I drove to Zero Gravity and was very pleased to be greeted by Chris who asked whether I had been avoiding him all week. He had just finished a Cave 1 course and was catching up in the office. Fred turned up after wrestling with a flat battery and we set off to Car Wash.

There were two other teams there and we agreed to run the reel to the right of the cave which was a bit of a pain as I am trying to learn the central route – but we have to cope with what we have. I found my way past the sign but the route over the rocks to the line (rather than down to the right) left me a bit baffled and I needed a bit of guidance from Fred. Made it with at least 100 foot of line on the reel though so success

We set off, past Luke’s Hope cenote and down where the passage narrows down and starts to wind and get more decorative. I have always liked Car Wash and this was as far as I had ever been before. This dive was intended to be short but we had gas to spare so went just past the jump to the Room of Tears before turning back.

We recalculated gas at the 12 metre section of the cavern rather than get out to open water which would add further to the saw tooth profile of the dive and then set off in again for a full dive.

I love this cave. It is an old cave and the formations are yellow in form and rounded where they have been softened by thousands of years of water passing by. The tunnel reminded me of Little River in Florida in places – although the number of decorations reminded you that it was Mexico after all. One of the other teams had jumped off the mailine to the Room of Tears so I placed a non directional marker to indicate the way we had come and kept going.

The passage got progressively tighter and changed depth a lot making an interesting profile until it suddenly changed and widened into a beautiful room – Andrianna’s Room – which is full of thousands of delicate formations almost Grand Cenote like in appearance. Unfortunately, whilst the passage to Angelita’s room is tight – beyond it is tighter still and it was time to head for home.

A turtle on deco added to the dive – once I realised that it wasn’t a crocodile J

I had a small inkling that something challenging may be ahead when Fred said kit up your next set of tanks here and stay in your drysuit as there won’t be anywhere to get ready at the next site. He then asked how I felt about giant strides….and whether I had been to Landenouse in France.

Uh oh.

Welcome to the Temnple of Doom. A tiny cenote in the jungle where one large and two small openings have fallen in to reveal the cave below. The Mexican name for the cenote means Skull but it has become known as the Temple of Doom.

“When you get to the top you have to jump” said Fred. Or I’ll throw you in”

OK – so that’s peer pressure then.

I kitted up and hiked up to the cenote ahead of Fred, it was about 100 yards but the rocks were no where near as bad as No Hoch so it was relatively easy going. I got there and there were two lads sitting sunning themselves by the edge – “wow I bet that’s heavy” they said. “Sure is” I replied.

“Bloody hell – it’s a girl”.

First time someone has noticed that for a while I eyed the cenote and found what I thought was the lowest point of the rim to jump in from and got ready – to have Fred arrive and say no – you want to be over here.

OK – look forward and jump.

This is taking it’s time…

Am I going to land soon…

This is going to hurt….

Arrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhhhhhhhh J

That wasn’t that bad. I’m not even going to think about getting out now though.

We set off past the cavern line to the Madonna Passage. It is a truly beautiful cave well below the halocline so white with a blue tint wherever the light catches it. I saw a package which had carbon tablets in it with an email address for those who would like further information about a project based at Bristol university. We turned left at the first T and proceeded through the cave past more limestone so blue white that washing powder adverts would weep. A second T meant that the dive was called at a beautiful bright white stalactite which hung over the cave like a massive icicle.

We headed back to the Cavern line where we recalculated gas and then moved the reel to the second line in the cave, the Canyons. More food for the senses, here there was a narrow passage which was about the size of the gallery in Ginnie but which had a halocline about three meters above the line which shone blue and white. We turned right at the first T on to a white survey line which took us through older parts of the cave where formations and the passages were rounded and delicate straws were hidden off to the sides – each would have been fun to stop and look at for ages but we pressed on.

Suddenly we were at the icicle in ceiling again – the one we had seen at the end of the first dive and the second T of this dive was exactly where we had ended the first. Cave 1 limits preclude circuits and there would be no reel waiting for us at the exit so we had no option but to retrace our steps. No hardship really with all that to look at on the way out.

The way out.

Hmmmmm…..

Well there is a ladder – of sorts. A vertical metal one which has nothing at the top to grab hold of apart from a very shaky looking tree stump. The only good thing about getting out is that you know that you would have enough time to reflect on your error before hitting the water.

Like most things – it wasn’t as bad as it appeared. The heat and the mosquitoes just added to the pleasure I assure you. Cave diving – it’s a damn good job that the caves are worth the hassle of getting got them. But they are – every damn bit of it.

I was sad to say goodbye to Mexico again. I made arrangements to come back next autumn before I left – can’t imagine not having a date in the diary to look forward to really, and I hope to see Fred and Chris before that too. If you are thinking about going – stop thinking and do it.

Oh yes – I did one ocean dive whilst I was here. Saw some fish.

Another morning at the beach (although this time in the rain) left me heading to join Steve and Fred at Mayan Blue. I’d heard about this cave from Bob and was keen to see it.

We arrived at the cenote amid a cloud of mosquitoes who all appeared set on having European for lunch L The water looked very green and when we jumped in I found it was warm and full of fish – the little tetras which are common here.

We did our checks and when I put my mask on to check Fred for bubbles I looked down into a shoal of fish which must have numbered several hundred. I’m really not keen on these fish – they are related to pirhana and have very visible teeth – especially when up close like this. I ask Fred and Steve to hurry up and get on with the dive so I can get away from them which amuses Fred greatly. “OK – Clare is scared of some two inch long fish so she is going cave diving instead”

We head in to A tunnel which after yesterday’s Grecian cathedral appears like a gothic nightmare. Green water with white walls and black formations which snake down the sides of the tunnel which widens out into huge rooms. Visibility is quite poor for Mexico and we go in and out of a false halocline which makes the surroundings quite surreal and the cave hard to read. I consider thumbing the dive as I find the place very eerie and uncomfortable but tell myself to pull it together and settle down.

When we surface I ask Fred why it is called Mayan Blue as it is Mayan green, dank and dirty as far as I can see. He tells me that I’ll see from the next dive.

Dive two is B tunnel and I lead us in – or at least try to. Fred has indicated where the opening is and told me it is quite tight – but I drop down over the large rock pile that he pointed to and can’t see any opening. I persevere and eventually spot a gap between two large rocks which appears to continue down – I stick my head in and sure enough there is space behind it.

I tie off on branches in open water and again just inside the cave and then set off for the main line which is reasonably easy to find. The cave goes deep quite quickly and we go below the halocline proper into salt water.

The salt water is perfectly clear and has bleached the white limestone brilliant white. The water around our torches glows blue in colour – all around – and the halocline is visible just above us for much of the dive as a white shimmering line edged with blue. Formations here are fewer in number but white and the cave broadens out to large rooms again – each shaped very dramatically by the salt water layer. We surface and the mosquitoes greet us like a long lost lunch.

I spend the morning on the beach to recharge my batteries – I’ll need them as this afternoon it’s time to go back to No Hoch J

No Hoch na Chich – this is truly the most beautiful place on earth and my first dive here earlier this year made every training dive I had ever done, every moment I had ever spent in the water, every pound I have spent on kit, worth it a thousand times over. No photograph can do this place justice, no description can ever replace going there. The one phrase I hear from divers who get to go is that it is a privilege to see something so beautiful and rare.

Today I get to pay the cave a tiny, tiny bit back for the pleasure it gives me. The Mexican Cave Diving safety committee which Danny from DIR Mexico is on, has decided that the gold line in the cave has to be replaced as it is encouraging divers to stray too far from the line thus damaging a greater section of cave. Fred has brought three reels, one full of new white line to put in the cave and two empty, to receive the gold line we take out. The work has already been started and for the first 1500 feet we just get to dive and marvel once again that nature can create something like this cave.

Eventually we get to the gold line and Fred starts to lay white line below the gold, matching it wrap for wrap. My job is to remove any line marker from the mainline and place it in an identical way on the new line below. We move along until gas limits are reached and it is time to return. It takes a few minutes to secure the new line and then Fred cuts the gold line which we have replaced – ready to connect it to the new line.

It is a funny feeling seeing a mainline cut in a cave. It sure springs back a long way.

Fred then takes out an empty reel and starts to wind in the gold line that is no longer needed. It has been a reasonably successful exercise – we fill a large reel with what we take out and hopefully it will help protect this delicate and rare environment for a bit longer.

Fred asked whether I had been to Yax Muul, I replied that I thought I had but when we arrived at the site it was new to me – I would certainly have remembered the walk and the stairs had I done them before!

Yax Muul is a very small cenote – not much more room around the small, very steep wooden ladder required to access it. The mainline, which ends up eventually in NoHoch, runs straight through it from east to west.

We headed off upstream first. The passage is very shallow and for quite a length at the start has air space above the water – which means that when the depth is less than 1 metre your fins start to break the surface if you don’t adjust. The passage winds through very decorated caves with huge rim stones – the mineral deposits left at the edge of wet areas before the caves flooded. The line was marked here and there with Styrofoam cups – not that great an idea where they had broken free from their ties and taken the line to the roof of the cave.

The shallow nature of this cave meant that the dive was long – but given that we had to swim back against some flow we had adjusted gas plans accordingly and allowed only 30 bar for the dive. We returned to our reel, recalculated gas whilst still underwater and headed off again.

Downstream the cave was much dirtier, with deposits and branches. Fred lead us slowly through a couple of small sections of passage until we reached a room beyond which only side mount divers can access. It was time to go – and time to negotiate that ladder and path again.

After recovering from that ordeal over lunch - we headed off to Dos Ojos.

Dos Ojos means two eyes – as there are two cenotes here like two blue eyes in the jungle. We entered in the Eastern eye and headed, via the cavern line, to the western eye where we recalculated gas and headed off on our main dive. There was a stark warning from Fred – get back here with more than 85 bar or we have to get out in the western eye and walk. Hmmm….. don’t need much more incentive than that to watch my gas.

Dos Ojos is very pretty so it is very popular with snorkelers and cavern divers. We saw a few groups diving the cavern line and then left them behind as we entered the cave via one of the two main lines. I’m getting formationed out at this point – how much can one diver take in one trip? – I’m also getting tired and hand over the lead on the way out as I don’t feel that my head is quite where it should be. Luckily though I have ample gas to ensure that I don’t have to hike on the surface with my gear back to the car.

Fred and I were joined by Steve from Seattle today – we would be diving as a three until Friday. We loaded up the truck and headed off to Grand Cenote.

I dived Grand Cenote’s cavern line last time I was here and it is a stunning white cavern which is highly decorated. As Fred and I had not dived with Steve before we took the opportunity to do full S drills and Valve drills before the first dive to get a measure of each other.

We did the cavern line first and then the main line. Avoiding the cavern line to get on to the mainline was the challenge here and Fred ran the reel for the team. Given that the cavern is highly decorated I expected the cave to be the same and was certainly not disappointed.

Car Wash

We left Grand Cenote and headed to Car Wash – one of my favourite caves in Mexico. The upstream line in Car Wash is 130 metres back from the entrance and tricky to find. Steve volunteered to run the reel and did well to find the line although the penalty of his hard work was that gas limits were reached soon after. Not the most satisfying dive and I made a note to ask to go back later in the week.

Al, Frase and I headed in on the downstream tunnel in Car Wash just the once last time and not for very far. This time Fred led us through quite a narrow passage and, running line all the time, down to a room at 27 metres, right at the end of the available line on the reel. This is known as the Room of the Ancients – so called as there are fire pits here where you can see the remains of fires which appear to have been laid by Mayans over 10,000 years ago before the caves flooded. It was quite something seeing wood which in places was charred round the edges, still intact and in place in hollowed out areas of rock surrounded by charcoal.

I arrive at Zero Gravity and met up with Fred Devos, who I had briefly met in Florida, and who would show me round this week. Fred is DIR Mexico’s newest GUE Fundamentals/Cave 1 Instructor but has been teaching with other cave agencies for a long time. He’s quiet and a very modest guy, who has a passion for the caves, for Mexico and for exploration which is, like everything about Fred, understated but clearly runs deep.

I was only diving in the morning on the first day so we headed to Taj Mahalwhich is a bare 100 yards from Zero Gravity along the main road – then off on to a typical jungle track. I dived Taj Mahal on my Cave 1 course but didn’t really remember it. There are two lines – one gold, one white and Fred led us off running the reel to the white line for our first dive.

It took me a few minutes to relax back into the slow steady pace required for the caves here and I was pleased that Fred ran the reel and led the dive. After 20 minutes we came to a restriction and started our return.

Second dive I led in. I knew I was looking for the gold line which would be to my left and was baffled to find the white line in the way as I was convinced that it was off to my right. Fred indicated that I was correct and I should continue - it turned out that another team had entered the cave and I had come across their reel rather than the second permanent line.

This dive is interesting as the passage which is never very deep goes very, very shallow to what is known as the DCS dome – at around 1 metre in depth. The passage then goes down again and the tunnel gets tighter – so the dive was called at this point. A relaxing and easy start to my trip. ]]> http://gledders.thedeepstop.com/2006/12/18/mexico-2006-day-1/feed/ http://gledders.thedeepstop.com/2006/11/10/getting-to-know-ginnie/ http://gledders.thedeepstop.com/2006/11/10/getting-to-know-ginnie/#comments Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:15:55 +0000 Clare Gledhill http://gledders.thedeepstop.com/2006/11/10/getting-to-know-ginnie/ If anyone suggested to me that I should dive the same wreck 17 times in a row, I’d say they were daft. How boring that would be – when there is so much to see.

So why have I done 17 dives in Ginnie Springs over the last two weeks through the same entrance and following the same mainline and, more importantly, why can’t I wait to go back. I’ve dived other sites as well while I’ve been here. But for those of you who don’t get what people find so fascinating in caves, I’m writing this as someone who is just finding out the complex and interactive relationship that a diver can have with a cave, the challenge that diving it can be and the satisfaction that one can get from the experience.

The distance that I covered is a mere scratch on the surface of what can be done experienced cave divers but the journey was, for me, wonderful fun and will always be memorable.

When I arrived in Florida, I knew from the one dive that I did in Devils’ last year that conditions would be very different from the low flow caves where I learned to cave dive in Mexico. Devil’s system in Ginnie Springs is a high flow cave – best explained as trying to dive in a hosepipe with the cave trying to spit you out as you try to get in. Flow is the movement of water from the cave out into the river that it feeds – which is why it is known as a spring. The body of water which moves through the cave is bottlenecked when the cave passage is narrow and the force of a large amount of water trying to fit through a small hole makes it move faster.

For those of you who have tried to swim against a current you will know that it is difficult and pulling on rocks to assist your entry to the cave is necessary. Let go in some tight spots and you can be flung backwards like a tumbleweed in a western movie.

To explain the journey, I should set out a bit more about the cave. When you enter through Devil’s ear you get to the main line quite quickly and enter the Gallery – a long and very tall tunnel with a scalloped roof like the chancel of a church. At the end of the Gallery you get to the Lips which is a series of large wide flat steps – very smooth and quite high flow (with not much to grab hold of).

After the lips you reach the cornflakes, I understand that they used to look like large rusty red flakes – hence the name – but they have degraded. From the cornflakes, you get to navigate the keyhole – which is a very narrow part of the main tunnel and thus particularly high flow. This is around 300 feet in and is where a lot of Cave 1 dives finish so I’ll drop off the guided tour at this point – I’ll return to that later.

My first dive in Ginnie this year was with John Kendall and Ed Gabe – two IE candidates, and Barry Mutch – and ITC candidate. We were to be diving 6ths (35 bar or 500 psi) which is the limit for Cave 1 training. We dropped in and pulled into the cave where the flow is the greatest, tied in the reel and set off – but Barry was uncomfortable in the flow and we headed back out very quickly. A second dive we got to the lips – about 150 ft in I guess. It was fun to be back in the water and we arranged to dive again the following day.

We were joined the next day by Kirril and George, two ITC candidates. George is Cave 2 so dived with Ed whilst John, Kirril and I dived together. Similar experience to before – fun diving and nice to meet new people who we can dive with easily and comfortably as they share the same training that we enjoy. It was the following day that things were going to change. Kirril, George and I went back to Devil’s and George – who knows the cave well offered to lead the dive. He dropped vertically over the side of the entrance – avoiding much of the flow, put the reel in and then headed right up into the ceiling but off to the side, hiding in the domes on the left of the gallery. Following him, ducking right in and and out of the shelter that could be found, I discovered that I could get completely out of the flow and relax. Not only did this mean that I could make progresswithout burning through my air – it was much more fun.

We dived three times that night and I found myself studying George and the way that he read the cave. We got steadily further in, through the keyhole and out the other side where the cave changes to what could almost be a river bed – running wide with a clay bottom in parts. We got past the Park Bench to a jump in the line – which I now know to be Hill 400 and thumbed it. I had gas to spare but my comfort level had been reached. Couldn’t wait to go back though!

The next few dives we relaxed and got further and further each time. Kirril and I found that when we dived together a combination of him putting the reel in and me leading the dive made the best combination. By now we were getting very comfortable and were reaching 600 feet back, various jumps off to other passages. The cave was changing too. The undercut river bed style floor was replaced with a broader passage with a traditional tunnel shape which meanders up and down over a clay/mud floor. I preferred it here and we both relaxed into the dive reaching 800 feet within our gas limits – the same limits with which we had reached a bare 150 feet on that first dive.

Each subsequent dive allowed us to learn that little bit more about the cave. Where the flow was greatest – and where protection from it could be sought. Which rocks made good pulling holds, and when to put that little extra effort in to permit a smooth passage through higher flow areas. I’ll stress again that Devil’s is not a difficult dive – in cave diving circles it is barely kindergarten and we were doing nothing that hasn’t been done by thousands before us but our journey was individual and fun for us to undertake. Our 15th dive in the system was just Kirril and I and we decided to make a separate dive to put the reel in before we ascend and recalculate sixths at that point.

We did this and I led us back in after ten minutes or so on the surface. We flew past features which had previously made our live tough in the cave – through the keyhole, on to the 800 foot marker, then the 900 foot one and with a little gas to spare on again to the Maple Leaf, a very distinct rock formation which comes down from the ceiling and has been created by the flow in the middle of a very wide part of the passage. The line carried on – round a left hand turn in the passage and I thought I could see another marker coming up which I guess would have been 1,000 feet – but we had hit turn pressure and it was time to go home. With plenty of gas we cruised out slowly – riding the flow like a gentle rollercoaster, taking time to soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the beauty of the cave. We played around in the gallery and then I took the reel and we made our way out.

Like every other dive we had done, I felt that Ginnie had enough of our presence and she spat us out through the ear once more – deco is quite interesting when you are being blown out backwards digging your fins and elbows in the sides of the cave to stop the flow shooting you up to the surface. We sheltered in the cover of a large tree trunk which has been put over the opening to allow divers to find somewhere to rest on deco at 6 meters and grinned at each other making those double OK signals which you only use when you so want to say ‘Wow, that was good’.

We went back that night and did two more dives. We didn’t get to 800 feet let alone 1,000 but somehow it didn’t matter anymore Hope you enjoyed the report and that it makes you stop and think about the wonderful world of caves.

Btw, the photos are not of Ginnie - they are of me in Little River - yet another beautiful and utterly unique system - photos taken by George Bouloukos.

Fraser and I managed to set off for Ayr very early so a quick interrogation of the Sat Nav suggested that I could go south round Birmingham and wave my husband Nigel off on his first dive of his PADI OW at Stoney Cove. We reached Loyal Watcher to find Darren (skipper) Linda (housekeeper) and Richard (deckhand) there to greet us and had a tour of the boat which was suitably impressive. Darren told us that the last week’s group had not made it to Malin at all – the weather had been too rough all week to make the crossing over the Irish Sea but he was hopeful that it would change.

Loyal Watcher

Day 1 (Sunday) was a wash out. Darren believed that the weather would be with us and so we made the crossing to Malin Head overnight but the wind was whipping in from the sea and the swell was huge. Even in the safety of Lough Swilly the boat was rocking quite alarmingly and diving was out….well nearly out – Fraser, JK and I decided to jump in and dive under the boat in 8 metres of water to weight our scooters.

Fraser and Andy

Day 2 (Monday) HMS Audacious

It was a rough ride out but waiting until late in the day meant that we could get the nod to dive.

I jumped in with Andy Kerslake and Fraser. Audacious is a battleship (Dreadnought) which lies upside down (as most do) in 66 metres. Viz was reasonable but poor for Donegal – about 15 metres and the wreck was dark due to the poor surface conditions. Numerous explosives were scattered everywhere as we swam down following Fraser on his mission to see the propellers of the wreck – which were impressive but given that they took our entire dive to get to he was not too popular!

Bob

We saw John Grogan and Bob Cooper scootering past (they covered the entire wreck) and far too soon we returned to the shot which we had to use for the initial part of the ascent to ensure that all teams were in the same body of water. Darren had agreed that we did not need to use a lazy shot so this was a compromise.

I ran deco and my long standing wish was granted to do a deco stop below the recreational diving limit (a long way under actually – our first stop was 48 metres) The ascent was uneventful bar a few small complications with AK’s stage. A good, comfortable dive which was a nice introduction to Malin Head and a bonus given the weather.

Kitting up

Day 3 (Tuesday) SS Empire Heritage

Jumped in with Andy and Fraser again, after being warned that worsening weather was on the cards and the planned scooter dive was off.

The SS Empire Heritage sank in 70 metres of water 27 miles off Malin Head in World War II complete with her cargo of Sherman tanks, military trucks and machinery. The cargo has made many describe the Empire Heritage as the Thistlegorm of northern waters and I have to say that seeing the tanks stacked up like dominos, lying where they fell 60 years ago was impressive to say the least.

The shot was by a huge Derrick which towers way above the central section of the wreck just by a large open hold. Scale is everything here – this ship was absolutely vast – bourn out by the size of her propeller and her boilers which are each as large as a house – and the stunning viz at around 20 metres helps appreciate just what a monster she was weighing in a 15,702 tins and 512 feet in length.

Deco was again uneventful and we all had plenty to reflect upon from such a stunning dive. Celebrating the fact that I had actually managed to return to the surface with the same amount of cylinders that I entered with Andy told me that my Tech 2 could be considered complete which was nice….and just in time for the Justicia – our intended dive the next day and the reason that I first approached Loyal Watcher about making the trip to Donegal.

John Grogan and Andy Kerslake

Day 4 (Wednesday) RMS Justicia

The trip out to RMS Justicia is long and was quite rough. Fraser took the brunt of this and ended up sitting out the dive at the last minute – leaving me to dive with Bob and John Kendall who would, hopefully, dive today having sat out the first two dives. Getting in with scooter, twinset and three stages was tricky – especially for John who had a large video mount rigged to his scooter.

We jumped in eventually (well sort of fell in my case) and made our way to the shot. I could already feel the effect of breathing hypoxic gas and signalled to John to drop down to 6 metres a.s.a.p. where life became more comfortable. With Bob’s arrival we made our way down to the wreck.

RMS Justicia (Royal Mail Ship) is absolutely massive at 33,000 tons and 225 metres long. She was a White Star Liner built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and was sunk by a torpedo from the UB-64 on 19 July 1918. She lies in 70 metres and is considered an advanced trimix dive which, due to her size, requires either an extended bottom time with CCR or a scooter to see the whole wreck in one dive. She is also the reason I wanted to come to Donegal and the main reason I have done all my training this year since seeing a video of a diver hanging off her bow last year.

Oh boy was this fun

We first saw her when we got to 50 metres – still a long way below us – the viz was amazing. Bob led off with me number two and John on video bringing up the rear. I had a mission to get to the bow like the diver in the video but we set off first for the props, navigating through the boilers on the way. Awesome – just awesome!

The ride to the props from amidships took a stunning 7 minutes – at around 120 feet a minute. We skirted round them, and back off up the wreck – switching off stages on the way – on and on and on – Jesus this is a big wreck. Suddenly we started seeing anchor chains and bollards, the bow must be up ahead. And then it was there – and John got a shot of me hanging off it – just like the diver in the video last year which I had found so inspiring. At this moment the quarry dives in 4 degrees in the winter getting used to multiple bottles and scooters were all worth it.

Do I look happy?

We set off back to the midsection where the shot was tied in – but John, having not dived this week, had forgotten that we are required to return to the shotline and has reached minimum gas. Bugger. We thumb the dive from the wreck and start our ascent 30 minutes after leaving the surface. Short – but oh so sweet

First stop 51 metres today – another first – and we settle in to a nice steady ascent which John runs. It is worth pointing out that I have never dived with John and have only dived with Bob once yet our training means that we can dive as a team without any issues, communication is straight forward, planning is easy, all is as comfortable as it would be with my normal team.

Suddenly at 36 metres Bob waves at me and gestures me to look behind me…..

I turn round and am face to face with a seal which has clearly come in to have a look at what all the noise is about…. John reaches for his video but too late, our visitor has left us in no doubt that he is much more suited to the environment than we will ever be and has danced away with the grace of a ballerina.

We surface 50 odd minutes later – my longest, deepest and most enjoyable dive to date.

Day 5 (Thursday) We were to return to the Audacious but the weather is against us and we got underway to Ballycastle where we would spend the night. All caught up with sleeping, eating and various logs and journals on route.

Day 6…. well more of that later