Charnwood Saltz BSAC 934

All packed and ready to go, 12 members of Charnwood Saltz SAC descended upon the unsuspecting harbour at St Abbs, Scotland. At just about the half way between Berwick and Berwick upon Tweed, on the east coast, the monolithic journey from the ‘borough was over.

When asked in January, on a cold Wednesday night, about the preferred accommodation for a diving trip in Scotland in May (which seemed all too close, and therefore probably would still be cold!), it is only understandable that people with less hardy skins might take the offer of a cottage complete with proper beds, albeit shared rooms, over the lure of any campsite. For a reasonable fee these less hardy types enjoyed an incredible luxury: being able to roll out of bed and straight into the dive boat at our Skipper’s designated time of departure. Those of us camping had the arduous 5 minute car journey to cope with! So as you can probably tell: nothing was going to be stressful this weekend- provided the weather kept its end of the bargain! I don’t know who he paid, or what kind of rain dance he did, but in organising this trip Jeff had obviously inadvertently charmed the weather Gods, as nothing but hot, hot sunshine rained down onto our now slightly pink skins all weekend!

That was that. Weather? Check. Accommodation? Check. Great news so far and all that remained now was the actual reason we had travelled this distance…the diving itself. After kitting up in what felt like the Skipper’s garden, under the watchful eye of an old black Labrador, we carted our gear along the harbour wall and began the process of loading the boat for the first time. Jokes were passed around older, more experienced divers and the novices were trying to remember if they had left anything behind that they would need later. I know I must have looked somewhat nervous as Sue was taking great care to make sure I was comfortable. The boat boarded, dry-suits zipped up and kit donned, only the water beckoned. And by now, we needed to be cooled down! The sea like a mill pond and the adrenaline now kicking in, it all seemed so natural to, roll into the sea for the first time!

Descending into the water, feeling the now slightly familiar feeling of the water compressing your suit and staring your buddy in the eyes as you descend, waiting for the bottom to approach, you became more at ease and comfortable in your surroundings. Not cold. Not boiling. Not a racing current. Lovely. Relaxing. Idyllic. Perhaps not idyllic, but dropping down on our first shallow dive (12m) we were greeted in an undulating sea bed and more sea life than you could shake a stick at! If you saw it that is! I spent all my time being quite surprised I was still alive underwater, whilst Sue was pointing out all sorts of marine life such as Lobsters, massive crabs, Starfish, a few more crabs and a couple of Wrasse sailed passed us quite unaware that we shouldn’t be there! And then it was over. Just as I began to feel accustomed to this alien world and had started looking for life of my own, it was time to surface. Who would believe it!?

The second dive of the day. Following a brief chat of what we had seen during the previous dive and a refill of the dive cylinder, we were soon back underwater again, gazing under rocks and almost always finding a crustacean of some description. There were soft corals everywhere, Dead Mans’ Fingers on every outcrop of rock and loads of hermit crabs scuttling across the bottom as the ‘big people’ approached. Again, one or two Wrasse were seen effortlessly breathing underwater watching us mockingly. There were a few lobster pots harbouring our edible red friends inside them but what really surprised me was the size of them. Their size and their stupidity. Apparently, although I don’t know from experience, if you shine a light on a lobster anywhere else other than in a protected area, it will retreat into it’s crevice until you have passed. But not here. These lobsters must know that they are protected. If you shone a torch on any of these lobsters you were rewarded with the thing coming to get you! Perhaps as your penance for disturbing it’s peace and quite. If only it were somewhere else…oh well.

This time, on the way back from the dive site, we were greeted on the surface by a small family of dolphins, who were admiring the boat from a distance. This was for me at least, the highlight of the trip. Sitting on the boat, coffee and biscuit in hand, watching a mammal that could actually do what I had just been trying to do, and making it look so graceful.

The abundance of sea life was to be a theme throughout the weekend’s diving. However, in no one place had I ever seen so great a number of Soft Corals as in Anemone Alley. The place was packed with all manner of sea life such as Urchins, Brittle Stars and Dead mans’ Fingers, the latter of which covered every available inch. I’m not exaggerating when I say that wherever there was not a piece of anchored life, there was no rock to anchor to! The place was teeming with colours. Purples, blues, pinks, white and oranges. It all made me very wary of what my fins were doing! As it was so calm and relaxing and due to the ease with which life was spotted at this site, we dived it twice. Well, if the first time had been good, the second time was sensational. The flat fish and butterfish which were plentiful (not unique to this dive site), were blown away by the sheer number of Nudibranches! From tiny, to slightly less tiny, to actually quite respectable; they were seen everywhere during the second dive at this site. I remember clearly how Nudi’s are an elusive critter on a UK dive, but there it is. Not just one, but loads of the things. Incredible.

To discuss every dive I feel would be unjust as I think it would detract from overall experience. And that aside, I can’t really remember what happened anyway. One thing to take note of though: not one dive was a disappointment and provided the weather is as grand as this time I would most definitely go again.

So here are my thanks for Jeff for organising a brilliant trip and to everybody at the club who provided such great company for the weekend. I will blame you all when my bank balance takes a drop, as I have definitely gotten the diving bug! A fantastic trip.