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At 3pm on Friday 1st July, Myself, Chris Butters, Trevor Jones and
Ivon Richmond gathered on Seahouses harbour awaiting the
arrival of our Dive Boat for the weekend – Gladtidings II.
The rest of the group, Andy and Michelle Bannister and Rob King
would not be joining us until later that evening due to
other commitments.
Our first dive was ‘The Hopper’ which is
located on the South East side of Longstone and is basically
a reef that drops from the surface to 20 meters. I became excited
on arrival at the site as there were a number of seals in
the water, sadly they had all disappeared by the time we had
kitted up and entered the water.
Seals aside, there was still plenty to see on the wall and
seabed namely Dead-man’s Fingers, Brittlestars, Squat
Lobsters and Shrimps.
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Sunstar and Brittlestars on the sea bed.
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Toward the end of the dive Ivon led us into
a canyon, on exiting this canyon I was convinced that I saw
a seal swim past, however no-one is able to back me
up!
That evening the whole group met up for the first time
for a bite to eat at a rather exclusive restaurant (we didn’t
realise how exclusive until we were seated and presented
with the menus). Although more pricey than intended, the food was
a delight, but seeing as most of us were on a budget we
unanimously agreed that fish and chips would be the order of
the day on Saturday evening. After picking up the cylinders
we had dropped off earlier to be filled, we all retired for
the night as we needed to be on the harbour at 7am the next
morning ready to go!
Saturday didn’t quite start as planned, we all arrived at the
harbour on time but were unable to park our cars as the
barrier across the road leading to the piers was locked and
the Skipper didn’t have a key. It was another 45 minutes before
we had parked up and loaded ourselves and our equipment onto
the boat. No sooner had we left the harbour for the dive
site then we found ourselves returning as in the rush Andy
had forgotten his dive computer! Who needs slack to dive a
wreck?
Dive 1 on Saturday was the ‘Chris Christensen’, a
Danish steamer that sank in WW1 in 30m of water. As well as
the usual boilers, propshaft and prop, we found a broken up
steering wheel. Apparently this wheel appears on the front of the
‘Dive North East’ guide. Bottom time lapsed, it was time
to ascend. Due to the different computers in use, I ended up
doing an additional 10 minutes decompression at 6m, just as well
their was a Worm Pipefish and plenty of small jellyfish
around to amuse me and distract me from feeling the cold!
Dive 2 was the ‘St Andre’, a 70m long vessel that sank in 1908
in 20m of water after hitting the Crumstone. I personally
didn’t see much of this wreck as I was too busy watching
(and trying un-successfully to photograph) Ivon and Rob hand
feeding Wrasse but Andy and Michelle reported finding an
Octopus under the boiler.
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Jellyfish on the
Acclivity
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My bad luck was still present once
back onboard as a passing Puffin decided to present me with
a present, charming! Saturdays diving was concluded at
around 2pm which left us plenty of time to get in a round of
crazy golf, the prize of which was a ride in a pink Barbie car at
the local arcade – I am sure you can appreciate there was
stiff competition. Afterwards, true to our word, we ate at a
Fish and Chip shop then retired to a beer garden.
We were all graced with a lie in on Sunday morning as we didn’t
need to be at the harbour until 8am, which was just as well
given the late night that some of the group had. After much
discussion/ debate (with the other group of divers on the boat) it
was decided that we would dive the ‘Acclivity’, a small
intact tanker that sank on its port side in 30m of water in
1952 as opposed to the Somali. The conditions at the site
were not ideal, there was noticeable swell meaning that not
only would it be fun getting into the water and onto the
shot, but getting out could potentially be problematic.
After repositioning the shot for the rest of the group (it had
been dragged off the wreck) we started our dive.
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Plumrose Anenomies on
the Acclivity
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The wreck itself is in very good condition and is literally covered in
Plumrose Anenomies, there was barely a scrap of metal to be
seen. You are able to penetrate the wreck in a number of
places, which Rob and Ivon did, I opted to stay on the
outside and take photographs, although much to Ivon's dismay
I failed to realise he wanted a photo of himself on the prop
and as he was on-top of it I missed it myself! As expected,
the shot was no where in sight when the time came to ascend so a
DSMB was deployed. Must admit, I personally find
decompression stops easier on a shot line! For Dive 2 (and after
re-fuelling en-route) we headed back to the shelter of the
Outer Farne Islands, we were to dive the ‘Big Harker’.
Due to the long surface interval between dives motivation
was definitely required to get back into the water but I am
glad I did. Big Harker was another wall dive the seabed of which
was at 15m. Again there were plenty of photo opportunities
and Rob also took the opportunity to conduct a weight test -
much to my dismay I found myself with an extra 10lbs to carry! I
now know how exhausted people must feel at the end of a dive
if they are carrying too much weight.
Overall a fantastic weekend was had by all, divers and partners
alike, and I thoroughly recommend the Farne Islands to
everyone. Admittedly my primary reason for diving the Farnes was
to dive with seals but as there was so much else to see I
was not disappointed at all.
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Puffin poo is removed
from Jo in the traditional way.
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Additional Information:
Diving: We used William Shiel (Seahouses), they have 2 boats
used for diving. Be aware that the boat remains out all day
and there is no compressor on board.
Contact Details - http://www.farne-islands.com or 01665 720308.
Accommodation:
A number of places were used, from a Bunkhouse
to B&Bs (although our starts were too early to warrant a
fry up).
- Tackroom, Annasted Farm, Beadnell, Northumberland. Contact
– 01665 720387. Price - £10 pppn.
- Rowena, 99 Main
Street, Seahouses, Northumberland. Contact – 01665 721309.
Price - £27.50 pppn.
- HorseShoe Cottage, 121 Main Street,
Seahouses, Northumberland. Contact - 01665 721423. Price
£23 pppn.
Air Fills:
Sovereign Diving Services, Broad Lane Industrial
Estate, Seahouses, Northumberland. Contact Details – http://www.sovereigndiving.co.uk or 01665 720059. Price - £2.50 per
air fill.
Parking:
You can park on the harbour for £3 (all day).
The harbour supposedly opens at 6am and closes at 9:30pm.
Jo Brooks
BSAC Branch 14
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