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SCOTCH………ON THE ROCKS.
The convoy of three cars, loaded to the hilt with
diving gear, divers and family proceeded in a northerly direction
on the morning of Friday 11th September. Graham Coverdale, Paul
Field and family, Richard Leah, Fiona Stamp and myself formed
the advanced party, with Tony Hodge, Ian Foster and Terry Blythe
following on 5 hours later, and the Halsey family (Glen, Trevor,
spouses and offspring) the back markers-just making it for last
orders. The weather was quite pleasant for the journey, whilst
the over-priced food at Washington services didn't dampen the
spirits.
The weather during the week prior to departure
was fairly calm, according to the local contact, but the forecast
for the weekend was windy, although it was moving westerly to
north-westerly. (For those who don't know, St Abbs harbour is
protected from westerly winds.) So, we arrived at the guest-house
with fingers crossed. Now, as lead car, I should have been the
first to arrive and claim the best room, but the car in front
paid with a £10 pound note at the Tyne Tunnel, whilst the other
cars went straight up the A1 and arrived 10mins earlier.
After a quick dispense with the overnight bags
and shake hands with the proprietor, we headed for the harbour
for the inaugural dive. A quick look around the entry points led
everyone to think that a swim to Seagull Rock was the best plan
of attack. Four made it to the water and had a good dive despite
the strong surge, although one pair ended up quite a distance
away from the shore and had a leisurely, if somewhat long, surface
swim back. By this time the tide had come in and this made getting
out a bit easier.(OH YES IT DID!)
Back to the guest-house for a wash and brush-up
and await the arrival of the second wave of divers. On arrival,
the proprietor welcomed them and asked "Which one of you
ordered the vegetarian breakfast?" He looked first at Ian,
then Tony.
"I did" came the voice from 6ft 4in
tall Terry.
"YOU'RE JOKING" said the proprietor,
turning to me.
"Is that right?" "That's right"
I said, leaving him looking in disbelief.
Then we descend on the nearest pub - which resulted
in us descending on the second nearest pub(it was the only one
still serving food!). It appeared at one stage that Fiona was
going to drink Terry under the table with pints of Stella Artois.
However, Terry rose to the occasion and put the title well out
of the reach of anyone-except Ian that is. The rest stuck to 70/-
and 80/-, (which seems to be the price of petrol around that area!).
Breakfast was arranged for 0745hrs, so after putting
a new battery in my alarm clock and resetting the time, I set
the alarm for 0715hrs. The alarm duly rang at the prescribed time
and Tony and myself went to the bathrooms. After having a shave,
I returned to the room to find Tony back in his bed and muttering
that it was only 0615hrs! A quick check of my watch showed that
it was indeed 1hr earlier than planned. Well, nobody's perfect,
and it did stop the Snorer Brothers from continuing their peaceful
sleep. After a good breakfast, we went down to the harbour and
did the tour of the entry points again. The consensus was that
the south side was too difficult an access in the conditions,
so we decided on Seagull Rock again. By this time slack water
had passed, as had the watershed for car parking charges. Getting
a ticket for £5 sobered everyone up.
We kitted up by the position of the old sewer
pipe (where has it gone?) and made our way steadily towards the
water. Many faces dropped as they realised that the tide was going
out faster than they could get to it! Trevor Halsey provided the
quote of the weekend, on returning to shore after aborting his
dive due to exhaustion.
"You were almost a widow there, love"
he said, with affection, to his wife.
It was then we were treated to one of Tony's Tips:-
Putting your torch battery in the wrong way round will ensure
that, if it accidentally gets switched on during the journey,
it will not go flat. Halfway through the dive we had another of
Tony's Tips:- Don't forget to put the battery the right way round
before you dive!
By the end of the dive, the tide had begun to
rise, which helped a certain pair on their leisurely, if somewhat
long, surface swim back.
Richard had found an expensive torch on his dive-
complete with owner's name and telephone number. "Give him
a ring and ask him to send you his charger" was one comment.
The owner was reunited with it later in the weekend and his grateful
donation swelled the coffers of the Lifeboat fund. (It makes
a change from the usual help- giving them practice!)
Tony's suit had sprung a leak, so he went off
to find a laundrette, whilst the rest of us went to investigate
Pettycowick for the second dive. The silence was as grim as the
weather forecast. We went down to Eyemouth and called in at the
Eyemouth Diving Centre and had a chat with the co-owner. As usual
we discussed dive sites and she asked where we had been diving
that morning.
We told her. "You dived Seagull Rock?"
she said, with just a hint of amusement on her face. "At
low water?" A spontaneous burst of laughter followed. I think
we made her day.
The intrepid band of heroes went through the camp-site
and looked at Weasel Loch and Little Leeds Bay. The assistant
marshal and myself went down the cliffs and debated the pro's
and con's of access and egress, bearing in mind it would be a
rising tide for the exit. We reported our findings and said that
Weasel Loch was the better access.
The colour drained from their faces. "Let's
go back to St. Abbs" they said. So we did, and 60% of the
party each found a unique excuse for not diving. The four that
made it around the harbour took note of the strong surge. No cancellation
came from the Dive Marshall. In went Richard, who headed towards
the Harbour wall at a rare rate of knots. Luckily, the sea was
only teasing and allowed him to continue. I decided to wait for
the wave to arrive, then jump in - in time to catch the backwash
thus preventing any change of direction. However, the sea had
different ideas and knocked me off balance, resulting in me swapping
my tank boot for correct orientation. Keeping in the lee of Broad
Craig meant that we hardly felt the effects of the surge and had
a good dive, with quite a bit of life amongst the kelp forests.
The shore party were getting a touch worried because the weather
was worsening and the sea had become noticeably rougher. They
had brought ropes for us to hang on if the exit became awkward,
but in truth the exit was a doddle- pick your spot and just let
the waves wash you as far as possible up the rock, take your fins
off and walk up calmly, telling everyone what a good dive they'd
missed.
At this point the flares went up and the lifeboat
was made ready- apparently two divers were missing from a boat-dive
off Eyemouth. Thankfully, the lifeboat was un-readied a short
time after.
I waited until the rain had stopped before I got
changed- it's one way to wash your gear off!
And so to the extremely crowded pub. After staring
at one or two people we soon had a table and space for all the
party. Terry waited in anticipation for his meal………and waited…….and
waited, only to find that his best mate hadn't ordered it! They'd
stopped serving by this time, so off he went to the chippy and
didn't return. It seems he went back to the guest house with Trevor
and watched television - the first Saturday night for many a year
when he's been sober. A pity, because the boatmen had told all
divers to get plenty of ale down their necks, as they wouldn't
be diving the following day.
And, lo, it came to pass that the wind did blow,
and the seas became rougher - so everyone headed home after breakfast.
A disappointing end to what was regarded by all
as a good weekend, but all seemed keen to repeat the trip, with
the possibility of chartering a hard boat.
Probably the most pleasing aspect of the weekend
for me, as organiser and marshal, was the way everybody, whether
or not they dived, pulled together as a team - helping people
in and out of the water, getting kitted and dekitted etc.- without
any prompting, particularly as the weather wasn't over brilliant.
We're now looking towards April/May 1999 for the next one. Watch
this space!
Phil Frecknall
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