8 LSAC members met up at Stoney Cove for some Sports Diver open water training.

The first car just made it in time to get a spot in the main car park, the other two vehicles had to make do with car park 2. Stoney Cove used to provide large trolleys to ferry dive gear from the overflow car park down to the main car park but one broke and the other was stolen. They did allow us to drop the heavy kit off though and return to car park 2.

The weather was dull, windy and raining on the journey to Stoney Cove but by the time we arrived the rain had stopped and it brightened up a little bit. Mostly overcast with sunny spells and 11 degrees C.

Dive 1:

• Divers: Stuart, Aaron, Paul, Jack, Nick
• Max Depth: 21.6
• Dive Time: 36
• Water temperature: 6C
• Viz: 2-4m

Dive 1:

• Divers: Simon, Jane, Dominic
• Max Depth: 21.6
• Dive Time: 46 mins
• Water temperature: 5C
• Viz: 2-4m

The Stoney Cove Website advertised the visibility as excellent at all depths but as we entered the water at the bus stop and descended down the slope past the Viscount cockpit it was found not to be the case. Lots of debris in the water and visibility was less than 4 metres. They were right about the temperature though, 7 degrees at the surface, colder at depth, we recorded 5 degrees.
We found an area on the slope at 10 metres to conduct some mask clearing and AS exercises, then continued down the slope to the BOP, passing the work frame on our right. As we got close to the BOP a large group of divers left the area and we had to ascend a little to avoid going through the cloud of silt. We circled the BOP and saw the larger pole then returned up the slope.
Arriving back at 10 metres we practised DSMB deployment. We then continued to the shallower water and did a midwater hover at 2 metres. We swam to the slipway to practice weight belt jettison in standing depth and then got out onto the slipway which was very slippery.

Dive 2:

• Divers: Stuart, Paul, Jack
• Max Depth: 20.4
• Dive Time: 38 mins
• Water temperature: 6C
• Viz: 2-4m

Dive 2:

• Divers: Aaron, Nick
• Max Depth: 21
• Dive Time: 35 mins
• Water temperature: 6C
• Viz: 2-4m

Dive 2:

• Divers: Simon, Dominic
• Max Depth: 21.2m
• Dive Time: 35 mins
• Water temperature: 5C
• Viz: 2-4m

After some compass practice in the car park, we entered the water from the quayside and took a compass bearing on the corner of the archways under the pub. Swimming on the surface Dom followed the compass and returned to the quayside. We then did the same exercise again at 5 metres arriving at the corner of the pub then returning on a reciprocal bearing. We then headed to the Nautilus submarine descending over the cliff edge into the dark depths towards the Wessex helicopter. We swam through the helicopter and followed compass bearing of 220 towards the Stanegarth. We arrived at the stern of the Defiant, swam to the right and came to the Stanegarth. We swam through the wheelhouse, port to starboard and followed the anchor chain back towards the cliff face. We ascended the cliff face and swam around to the left of the viscount cockpit at the top to a find 10-metre spot on the slope. We then inflated a DSMB, leaving the reel on the bottom and using the line as a visual reference for an AS ascent from 10 to 6 metres. After a 3-minute safety stop at 6 metres, we surfaced, retrieved the reel and exited the water via the ladder. We didn’t see any fish life.