home were ‘practice, practice, practice’.

Thanks to Joli, Don, Andy and Gary for teaching on this course!

One week in the red sea

2011-10-28T17:12:00.007+01:00

I think its safe to say that everyone onboard the Juliet this week has had a fantastic week. Four dives were on offer every day including drifts, walls, reefs, wrecks, night dives and hammerhead hunting. We have spotted turtles, white tip reef sharks, all sorts of coral and lots of rusty metal. Mike even managed to find himself an air pocket inside the deepest recesses of the engine room of the Giannis D, unfortunately for Mike it turned out to be full of oil!

We were lucky enough to do three dives on the Thistlegorm. First a dive inside the holds to have a look at the rifles, motorbikes, jeeps etc. followed by a night dive and then outside the wreck the following morning to see the locomotives, guns and shells.

Mohammed, our guide, gave a thorough briefing before each dive, the crew were always on hand to help us kit up and provided excellent surface cover - as soon as we surfaced they were there waiting. The chef has insured that we have all been very well fed this week, providing an impressive selection of food after each dive.

Tomorrow night we fly home, but before then we've still got half a fridge of beer to get through..

Red sea liveaboard - day 1

2011-10-23T20:44:00.004+01:00

Yesterday 9 Clidivers made a dash for the sun and headed to Egypt for a week long tour of the northern wrecks and reefs. After a couple of pints at the pub in Gatwick, a few gin and tonics on the plane, and a stop off for a week's supply of beer in Sharm, we finally boarded our home for the week, the MV Juliet. Due to our late arrival we had to spend the first night in the harbour before making our departure at the very civilised 9am this morning.

The first stop was a check dive at Ras Katy followed by the Dunraven. After lunch we enjoyed a drift along the wall at Sabah Mahmoud Reef where some of the group spotted a white tip reef shark. The highlight for me however was the night dive where we were followed by several lionfish, saw a spanish dancer dancing, shrimp cleaning a massive moray eel, a crocodile fish trying to hide, a school of batfish and star gazers burried in the sand.

Gildy to the Rescue

2011-09-19T21:31:00.051+01:00

Srong winds and a lot of very fast yachts zooming around Plymouth Sound meant my plans to dive some great wrecks and reefs was in tatters! Thankfully Joli gave me a last minute call to ask for my hand with a training weekend. So Gildenburgh Water it was, for some green water, mask-clearing, diver rescue scenarios and even some fun. It was a great substitute (believe it or not!)

Two of our Ocean Diver trainees...

...Melania and Markus plunged into the lovely 17 degree pea-souper and completed lots of exercises towards their OD qualification.

Markus even found time to practice his underwater pool skills, lucky for him there were no balls or I would've thrashed him :)

Congratulations also go to Neil and Lucy who attained a very cool Black Qualification in the Advanced Decompression Procedures (ADP) course in Bouyancy and Trim (black is the top mark!)

Well done as well to Elina for completing a dry suit course with ease.

I also got a Black qualification in the ADP course... not bad considering it took me about half of the assessment time to realise I was being assessed!!

The biggest thank you is of course reserved for Joli for giving up so much of her free time to do this for our trainees and members!!!

by
Martin Rishton

Plymouth

2011-09-12T22:59:00.039+01:00

Some highlights from a summer of diving with Clidive in Plymouth...
by
Martin Rishton

Lundy Island Video

2011-09-07T22:38:00.008+01:00

Lundy Island

The seas were rough, the visibility was crap and I was sick as a dog!! but it was worth all this as soon as we jumped underwater...

by
Martin Rishton

Lundy Island

2011-09-05T18:23:00.028+01:00

Finally I have dived Lundy Island!!!

12 Lucky Clidivers headed off for Ilfracombe, North Devon for the chance of some fun-filled diving with Seals in the UK's first marine reserve.

The seas may've been rough and the journey a tad challenging but we were not disappointed when we got there and who would have thought that a 6 metre 'kelpy' dive could be such fun, but then again we were accompanied by some beautiful and inquisitive buddys....

(picture courtesy of Daniel Massie)

Unfortunately gale force winds ended the trip early but at least we got there for 2 days and enjoyed some great diving.

by
Martin Rishton

E49 survey video

2011-08-24T00:31:00.001+01:00

Shetlands Photos

2011-08-24T00:15:00.000+01:00

A first batch of Shetland expedition photos from week 2:

Shetland Expedition Photos 2011

Delightful Dartmouth

2011-08-22T10:09:00.003+01:00

Is Dartmouth the most beautiful part of the country? It really is idyllic. The trip downriver from Galmpton seeing the steam train glide through the trees was very atmospheric. Another fantastic weekend of diving. Not as adventurous as a Shetland expedition (given that this is only 20 miles from our usual base of Plymouth) but an expedition none the less. Dartmouth is logistically difficult for a RIB weekend. We had to store the trailer at Galmpton but couldn't moor there as it's 40
mins upriver and dries out. We seem to spend a lot of time traveling across on ferries between Dartmouth and we stayed on Kingswear and moored there. The higher ferry slipway is "interesting" but the stress of that subsided with a curious seal with a fish in it's mouth.

Saturday saw a dive on the East Black stone - understandably voted most scenic dive. Dogfish, congers, giant lobsters, crabs galore...

Sunday we got both slacks - first on the Bretagne and then the Perrone - both fab wrecks with tonnes of life, still ship-shaped with some penetration possible and scallops too!

The weekend was enjoyed by JD, Mike, Martin, Brian, Don and Joli.

Rust and bivalves

2011-08-19T22:51:00.000+01:00

It was yet another calm day for our final diving session. Rusty metal was the theme, returning to the E49 first thing. The survey, both formal and informal, continued with the ling making another cameo in addition to plaice, topknot, pollack and shoals of smaller fish. The sun lit the seabed and the tranquillity of this underwater landscape was in stark contrast to the nature of the violence that brought this vessel to its final resting position.

Today’s surface interval was a packed lunch in the sun back at the Baltasound mooring. Our final group dive was the wreck of the Jane, a steamer that fell foul of rocks near Uyeasound, a scenic 30-minute drive away. The 30-metre-long hull is still recognisable but the long period it has spent laying on its marle substrate has been more than sufficient to support a plethora of life. A large, fearless ballan wrasse closely approached each buddy pair, suggesting that it was no stranger to divers and, perhaps, to being fed.

On the way back to Baltasound we pooled the remaining air and threw three shellfish-lovers back in to gather scallops for dinner. Declan and Annette, who had remained on the boat during the two afternoon dives, were then taken back to the E49 to conclude the survey and, in doing so, the 2011 expedition.

Scenics and submarines

2011-08-19T22:29:00.001+01:00

A persistence of the fine, windless weather meant that kitting up and departure happening in lightening quick time due to the clouds of voracious biting midges. However unpleasant these mini-flies with attitude may be, we have been learning to embrace them and the still air they herald. Accelerating quickly to leave them behind we made way into the flat calm Burra Firth en route back to Muckle Flugga.

The dive was another stunner – free-falling 25 metres into a colourful gorge and then climbing out of it to drift along plateaux and pinnacles, hovering above sheer drops to 70 metres and more, shoals of fish streaming with the current. Over lunch the boat was transferred to Baltasound while we used our newly delivered compressor to pump cylinders.

The afternoon dive was a ‘recce’ on the mined British WW1 submarine, the E49. Stopping by to pick up a family of variously cute Belgians from their yacht to give the parents an opportunity to dive together, we kitted up in luxuriously calm conditions before leaping in and parachuting down the shot. Although visibility wasn’t as good as it can be, the wreck was impressive – the outline of the vessel, the conning tower and the anchor in stark relief to the silver sand of the seabed. She is largely buried in sand with the topmost portion of the superstructure visible and the bow section, blown off in the sinking, laying around 12m away.

The star of the day has to be Nick, who speaks ten words of French, the babysitter for the Belgian children during our dives. His creativity in flicking chocolate Lucky Stars into the water and then tracking them on the echo sounder rivalled circus clowns in the realms of children's entertainment.

This trip, of course, is an expedition and the E49 is the subject of a survey. Therefore, three of us and a boat handler went back in the late afternoon armed with nitrox gas mixes and measuring equipment in order to trial scaled photography techniques. What luxury to be kitting up in a motionless and near empty boat! The scene was atmospheric in the low light and the absence of other divers had improved the visibility. A large resident ling gazed on as we went about our tasks. To round off a long but rewarding day we made it back in time for dinner at the local bar.

New compressor!

2011-08-17T21:57:00.001+01:00

Thanks to another 6 hour round trip to Lerwick by Ant and Dec, and the generous loan of a compressor from Ian in Uyeasound, we are (fingers crossed) now sorted for gas...

Are we really in the Shetlands?

2011-08-17T19:47:00.001+01:00

We woke this morning to thick fog, which soon cleared to leave us basking in blazing sunshine (and the inevitable midges). Our first dive was round on the stacks off Herma Ness, with the gannetry perfuming the normally sweet Shetland air, and the birds wheeling overhead. The site had never been dived as far as we know. Another Clidive first!

We dropped in at a likely looking spot, to find a sheer wall dropping to 30-odd metres, a huge shoal of saithe, carpets of deadman's fingers, a broad gully running parallel with the shore and all the usual crabs, nudibranchs, starfish and anemones. Great viz and a great dive.

After a long lunch in the sun and some judicious juggling with O2 cylinders, we headed off to Outstack for the 5 minute slack. While 6 divers enjoyed a profusion of colour and life, Nick and Elaine watched a bank of fog roll in from the west and completely shroud Muckle Flugga. We can report that the lighthouse isn't working! Luckily the fog hung slightly above sea level, so we didn't have to utilise the practiced diver recalls or lose the divers.

We rushed back to Burra Firth to drop off cylinders so that they could make the long journey back down to Lerwick to be filled by our new friends on the Valkyrie. In the meantime, Nick and Elaine did another new site at the very mouth of Burra Firth. Having been swirled round, enjoyed the tooth-like pinnacles and duly spat out, we decided to name it 'Dragons Mouth'.

Calm seas, hot sunshine and clear water - typical Scottish diving!

Lunch stop in Burrafirth

2011-08-17T12:33:00.001+01:00

Hot weather? Bright sun? Flat calm seas? Today, Shetland is giving us all of these things. We have just stopped for lunch at Burrafirth having just dived a new site with gullies and vertical walls to 30m. Out Stack next...

Muckle Flugga from Hermaness

2011-08-17T12:29:00.002+01:00

Beautiful sunny calm day, but with no working compressor, no diving for us. But thanks to generous help from Hazel, skipper of the MV Valkyrie, and a long round trip drive to Lerwick, we are back diving now.

Unst, day 3

2011-08-16T17:54:00.000+01:00

It was all going so well. However, the compressor we were hiring developed a fault and today became an enforced rest day. This was frustrating given another day of great diving weather, but we were presented with an opportunity to do some searching of a terrestrial nature along the beautiful coastline of Hermaness. This revealed fulmar and gannet colonies and close-up views of mean-looking bonxies.

We're putting gas plan B into effect and picking up a full complent of filled tanks from Lerwick this evening in time for a resumption of the diving tomorrow morning, but not before we've enjoyed the results of Declan and Annette's sea fishing expedition this morning, thanks to their skill and the newly functional fish finder on the RIB!

Unst, day 2

2011-08-16T17:37:00.002+01:00

The favourable tide times meant that we had a bit of a lay in and a leisurely start to day 2, which was also accompanied by sunshine. Casting off just before 11am, we made for the Muckle Flugga archipelago once again, dropping Ben and Cori off for a shallow, scenic bimble on the way.

When we arrived at Out Stack there was still a current running, which slackened a little during the kitting up process. We descended quickly, wanting to avoid a free trip to the Faroe Islands, and tucked into a gully. And then...wow! A valley of colourful life opened up in front of us - one of the most spectacular underwater scenes that any of us had seen in the UK. There were beds of sponges and jewel anemones all over the floors and walls of this gorge, along with a well camoflaged lemon sole.

We returned to Burrafirth for an extended lunch break, during which Ben and Cori refilled the cylinders, Nick and Declan fitted a new echo-sounder to the boat, Dave wrote up the copious Seasearch notes from the morning dive and the rest of us ate and relaxed in the sun.

The day's second dive was just a short hop across the firth to the caves on the far side. The triangular 'azure window' at the far side of the main passage reminded those of us who had been to Gozo of the caverns in Xlendi Bay (if a little cooler). The short swim-through gave us ample time in which to explore the boulders that spread from the exit. Most of us then returned home in eager anticipation of Nick and Elaine's bangers and mash; most of us except Declan and Annette - the former providing boat cover for the latter's successful attempt to become the second person, and first woman, to swim around the Muckle Flugga lighthouse.

How could day 3 follow this?

Week 2 begins

2011-08-16T09:11:00.002+01:00

It’s a hell of a long way to Unst. Central London to Gatwick; Gatwick to Aberdeen; Aberdeen to Lerwick; Lerwick to Unst, via Yell and two ferries. We can report that the Shetlands were wreathed in the same mist and rain that sat over Gatwick on Saturday morning. So we didn’t really see much of our surroundings until Sunday morning, when the cloud had started to lift from the smooth, treeless green slopes.

By Sunday evening, the sun was shining on Muckle Flugga, the wind had dropped, the fulmers were scattered across a blue sky…and the midges were having a field day.

In between, we had our first taste of the most northerly diving in the UK. The aforementioned MF proved ‘interesting’. Not just for its walls carpeted in plumose and jewel anemones, spattered with the occasional bright orange cushion star; the dogfish that prowled and the nudibranchs that lurked (unseen for some of us). But for the weird and wonderful currents, which, combined with the surge at 20m, made for a somewhat disorienting experience. For one of the team, that experience almost made her ‘do the double’, as she swept off towards Outstack (next stop the Arctic?). This is serious stuff.

In the afternoon, we motored round to North Holms, where the sun shone on the westerly walls and lit up millions of tiny baby fish and prawns, and also alighted on the biggest lobster Nick and Elaine have ever seen.

The return trip in the golden sunlight, accompanied by thousands of wild birds, felt like a real privilege. Can’t wait for day 2!

PostScript

2011-08-15T09:14:00.004+01:00

After a great last night sampling the local Whisky and dancing to Shetland music an outing to St. Ninian's and the largest active tombolo in the British Isles, followed by a trip to the past at the settlement of Jarlshof. Thanks again Naomi for your restless planning!!

The end of week 1

2011-08-15T06:53:00.004+01:00

The kit is drying in the sun. It is time to go home. What a week this has turned out to be. Seas of brittle stars, giant anemones, huge scorpion fish, purpoises practicing synchronised swimming right next to the boat and the most amazing scenery. Thanks again Naomi for making this happen. I can't wait to get back!

60 Degrees North

2011-08-12T23:32:00.005+01:00

The walls are covered in anemones, jewel anemones glisten in the torch light, carpets of colourful Dahlia anemones sit in little overhangs and Naomi spots the largest Scorpion fish I have ever seen. An almost medieval looking creature that seems to belong to another world. But also a challenging dive especially at the end of a busy week and one cut short for Mary who feels her suit slowly filling up with the cold waters of Muckle Flugga, 60 degrees North.

Muckle Flugga - finally!

2011-08-12T23:27:00.005+01:00

The final day of week 1 and we finally make it out to the holy grail of Unst diving! The most northerly point of the U.K. and home to thousands of birds - Muckle Flugga!
And what a dive that proves to be!

Expedition tasks

2011-08-12T23:21:00.004+01:00

Paul hard at work with his seasearch slate - almost too much to see here! One slate ist not enough!

The West Coast

2011-08-12T23:15:00.003+01:00

The wind finally changed and we made it to the west coast. Warwick's instinct guided us to a pinnacle that is a carpet of jewel anemones. What a sight!

Spot the fish!

2011-08-12T23:08:00.000+01:00

The wonderful creatures of Unst!

Force 6 winds don't stop Clidive

2011-08-09T22:59:00.006+01:00

The wind dropped from gale force to force 6, enough for us to bury the walking boots and head out to visit what seemed like the nursery of Scottish waters. The visibility was almost "spoilt" by a huge swarm of tiny fish, shrimps were hoarding their fingernail size offspring in the crevices and the walls were covered in mini-brittle stars. Nudibranchs, congers, sand masons.....

What to do in bad weather

2011-08-08T23:10:00.004+01:00

The most northerly clidiver taking photos of a clidiver taking photos of clidivers.

Muckle Flugga

2011-08-08T23:03:00.007+01:00

Gale force winds don't keep us from having a look at Muckle Flugga, Britain's most northerly lighthouse, but unfortunately it is on foot.

BYO - Clidive style

2011-08-08T15:15:00.005+01:00

Diving in Unst doesn't only mean bringing your own boat, but also filling your own cylinders. Hours of joy with a mighty beast of a machine, but a job not to be recommended for the morning after the night before.

E49

2011-08-07T23:29:00.006+01:00

The first dive of the trip - amazing visibility and soooo many fish. It was all worth it!

Baltasound

2011-08-07T23:17:00.004+01:00

The boat is going in - and we are ready to go!

Planning, planning planning....

2011-08-06T22:46:00.006+01:00

"Assistant" Dive Manager Naomi is slaving over the charts and folders, while the rest of us are eagerly awaiting our first day of diving in what looks like crystal clear waters. Let the adventure begin!

Censored

2011-08-06T22:37:00.007+01:00

While Paul and JD are wrestling with the compressor...

the two vans are having a good time

Shore Leave on Unst

2011-08-06T22:32:00.006+01:00

Two years on and Bobby's bus shelter has been transformed from a heaven of pink fluff to a pirate's den.

Clidive returns to Unst

2011-08-06T22:13:00.006+01:00

On a humid Thursday in August 2 vans, a boat and four Clidivers set off from London on the long drive to Saxa Vord on Unst.

Pembrokeshire Vid

2011-08-03T20:03:00.003+01:00

Sports/Ocean diver training at Wraysbury - in a shorty!

2011-07-27T18:46:00.003+01:00

On Saturday 16th July, a few clidivers headed off to Wraysbury to get trained.

I am pleased to say that Tricia completed sports diver :-)

Alberto began sports diver. He is featured here - the water was 20 degrees and said to Ablberto that it's currently like a bath - much warmer than Plymouth was at easter (9 degrees) - she didn't expect that he would then turn up in a 3mm shorty. ;-)

It was a cold, rainy day which meant that Joli (as shore cover) got soaked whilst looking after all the kit - when the others went diving.

Nick also managed to do OO1 and OO2 despite wraysbury living up to it's reputation of being a muddy puddle - he certainly gets his "low vis" dive signed off ;-)

Thanks to Natascha for teaching (in a soggy drysuit again)

Wraysbury is the hot destination!

2011-07-03T19:24:00.016+01:00

3 new Clidivers took one giant stride into the water today for their first ever open water dive, in glorious conditions at Wraysbury – 18 degrees in the water!

We even found some fish including a big one...

Congratulations to Davide, Francesca & Ozgur!!!

Devil Gas in Saffron Walden

2011-06-30T00:33:00.000+01:00

Not all that long ago, Nitrox was 'the devil gas' and BSAC and PADI banned its use. BSAC saw the light fairly quickly and the rest of the world soon followed. Now Nitrox diving is taught as part of entry level Ocean Diver training, we run accelerated decompression training in house and 'devil gas' is available everywhere. Nitrox gives you longer underwater, shorter decompression stops and increased safety. This summer, on our club expedition to the Shetlands, we'll be taking a compressor and we'd like to be able to do some Nitrox diving too. There are no dive shops up there, so we'll be mixing our own.

But we needed some training. Saffron Walden BSAC were kind enough to allow us to use their superb facilities and to Colin Yule ran the training. Four of Clidive's instructors spent a summery evening in Cambridgeshire learning how to blend perfect mixes whilst avoiding terrifying oxygen fires.

Penzance Vid

2011-06-26T13:51:00.009+01:00

Falmouth!

2011-06-25T19:58:00.002+01:00

The reign of rain continued but nothing could dampen our spirits as the hardy bunch motored out of Falmouth harbour to be greeted by a pod of dolphins limbering up for thier daily acrobatics. Another great days diving was had by all with the wrecks of the Volnay (Divernet wreck tour 24) and the Mohegan (wreck tour 8). Despite being only 40 miles along the coast, the water was chillier than Penzance and siltier but still 5-10 m vis. We also had a spot of lunch whilst anchoring in Porthkerris (very good set up - cafe, dive shop, air fills, tractor-beach launch, shore diving). Right, off to the pub for a lemonade (cough) before an early night and doing it all again tomorrow (albeit with a very long drive home after). Next year, I think I might copy Lucy and Neil with their fly to Newquay then hire a car option - planes , trains and automobiles...

Cornwall day 6

2011-06-24T18:47:00.006+01:00

Around 8am at Penzance harbour. Still, flat calm and sunny. Two full RIBs pulling away and heading toward the Runnel Stone. Deja vu? But, this time we made it there, the journey punctuated by an encounter with a young basking shark and ending with a pod of common dolphins swimming and leaping around the boats. We dropped a shot and paused to wait for slack. There was enough swell to give the bell of the marker buoy an enthusiatic ringing but nothing like that of recent days. We had time to take in the scene - the Longships lighthouse, sport fishing boats, the theme park on Lands End, and shearwaters, fulmars and gannets skimming by.

The dive didn't disappoint - the walls of jewel anenomes, groups of bass, a sea trout, enormous anchors and wreckage from long-lost ships were spectacular even in the, by then, subdued light. Once we'd all surfaced we called back to Porthgwarra for a cheeky pasty or cake (or both) and then turned around quickly for dive two in a race against the appalling weather that was forecast.

The second dive was at another iconic Cornish site, the North side of the Longships lighthouse outcrop. The descent was, ahem, challenging - a hand over hand battle down the shot line against a lively current. Some well-anchored kelp lent assistance in pulling ourselves into the lee and there we found a beautiful wall. By the time we surfaced the conditions had changed dramatically - our haste to beat the onrushing winds had been well judged. Two great dives - a fitting climax to a challenging but fulfilling week.

Cornwall days 4 and 5

2011-06-23T21:59:00.005+01:00

Similar prevailing wind conditions meant that Wednesday was devoted to a day off for many of us. One party began the day with a run up and down the hills in torrential rain. Others used more conventional transport to explore the area.

One boat returned in the afternoon to the Alice Marie and enjoyed a large group of pollack on the shot line, the resident conger eel and numerous edible crabs in bright sunshine.

Thursday morning started early to catch the slack tide. In a by now familiar pattern the boats headed toward Lands End with an air of optimism, which was again ended by large swells offshore. Instead we nestled inshore and made a second visit of the week to Rory's Bluff. The addition of the sun and absence of Sunday'strong currents made for a great dive around enormous boulders and gullies; life was abundant and visibility was generally very good. Jolie poked a spider crab that was missing several limbs and being devoured by a couple of starfish to confirm that it was dead (or was it just really bad at running away to a degree that would win it the Darwin award for crustacea?).

We anchored the boats in the bay at Porthgwarra to stop off at the cafe there for elevensis, twelvesis and onesis - a luxuriously long surface interval in which to snooze, dry, eat pasties and ice cream and, ironically, annoy some German tourists by our mass presence on the picnic tables. Colin's snoring, usually only enjoyed by those sharing his accommodation, made a cameo apperance.

As we waded back out to the boats a couple of fox cubs frolicked (or did they gambol?) across the beach, leading us to remark how much more endearing they are when not emptying the contents of your bins over a London pavement. We returned to harbour via the day's second site, The Bucks - two twinned rocks breaking the surface and flanked by a rather beautiful wall, covered with jewel anenomes and inhabited by squat lobsters and numerous fish.

After putting the boats to bed, with a friendly neap tide sparing Neil an encore demonstration of his upper body strength, John returned his car to its customary parking space at the pub and we then ended the day with another fine example of home cooking (during which Colin, referring to navigation on past dive trip, stated that "I had trouble getting out of the bar").

Cornwall day 3

2011-06-22T09:41:00.003+01:00

We poked our noses out into the Atlantic as a strange yellow orb appeared in the sky. Some of us suspected witchcraft but the wiser and more experienced among us identified this phenomenon as the sun. We were intially optimistic of making it to one of the more remote sites - it was choppy but not swelly; while we were licking salt off our faces, our breakfasts were safe. However, it wasn't too long before the familiar sea-sky-sea-sky views ensued.

So, we turned and headed for the Alice Marie, an ex steel barque in around 25m, now mostly salvaged for scrap and rotted away but still enough metal left to seem 'boaty' and a very pretty site, especially with the sun out. Martin claims to have been confronted by aggressive pollack and he caught a John Dory on video. There was also a rather fine conger eel and some of us saw baby cuttlefish - aw.

We returned to Penzance to put pasties in our faces and then made for the site of the Primrose at Low Lee Ledges. This was a very pretty dive, partly following an underwater trail marked by rope, and populated by corals, anemones and the usual fishes and crustaceans. Another fine day's diving despite the unhelpful weather conditions.

Cornwall day 2

2011-06-20T22:06:00.002+01:00

The forecast was for an early brief window of diveable conditions before big winds after lunch. So, we assembled at the quayside first thing and were casting off in Clidive record time. We were optimistic and loaded two cylinders each. As we travelled along the coast toward Lands End it became clear that the swell was too great to risk offshore sites and so we opted for the 'splat wreck' of the Lincoln nearer to home.

In what became a race against the worsening weather and low tide in Penzance (when the boat mooring becomes dry) we called in for a quick pit stop at the cafe in Lamorna Cove and swapped tanks before heading out to a site of scenic gullies. By the time everyone had surfaced a thick fog had descended; the British summer was pulling out all the stops.

Forming a human chain in order to manhandle the kit up the harbour's steep, slippery steps, and thereby smashing another Clidive time record, we got the yellow boat to her overnight home but we were minutes late with Blue, forcing a core team of dedicated souls to endure four hours in a pub while waiting for the water to rise sufficiently to allow them to finish the job. Another great day's diving against the odds.

Watch this space for photo uploads...

Cornwall day 1

2011-06-20T21:26:00.003+01:00

South-westerly; the wind direction for which there's really no dive plan B in the south western peninsula of Cornwall. However, despite some pretty hefty swell we kicked off the week at a rock known as 'Rory's bluff'. As we descended it quickly became clear that a strong current was running against us. Warwick observed that there was "some current to manage". For some buddy pairs though, the current pretty much managed us.

Some of us found some respite once they'd struggled through it but Brian and Chris' relief was short-lived when they entered a new stream threatening to take them to New York. Meanwhile, Alex became acquanited with her first cuttlefish and others were charmed by a nursery of young fish.

The day's second dive was a moody, skeletal wreck featuring abundant fish life. Nat described having "a bit of a turn" in the narcotic conditions but she and everyone else enjoyed the dive and returned to put the boats to bed at the end of a day that only took place at all through the skill and hard work of the boat crews and logistics team.

Slugs of the Sound

2011-06-01T10:19:00.000+01:00

The weather may have been questionable, and the water chilly, but the May Bank Holiday weekend in Plymouth showed the variety of life even on sheltered dive sites in Plymouth Sound.

Polycera faroensis

No idea, but only its mother could love it

Okenia elegans

Dunno

Janolus cristatus

Thecacera pennigera

Flabellina pedata

Facelina bostoniensis


Diaphorodoris luteocincta

Sea Search Frenzy

2011-05-14T20:38:00.004+01:00

Fourteen Clidivers hit the water today at Swange Pier as part of our training to become Seasearch Observers. Under the watchful eye of Nick Reed we are learning the difference between our seabed cover types, how to identify species and note it all down in a way that can be entered into a national database.

"Everyone who wants to dive in the UK should do this course as part of sports diver training" says Mary (Diving Officer) . "It adds to the enjoyment of UK diving so much I think I will make a new club rule!"

Homeward bound from Gozo

2011-05-02T15:25:00.004+01:00

Final day and Lucy past her dive leader as did Mike - well done to them both - so a very successful training trip with 4 DL's, 2 SD's and an OD :-)

Despite the windy weather we managed to dive every day and only repeated some of the best sites. My only dissapointment was to not do thr Scot Crag and Reqqa - but that's a perfect excuse to need to come back!

The final day was spent doing Xatt L'amarr wrecks (Karwela again) and the beautiful Mgarr Ix-xini. (I didn't get lost this time) .

Nick got the prize for doing all 21 dives over 10 days.

We finally worked out how to make Mike quiet - get him hammered on the last night and he is very quiet the next day.

A fantastic 11 days - can't wait for us to come back. Even Warwick (the Gozo skeptic) is now a Gozo lover. Thanks to the lovely Itzi for her smile and enthusiasm always.

Day 9 in Gozo - Um El Faroud!

2011-04-30T11:14:00.003+01:00

Well, finally Neptune decided to grace us with favourable weather than we deserve for flying all the way to Gozo (has all this rain been punishment cos I said it would be cold and rainy in Plymouth? How wrong I was...). We had a FANTASTIC day yesterday. We got up early and ferried and motored across Malta to the other side, praying all the way that the wind wouldn't pick up. We managed to do 2 dives on the Fabulous Um El Faroud - to some, the best wreck in the Med. A 110 ton tanker sunk in 1998 and now lies in 35m upright, in 2 pieces. 1 dive on this is not enough! We had flat calm seas all day, 40m vis and a jolly good day was had by all!

Thursday was night dive night at Mgarr Ix Xini for 6 of us including Don - the man who preaches how pointless night diving is - only for him to return from the inky water excitedly proclaiming "We saw cuttlefish with green bioluminescence and a shoal of 20-30 flying gurnard and a giant sea snail and an octopus and sleeping anchovies hanging in the water and and and ..." - see what you've been missing all these years, Don? I had said before that I loved the surface swim back looking up through the canyon to the stars above (I didn't mean to accidentally cross over to the other wall underwater without realising only to surface 40mins away from the exit... oh well... at least the stars were very pretty)

2 days of diving left... inland sea then cathedral cave today (my fav! well worth the 120 steps). Rounded off with a BBQ tonight. Who knows what's in store tomorrow...

If all goes well, we will have 3 new dive leaders by the end of the holiday... guess who?

Check back soon - photos will be uploaded!

Easter in Plymouth

2011-04-29T14:09:00.003+01:00

This Easter was Sarah and my first outing with Clidive and pretty much our first excursion into British waters. We learned to dive in Sharm back in 2000 and have been keen warm water divers ever since.

This year we decided to cross over to the 'other side' and see what BSAC and our own shores had to offer. I have to admit, that I had prepared for the worst; cold murky water, little aquatic life to see and shivering throughout the surface intervals. For the whole four days, though, we were subjected to relentless glorious warm sunny weather and mill-pond flat seas to dive.

Underwater, I was pleased to discover was full of life; Jewel and snakelocks anemone, soft corals, gorgonian fans (I thought they were only found in the tropics), feather starfish and colourful cuckoo
wrasse. I saw a strange stripey pipefish and came face to face with a conger eel in an old ship's boiler.

I had some initial trouble with the extra 25 Kg of equipment, dry suit and lead that would normally be eschewed in 30 degree waters, but by the 8th dive I was beginning to get the hang of it all.

I really enjoyed being allowed to take the RIBs (thanks to the boat handling course) out to the dive sites.

My favourite location was the magnificent Eddystone lighthouse reef. A dramatic setting 12 miles offshore, with the lighthouse tower standing beside the stump of it's predecessor.

This dive was only marred with my inability to work my dry suit's dump valve and by me dropping my weight belt as I was about to pass it into the boat. If anyone goes back there, it's about 30 metres west of the tower.

By the final day, we were sunburnt, exhausted and Sports Diver qualified.

We were even graced with a few glimpses of a Basking Shark which was a real thrill. Rory remarked that this was an indication of bad visibility. Of course the more the shark eats, the more the divers can see.

Day 7 in Gozo

2011-04-28T13:19:00.002+01:00

We now have 2 new sports divers - well done to Serge and Nick. Guhan also has passed his ocean diver. Yesterday was an entertaining day with the plan to do P31 and P29 and the Scot Crag. What actually happened was a flat sandy bottom vaguely near P31, the Karwela and the Middle Finger. All excellent dives (even on the Flat Sandy Bottom they saw a Ray).

Today we have a really sunny day so most of the crew have gone walkies and off gassing but 6 of us did Karwela and are about to head off to Comino (Santa Marija) Caves and then nightdive! Here's the hardy few still diving today outside Blue Waters Dive Cove (along with the lovely Itzi and the friendly Franco - proprietor of BWDC).

Day 4 in Gozo

2011-04-26T08:19:00.007+01:00

Despite unseasonably windy weather we have been fortunate enough to find leeside diving in flat calm and great vis. We've been to Xlendi to do lots of rescue skills training, (and Warwick having a snooze), Xwenji bay for dive leading practice and even managed Dwerja - blue hole and inland sea - the best sites in Gozo in popular opinion. The blue hole was rather "Serge"-y and we were "Bob"bing up and down. (boom-ching). In this photo Joli is looking rather like a beached whale trying to get up from the blue hole! Much fun and merriment is being had by all!

Martin Rishton is now a Dive Leader after an excellent dive managing day yesterday. Watch this space as we have more here on the brink of completing thier qualifications...

Elton John in Gozo!

2011-04-23T08:42:00.001+01:00

The night was topped off with a guest appearance in Dbar from Elton John whilst we devoured our BBQ ribs!

Sand monsters in Malta

2011-04-23T08:40:00.003+01:00

Victor and Guhan realised that rescue skills on a beach leaves them looking like sand monsters!

Day 1 in Gozo

2011-04-23T08:21:00.008+01:00

10 divers , 6 more still in transit.

The day was spent at Hondoq after much kit faffing with training for ocean divers, sports diver, dive leaders and instructor training. The weather was less sunny than hoped (and by all accounts less sunny than Plymouth!) but at least we had 17 degrees and no hoods and gloves.

The "dive muppet of the day" goes to John .... looking rather happy in this picture despite him getting out 1 min after getting in...

if you look closely you can see his drysuit is still open...

he emerged rather soggy from his not-so-"dry"suit (bad idea to have wallet in back pocket)

but all is not lost.... Joli to the rescue .... hs elends him her spare "undersuit" (ie a pair of joggers and a jumper with pink
socks)... I notice this is the 2nd time he has posed crop-top style on this blog.... methinks he likes it!

Carnage on Carnaby Street

2011-04-23T08:16:00.001+01:00

Having your dive club based in middle of Soho can mean that when a wet and bedraggled Joli clad in drysuit and twinset staggered down the street to place said kit in truck, there was much bewilderment from the slightly drunken public. One member did enquire as to which dive site she had just emerged from! "No, it was not a drain I just came up from", came the reply.
Interested to find out more.. Come to a try dive on May 5th and 12th....

BSAC Boat handling course on the Thames, part II

2011-04-11T17:00:00.000+01:00

Sometimes, even in the winter, it is sunny in London. The Thames has large tides and strong currents and is a great place to do boat handling training courses. After this course, we've got 6 more boat handlers in the club, ready to get more practice in the dive season.

Passing the Houses of Parliament

Under Tower Bridge - sadly they didn't stop the traffic for us

And you get to see the sights:


The Eye and County Hall

Tower Bridge at Sunset, from HMS President

Thanks again to Maritime Volunteer Service City of London for use of their RIBs.

Chartwork and Position Fixing on the Thames

2011-04-08T10:23:00.000+01:00

What better way to spend a Sunday than on a boat cruising down the Thames Estuary to Canvey Island? After a day of navigation theory in the classroom, we boarded Londinium 1, the City of London Maritime Volunteer Service's motor launch, to put our new skills into practice.


Londinium 1, at its mooring next to Tower Bridge

We headed out with the tide through the Thames Barrier:

Thames Barrier

Round the Isle of Dogs

And took it in turns to plan the passage, navigate and steer:

Bethan and the smartly dressed skipper

Passage planning

Gary takes the wheel

Thanks again to MVS City of London for the help in qualifying 8 new Clidive navigators and wreck-finders.

1st open water training of year

2011-04-06T15:32:00.003+01:00

We've had a busy start to the year with 6 ocean divers, 17 sports divers, 8 dive leaders and 10 advanced divers all doing theory and pool work. The long awaited season has officially started! Thanks to Colin an ocean diver took the plunge at gildy for his 1st ever dive (he's smiling despite being in a semi-wet) and a sports diver ... Roll on Easter when we have concurrent training trips in Gozo and Plymouth to train the masses ... It's going to be a good season, I can feel it in my bones...

Boathandling on the Thames

2011-04-06T15:23:00.002+01:00

We've been busy running boat handling courses on the Thames.

4 courses so far this winter (each with 2 boats) have seen Clidive members travelling through the Thames Barrier...

up through Tower Bridge...

... planning passages and learning to drive RIBs.

With thanks to Maritime Volunteer Service City of London and HMS President:

More courses planned soon...

VHF marine radio course - THIS SUNDAY

2011-04-06T14:45:00.003+01:00

There is one space available on our VHF Marine Radio Course being held this Sunday 10 April in London.

Would you know how to make a MAYDAY radio call to the Coastguard if a diver was in trouble? Do you know what PAN PAN means? What is Channel 16?

Each of our boats carry two VHF marine radios to allow us to talk to each other, other boats and the Coastguard. But to use a VHF radio, you need a licence. VHF Radio is a one-day course and exam to get you that licence.

VHF Radio is an essential course for boat handlers and useful for everyone else.

The cost is £60 *including* the £30 licence fee and the course manual. It is very good value and about half the price of a commercial dive centre or sea school.

To book a place, contact Joli (put her name here at c l i d i v e dot o r g)

Veyron Vid

2010-09-22T21:40:00.002+01:00

Lunch on Frioul

2010-09-22T19:16:00.001+01:00

Today we stopped for lunch at the outdoor centre on Frioul. It's like the Mountbatten Centre in Plymouth, save that it has good food and the sun shines. We enjoyed an excellent moules frites, a couple of bottles of wine, salads, cheese and dessert.

After a quick nap, John emerged ready for action in his gimp suit. We dived at the stunning Les Farillions, a fish and arch filled wall only 10 minutes by boat from the Porte Pointe Rouge.

Nudibranchs of the Med

2010-09-22T19:11:00.000+01:00

Le Planier

2010-09-22T19:09:00.000+01:00

After le Veyron we took a box of cheese and some vin rose to the lighthouse and had a leisurely lunch. Most pleasant.

We then jumped off the boat whilst still moored up at the quayside, turned left, swam for 10 metres and dived the wreck of the Dalton.

We followed that up with a third dive on the wreck of the Chaouen. You don't need an echosounder to find it, the boat handler just drives along until he or she can see the top of the wreck in 15m from the side of the boat.

Le Veyron

2010-09-22T19:04:00.000+01:00

A plateau at 20 metres, with extensive caves crossing underneath. That's Le Veyron, an offshore site 6 miles from Marseille near the le Planier lighthouse. Lovely.

The view from the Red Lion

2010-09-22T19:02:00.000+01:00

The first response of Clidive to a beautiful French town is to find the English theme pub. At least it has spectacular sunset views.

Clidive in Marseille

2010-09-22T19:00:00.000+01:00

It is a little different from Portland Harbour here. For starters, there is nowhere to moor up the boat overnight, so we have to take it out on the trailer each day. But there are compensations. Such as 17 degree water, 30m of visibility and lots of fish. And the dive centres have better graphic designers than boring old 'Underwater Explorers' or 'In Deep' that we have in England.

(For the observant boat handler, the correct launching technique on the rather shallow slipway is to drive the trailer back and then get several burly Clidivers to push the boat off the precipice at the end into deep water. Occasionally someone falls off the edge and gets rather wet.)

Vive la France!

Vive la France

2010-09-21T22:09:00.002+01:00

Clidive is in Marseille!

Yesterday we dived Les Veyron (Swiss Cheese caves), Le Dalton (mmm), et Le Chaouen (a stunner). Today we dived Les Moyadons and this afternoon Le Imperieux de Milieu - an amazing wall dive. On arrival we dived the inner Imperieux (there are three, we have hopes for the outer Imperieux, when it stops running like a train) and Pointe de Planne - a wall, with a cave in the middle of it.

The water is a fresh 16 degrees (particularly fresh if you are just back from diving in 30 degrees and your drysuit seal discipline is a little lacking - brrrrx2) and the visibility is very exciting - proper head over the boat and spot the wreck territory.

We have been busy with the diving (and the launching and recovering), but have accumulated some photos of sunsets, lighthouses, nudibranchs and a strange black slithery thing that we hope Suse can help us identify.

We will post the photos tomorrow.

Move to Soho goes swimmingly

2010-09-03T21:50:00.009+01:00

The move to Marshall Street pool took place on Thursday 2 September, and it all seemed to go very smoothly, with lots of members turning up to check out our new home.

All that swimming was thirsty work, so we checked out one of the friendly local pubs...

The new Ocean Diver course starts next week - come and join us!

Clidive moves to Soho

2010-09-01T14:08:00.001+01:00

On Thursday 2 September we move to the newly refurbished Marshall Street Baths in Soho. It is only five minutes from Oxford Street Station with a stroll down Carnaby Street on the way! The pool is beautiful. We have a classroom too.

We will settle oursleves in on the first evening, but our next Ocean Diver course will start on Thursday 9th September. To book on this or arrange a try dive email John on clidive@clidive.org.

Hand Deeps

2010-09-01T13:58:00.000+01:00

The final day of the 31 diver Bank Holiday weekend brought flat calm seas and blazing sun. So we headed offshore to dive at the Eddystone Lighthouse and at Hand Deeps. All the jewel anemones were out on the Hand Deeps wall, giving fantastic diving in excellent visibility.

31 Go To Plymouth

2010-08-29T09:11:00.000+01:00

August Bank holiday started early with an extra day of diving for the early gang of 12 Clidivers. We dived the Maine (atmospheric, fishy) and the Eddystone (very fishy, fantastic visibility). The hordes then descended bringing our numbers up to 31. Yesterday we dived the Eddystone (again), Hilsea Point, the Glen Strathallen, the JEL and the Scylla. Lovely. Sightings for the day include lots of lobsters and nudibranchs, plus a 5 ft bull huss (that's a big shark)

It's only 9am on Sunday morning and the first wave has already left to dive at the Mewstone Ledges. The second wave will soon be heading out for the Elk (or perhaps offshore, if the wind would just drop off a bit)...

Gales, more rescues and some excellent diving

2010-08-22T22:23:00.009+01:00

Not to be deterred by a force 11 gale warning, we headed straight into the eye of the storm to see how far down the Sound of Mull we could get. The answer was, not very far. We had a great dive on the picturesque Hispania wreck, which was on fine form today with beautiful clear water, and for most of us, perfectly slack (sorry Ben and Paul).

After a rainy lunch stop, we headed out to the relative calm of Loch Sunart, to dive Risga Pinnacle. But not before Neil heroically leapt in the water to rescue a yacht that had become trapped on a mooring line, and we'd all had some tasty cake provided by the skippers.

Risga made a lovely final dive to the trip, covered in squat lobsters, celtic featherstars, peacock worms and burrowing anenomes.

Above - white horses in Loch Sunart.

Below - a hearty and very welcome meal at the end of the trip, which was followed by drinks in the Mish Nish, and for some a 6.30am ferry the next day - ouch.

Oh dear

2010-08-20T06:54:00.000+01:00

The Minch - Strong winds are forecast

24 hour forecast: Easterly 3 or 4 increasing 5 to 7, veering southerly then southwesterly severe gale 9 or storm 10, perhaps violent storm 11 later, decreasing 6 to gale 8 in south later. Slight or moderate, becoming rough or very rough in south, occasionally high in far south for a time. Fair in north at first, otherwise rain. Good in north at first, otherwise moderate or poor.

The storm's a-brewin'

2010-08-19T22:22:00.000+01:00

Today was the last good weather day. The force 9 batters down the coastline tomorrow, so we headed out to Elizabeth Rock and a good time was had by all. The breeding nudibranchs looked like they were having a good time as well.

The torrential downpour all morning had tired us all out so there was time for a quick kip and a top-up of our sun tans on Fascadale beach over lunch.

In the afternoon we retreated to the comfort of Bloody Bay, which despite its name is actually a very peaceful sandy slope, with lots of wildlife ready to jump out at you (as Naomi found out when she was brutally attacked by a very active swimming crab, and a scallop joined in for good measure).

Basking sharks on Coll (and a lot of midges too)

2010-08-19T22:13:00.000+01:00

The weather has been pretty kind to us this week. Today we headed out to Coll, and had a lovely dive on the Tapti, a wreck lying in 26 metres. The usual plethora of anemones, including our new favourite burrowing anemones. Is it a worm? Is it an anemone?

Above water we were treated to a large group of basking sharks, hanging out and feeding around the shoreline - lovely. Then we headed to Coll for lunch, and spent a miserable half hour eating soggy sandwiches in the midge-infested rain.

Our next dive was on the Cairns of Coll, a site for macro-life lovers.

Tobermory Pizza Express open for business

2010-08-17T22:37:00.000+01:00

After a long 12 hour day, Ben's pizzas went down a storm. And thankfully today wasn't as bad a storm as expected. A seasearcher's delight of a dive in the morning on Sligneach Mor was teeming with life, especially squat lobsters and leopard spotted gobies.

We then headed to the Hispania and waited for slack. And waited. And waited. Eventually we just went down the shot and a fantastic dive was had by all - and we ascended just as slack was beginning, over 2 hours late.

International Rescue (No. 2)

2010-08-16T21:34:00.001+01:00

After untangling a rope round a prop in Shetland last year, Ben was at it again this afternoon. Several other Clidivers were kitted up ready to help out, but Ben jumped in first saying "this is one for an ex-diving officer, move aside". Once again, he saved the day, to the rapturous applause of a grateful Glaswegian lawyer and a passing seal.

Day two and it's raining...a lot

2010-08-16T21:29:00.002+01:00

The sea was still flat, so we headed out to the Great Wall of Eigg. As this is the Hebrides, we saw the usual seals, basking sharks, porpoises, and some massive bottlenose dolphins, bow riding under the boat, leaping out of the water and chucking fish in the air.

(a lunch break on Eigg.)

Our second dive of the day was on the impressive wall at Bo Fascadale, which drops down from 3m to 60m+.

One diver down...

2010-08-16T21:23:00.000+01:00

At least there was more space on the RIB.

Only joking. After a lovely dive on the Rondo, we sampled the delights of the Tobermory lifeboat festival. As well as the above demonstration, Ben sneaked off and came second in the RIB race (out of four boats), and Naomi won a bottle of Stella in the raffle. Happy days.

Oigh Sgeir

2010-08-15T13:14:00.001+01:00

We woke up in Mull in Saturday morning, saw that it was as flat as a pancake out there, fuelled up the boat and headed out to Oigh Skeir, an uninhabited island with a lighthouse on it 30 miles north of Tobermory. There is a great cave there filled with prawns, squat lobsters and other crustacea on the east side, which we dived, then we had lunch on the island whilst listening to the seals singing away.

On the way back, we spent 20 minutes with two Minke whales, and had over a dozen porpoise sightings. Lucky us.

All change, please

2010-08-14T07:39:00.001+01:00

Week 1 of our expedition to Mull has just ended with the traditional trip to the Mishnish. But the diving doesn't stop. We're off out of the Sound today to take advantage of the greatly improved weather. A new batch of Clidivers arrives from London tonight and they'll be diving from tomorrow. And the weather forecast is looking really good...

Accelerated Decompression Course

2010-08-14T07:36:00.000+01:00

Clidive have just completed our first BSAC Accelerated Decompression Procedures Course. This new course trains divers to carry out accelerated decompression on rich nitrox mixes. The course finished yesterday by doing two dives in the Sound of Mull on the wrecks of the Shuna and the Rondo. Before these dives, we did several training dives practising fine buoyancy control and emergency skills. It's an excellent course, with a strong emphasis on having really good buoyancy control.

Coll no

2010-08-11T21:34:00.000+01:00

The weather didn't hold. We woke up whistling winds from the north, making the trip out to Coll impossible. So we settled for an atmospheric dive on the Shuna, lunch at Lochaline, then a dive on the Rondo, which everyone thought was fantastic. The day was finished off with a buoyancy and trim workshop dive in Tobermory harbour.

Here are a few photos so you can see what we are up to, starting with the view over Tobermory from the harbour:

We were not short of basking sharks. The water was thick with them:

A fishy business on the Hispania.

Top photo: Flic admires the rainbow whilst driving Clidive Yellow at the Hispania.

Nudi Heaven, Lizzie Rocks

2010-08-10T22:52:00.000+01:00

The title is not a cryptic crossword clue, but a summary of the day. Elizabeth Rock, an underwater hillock near Bo Fascadale, is crawling with nudibranches. Especially the big white furry ones whose name we can't work out. Photos to follow soon. Coll tomorow, if the weather holds...

Change of plan

2010-08-10T22:47:00.000+01:00

We woke up to find it was foggy. Very foggy. So we scrubbed the plan and went diving at Sligneach Mor in Loch Sunart instead. This is an island heavily populated by seals, who haul out at low water. After a dive on a 30m wall, we went snorkelling with the somewhat shy seals. Only a couple of us caught underwater glimpses, the rest having to make do with watching them watching us.

In the afternoon, we dived the Hispania, one of the two or three most well known wrecks in the Sound of Mull. Someone has obviously been feeding the wrasse. They swim alongside you and nibble your fingers, hoping for some morsels. They make good company, but it is bizarre watching fish be friendly rather than swim away when you get too close.

Starting gently

2010-08-10T22:43:00.000+01:00

Normally, on the first proper day of a dive trip, we take it easy. But a perfect weather forecast is too good to miss out on. Clidive Yellow cruised out of the Sound of Mull north to Eigg, one of the Small Isles. We dived the Great Wall on the east side of the Island, stopped for lunch, ate the Eigg cafe's lovely almond and fruit cake, then dived Bo Fascadale in the afternoon.

Bo really is a fantastic dive. A sheer wall from 4m straight down to 60+ metres, covered in anemones and soft coral of every kind, with excellent visibility.

And on the way back, there were basking sharks, seals and a porpoise. But no whales yet. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.

To Scotland

2010-08-10T22:39:00.000+01:00

Pick up boat. Drive to Glasgow (slowly). Kip in a lay by. Wake up. Drive to Oban. Spend £400 on boat fuel. Squeeze onto a ferry with 2 inches to spare. Launch the boat. Go diving.

Then, the next day, the early arrivals spent the afternoon diving the Rondo in superb visibility. We could see the surface from 25m. We then went to go and have a look for the Mingary Castle wreck, where we will be doing a Seasearch survey under licence from Historic Scotland. We found some sand, lots of kelp, many hermit crabs and a delightful baby plaice. But no cannons. We will look again.

Mission Hatt Rock

2010-07-29T21:54:00.004+01:00

Mission Accomplished!

Given how fickle the Great British summer can be, it's fairly preposterous to have a weekend trip in your dive calendar entitled "Mission Hatt Rock". We don't let these things bother us. Last weekend we somehow made it 17 miles offshore from Plymouth to dive one of the best dives in the UK. We have now dived Hatt Rock 3 years running. We followed up our dive at Hatt Rock with three more great dives; Hillsea Point, Eddystone Lighthouse and the Persier wreck. A lovely smorgasbord of Plymouth dive sites.

To top it off, in the post dive trip exhaustion on Monday, we heard the news that Clidive had won the Heinke award again (see below).

Heinke Award Entry

2010-07-27T14:30:00.001+01:00

Our winning Heinke Award Entry is now available online in pdf format (2.5mb). Enjoy.

The best diving club in the world, again

2010-07-26T22:28:00.000+01:00

Clidive is delighted to have been awarded the BSAC Heinke Trophy. The Trophy is "the club's premier award". BSAC said:

"The Heinke Adjudicators were very impressed by Clidive's entry, in particular it explained that the branch had:
Very clear branch goals and structure to achieve them
Comprehensive virtual communications: web, e-mails, news flash etc
Thorough diving & training programme – including expeditions, well documented, varied sites and for differing levels
Wide range of kit, including two boats – all used well
Clidive clearly demonstrated the goal of the Heinke Trophy: the branch judged to have done the most to further the interests of its members and of BSAC."

This is the second time Clidive has been awarded the trophy. We last won in 1999. This is a fantastic end to our 40th Anniversary Year, coming hot on the heels of the BSAC Peter Small award for "the most worthwhile and ambitious BSAC Project, conducted in British waters" for our expedition and underwater survey of Unst in the North of the Shetland Isles and the Jonathan Crusher award for Rory Budds, BSAC's volunteer of the year.

Congratulations also to Mansfield BSAC and Dublin University BSAC, who received Certificates of Commendation.

Historic wrecks

2010-07-26T22:04:00.000+01:00

Clidive is delighted to have been awarded a visitor and survey licence for the three historic wrecks in the Sound of Mull. Diving is not normally permitted on these designated wreck sites and there is an exclusion zone around them. Historic Scotland has permitted the members of Clidive's August 2010 expedition to Scotland to dive each of these important wrecks and carry out a Seasearch marine life survey on them.

We will be diving the Dartmouth, the Duart Point wreck and the Mingary Castle wreck from Clidive Yellow.

Seal diving

2010-06-23T18:11:00.000+01:00

A day out in the Farnes with Clidive (and a bunch of seals):