Diving in Eastbourne 21st March 2009 by Angela Shaw 

DIVING is hard work but always worth the effort. The scene coming back from a dive…the process of entering and exiting the lock into the marina with the sun setting is a lovely sight.  It can take your breath away. Whoever said diving in England isn’t worthwhile really hasn’t fully taken in all that it has to offer.

Back in March I went on a club hard boat dive from Eastbourne and looked forward to despite the early ropes off at 6.30am. Due to the early start there was no opportunity to enjoy a leisurely breakfast so we popped into the local Asda and purchased some food for the journey. Thank goodness for 24hour shopping!

Everyone started arriving at the designated meeting point and loading up the boat.  I found out that the boots I decided to wear although comfortable and fairly flat had very little grip – and managed to slip on the pontoon. Note to self: Always wear footwear with a good grip to ensure this doesn’t happen again, no-one wants a bruised you know what. 

When fully laden we set off and what a beautiful day it was the sun was on the horizon and after going through the lock looking out to sea was a wonderful sight.

On the journey out we all unpacked and set up our kit, completing any final changes and checks that we needed. This is always an interesting part of the journey, seeing how others have configured their kit. We had two rebreather divers on the trip Jim Ridings and Stuart Miles and it was interesting to see their equipment and they were happy to discuss the systems.

My buddy for the first dive was Chris and the plan was for him to lead and we would fin around the unnamed wreck - maybe finding dinner for Chris to take home.

We completed our buddy checks and did stride entries from the lift, before swimming to the shot and descending to 24 metres, where the wreck was lying. The visibility wasn’t great but okay at about two to three metres.

There was lots of marine life on the wreck and I got excited as I found a crab but when I pointed it out to Chris he indicated he didn’t want it. I later discovered Spider Crabs don’t have much meat on them so they aren’t worth taking, lucky Spider Crab.  The wreck was a bit broken up and once we had been around it I indicated to Chris that I was at 100 bar and he was cold so we ascended with the DSMB, as planned on the brief.  We completed a deco stop and came to the surface. 

During the surface interval before the second dive we had our hot drinks, chatted about our dives and ate our lunch. 

Chris was not completing the second dive and Linda’s buddy decided not to dive so we buddied up. At the bottom of the shot I took a compass bearing.  The wreck was at 25 metres and was in better condition than the first one of the day and the visibility was also better.  The marine life was plentiful.  I practised my compass skills and was pleased I managed to find my way back to the shot.

In debrief we both discussed the dive and made notes of any comments either of made to fine tune our diving to improve future dives.

When everyone was on board we packed our kit up while the crew saw us back to Eastbourne.  Although a little chilly, probably from the diving as the weather was lovely, chatting about the day’s dives, this is the time when I look back on the day and think this is why I enjoy diving.