by Vince Deehan - Novice Diver

SATURDAY 12 SEPT 1998

My first ever dive trip, and my first ever open water dive awaited me.   In the lead up to the Farnes Trip I was filled with apprehension as well as excitement.  Just what exactly was going to happen ?  Would I find that I had forgotten a lot of the basics of diving - having not even been in the pool since April ?  I was secretly hoping that this was going to be a fantastic week, a week that was going to keep me going with enthusiasm till the next dive trip.

It was also my first ever long distance drive for some years (having only taken up driving again after a 4 year lay off, and having finally bought my first car - a lovely, J-Reg Ford Fiesta).  I drove up with Jennifer who turned out to be invaluable as a navigator.   The M1 turn off on the N. Circular was coned off and I drove right past the next M1 turn off, totally oblivious.   With Jennifer’s driving experience and common sense, we were soon back on track.  Thanks Jennifer.   During the drive up to Seahouses we had a good chat, discussing Bill Clinton’s dilemma amongst other things.   I also subjected Jennifer to my "Driving Compilation Tape", full of mostly US singer -songwriters and obscure-ish US Rock bands, as well as bit of Talk Talk and Robbie Williams.   We also had a good discussion on the meaning of the 1982 Don Henley song, "Johnny Can’t Read" - don’t laugh !  I had a captive audience and I made the most of it !

We kept catching sight of the two boats ahead of us, and we overtook them a couple of times and
they us. It was nice to see them, not least as it reassured me that we were on the right road !  We
lost sight of them after a while  and only caught sight of them again, within 30 miles of Seahouses.
I tried valiantly to catch up with them, along the winding country roads but I just couldn’t do it.
The RIB drivers don’t half drive fast !  I prefer to drive at a more leisurely pace !

We soon arrived at Seahouses pier and immediately saw James Astrop and Tom .   The boats soon arrived and a whirl of activity then ensued as the boats were put in the water. All very
impressive, and not a little bewildering for me.  I wanted to help, but thought it best to leave it to the experts for now.  Things were happening very fast, and the next thing I knew we were told to get ready for a 4:30 dive , about an hour away ! I was overcome by fear at this point. It was all happening too fast for me !  I drove with Jennifer to our house and then back to the pier.  I was now feeling dead keen to have a bash at my first ever dive.  Alas, no sooner had I parked up on the pier when Bob came over and said that I wouldn’t be allowed to go diving just yet as I hadn’t even done my Novice II test dives yet.   I was gutted.  It was heartbreaking to watch everyone speed off on the boat out to the Farnes - I wanted to go with them !

While everyone was out diving, I finally met Petta and Steve, and Sue James.  It was great to finally
meet Petta, as we are both radiographers and it turned out her boss in Harley Street works as a
radiology consultant in my x-ray department  (Northwick Park Hospital,  in Harrow) - it’s a small world.

When the boat came back I witnessed everyone removing the kit from the boat.  It was a very slick
operation and I was very impressed with its efficiency.  I gave a hand too, of course !  Although
as the week went on it became clear to me, that "the chain" method of kit removal just doesn’t work
very well.  In my opinion, the stress on people’s backs is far less if they just lug the gear all the way up the steps rather than continually picking up and lifting heavy cylinders up a few steps - but what do I know ?

I remember asking James Astrop how his dive was, and he said it was terrible, "no wildlife".  I, being
a gullible mug, believed him.  Thankfully, I soon found out he was winding me up ! They all had a good dive, from what I gathered.

Later, in The Lodge pub - a great, divers pub run by Selby Brown, a local diving legend and one hell of a nice bloke - Dave Marks told me I would be doing my first dive, a shore dive tomorrow.
 

SUNDAY 13 SEPT 1998

The weather let us down today.  The sea was very rough and the winds were very strong.  There was no diving today.   We were all disappointed, but there was no point dwelling on it for too long.  It was a good lesson for me, that you can’t take it for granted that in the UK there will always be good diving conditions.   Everyone in our house - Jennifer, Guy, Roger, Francoise and Anthony - all walked along the truly beautiful Seahouses beach (  very sandy, expansive and windswept) to Bamburgh Castle.  Castles are not my thing, but I did enjoy the armoury section and the War Museum was excellent.

In the afternoon, Guy suggested we go body surfing.  Our house (which I believe was the envy of many, thanks Jenn for finding it ) was literally a stone’s throw from the beach.   I had never body surfed before and I was keen to break in my wet suit ! Anthony, Guy and myself duly trotted down to the beach and had a great laugh trying to catch the waves.  I couldn’t really get the hang of it, but had a lot of fun nonetheless. It was especially nice just being in the sea.  I knew it would make me less anxious when I actually went out on my first dive.   Francoise, Roger and Jennifer had not been one bit keen to join us, but having seen what fun we were having - they had been watching through our big, upstairs window - they quickly donned they wet suits and we all had a good splash about.  Thanks to Guy, for suggesting it in the first place.

Guy and Francoise cooked us all a great meal in the house, the first of 3 or 4 nights that we ate in.
We were blessed with some great cooks in our house, although I know that everyone at Dave Marks’ house were spoilt rotten by the brilliant cooking of Sue James ! A bit later on Pete Fry, Anna, Marion, Geoff, Hiroko,  Bob and Tony came round .  Pete Fry soon started the party games, and I have to say I was filled with panic ! Party games and me don’t go together, as everyone soon found out.  If there is an award given at the AGM for biggest spoil-sport then that award will have my name on it.  What bothered me even more was the very bad impression I must have made on Pete Fry and Anna, both of whom I’d never met before.  The only game I joined in on was the cornflake box game, which was won by Hiroko, although Francoise and Jennifer were strong contenders !

MONDAY 14 SEPT 1998

Sadly, there was no diving again today.  Everyone in our house went on a day trip to Berwick -
Upon -Tweed.   Myself and Guy did the driving.   Driving people around was my big contribution to
our house - everyone else helped out with the cooking, whilst I was more than happy to chauffeur
people around ! Berwick was a pretty little town, but I would never have gone there unless I had nothing to do.  Guy suggested we all split up and meet back in two hours. TWO HOURS ??!!  I managed to cut that back to one hour - I thought we’d all be bored  silly way before two hours were up. I went to a café and had fantastic meal - beans, chips and a meat pie (I’m easily pleased) and
picked up a book in (John) Menzies that I soon became engrossed in and had to buy it - the autobiography of US shock-rock singer Marilyn Manson !  Roger and Francoise and Anthony
went on a wine binge and had copious free tastings of fruit wines in a local off licence !

Got back "home", Jennifer and Guy cooked a lovely meal for us.  Soon virtually the entire club arrived at our place for a get together.   Dave told me that I would definitely be doing my first dive tomorrow, and that it would be a boat dive and not a shore dive !  Matthew Jarrett arrived today, and will be staying with us.   It was a pleasure to see him again.

TUE SEPT 15 SEPT 1998

My first ever open water dive !  I was buddied with Matthew and we were put on Percy 2 - what luxury,  as Clare said later, I was being spoiled !   The ride out to sea was great fun although I really thought that we had hit a rock, the first time the boat thudded as we hit a big wave - no one else seemed bothered so I soon realised that the hard, thudding sounds were not rocks after all !  The ride out was like a fun fair ride !  Curiously I didn’t feel nervous at all, but very excited and
keen.  Only when I got kitted up and started to feel a bit claustrophobic in all the gear, did the nerves hit me ! Before I knew it, with what seemed like indecent haste,  myself and Matthew were doing a backwards roll into the sea !   I had trouble clearing my ears for the first five minutes which was frustrating but eventually I was OK.  We dived for about 40 minutes and to a maximum of 9m, with an average of about 6 m.  It may not sound much, but remember the Seymour Pool is only
about 2 m !  It was nice having  a rockwall in front of me, and the seafloor visible to me as it gave me a well needed sense of perspective.  We saw lots of starfish, anemones, crabs and I patted a jellyfish, which was nice.  I have to say that I spent an inordinate amount of my concentration on clearing my ears which I was having to do constantly at such shallow depths.  This detracted somewhat from my dive but I gradually got more relaxed and more observant of my surroundings.  I looked at my digital watch to see what time it was, it was about 12:10 pm - it was fun to think of what I would normally be doing at that time of day (heading out for a lunchtime walk at work !).   Matthew, who was in a drysuit,  often asked me if I was cold at all.   Strangely, and much to my surprise, I didn’t feel cold at all in my wet suit.  That in itself felt like a huge achievement !  We soon surfaced and upon reaching the surface, I  felt immediately bewildered.  I felt this way after surfacing on each dive that week - I think it was the big adjustment from the silent sea underworld to suddenly being brought back into the world above.  I had trouble all week with removing my weightbelt and BC and Reg, I was convinced I was going to drop them.  My brain was never in gear at these times ! I got into the boat and was utterly unable tp speak (yes, even quieter than I normally am - if that’s possible).   My mind was racing.  I apologise here to Gillian who asked me how my first dive was. I’m not sure I replied at all.   My brain was still scrambled, I wasn’t being rude - sorry !  Thanks to Matthew for being an excellent buddy and being so patient on my first ever dive.  It was an exhilarating experience.

I was buddied with Matthew for the afternoon dive, and after such a fun morning dive I was all
fired up for my second ever dive.   It started off with the wondrous sight of all those baby seals
craning to get a good look at us as Percy I and Too, came close to the rocks.  Many of them were plopping off the rocks and swimming close to the boats, but not too close though.  They were like
inquisitive children who were acting as  if they hadn’t seen a boat of divers ever before, which of course they have.   They must have short memories !

The actual dive itself started badly and got worse. I had huge problems trying to clear my ears and
spent an eternity going up and down the SMB line trying to clear my ears - my left ear just would not clear.   I VERY stupidly tried to fight the pain and go deeper.  Unsurprisingly the pain soon turned to
agony - I was so keen to get down that I let common sense fly.   After about 5 minutes of this I looked below me and suddenly noticed that the water had gotten very dark around me (it later transpired that a cloud had gone over the sun) - it seemed as if there was a bottomless abyss below me.   I was in pain and now I felt complete terror - it’s safe to say I was not comfortable in my environment ! About the same time, although unbeknownst to me, Matthew’s SMB line was tugged 3 times and we had to go up.  As we ascended, Matthew pointed up and I could see that the boat was directly above our heads !!  You can imagine my surprise ! The next thing I knew we surfaced and it wasn’t our boat at all, but Percy I.   Utterly bemused, I was ! I sat in the boat and I was very shell shocked.  I don’t know if Matthew realised how badly spooked I was, but I think maybe he did as he wisely gave me plenty of time to calm myself down before he came over to ask how I was.   I was badly shaken up and thoughts were racing through my mind - Was this my last ever dive ? Was this morning’s dive  a fluke ?  Am I really cut out for this diving lark ? Do I even want to have another dive ? Had I damaged my ears and set myself up for another ear infection ?   A few hours later and I had come to my senses.  Of course I was going to have another try ! I’m not giving up this easily !

Everyone in our house went to the Long Archers for a nice meal.  Had a good chat with Matthew
and  I was now back in enthusiastic mode. I am a diver - I dive !  We all piled into Dave’s House and  had some of Sue’s Bennofi (?) pie - it was delicious, whatever it was called. Thanks Sue.   I  hesitate to say this but Guy made the same pie the night after and it was also delicious, but of course Sue’s was the best - though Guy’s was a very close second !

We walked back home and I walked part of the way with James Astrop who pointed out some of the constellations to me - the sky was awe inspiring, living in London all my life I have never seen such  a BIG and totally clear sky.    James pointed out The Plough and the North Star, Guy earlier pointed out the Milky Way (which was so incredible to see, and just like the picture on the  chocolate bar !) and the planet, Venus !   Thanks to James and Guy for teaching me about the sky above us !  Later in the week as we walked to the Lodge pub via the pitch dark country back road, we all saw shooting stars as well !

WED 16 SEPT 1998

A very windy morning.  Drove down to pier and found at that there would only be a trainees only dive today at noon, a shore dive from nearby Beadnell.   We reconvened at noon to find both boats being taken out of the water.  A little bit later Dave made a shock announcement - there would be no more diving, the boats would be driven home tomorrow and he suggested we all go home too.   There’s no reason to stay any longer, the weather was only going to get worse and we had already lost 3 days out of five so far to the weather.   TJ also said the same thing a bit later and said that everyone was at a loss as to what to do with themselves, so we may as well go home now.  Although it was shocking news and very disappointing to hear, it was also strangely a relief.  We had all taken a week off work and we were being left high and dry by the weather on most days - we all came to dive, not to go sight-seeing.   I felt better knowing that we had definite plans of what to do now - we were going home.   Guy, Anna and Jennifer had already gone off for a day trip to Alnwick and didn’t know of the decision till they got back later in the afternoon.   Myself, Bob, Roger, Francoise and Anthony went on a trip to Holy Island (or Lindisfarne as it was known).    I drove everyone in my car and there was much mickey taking from Bob and Roger about my hesitant driving !  At one point, whilst I was overtaking a tractor , Roger screamed loudly in my ear ! It sounds funny now, but I wasn’t laughing at the time !  Bob also momentarily held his hands in front of my eyes, whilst the car was moving !  In all honesty,  it was a great, fun drive -  my car hasn’t had so much laughter ringing around it before.    We went to the castle, which was loads better than boring, Bamburgh Castle,  walked in a torrential downpour to the Priory and then around the monastery ruins - the sun was shining brightly, by this point.   I thoroughly enjoyed it and the car trip back was even more lively than the journey out. I put on my Abba GOLD tape and we had a very loud and lively Abba  singalong session.  We got back to find Guy and Jennifer had returned from Alnwick.   Francoise cooked us a great meal.   Then we all had a great stroll through the dark country lane, admiring the Milky Way as went, to the Lodge pub.   Had a great night there.  I saw the famous picture of Selby at the wheel of a wrecked ship, 30 metres below, wearing a yellow mac
over his dive gear and without his mask and regulator.  An amazing set of photos. I then had a chat
with Selby himself,  a lovely bloke  and a great honour to meet him, a real privilege  to meet such
an accomplished diver  Had a good, long chat with Dave.   He seemed very down.  I think he feels
he has let us down.  He hasn’t of course,  we tried to thank him for all his hard work this week but
he didn’t seem to think he deserved any praise.   He deserves more than praise, he deserves a medal
for all the endless work he does for us.   A surprise announcement was being passed around - James
Astrop was thinking of planning another dive in the morning.   I’ll be honest here and admit that this was not music to my ears.   Most of the club was in "going home mode", and all I could think of was getting back home to Wembley.

THUR 17 SEPT 1998

Diving is on again !  I had been secretly hoping that the mooted plans last night would be dashed again by the weather, so keen was I to get on the road home.   I drove down to the pier with Jennifer and Roger and had no intention of diving.  I was going to see everyone off, collect my cylinder from Anthony after the dive and then go home on my own.   Luckily for me, Dave and Nigel  immediately encouraged me to do the dive - very strong encouragement , in fact , which I really needed, almost insisting that I dive.   I needed this push and am very grateful to them both, as the next two days were easily the best of the whole week !

Dave Marks was my buddy and we had a fantastic dive - and to think I almost went home !
My ear problems were soon banished, I tried chewing gum on the boat out and used a tilted head method to clear my sticky left ear (Dave’s idea - and it worked beautifully) .  We dived to about 19m. 19m?!! I was thrilled to be so deep and to be so comfortable in the water ! We saw a huge bull seal, which typically showed us no interest. Probably a good thing, they really are terribly big and I think they would have scared me if they had got too close ! We also saw a young seal which swam around us a few times, although it didn’t come as close as I would have liked but it was great fun nonetheless.  A really great, fun dive.  On the ascent, I ascended too fast and forgot to vent my BC on the way up. Oops ! Got to the surface to find the sea was swelling and choppy - I immediately got a cracking headache and a strong urge to throw up ! It was a very unpleasant end to a fantastic dive.   I had a very queasy trip back on the boat- at least I now know what it feels like to be seasick - it’s not much fun !

The afternoon dive was with Nigel and we had a great boat trip out, it was lovely clear afternoon and the sea seemed very calm and inviting.  Unfortunately, my afternoon ear problems returned (both my afternoon dives were marred by ear problems) and I had great trouble getting down the SMB line.  I was very uncomfortable in my surroundings - I always feel happier when I can see a rock face on the way down, to keep me a sense of whether I’m going up or down ! The current was very strong and I didn’t really feel safe.  I signalled to Nigel to abort the dive and we surfaced to very rough seas.  We both got back in the boat and then realised that the other SMBs were not visible, everyone seemed to have drifted off.    There was mild panic for a few minutes, and I have to say I was very worried for a while, but we soon found everyone and got them back in safely.  The odd thing was that some of the buddy pairs had had great dives and felt comfortable in their dives, while other buddy pairs clearly had had a very hairy dive.  We all got back safely, and I guess it was a good learning experience.  Sea conditions and currents are very hard to predict and very changeable.

FRIDAY 18 SEPT 1998

The final dive of the week and also the best one too. I was buddied with TJ and it was a real joy to dive with him.  He was full of great advice and tips. It was an honour and a privilege to dive with him.  He was so relaxed and laid back yet very well aware of the dangers.   I learned a lot from him.  We had a great dive and saw a bull seal and a younger seal which came close, but still not as close as I wanted. My ears were fine and I was very relaxed indeed. We dived to about 17 m for about 30 minutes.

Myself, Anna, Anthony and Francoise and Roger spent the afternoon doing underwater navigation
in the harbour, with Dave Marks, whilst all the other divers did a 30 m wreck dive.  I learned how to use a compass and, after I got to grips with my very rusty snorkeling technique,  had great fun taking bearing off buoys and then trying to snorkel to them using the compass.  It was a very warm, sunny Friday afternoon and we all had a lot of fun.  My odd and very dainty  finning technique also provided some comic relief for everyone else ! !

We went back home, bought a pizza each from the Co-Op and had a final meal together in our
wonderful house (ours was the best - so there !).  We bought a bottle of whiskey for Dave who had
gallantly given up the chance of doing the wreck dive to supervise us Novices.  We all spent the Friday night in the Lodge and had a great night.  One by one everyone left to leave just me, Anthony, Francoise, Big Tone, Matthew and the man himself, Dave Marks.   There was much laughter and it
was a nice way to end the week.

SATURDAY 19 SEPT 1998

Going home today.  Bob and Tony came round to collect Bob’s cylinder and then Pete Morris arrived to collect Anthony and Francoise.   We all took photos of each other in the front garden and then set off for the long drive home.

It was a fantastic week and I enjoyed myself immensely.  Thanks to everyone in the club for being so friendly and helpful to me and making the whole week such good fun.  Thanks to Jennifer for finding
our great house and for putting up with my hopeless driving and my total inability to remember simple
directions. Thanks to everyone who looked after the boats - I must try and help out more in future.
Thanks to James Astrop and Richard James for being great Dive Marshals.

The biggest thanks of all go to Dave Marks for being such an excellent D.O. and for all the endless
hard graft you do  on behalf of all of us.

FIN

Article written on Saturday 26 Sept 1998

At the time of writing , I was a member of BSAC London Branch, No. 1

I no longer scuba dive, but I hope this article will be of interest to other divers.

I love feedback, feel free to criticise or lavish praise !!

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Last modified Sat October 30 1999