At last – we managed to get the boat out. Bit touch or go but we gave it a go. Elliott has written a report of his first sea dive.
It was my first sea dive. It was off the coast of Bognor Regis. We took the rib out from Littlehampton marina. On the rib were Dave and Kirstin, Andrew and Jenny, Roy and Tim, Thea and myself.
Going out we had Dave driving the rib. The conditions on the way out were poor. But thankfully we had Dave as a driver and he did a brilliant job of it (he paid me to say this). I felt that the journey out was long and tedious. Waves were very bumpy and I kept on getting a face full of salt water until jenny recommended I faced the opposite way and that way all I would get is a wet back. We were being tailed by a seagull a lot of the way until he eventually gave up.
The dive pairs were as follows:
- Roy and Tim, Jenny and Thea, Dave and Kirstin, Andrew and myself.
- The first pair to get kitted up and go in was Roy and Tim. Next it was Andrew and I. Thirdly it was Jenny and Thea, and last in was Dave and Kirstin.
Dive was very good, visibility was better than wraysbury. There was way too much marine life to keep track of, there were crabs, bib, starfish and many more. We followed a chain to get there but almost lost it on the way back. Safety stop was difficult due to the waves, plus I had never done one before, so that was a new experience that I will cherish. Started to get cold during the 3 minute safety stop. We saw Dave and Kirstin on the way up. Exit of the sea onto the rib was challenging. Tim helped me to get out. I chose to leap out of the water onto the boat instead of using the ladder, I personally thought it was quite fun.
It started to rain on the way back with some hail. Felt really sorry for Tim who was driving and getting the full force of it. Journey back was far quicker.
When we docked in the marina I started to get really cold and had to get out of the wetsuits really fast. I lost a lot of body heat when I took the last wetsuit off and was only in my ski thermals.
