Trip report by Richard Brown
The July trip saw 11 of us enjoy a hot weekend in the tourist trap that is West Bay on board Waverider that had relocated from Weymouth for the weekend.
The first Dive was the Gibil Hamam,, a 600 tonne schooner sunk in 1918, an excellent wreck at 28m to with plenty to poke about on although at times it was difficult to see it for the large shoals of bib on it! Unfortunately dropping into deco meant the dive had to be curtailed but we could get all the way round it before having to ascend.
The second dive was a complete contrast. ‘English Cannon’ a pile of old timber frames with a brass cannon and an anchor from the 16c lying in just 11m of water. This is a licensed wreck – fortunately the skipper holds one! There are supposed to be other cannon off this pile as people headed in several directions to try to find them, but only Steve and Dave found an outline.
The Sunday saw a quick revision to the plan so the first dive was the Baygitano, a collier sunk in 1918, at 22m An interesting layout with plenty of conger and more bib shoals on it. The big find was a massive Angler Fish!
Surprisingly as we surfaced the wind had picked up so it was a rough trip over to the Sawtooth ledges – a slight drift at 20m. A bit sandy but plenty of crabs and shrimps to watch.
Other than leaking drysuits, a drysuit not done up, a lost fin, yo-yoing buddies and a certain senior diver forgetting to hold onto his mask when he jumped in, a cracking weekend.
