This was first a trip proposed by Emma and she did all the initial groundwork. When I took over I just changed the accommodation so that we weren’t in a hotel in the middle of Plymouth. Instead I opted for Bovisland Holiday Park because we had been there before and because it was closer to the dive centre and its location meant it had a small cove with a sandy beach just outside the holiday park site.
We had 8 divers on this trip and one non-diver (Toni) who’s a hardy swimmer and doesn’t require much encouragement to take a dip. The Dive centre were very relaxed about our itinerary and even on the morning of the first dive they wouldn’t quite commit to where we would go. They were however happy with our suggested dives; Eddystone Lighthouse, Hand Deeps, Fairylands wall, James Eagan Lane & the Scyilla. My own strong wish was to get out to the Lighthouse but not because of the diving but rather because of the history of the Eddystone lighthouse, the first such structure built at sea and currently existing as number 4 as the others had either blown down or been deconstructed after structural issues where discovered.
We had 3 trainees on this trip so we had limits on our dives of 20m but that wasn’t much of an issue apart from the fact we were told that Hand Deeps, which is a lot of people’s favourite dive, is a bit pointless to do as the real interest begins from beyond the 20m mark.
On day one we dived HMS Scylla & James Eagan Lane and neither disappointed as the vis was pretty good and there are enough swim throughs and marine life to peak the interest. Also we had David & Jack doing some Sports Diver skills whilst Ben completed his open water Ocean Diver skills. On day two, I helped Jack complete his Surface Marker Buoy module on the Glen Strathallen. This was a surprisingly bothersome skill to perform as we seemed to be struggling to take it in one direction, then assuming it was the tidal current’s influence, only to be scuppered going in the opposite direction as well. Once we ascended the line which became more horizontal, we could see that the buoy had got snagged to the top of the shot line but Jack dealt with the difficulty admirably.
Plymouth is a great town for exploring and discovering nice pubs and eating places. Our famous Indian meal avoider, Mr Benko wasn’t on this trip so an Indian restaurant was a must, as well as a few beers beforehand in the Dolphin pub. Toni was quite happy to avoid alcohol so we had a willing driver and John chose to give his liver and wallet a rest so stayed behind but offered to drive some into the city for our last night in Plymouth.
On the last day we headed out into the Channel after the engines had a hesitant start, but the Cat was able to do 15knots so a 12 mile journey quickly passed. The original lighthouse was constructed in 1698 with all the decoration deemed worthy of such a historical structure but alas it was swept away. The second burned down. The third was deconstructed after discovering cracks in the rock it stood on and we visited the fourth version.
I made a short film of this dive which can be seen on instagram should anyone want a look (click below). In general this seemed a great trip. The weather and sea conditions were perfect. This time we booked caravans rather than the fully booked lodges. In the caravans the bedrooms and beds in particular were very short and narrow but the living area was more than adequate for us. The beach at the foot of the holiday park was a real bonus for those of us who went for a swim or a lie on the beach.
As regards the Dive centre and dive boat, it wasn’t cheap. The boat was £75 per day and on top of that there was a fuel levy because of the Iran War fuel price hike but there was no extra charge to get out to Eddystone as other dive boats have charged in the past. Air fills are expensive. A 15ltr air fill being £12 & a 40% Nitroix being £22 so you need to account for this on the next Plymouth trip. The staff were very professional and the free pasties after the first dive were always welcome.
We did ask the divers if they would consider adding to the Putney Voluntary Contribution which the club tried to introduce years ago so the club benefits financially from organised trips. I suggested the price of a London pint of beer around £7.50 but some members wanted to contribute more so a successful trip all round as we collected around £80.
