A very successful trip. That's what the feedback I have received says and its no surprise. When our lot get away together we generally make the best of it and this trip was no exception. Our party of 16 included the two youngest members of the club, Freddie Sibley-Calder (15) and Joseph Hodge (14). There were a couple of over 60's too.

Diving on the Friday afternoon was limited to low water shore dives from the harbour wall opposite Broad Craig rock. Getting in can be very tricky at low water. A climb down the steep wet rocks in full diving kit is not the brightest of things to do! It was worth the effort though. Some of our team headed off to Cathedral Rock whilst others circumnavigated Broad Craig Rock. Both rewarding dives with beautiful underwater terrain and a vast variety of marine life to see.

Bob Higson and Caroline Palmer at the BBQ

Worse than the climb down is climb back up after the dive. I found I was not as fit as I thought. With tired legs and heavy wet kit I made my way up with crowds of onlookers probably thinking "these guys are absolutely mental". Having said that Simon actually went back down and carried someone elses twin set back to the top.

Friday night most of us gathered at Scoutscroft where our hosts for the evening, Johno and Caroline, had laid on an excellent Barbeque - including hot apple and bramble pie with custard for afters.

Throughout the rest of the weekend we used the dive boat "Top Line" skippered by Paul Crowe who could not have been more helpful. He took into consideration our requirements and used his extensive knowledge of the area and the prevailing sea conditions to ensure we got the best dives available. We split into two groups of 8 for the hardboat diving so that one group was diving whilst the other was on shore preparing for the next dive.

Dive boat "Topline" leaves St Abbs Harbour.

We dived a good mix of sites from the Floatcar Rock area at St Abbs Head in the North through to Ebb Carrs to the South. We were going to attempt Tye's Tunnel but the tide was against us so we pushed on to the Floatcar Rock area and did a drift dive back towards St Abbs. Well most of us did anyway. Trevor and I didn't exactly drift! We explored the area and, after 45 minutes, surfaced in Pettico Wick out of sight of the boat. We hung for a while and with no sign of the boat decided to swim for shore. We had been swimming for about 10 minutes when the boat showed up. Why were we swimming for shore instead of beyond the rocks where we could be seen. Well thats another story but sometimes you just have to go!

The party completed about 75 individual dives without incident.

Some of us saw a Minkie whale on a return trip to St Abbs Harbour. Pity we had no one in the water at the time. Another unusual sighting was the Basking Shark which swam between Seagull Rock and the shore. I estimate it was 12 to 15ft long. Other reported underwater sightings include lots of lobsters, crabs some nudibranches, angler fish, wolf fish, pipefish, some very friendly wrasse, some beautiful plumrose and dahlia anemone one or two brittle stars and lots more.

Dahlia Anemone at St Abbs.

The trip meal at the Anchor pub in Coldingham on Saturday night was very good. We didn't all arrive at the pub together. Trevor showed me a secret short cut known only to specially selected locals. It was from Scoutscroft to the Anchor. A very pretty walk but we arrived what seemed like hours after everyone else and covered in knat bites.

It is of note that our two youngest members, Fred and Jo, had their first trips to St Abbs and their first dive weekends. They enjoyed drinking in pub on the Saturday night (with their meal of course) and mixing with the oldies came high in their ratings as well. They both did really well and Fred was very pleased with his buoyancy control. He also learnt how to use a delayed smb - an essential skill for the kind of diving we were doing. Jo spent some time exploring some really narrow and picturesque gulleys. So narrow in fact that he just about became wedged in one of them.

Jo Hodge exploring a narrow gulley.

Plonker of the trip was probably me when I managed to "plonk" my cylinder down on my prescription mask shattering it into tiny pieces. It was about 10 years old so maybe it was a freudian slip! Thankfully it was my last dive and it was no problem using a borrowed mask.

Regarding Accommodation, we were spread between the caravan site at Scoutscroft, a B&B in Coldingham and a B&B in St Abbs. No problem at all being spread out. We all mucked in and helped each other with kit, cylinder filling and transport. It is advisable though to identify the snorers and banish them collectively to a little spot of their own if you want to sleep.

Joking aside though, the best way I can sum up the trip is in the words of Gavin Jones who wrote:

"I would like to thank all divers on the trip for what could only be described as a successful weekend with a good crowd of divers. This goes to show why we belong to a club .And many thanks to Trevor for his efforts."

Paul Field 22/09/2007