LSSAU – first weekend to the seaside in 2010
Weymouth – Portland Harbour – Portland Bill, late Friday 4 June to late Sunday 6 June
Another cracking weekend with Marg, Jim, Coops (part, boat handling), Geoff, Adam and Dragey Jnr attending, accommodation was provided by Weymouth Air Scouts, Granby Close, Chickerell comprising a great hut with pretty good facilities, all apart from parking which was a bit tight.
The Marquis of Granby a couple of hundred yards away, provided a suitable hostelry and meeting place having driven some 180 miles from Leicestershire to the “Jurassic” coast – what a suitable name for a beer. Buddy pairs agreed, Marg and Adam, Jim and Matt, and Geoff and Simon, we partook of some biscuits and cheese before retiring to bed.
Saturday started and finished with bright sunshine and a flat calm sea. We launched at the Sailing Centre which is an excellent facility with lots of space and more than sufficient parking. The sea was perfect for the circa seven mile sea journey around the Bill to Blacknor Point where we successfully located the wreck of the James Fennel, a former naval tug that had sunk in 1920 in some 18 metres of water. Located on the west side of the Bill close to Chesil Beach, all that remain of height are the boiler and engine with the rest an organised pile of plates and girders. It had a lot of life on it with several species of fish and crabs easily spotted. Visibility was a good at around 6 metres, albeit the silt kicked up quite easily.
We stopped at Castletown for lunch and to fill the cylinders, which was very pleasant, before travelling out across Portland Harbour to dive the Countess of Erne, a former paddle steamer later converted to a coal hulk, which broke its moorings in September 1935 and sunk after hitting the harbour wall. This remains intact with a pleasant swim through under the cross beams, all covered in weed, algae etc and with loads of fish and crab life. Visibility ranged from four metres at best to not a lot when the silt kicked up.
A quick jaunt back to the Sailing Centre to drop off Coops, who had to leave us early, and then we were back to Castletown to put cylinders in for filling before stopping on the way back to Chickerell at the Ferry Bridge, where we had the pleasure of meeting up with former unit members from Australia, Jamie and Milly, and Sam plus Sam’s mum Fiona and brother Conner. They all joined us for our evening meal – a great evening being had by all.
Sunday resumed the sunshine but the wind had risen and was making the harbour quite choppy. We left the harbour to dive on the leeward side of the middle wall under a former loading station built half way along its length. This was a scenic dive with much of the interesting features lying in the six to eight metre belt. The structures make it feel like a ship wreck and it is an artificial reef home to large spider crabs, Ballan Wrasse, Tom Pot blennies and the rare Black Face Blenny which was seen by all the divers. We returned to the Sailing Centre for lunch and to rescue three youngsters who had got into distress and might otherwise have drowned, before returning them to their waiting parents......young crows that is.
Our final dive, finishing off the cylinders, was on the right hand mid wall of the harbour, the bones of a wreck called the Craigside which for many years has been unnamed but extensive work by NAS has made identification possible there is another wreck close by Enicuri, colloquially known as the Spaniard. Both wrecks lie in approximately 12m. Visibility wasn’t the best at around 2 to 3 metres or less when the silt kicked up.
Having washed the boat and kit down, we returned to the hut to load up and prepare for home.
Thanks go to Marg and Jim for organising a most enjoyable weekend.
