Cracking Dive Grommet!!

Mick F

Midnight & I headed out with the club last night to dive a wreck in Dublin Bay. Due to some silly (and frankly unenforced and unforceable) Irish legislation, I can't name the wreck in question, despite the fact that the dive was on a "look only - no touch" basis. So having gotten that piece of nonsense out of the way, here comes the report.

The depth is 37M to the sand which is a major dive for us in our CCR career development. We've carefully planned the dive & cut, printed, & laminated backup tables. Not much use when they're left in the boot of the car I'll admit, but still - they show our commitment

We roll off the rib & drop down the shot, kindly clearing it of all the jellyfish tendrils for the OC boys coming after us. I have never seen so many Lionsmanes in my life, but more of that anon.

We drop midships on the wreck & head for the bow. Max depth of 37.6M; the wreck is broken just aft of the fo'castle. There ain't no ambient light here. It's as black as a witch's tit. We swim round the bow & head for the aft section.

We swim round the bow & head for the aft section.

We swim round the bow & head for the aft section again and admit, under pressure, that our navigation skills are brutal. We than take a leap of faith & head off into the black towards where we think the aft section is. Amazingly we find it and it's the best part of the wreck.

Now we've dived this wreck on OC air with some accelerated deco a number of times in the past. I can't remember fcuk all about it. The last time we dived it, we ended up in the hold by accident. We got out safely without any problems, but it's only now I realise how narked I was. I have a very clear recollection from the dive last night including, winchs, bollards, ladders, walkways etc. When I dived this on OC, I only have a series of almost monchrome still images in my mind

After scaring some of the OC divers, (by moaning into the CCR mouthpiece so they think the wreck is haunted) we ascend after 30mins bottom time. Despite the fact I am diving my Evolution deco on the most conservative stetting (Buhlmann ZHL16 set on level 5 conservatism; equal to Baker GF 75/85) we don't get into a deco situation, so just do a normal 3 min/5M safety stop with some ad hoc Pyle stops built in.

We shake hands at the end of the stop & head for the surface. It's our deepest CCR dive so far & went pretty much as planned.

We get out of the water & realise just how badly we've been stung by the lionsmanes. The bastards were everywhere on descent & ascent. I'm careful to soak my gloves & hands in water, but am still badly stung around the lips & exposed facial areas. Midnight has ripped his gloves off & been badly stung on the hands. Everything he touches transfers the stings

Nose, legs, cheeks - all start to hurt. Even his feet as he changes his socks. He isn't admitting to it, but I reckon he's had a man's "check-in" as well as he's walking a bit funny

All in all, a great dive, but by all that you may find holy, we paid for it.

I'm off to the Red Sea next week so, much to his disgust, I will leave Midnight to his own devices. We will continue to push our personal boundaries (and pain tolerance!!) on my return. In the meantime, my thanks once again to a rock solid buddy and friend.

More info as soon as it becomes available...........