With last weekend’s dive trip to Pembrokeshire cancelled, Dave, Jenny J Valve and I headed east to the balmy Kent coastline and Dover. A number of logistic options were discussed, finally opting to drive Saturday morning to dive the HMT Bonar Law that afternoon, overnight and a relaxing ropes off for the Laristan and Denbighshire on Sunday.
As we crested the A20 into Dover, the port came into view. Not only did the temperature drop from 27degC to 19degC due to the overlaying fog – yes fog – the white caps were abundant and as predicted. The sea state 3 was moving to 4. Spotting Maverick’s AIS on MarineFinder, divers were arriving back from dive one. Meeting the guys at the marina, Chris said that we were still out that afternoon, but due to winds, the target would be the Loanda. With Ropes Off a couple of hours away, Dave and I popped over to Costa for a cuppa.
Dave Does Dover
It was Dave’s first venture to Dover and not wanting him to have a disappointing first dive, we agreed to bin it. I read Dave my logbook of the Loanda, my second dive from Dover on 15th May 2014:
"Certainly out of my comfort zone here. Like the previous UB-78, the dive plan was to descend via shot some 24M to wreck. We would then lay a line to scavenge for 'treasure' of clay pipes, perfume bottles, gin bottles, Champagne bottles and trading beads. As we neared the wreck, it became very dark and very murky. The shot slackened off and albeit not disorientated, certainly felt a little dizzy at one point. I was still negatively buoyant. My buddy was only some 3M away and I could not see him, only his torch. Not happy with the situation, we aborted the dive."
Close to the cliffs and with a chalky seabed, my guess was the visibility would be just as pants – Especially as the Channel had experienced heavy winds the previous few days and we were just coming off high springs.
Bin It
While Dave was supping his Gluten-free affogato mist with a whisper of cinnamon dust blessed by a barista named Colin, I sent a text to Chris: “You’re probably expecting this! LOL! We’re gonna bail this afternoon. I don’t fancy the Loanda and I would like Dave to have a good first dive experience in Dover. See you in Cullins later.”
Phew! Obviously the right call was made. With a little time on our hand, Dave and I took a drive up to the Citadel Battery and Western Heights for a view over the port – Dave analysing the various genre of brickwork.
The Citadel Battery was built 1898–1900. It was a coastal defense site with three 9.2-inch guns to protect Dover Harbour. Part of Western Heights fortifications, it was decommissioned in 1956. Features gun emplacements, underground magazines, and command posts.
A nice evening in Cullins with a few beers and dinner, the usual suspects making a fun filled evening. My warning to Dave was heeded, as the frivolity of beer drinking at Cullins can pay a heavy toll on next day diving. Not an early, but not a late one either, we headed off to the hotel to check in. Meet time was 09.15am at reception for Sunday’s dive.
Sunday
Roll on Sunday and it was a full boat. What looked like ten divers, all with twins and units, it was in fact eight – Two divers from the previous day not diving but coming out for the day. It was going to be a “chase the vis day” for sure – banter, HMS Visibility was muted. Joking aside, a number of sites suggested, but the plan from Cullins discussions the previous evening was agreed. With perfect sea state, we would to steam a little further west to the steamship SS Nunima as lost 1918.
The SS Nunima was a British cargo steamship carrying ore from Bilbao to Middlesbrough when she sank in the English Channel on 4 January 1918 after colliding with a Royal Navy torpedo boat.
Flat calm waters, no wind and with high temperatures, it seemed ideal meteorological conditions for a bank of fog to descend. As we exited from the marina, we could not see the harbour wall at the east entrance – it’s fog horn in sweet tune.
A little ambient light, but the preceeding week of wind had certainly stirred things up. Rather than launch a DSMB, we decided to line out and ascend the shot. Dave was on EAN32 and I was DIL 20/29. Dave was running a Suunto and me, Shearwater with GF 50/70. A matched pair of Purdey’s we were not and the obvious offset became aparant quite quickly.
Time to ascend at around 30 minutes, Dave still had a couple of minutes NDL and I had rocked up a 7 minute stop at 6m. This helium alchemy is still new to me and having a similar experience with Pete in South Shields last week, my initial thought is that a 21/30 mix is too rich for these shallower depths? Indeed, would an air dil would have been more suited and perhaps investment of an air dil 3L bottle would be a worthy investment?
Total run time for the pair of us was around 44 minutes, my apologies to Dave for keeping him hanging there some 10 minutes more than he had to.
All in all a good dive. As Dave and I agreed, we have dived in both worse and better conditions. And reading social media viz reports for the rest of the south coast, I guess we took a good average.
Back to port – Back to Cullins – Back to Home. Not what we expected for this weekend but a nice couple of days away. The question remains; will Dave dive from Dover again and can we persuade Ossie too? Tune in to see if there will be a part two of “Dave Does Dover.”
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