Recent Events by Club Members

23rd August. Beach clean organised by Sally. 13 divers went in at Babbacombe to clean up discarded fishing tackle, beer cans, and other debris that had found it’s way under the water. It’s not that long since we did a previous clean up, so we didn’t find as much rubbish as last time. Still well worth doing though, and the water is still easily warm enough for an hours dive. Loads of dead spider crabs round though.

Sunday 16th August. Galecia boat dive, organised by Gemma. Writte up by Jayden ….. My first wreck dive with BSAC was on the remains of the SS Galicia, we had gone over the plan before arriving at the diving site via boat and did a backwards roll to enter the ocean. We then followed the buoy line when reaching 16 meters. I descended on what I thought was the sea bed but was actually a huge accumulation of sea life. I didn’t know the UK could have this kind of sea life. After navigating through the fish we were able to touch the real sea bed at around 19 meters, exploring the wreck was so cool I was able to see at least 20 conger eels, a blue lobster and a few shrimp.

Sunday 9th Aug. Diving the M2 submarine (off Weymouth). Two days of great diving organised by Jane, with glorious weather, and very light winds. Conditions were good for us to dive this famous submarine …. which was experimental with a sea plane on board. Sadly, the sub sank, with all aboard lost, and now is a very sombre dive in 33 metres deep. Here’s an excellent video by Nikki. What a fabulous dive!

Sunday 2nd Aug. Club dive organised by Sally. Despite a mild onshore breeze, 12 divers went to Babbacombe Beach for a dive. Well done to Molly for her first sea dive since qualifying. Stevie was great helping people in and out the water, and then off to the Sloop for a well earned brunch. Lots of happy faces around, so people had fun on this dive. Thanks to Rustic Diver (Charles) for the video, and Wendy for the photos.

Sunday 26th July. The Coronation dive ….. nearly! Sadly, we couldn’t control the weather, and the dive site presented us with nasty waves and a big rolling swell. So we found a sheltered bay between Rame Head and Cawsands, and had some fun there. Well done to Nik for organising, and Nigel for towing the boat.

Sunday 19th July. Our Marine Champion (Sally) and club chairman (Nik) both organised litter picking dives. Sally’s was at Plymouth Waterfront, and Nik from the boat. Eight divers went to Plymouth, and thanks to Rick for being shore cover.

Six keen litter-picking scuba diving wombles from Exeter BSAC headed out on the club boat for a marine clean-up dive to previously unchartered Torquay Pier. Leaving from Teignmouth we headed out in good weather towards the.. er..English Riviera. The sun was shining but not overpowering, making for a perfect day on the water. Arriving and dropping into approx 5 metres of water we explored for ocean garbage along the pier wall and metal pillars running beneath the walkway.

In a small area there was an abundance of life. We spotted blennies, lobsters and a conger eel tucked away inside a pipe only to then make a daytime appearence when disturbed. The real stars of the day, however, were the several hundred soft-shelled spider crabs that seemed to have taken over the place

The wall was also home to a large spread of craggy oysters but ..alongside enjoying the wildlife, we got to work removing marine trash. Any bits of plastic, food wrappers etc were bagged up. Among the haul were fishing weights, snagged crab nets, a plastic bucket, a vape, a mobile phone, hotel room card, a lost cap and bundles of discarded fishing line. We also came across an abandoned “ghost” lobster pot which we opened to free the unfortunate creatures trapped inside.

After the first dive, we enjoyed lunch on the harbour steps. One hungry diver still in a damp wet suit hot-footed it to the local fish and chip shop! We then swapped out our cylinders and headed to our second site, London Bridge, a natural sea arch along that stretch of coast. Visibility there was good, allowing us to explore the site’s swim-throughs and rocky features.

Back in Teignmouth, we finished the day by sorting through our haul of rubbish. This is a stinky job but it’s an important part of helping to protect our local marine environment.

All in all, it was a fantastic day of diving, adventure and good company. We came home with some good memories and the satisfaction of knowing we’d made a small but worthwhile difference to the sea we all enjoy so much

Well done to William and Grace for passing their Ocean Diver qualifications.

Lots of hard work to get qualified, but now you can dive anywhere in the world down to 20 metres. 🙂

Sunday 5th July. Sally organised a club dive at Beacon Cove. It looked beautiful there, and loads of divers went to see what life was around.

Friday 3rd July. Andy W and Andy L left their dry suits behind, and had great dives in semi-dry suits. As a follow up to the beach clean they found an abandoned lobster pot that had been deliberately cut open, and not attached to a surface buoy. This lobster pot would have just stayed on the sea bed, slowly deteriorating. A lift bag was used to bring it in, and ex-cafe owner Wayne is arranging for it to go back to a local fisherman.

Friday 26th June. Fit Steps with Paula. And now for something completely different ….. one of our divers ran an hour of fitness for any club member that wanted to come along, and there was a reasonable turnout for the session. Good fun, and people really seemed to enjoy it – no matter what age!

fitstepswithpaulainexeter@gmail.com or 07971 774528

Sunday 21st June – Another underwater clean organised by Sally. 12 divers went in and cleaned up more underwater rubbish. Amazing views of spider crabs getting ready to moult. Well done to Oli and Jay for diving in UK waters, and then almost everyone had brunch at Romany Jones cafe.

Tuesday 16th June. Exmouth Docks. This site now requires special permission to dive, and viz was great for Derek and Steve. Lots to see at this interesting site, but it’s not a site for beginners. The current rushes in, then pauses just long enough for a dive, then the current rushes out again. This can be an amazing dive site, and you can get down to 24metres. 🙂

Sunday 14 June, four intrepid divers struck out from Mount Batten slipway for the James Eagan Layne in the club’s RIB. With Nigel at the helm, the journey was fast and smooth, only getting a bit more lumpy as we rounded Rame Head. Totnes SAC kindly let us use their shot line, so Nick and Nigel were soon descending for an atmospheric (OK, a bit murky) dive around the bow and through the holds among the varied WW2 cargo. As always on this terrific site, time flew by and all too soon it was time to return to the surface. Jane and Charles then had the opportunity to enjoy the wreck’s delights. The freshening wind meant that the return to base skippered by Charles was unavoidably slower and bumpier then the outward leg.

We switched to the Mew Stone for a smooth ride (thank you, Jane) and a very relaxed and scenic second dive across the shale, following a small ridge. A cuttlefish gave Nigel and Nick a fabulous display of colour-changing camouflage, while Jane and Charles enjoyed the company of an octopus. It was then time to head home, with high water making the boat recovery a lot easier for Nick.

Thank you to Nigel for towing and for everyone for making it a very enjoyable Sunday.

Sunday 14th June – Training weekend. Anne organised a trip to Vobster. Well done to Alex and Rosie, Mollie and Maddie for getting lots of Ocean Diver training completed.. Thanks to Nik, David, Clint and Andy L for instructing, and well done to Martin, William and Saskia for diving.

Sunday 7th June. Another great club dive organised by Sally. Well done to both Lizzy and Finn, who were trying ‘cold water diving’. Eleven divers went in at Brixham, and enjoyed reasonably viz, despite fairly high winds on the previous day. Ben was brilliant as shore helper, and after the dive almost everyone went off for a good brunch.

Sunday 17th May. Underwater beach clean. A brilliant morning organised by our ‘Club Marine Champion’ Sally. 14 divers accepted the challenge of clearing the area round the breakwater of any debris that shouldn’t be there. This was mainly lost fishing tackle, and there were 10Kg of lost fishing weights, 2Kg of fishing line (that’s a phenomenal length!), a lightweight crab pot, and half a fishing rod. Lost fishing line gets entangled around sea life, and it’s great to get it out the water. At the end the seal appeared – as if to say ‘Thank you!’ So well done to all the divers, and especially Sally, Derek and Cherry.

“Big waves of applause for our amazing club members Nikki, Petra, and Nik.

The trio recently headed to sunny Exmouth and Hele to complete their BDMLR Marine Mammal Medic training and refresher courses. It wasn’t just about soaking up the sun; they’ve been honing the vital skills needed to rescue and rehabilitate the incredible wildlife right off our coast.

A massive thank you to those who supported the mission by providing the loan of cylinders—your generosity made this essential training possible.

Whether it’s a stranded seal or a dolphin in distress, these three are ready to dive in and help.”

Thanks,

Dave Hansen (photos credit Louise Round – BDMLR )