Cornwall - First timer
It’s almost here, a planned dive trip to Porthkerris in Cornwall. We decided on this trip because there was already one planned but it was full, so it was decided that because Gary Fox of Dive Action had purchased a new boat with a diver lift we would see if we could book him for the weekend. Gary’s boat Cornish Pussy wasn’t in the water at the time of booking but we were reliably informed that it would be kitted out and in the water for our trip. We have since heard that Cornish Pussy is a lovely dive boat and we are very much looking forward to diving from her.
I was given some B & B names and decided to book at Parc-an-grouse which looked to have some nice accommodation in a recent barn conversion. The weekend finally arrived and I set off on the 370 miles trip which took me just under 7 hours. I arrived at the B & B and then went off to find a couple of friends who were camping down near the beach. I then met up with Jules as we were sharing the accommodation and then walked into St Keverne for some dinner and a couple of beers. Friday morning arrived and it was lovely and sunny but soon the heavens opened and we didn’t know if we would dive or not. It eventually dried up and we decided to go for a shore dive, Jules and I decided on a minimalistic approach to the dive and I just took in my 7ltr stage we agreed we would only do 10m max so there wasn’t a problem. Getting out in the surf was a bit of a problem for me and I fell over and bruised my leg on a rock. We were soon dekitted and off to Roskilly’s for an ice cream, this was going to become a trend over the next few days.
We then agreed to meet up in the White Hart for the evening meal and a few beers. We were meeting up on Saturday morning at Dive Action at 9am for the usual form signing and I need a fill in the stage, soon we were off to the beach at Porthoustock where we were going to transfer our kit from the beach to the boat via RIB, all went quite well until I was putting my suit on and I ripped my wrist seal, Caroline went back to her car for a new seal and some gaffer tape so we could make some repairs. We were then off and the dive site wasn’t very far so we were soon in the water, the sea state was what you call flat calm with hardly a ripple.
The first dive was Woodford Wall which would have been stunning had there been a very slight current, as all the plumose and Jewel anenomes awere tightly closed, there were quite a lot of wrasse and along the wall, I had agreed with Mal that I would let him know when I got down to 100bar as I needed the rest for the second dive. Gary needed fuel so we headed of to Falmouth for to fill up and while we were there the heavens opened, but we were soon on our way to the next dive site which was the wreck of the Epsilon which was quite flat but a nice scenic dive again the viz was quite good and I enjoyed the very relaxing dive. I did however get very wet on this dive the tempory wrist repair didn’t hold up and I was glad to get back to shore and off to the B & B to change before we went off to Roskilly’s for yet another ice cream.
The plan had been to have a BBQ on the beach and join the guys from the other group but for some reason we couldn’t drag ourselves away, the weather was looking a bit doubtful and although I was still very cold from my soaking we stayed at Roskilly’s for something to eat, I couldn’t make my mind up and by the time I did all the baked potatoes were gone but they made me a lovely pizza although very filling. Some even had another ice cream or cream tea to finish the meal off. We then headed off to the beach to be sociable and it was actually less windy at the beach than it was further inland. I met several people who I hadn’t seen before including Kirstie and Paul from YD, we had joked about banana loaf recipes a few weeks before so when Paul asked if I had brought one I retreived it from the car, it seem to go down well so my baking skills can’t be too bad. I stayed for a couple of drinks and then Mal, Jules and I headed back to Parc an Grouse.
Sunday wasn’t too bad and we headed back down to the beach to load the RIB with the filled cylinders, again we didn’t have to travel too far to the dive site and we were soon kitting up ready to go. As soon as I left the boat I knew the wrist seal wasn’t going to hold and on the decent I attracted Mal’s attention and signalled I had a problem, he was very good about it and we were soon back on the boat having a hot chocolate, which had appeared on the boat today. Gary asked why I hadn’t asked him to repair my suit overnight and I said I didn’t think he would want to do that on a Saturday night, I think he thought I was mad. Gary gave Andy (Haggis) a shout who was holding station on the Dive Action RIB close by, Andy was going back to the shop to fill cylinders and agreed to repair my seal during our interval. Top man.
Again we had pasties for lunch and I brought the other banana loaf on board which seemed to go down well, my suit arrived back just as I suggested that if people wanted to dive we could get off, the dive was the Mohegan this was a very enjoyable dive, for one I wouldn’t have missed out on the dive and was glad I was able to dive, we went down the shot and I tried to turn on my torch but nothing happened, it was quite light on the wreck and I was able to tour around without a problem, Mal’s torch lightlighted some of the seabed life and it was lovely just to meander around. We came across 3 very large boilers and some capstans, all of a sudden my eyeline was taken by something some metres away, I turned just in time to see a cormorant leaving the bottom I check my computer we were at 24m I couldn’t believe it was down that deep. Mal signalled the end of the dive and he deployed his smb again and we make our way to the surface, we were the last pair on the boat. It was an excellent dive to end the day with. Back on the beach we said our goodbyes to those not staying the night and off we went to Dive Action to settle our boat and gas bills. There was yet another trip to Roskilly’s were we met up with some of the group from the other boat. We had booked a table at a pub/resturant called the Five Pilchards in Porthallow which was excellent, I had a seafood chowder followed by pork Lion I think almost as much main meal went back as had arrived which was nothing to do with the food but everything to do with the chowder which was extreamly filling, next time I’ll skip the starter.
This was a great trip although it took me almost 2 hours longer to get home than it did to get down, I had pulled into a lay-by for a nap as I was shattered and I had forgotten to turn my lights off, together with the radio on I flattened the battery so had I call the break down service they were very good and I was soon back on the road. Here’s to next year and the return trip.