Wave Shape
Wave Shape

29 April 2023: Dave’s report on a day trip to the Kyarra

Waves Shape

 

Sam and Nic had cracked first and proposed a Kyarra dive from Swanage on 29 April 2023. Well, this was a quandary, an April dive! That’s a bit scary.

There were still icebergs in the channel and there had been plenty of storms over the previous few weeks. The omens were not good. The Greek god of viz had declared April a no viz zone.

Years ago, when I was young, tough and foolish I did February dives (and regretted it) including a Kyarra trip which was cold, black, lumpy and totally sh*te. But convention said you did not say it was sh*te. You said it was bracing, character building and adventurous.  Was this a cunning ploy by Sam and Nic to encourage others to fall into the same trap of zero viz-ness?

The first to fall for this ploy was Simon, always a sucker for something shiny, next Andrew ( a newly adopted local yokel of Portland origin – or possibly an up market holiday homer), then like a lamb to the slaughter I (Dave) leapt into the pit of darkness, crossing my fingers but expecting the old classic of hitting the bottom in blackness when you bang your head on some rusty metal, then a few trips around the shot line hoping that you do not venture under a metal overhang and crap yourself when your route to the surface is blocked. In 30 metres you sit there and look around for a slight glow of daylight and crawl out to freedom. When this happened to me in 70+ metres, after it being black from 5 metres down, it required a change of underwear on getting back on the boat.

However, I digress, back to the Kyarra.

Viz reports were dodgy in the days leading up to the dive but the pier was basking in sunshine on the big day and we had secured good parking positions on the pier. Breakfast was good and kit fettling was remarkably controlled for an early season dive. A nice easy route to get gear on the boat and plenty of space on the benches. Mixed viz reports from other divers on the boat had me fearing the worst. Torch charged and kit mostly working apart from random leaks, fortunately too small to fret about.

The sea was flat calm on the way out, and slack was a bit weird, either late or we had missed it, but in we went. Shock! Horror! Whilst it was a bit snotty on the way down once at the bottom we were shocked to be able to see the wreck!  Viz was somewhere between good and awesome for April, a healthy 4 to 5 meters. This was a total shock to the system as I could actually see the layout of the wreck, something I have never experienced before on the Kyarra. There then followed a pleasant, interesting, enjoyable dive soaking in the oodles of viz. All in all a cracker!

Back on the boat everyone was in good form, Nic and Sam had a shorter dive due to mask issues, but the Greek gods had relented and good viz was here (until the algae bloom arrives on 1 May).

So all was good with the world, kit was packed away and our diving heroes went to enjoy some well earned fish and chips.

 

A grand day out!

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