Plymouth – The Truth…
21 April 2003
Trip report by Megan Peat
First published in London Diver, May 2003
Easter weekend saw some twenty-odd of us, plus Percy, Percy Too and the majority of the populace of greater London heading down the A303 to Plymouth where, back in the dark ages, TJ had taken the far-sighted precaution of booking accommodation at the Mount Batten water sports centre.
Contrary to the rest of the UK, we had good weather and reasonably calm seas, although some may argue the (pitch and) toss over the latter—special thanks go to Chris Cole for running through the list of the greasiest foods he could think of on the way back from Darren's first open water dive (aka OW fish feeding).
Dives were made on the Mew Stone, Hillsea Point, the Mew Stone, the breakwater, the Mew Stone and then, for a change, the Mew Stone. That said, we saw lots of starfish, kelp, anemones, crabs, wrasse, cuttlefish and even a thorny-backed ray (or maybe not!).
The viz was good, the water wasn't too cold, the accommodation was clean, with plentiful hot water and friendly staff, the beer was plentiful and the Easter eggs most welcome (thanks Sarah, Gillian and Nicky!). Many thanks to the marshals for managing to see that everyone got the option of two dives a day and, as ever, the instructors were ready, willing and able to ensure that buddies were available for the less experienced. Some quick turnarounds were made and there were some interesting techniques adopted for pulling the trolley from the pontoon back to the centre—suffice it to say that I wouldn't want to be in the car with certain people if that's an example of their driving technique! [guess who had to share with one of the culprits…only kidding Alex - Ed]
Richard and Morgan formed a team to strike terror into all sea life—amazing how the enthusiasm grows with the prospect of hands-on marine biology and a demonstration of 'dogfish darts'. Percy, in best Plymouth tradition, broke down at sea with remarkably similar problems to last time and limped back to shore to be tenderly looked after by Nigel and TJ—we appreciate it, guys! Alex tried to imitate the Michelin man on the surface when his drysuit dump valve reversed and filled the suit with a mixture of air and water. Morals: don't let Richard drive the boat (when it breaks down twice when you're driving it begins to look too suspicious to be an accident…) and don't let Tobias fix your dump valve!
Having kindly volunteered to tie my reel to my SMB, Bernie then undertook to demonstrate how to tie a bowline—rabbits, holes, trees, etc.—a knot which he proudly claimed, "could hold the Queen Mary". Much amusement then when I took the SMB out to find that the knot had come undone!
After the stories from prior years, a visit to the fish and chip shop on the Barbican had to be made to check out the waistline and toupee of the proprietor—one had obviously grown and one was just obvious. Valiant efforts were made to eat things seen on the dives, although top marks have to go to anyone who consumed the hideous 'Nepalese cocktail' we were given at the Indian… great idea to pour it into the flower vase, Alex, shame someone else had thought of it first!
The Plymouth scene lived up to reputation (think Goth come Rocky Horror) although the drag queens didn't seem to pose a deterrent to returning into town after the girl with the pierced belly-button, improbable clothes and open-toed sandals ("Sandals…? I hadn't made it past the midriff!") got off the ferry as we were getting on to return back to base…
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Labels: plymouth, trip report
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