here shall I begin? I suppose at the beginning as all good stories do. Okay here we go, August 2008, (and looking forward to 2009.) Accommodation Trevor Milne (Troy Milton the 1970’s bit part actor) has booked the accommodation at the trusty old Smuggler B&B, nice crisp bed linen and fresh summary fragrant scented rooms ready for us after our diving adventures (well not really crisp and fresh, more like 1970’s Formica and expanded polystyrene ceiling tiles with the hint of St Bruno ready rubbed in the air) but who cares it will be home for a few days, and we will probably be far to tired to notice, plus the breakfast is great and we have parking off road. Arriving & meeting the Skipper Well we arrived at Lyme early on Friday morning to meet our skipper Douglas Lanfear who owns and runs the “Blue Turtle” Charter Dive Boat. We always have a good rapport with Doug and the banter is exceptional and Doug loves it (he has no choice because if he moans we mock him even more) we have even written a song for him, it goes like this (to the tune of Barry Manilows Bermuda Triangle) “Bermuda Triangle, where people disappear on the Blue Turtle with little Doug Lanfear. Bermuda Triangle, where people disappear we’ve got a good skipper but he’s a little queer Bermuda Triangle, where people disappear we’re going down the pub to drink loads of beer.” (Work in progress)
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Diving The diving on the first day was fantastic; I would suggest that this was my best UK dive since I started diving way back in 2002. We dived the M2 a sunken WW1 experimental submarine. It sank because the hanger door did not close properly when she descended. The visibility was stunning with over 10 metres of clear water, the marine life was in abundance with huge conger eels, whiting and Pollack in large shoals, lots of large edible crabs and lobsters innocently trotting over the deck, and the always welcome sight of a number of John Dory casually hovering above the conning tower. Oh and before I forget we saw a pod of over 3 million dolphins. On a serious note this dive was a particularly poignant experience considering that the M2 went under the waves with a full compliment of crew. (We sent our wishes to all service men and women when we got back aboard the Blue Turtle) The next dive consisted of a speedy drift along the coast, with us all flying over the bright red and green corals and varied topography, Oh and if you like seafood you will love this trip, in the goody bags of each diver was: · Scallops · Edible Crab · Lobster · Mussels The remainder of our trip then consisted of two dives each day (weather permitting) one wreck including the huge and intact Salsette with a bottom of around 43 metres (watch your deco time Timmy and Neil, and make sure your regs are services Dave (Odd Job) We always try to vary the dives, ensuring we dive shallow wrecks, deeper wrecks usually max of 40 metres, a good mixture of drift dives ensuring varied topography and visual stimulation along with the scallop beds and underwater reef formations. Another favourite wreck for us is the Baygitano, a shallow dive at around 20 metres with adequate visibility and enough of the superstructure is intact to make the dive interesting.
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In the Evening Each evening we visited local hostelries sampling local fayre and locally cask brewed ale and grog The food at Lyme is always freshly prepared and the service is exemplary (isn’t it Paul) We always have a good time here, with good safe dives and plenty of banter to keep us amused, the club offers a friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and will always make new members and new divers welcome on any of the club trips, and we can tailor dives to your ability something we pride ourselves with. Well it’s almost time again for this years Lyme Regis jaunt (August) I will update this article when I get back. This year we are presenting Doug our skipper with a certificate of appreciation, I can’t wait to see his face. Terry Tarling (Slasher)
P.s. Terrys nick name Slasher is from his dexterity with a knife not a weak bladder
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