First weekend dive of the season in Portland. Weather was great with bright sunshine, no wind and calm sea all weekend. My first real weekend dive plan to complete my Dive Leader training. As we had all dived before and conditions and tides were good it gave us the opportunity to have some deeper dives this weekend.
Most of us got down to Portland on Friday afternoon, with David Bryant towing the boat on L Plates with myself as the qualified driver. All went well.
The accommodation was Portland Outdoor Centre and we had one room with bunk beds. It served its purpose and was cheap but would only use this again as a last resort.
On Friday night, four of us went out and ended up having fish and chips on Chesil Beach, waiting for the sun to set before heading to a pub for drinks.
Early start on Saturday to get the boat prepared to go to the Aeolian Sky for slack. All went well and to plan. with Andy, Dave B, Richard and myself all having a good dive on the Sky while Dave H and Colin looked after the boat. On to the second dive which was onboard the British Inventor. Colin and David H were first to go in after a bit of a wait for slack, followed by the next two pairs in succession. Sadly, David H and Colin missed the wreck and went for a drift dive instead.
All divers reported to have had good dives, plenty of life and good vis.
On the way back to the slip, we stopped at the Countess of Erne so that David and Colin could have their second dive.
After recovering the boat from a very busy Portland slipway, we got cleaned up and headed into Portland for dinner. Not sure if Colin’s dessert was dodgy, but he was up being sick in the night and was not feeling up for diving on Sunday and left early. So it was only 5 of us for Sunday diving.
A later start with a nice breakfast at the Aqua hotel.
With boat launched after the usual faffing, we headed for the Binnendijk for the first dive of the day. All five divers went in and all five came out safely. Again, great weather and sea conditions, plenty of life including eels, crab, big lobster and plenty of fish. We returned to the bay to have lunch at the Aqua Hotel, where we spent far too long on a break. As I had taken my eye off the time, when we arrived on the second dive on the Alex Van Opstal we had missed slack. So it was off to the Binnendjk for a better slack dive. This also included some training for me, including mask clearing at 25 mtr. All good fun. Again, another nice dive with good vis and plenty of life.
After recovery of the boat and giving it a good clean and prepping for the road, we set off for home.
Good to report that both engines performed well and no sign of the misfire. Both bilge pumps were working fine. However, Andy did report that the screen on the VHS radio was dimming towards the end of the weekend. It looked fine to me but may need to be looked at. Both ignition switches need a little tightening and the anchor cover sadly couldn’t take the weight of Dave Hudson and a twinset and cracked.
After all costs, I can report that the trip made a small profit of £67.74.
Thanks to all those who helped me to complete my Dive Leader training and all the dive group for making it a great weekend.
Many Thanks,
Steve
