UKRS Falmouth

May 25th & 26th 2002

This trip had been organised by Jason Poynting and he had booked 12 of us aboard Cornish Diving’s hardboat, Under Pressure, skippered by Steve McEwan. In the days leading up to the trip the weather forecast didn’t look too good with winds up to force 7 and 8 being predicted. 3 of the people listed on the trip decided to make other plans for the weekend, while the 9 remaining people decided to venture forth and take whatever was on offer. 

As things turned out the really bad weather did not materialise and we managed to get out for all 4 dives, albeit not the ones that Jason had originally planned as we had to stay in the relative shelter offered by the bay. 

We were staying at the Penpol Hotel and after checking in we made our way to a local pub located in the harbour for a little light refreshment. Saturday morning saw us in the dining room of the Penpol enjoying the charm and wit of the owner’s mother. Steve Summers came in for some criticism as he had deigned to stay in bed and not come down for breakfast, a heinous crime for which he would have been severely punished if she could have got her hands on him. It seemed that we were being compared to other groups that had stayed at the hotel, including some fishermen, one of whom was apparently arrested. It seemed like she was setting us a challenge to “Beat that if you can”. 

So on to the harbour to get loaded up, Jason had decided that this trip was to be limited to single cylinders only, due to the lack of kitting up space. This was certainly true, but made up for very well by the large cabin where we could all sit in comfort. 

For the first dive we went out into the channel and dived along the ledges starting at 6 metres and working our way down to 30 metres, and back up again. Lots of crabs and starfish to see, plus dogfish which I missed. Huw Porter gave us a taste of what to expect of him on every dive, he was soaked despite wearing a “dry suit”. 

After the dive Steve took his boat back into the harbour where he prepared the lunch, plenty to eat, and much better than having to take your own food. 

For the afternoon dive we went to the Volnay, a 4609 tonne schooner rigged steamship which was sunk in 1917 by a German torpedo. A 20 metre dive onto a wreck which is quite flat. There were plenty of nooks and crannies to explore and lots of lead balls lying around. There are apparently some shell cases there but I didn’t see any of these. 

On the second day the weather had got better but we still needed to have some shelter. Steve suggested the   N G Peterson which sank in 1918 after a collision with another ship. At the time she was carrying 1900 tonnes of iron ore. 

Before we dropped in Steve said that this was a good wreck to see congers. He wasn’t wrong, within minutes we saw our first one, and other, and another. One was huge and going by the girth would probably have been 7 to 8 feet long. After this dive my buddy Daniel Taylor declared that I was probably the laziest diver that he has ever dived with, apparently I am supposed to move my fins occasionally. However that seems to be an unnecessary effort. 

After another of Steve’s lunches we paid a repeat visit to the Volnay. I only managed a 25 minute dive this time as my tank valve had presumably not been closed properly and I only had 110 bar of air. Still plenty of time to poke around and have a relaxing dive to finish the weekend. 

Thanks go out to Jason for organising the trip with a very competent dive outfit and skipper. Definitely one to put on the “must repeat” list.