Random Jottings
Well it was forecast!
The weather on Saturday was splendid, flat calm and the sea looking like it would be diveable within a day or so but it was forecast as bad weather......
And it did certainly blow up overnight!
In this shot, taken from my favoured early season spot on the South Side of Beadnell Point you can just see Dunstanburgh Castle through the spray, yup it was wild and whilst I reckon that the swell was certainly in the twelve feet range it certainly wasn't the eighteen feet that we had been promised.
I went around the corner to Knacker Hole and things were worse! Here you can see the spray coming over the top of Black Rock, it was at the bottom of the tide so I would say that the top of Black Rock would be maybe nine feet above sea level so yup it was bashing about, and for those in the know this particular reef is relatively protected from Northerlies by the reef directly to the North, the Dell Point and then the islands!
I had planned a splash on Sunday and a start up of my standard vis record but this weather has removed any chance of starting that particular work, although with the Glad Tidings boat going out occasionally and boasting nearly 1.5m vis maybe I should start up and just put down 'NIL' and in the comments 'DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY'.
There are a few places where you can get in and dive when the vis is poor and most are inland quarries, be that Hodge Close for those who want to do a little cave diving or one of the commercial operations up and down the country. Alternatively there is always good shore diving from Oban and Arrochar, again a bit of a drive but with two sharing a car and zero boat fees it is a comparable cost. In general my recommendation would be to give the islands a miss until March or thereabouts as sitting on a cold uncovered boat waiting to jump into soup isn't a good Sunday, it really isn't, trust me I spent large portions of my younger days shivering on a RIB and then lobstering in zero vis. Was it fun at the time.....nope!
So guys and gals if it's rough and crap vis give the North Sea a miss and head elsewhere and make sure that you.....
Dive safe
RichW
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