It’ll burn off!

Saturday. 

There we were. in Sennen Cove car park, waiting to launch, and waiting, and waiting.........

O.K. who told the weather it was Bank holiday? The sea was out there somewhere, hiding in the fog.

"It’ll burn off soon." said Alan (he should know he is in the R.A.F.).

Never mind, the R.N.L.I. provided some entertainment, a practice launch of the Sennen lifeboat! It’s one of those "whizz down the ramp with the engines running" jobs, GREAT! It emerged down the ramp from the lifeboat station and ..stopped! The doorway is so low they have to put all the aerials down to get through, so it’s all stop before the real plunge, did I say plunge? More of a sedate slide - before making a big splash and disappearing into the fog. It looked like fun on this flat calm day. We reckoned the best view (and photo) would be from the end of the ramp, just sit on the end in your suit and duck under the water at the last moment! Strange no one tried it!

If it was good enough for them it was good enough for us, so we launched the boat, the fog got thicker!

"It’ll burn off soon" said Alan.

Tea, coffee and bacon sandwiches were the order of the day!

Mid afternoon the fog lifted - off to the Longships, divers in the water, down came the fog again! Fortunately it vanished just as quickly, so I didn’t miss our dive with the seals - yes TWO of them - and a glorious gully 1 metre wide and 11 metres deep, covered with jewel anemones, deadmen’s fingers and sponges to name but a few. This site never disappoints.

A word of warning, if launching at Sennen, be careful, even though you pay (£10) to launch, some of the locals don't appreciate your presence, and even apparently discarded pieces of wood laying on the beach may belong to someone! Ask Mike, he stole a piece of wood to chock the trailer wheels, while struggling up the slip. He was going to put it back, but the angry fisherman who rushed over, to save it from this vile crime, had other ideas. We haven’t seen Mike’s birth certificate, but he assures us that his father and mother were married when he was born, not as vehemently suggested by the fisherman!

Sunday. 

"Beefy" (well he does look a bit like Ian Botham) wanted to marshal. A chance for one wave on the Runnelstone late in the afternoon caused some excitement, unfortunately that meant not everyone could do it.How to choose the lucky ones? Some miserable so and so talked him into a lottery, all the names went into a hat, well washing up bowl actually, and out came the lucky names, sadly the final list did not include the dive marshal! We told him to fix it. but he is too honest for his own good! However, well done, we all had a great day’s diving, before the lucky few did that site (*&@$%£ I didn’t go either!). By the way, if you dive the Runnelstone and find a rather "bent" dive computer, it probably belongs to Captain Charisma, it made a bid for freedom, leaving his arm when he wasn’t looking (I’m sure of editorial comment in UnderCurrents!). He was not alone in equipment loss - Malcolm’s sun glasses leapt to oblivion off the harbour wall, and defied all attempts at rescue, despite the involvement of Newton Abbot CID. No Malcolm, it really was mineral water, that rained down on you from those offering advice from above!

That evening, as we headed towards the Pub and food, the fog returned.......

"It’ll burn off" said Alan.

Monday. 

The day dawned bright and sunny. The "press ganged" dive marshal was quaking before breakfast, mind you so were the rest of us, a two legged mouse raided the food cupboard at first light! Next time mouse traps in the fridge! At least (s)he made us a cup of tea, when discovered! But 6 a.m.?!!! Still it gave the dive marshal time to think and worry, worry and think, about the format for the day, while chewing bacon sandwiches, and bran flakes - a moving experience!

What a good day he came up with! Exemplary !

Fast drift dives near Logan rock, snorkelling with a 6m. Basking shark (sorry Malcolm), dolphins in the cove, and a totally new site to us, near Lamorna, how could we have missed it? The top less than 4 metres from the surface, on a regularly used route to other places, it drops away through gullies to 25m.+. Come with us next time for the chance to visit this interesting, picturesque site, with its giant starfish (spiny starfish, 24ins. across, with its arms folded!) and a long, 3m. high wall encrusted with jewel anemones. A very pleasant surprise on a "let’s have a look dive".

Thanks to all involved, for helping to make this a super weekend, roll on next time!

By the way, to those of you who decided to dive somewhere near the Bretagne instead of joining us - What a shame - Tee Hee!

Nick Parsons - May 1999