http://www.divesitedirectory.co.uk/uk_wales_pembrokeshire.html

http://www.gooddive.com/uk-diving/pembroke-diving.htm

http://www.llantrisantdivers.com/pembroke.htm

some links for Pembrokeshire.

http://www.dive-in2-pembrokeshire.com/ds_smalls.htm

http://www.seasearch.co.uk/downloads/SMALLS%20JULY%202005web.pdf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o86r9jZ1wOA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlN4hzopW90&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX38S0YaaPI&feature=related


http://www.dive-in2-pembrokeshire.com/ds_skomer.htm

http://www.dive-in2-pembrokeshire.com/ds_skokholm.htm

I have a Engines football blog at www.enginesfc.blogspot.com

New Year's Resolution

This is from one of my favourite blogsNew Year?s resolution ? would you like to become happier? Good Medicine

It fits well with some of these Noble Eightfold Path - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

so if we skip the religious taint then i'm going to;
exercise more.
eat less and better quality.
enjoy the dives not the process and kit.
meditate and be more mindfull.
cherish my loved ones more.

CBT formulation of training dive anxiety.

The Last Resort!

Pointy Heads and canned dives.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/webcams/looe_harbour_webcam.shtml

Who watches the weather watchmen?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/webcams/plymouth_webcam.shtml

Plymouth sound web cam.

Celestial Warning

verily thou hast been warnedeth

Late September Sun.

"If God persists, persists in saying yes; I guess we'll have, we'll have to test ourselves. Maybe the Summer, will come and clear our minds. And find the impulse, to love the sunshine".

I declare the rainy season over. The Sun will shine and the wind will sleep until late september.

Well it's a most peculiar feeling, like sunburn in the evening

The 2nd weekend was to Dartmouth, new territory for most of the Posse, but well worth it. Day one was the Devon Classic of the Maine, a WW1 casualty but still intact and upright so providing a fantastic dive. Viz was 5-6m and the depth meant that it was a good enjoyable dive. The Skipper shotted the wreck at the stern and most worked their way forward getting the best out of their time.

Lunch was in sheltered bay near Salcombe, but the boat had a definite lean over to starboard on the way there. At lunchtime we discovered the cause- the size of the DIY lunch that skipper Tony Hoile had prepared was stored on the same side of the boat as Neill, so once Neill swapped sides the boat rode true again. On the way to the afternoon site, we had 4 seasons in one day. Torrential rain and hail, thunder lightening, all of which Brian and Jo braved whilst the rest sheltered under the awning.

Dive 2 was tucked under Prawle Point and consisted of a number of rocky fingers protruding in a SW direction, covered in anemonies and other reef life. Dom and Suzi found a Huss chasing its tail.

Day 2 dawned a beautiful day that bronzed the crew all the way to Start Point Lighthouse where a reef dive to East saw a fantastic array of reef life and the most extensive mussel beds in the area of the Start Point race. We however dived at slack water. Neill, Brian and Rob discovered the remains of a wreck, thought to be the "lost" wreck of Marana (previously believed to be W of the Lighthouse). The second dive was again on the Maine and it was better than the first, everyone having a better idea of what was where. All had a good dive, but John and Neil racked up 12 mins of deco by getting lost - almost eclipsing John R and Alan Smith's epic "losing the Maine" 3 years ago!
Another fabulous DIY lunch followed and the long trip back to Dartmouth. However the blazing sunshine has other hidden delights. About 20 seals were hauled out at Start Point and we got really close without them spooking. Taking the longer route on outside of the Skerries bank Alan spotted a dorsal fin and it was a 2.5m baby Basking Shark hovering up plankton so the trip was more rewarding than normal. Well done Dartmouth, you have come up trumps.

Chris

At least a beaten dog knows how to lie.

Whilst not 100% sure, I think I've done every dive of every posse diving weekend that has taken place dating back to when we first started in 2002. During this time, I've had some extremely memorable trips including last year when we saw the basking shark, the first time that we visited the Eddystone aboard the Amoco and two excellent visits to Falmouth. None of these compare though with the weekend that we've just had.

Why was it so good? Well I thought the combination of weather, sites, skipper and some excellent good fortune combined almost perfectly. Even though the Maine was a slightly controversial choice, given that it can also be accessed from Plymouth, I think the contrasting reports of visibility on the two sides of Start Point proved that it was the correct one. We were also extremely fortunate to get on it both times on slack and, even better, to get it to ourselves on the Saturday. I've been looking forward to getting back here for a long time and was really pleased to be able to explore it pretty much fully over the two dives.

Whilst neither of the other two dive sites suggested that they were going to compete with the Maine, I was very pleasantly surprised with them. If you saw nothing on the Saturday pm dive then I suspect you'll have found it very dull but we were lucky enough to spot the Bull Huss and a lobster that made the dive. I believe that Fluff/Rudders also saw the dogfish on steroids too! Sunday's dive was also unpromising but was a first for me as I'd never dived on mussel beds before. The quantity of edible crabs was also far in excess of anything I'd seen before. If only I can persuade my wife to overcome her membership of the crustacean protection league. Of course, the most exciting aspect of the Sunday morning dive was the (re)discovery by Brian, Neill and Rob of the boiler and bows of some long lost wreck. It isn't often that you see a skipper get quite that excited by something that newcomers have discovered!

Added to some great and varied sites was the weather and sea state that meant even the normal suspects managed to largely escape seasickness. A thunder, lightning and severe hail storm added a bit of excitement to proceedings but didn't manage to change our plans at all.

Perhaps the piece de resistance was the sitings on the way back from the last dive of approximately 20 seals enjoying the sun and another large basking shark. I hope that this justifies Brian's decision to dive over his wife's birthday this year!

Finally, many, many thanks are due to Neill for his continued hard work in organising our weekends, Suzi for sorting the cottage out, Alan/Suzi for doing the honours with scoff and Chris for the supply of eggs.

Safe Diving

Dom

And you think you're so clever and class less and free

An average weekend had by all.

Don't need a shrink but an exorcist

Weather for Dartmouth

Into the sea, you and me. All these years and no one heard

I fancy doing watcombe caves......

As you walk on by, will you call my name?

This is a dive briefing for Dom. See all of the above.

There's a touch upon my lips

Found this webiste today whilst surfing. Have a go at the quizes and some of the downloads might by useful.

http://www.ukdivers.net/index.htm

My Therapist said not to see you no more...

The Plan is to dive the Maine on the Saturday. Also the Bretagne on the Sunday.

the above map is from Dive England's greatest wrecks by Rod Macdonald

I thoroughly recommend it.

Dartmouth 7th & 8th June

http://www.dartboat.com/diving.htm

We are diving in Dartmouth. I will confirm all the details in the next 24hrs. The only site I mentioned to the skipper was the Maine. I would be happy to do 2 dives on this beauty but will go with the boat vote ( as usual).

Tony the skipper normally limits divers to 10 but we are 12 so can I remind everyone of the need to keep your shit to a minimum.

We also need to minimise the number of cars. More discussion later.


Details to follow...


Elrico

Love taught me to fly.

Did the Cannonball Alley on Tuesday, 14.2m for 42 mins (8c temp. youch) Air consumption to warm an irishmans heart. What a tidy little dive - very pleasant in the late spring sunshine.

Change my pitch up.

Now call me perverse but I do enjoy the curmudgeonly and downright abusive. I have come to appreciate being well and truely insulted and chided. The realm of the dive skipper has great appeal in this regard because they are, like the ocean, moody and given to sudden foul temper. Dave is a relative saint, but can at times be less than 'Happy'. The above photos shows him having a laugh with me. This years favourite is from the pearl of grumpiness at Aquanauts who when advising myself and Mr. McManus it was nearly time to dive hissed - " Get yout shit on and get the fuck off my boat". I would gladly pay for such eloquence and it sent me beneath the waves with a warm glow.