Report by Andrew Bradford
June 2/3 2021
Derek, George, Steve B, Steve S, Milton & Andrew B visited Skindeep midweek for two days of diving. Forecast was not encouraging with a worsening seas state and increasing easterly winds.
Day one plan was to Dive Aeolian Sky @ 30m. Given the conditions we nearly detoured to the Van Opstal but decided to push on an was reward with calmer waters over the Sky. Viz on the Sky was about 4-5m….still a degree of current running at the bottom of the shot which subsided quickly. One of the party did manage to lose their fin on the descent and managed the whole dive without it. Plenty of access points inside the wreck and lots to see without the need to drop to the seabed….in fact the ave depth was more 22-25m range for most of the dive.
We overnighted at the Hotel Aqua and the Bunkhouse which were fine for the overnight & a decent breakfast.
Day two was all about the M2 @ about 32m. Conditions were far better for the run out on Skin deeper. M2 was characteristically dark with Viz around 4m. Not as many Congers in evidence as normal (perhaps the time of year?). Most buddy pairs had a run time of approx. 45mins with plenty of time to visit the hanger, the bow and the rudder and the conning tower (which seemed to have less mono-filament covering it). Exit was via the shot line for all with no mandatory stops incurred. Since we were on Skindeeper, we had an onboard compressor available to fill up for the second dive which was a drift from the James Fennel with much better viz (6-7m) before heading home.
Steve S has made a note never to drop kit into the water next to the boat when unloading.
As always with Portland, a great trip out.
