New Year's Eve 2001

2001 was a good diving year. So why not finish it with a night dive on the Louis Sheid on New Years's Eve? Let's have a memorable New Year. What a stupid thing to do you might ask. And you maybe right except that it was really good and certainly different to the usual round of party celebrations.

Four divers (Allen, Malcolm, Richard and Sarah) gathered at Thurlestone beach around 22.30 on New Year's Eve 2001. We were potential candidates for the certified local loony club. Despite the full moon and calm sea there was a keen easterly and the water looked dark and cold. What were we doing here? We hurriedly changed into dive gear and after a long buddy check off we went down the beach. 

The sea was cold - 7 centigrade. Thank God for dry suits. We snorkelled out and paused over the wreck site. Down we went and there were the boilers! For the next 30 mins we traversed the wreck, admiring the many rusty bits of wreckage that we found. Sleeping wrasse, frenetic pollack and soporific velvet crabs abounded. 

We came off the wreck and ascended. The New Year was here. We were greeted with fireworks from the shore as we bobbed on the dark water. We had a grandstand view. The full moon cast a strong silvery light over the beach that was quite eerily beautiful. As we swam back to the beach a couple of people emerged over the dunes and walked over the sand - ready to party. It was easy to imagine that we were on some foreign tropical beach somewhere - if the water hadn't been so cold.

What a good way to start the year.