23rd January 2011
It was an early start to make St Abbs harbour to load Pete Gibson’s boat, the Selkie, for a cast off time of 9.15am. The harbour itself was empty of water due to the big spring tides at low water. Nevertheless kit was successfully loaded via the electric crane down off the pier by the harbour entrance and then we headed out.
With strong tides and a brisk northerly wind limiting the available sites we opted for the shelter offered by the cliffs that tower above Wuddy Rocks.
Dropping into the water it was soon clear that the big tides had resulted in a marked deterioration in underwater visibility compared to last weekends dive. Nevertheless we swam down and through the underwater arch before turning left and hugging the cliff face to escape the worst effects of the Ebbing tide, heading on out in the general direction of the Black Carrs reef. The dive was not without incident; Liz managed to loose a fin, which Andy and Hubert fortunately quickly recovered. Marine life observed included a nice size lobster and a ling fish.
With everyone was safely back on board it was a rapid return to St Abbs harbour to warm up in the car park.
Once kit was loaded back in cars we headed back down the coast to Eyemouth for a shore dive down at the Greenends gully site.
By the time we kitted up the tide was close to the end of the concrete path. It was on the flood so we knew that access out of the water could only improve. Entering the water we again found the underwater visibility was limited to around 3 metres. Moving down the gully it was clear that winter storms had deposited all sorts of debris across the bottom, as we came across piles of lobster pots and even a shattered buoy.
Outside of the gully the flooding tide was quite noticeable, so we remained relatively close to the entrance.
By the time we returned back up the gully the tide had risen sufficiently to allow an easy exit from the water. It was then a case of a brisk walk back to the car park. Once all kit was safely loaded all that remained was to set off in convoy and head back down the A1 to Stannington, and a waiting beer in the Ridley Arms.
Thanks to Andy Hunt for organising the days diving.
Contact Details
Skipper: Peter Gibson
Boat Name: Selkie
Address:
The Rest
Murrayfield
St. Abbs
Berwickshire
TD14 5PP
Telephone: 018907 71681
Fax: 018907 71312
Mobile : 0770 268 7606
E-mail: PeterGibson@stabbs.com