Derek’s Dive Domain

Well, after going a whole eleven days without diving at Stoney, I end up back there after the weather takes a turn for the worse and we have a dive down south blown out.  Chris Adams joins me and we queue nice and early in order to get a decent space down at the cove.  We are planning a three dive day, so get started early, and as soon as the cylinders are full, we’re kitted up and get in at the jetty.  The first dive was a simple case of following the road down to 27 metres, before popping up over the wall to the upper hydrobox and around that area.  After having a look around there, we come back up the road to the ledge by the cockpit and have a bit of a wander around there.  Nice and simple.  Chris had taken his home made torch into the water to test it out, but it leaked, so it is back to the drawing board on that one. 
After a 90 minute interval spent drinking coffee and putting the world to rights, it was back in and down to 20 metres,  exploring the Stanegarth hold, and that side of the cove.  Chris always surprises me with how comfortable he is in the water, especially as he hasn’t done hundreds of dives, like many people who look that comfortable.  I always feel like I am floundering

The final dive of the day was s nice simple mooch around the ledge, looking for fish, crayfish and wildlife to observe.  I always find it very relaxing to just settle around the bottom, disturb a bit of the ebris on the bottom and watch the fish coming in to feed.  It is always quite good for this in the blockhouse under the pub.  It is one of those moments when you feel at one with the environment, and the wildlife isn’t frightened of humans, like most animals on land are these days.  I always enjoy these little dives.

So, diving over, it was time to get dekitted, put everything away, and adjourn to the pub for a quick half, before heading home.  Thanks to Chris for taking the trouble to drive up north when the diving down there was blown out.  Some diving is always better than none!

Dive 1 (109)  Max Depth 27.4 metres, total dive time 37 minutes

Dive 2 (110)  Max Depth 20.9 metres, total dive time 36 minutes

Dive 3 (111)  Max Depth 8.9 metres, total dive time 33 minutes