Icebreakers 2003
Stoney Cove 4th & 5th
January
This was my first attempt at “organising” a UKRS
outing. Organising in this context consisted of putting together a web page, and
gently persuading others to have their names added to the list..
My other bit of organising was advising everyone to arrive
early to make sure that they got a space in the bottom car park. More about that
later.
This year myself and several others didn’t have to have
the very early start necessary to reach Stoney before opening time. Normally I
would have had to leave home at 3:45am. However thanks to Maria Kjellen a number
of us were booked into the Ibis Hotel, this meant that we were able to have a
lie in until 5:15.
When we met up at the local pub on the Friday evening some
of the team were running late. Lou had phoned to say that they would be “there
soon” but failed to arrive until much later. Apparently they had got to within
about 2 miles of the hotel but then got lost and had an hour or so driving
around Coventry. When everyone was there I made sure that they knew that it was
imperative to get an early start so that we could get to Stoney by 6am ready for
the gates to open at 7am and be sure of a place in the bottom car park. This is
essential at Stoney, if you are not in the bottom car park you have to carry
your kit 300-400 metres. I was rooming with Huw Porter when I told him that it
was necessary to set the alarm for 5am to leave at 5:30 he suggested setting it
for 5:25. We compromised on 5:15.
So off we set through the light snow and then arrived at
6am to find only about 20 cars in front of our convoy. So my plan had worked,
prime place in the bottom car park. At this point I should point out that anyone
who arrived at ant time during the day would also have got into the bottom car
park. How was I to know that no one would want to go out on that freezing cold
January morning.
So we all stood around meeting old and new friends waiting
for the grand unveiling of Digs’ and Rob’s new Turtles. The UKRS team are
becoming easier and easier to spot as this weekend we had 8 Turtles out of the
total attendance of 38. (That was made up of 34 on the first day and 4 new ones
on the second.) I was thinking of interrogating every diver on the site to see
if they would admit to even hearing of UKRS and then claiming them in my total.
In the end I settled for the genuine ones, even though there were apparently a
further 2 lurkers there on the Saturday but didn’t make them selves known.
Kit destruction award for this weekend goes to Rich Meese.
He managed to rip his neck seal before he even got wet. He still managed 2 dives
on the first day. Obviously the concept of a “dry suit” means nothing to
Rich.
Rich also received complaints Dave Appleby because he had
the audacity to go to sleep first and SNORE. Sorry Dave you will get absolutely
no support from those of us who you have kept awake in the past with your
nocturnal noises. I hesitate to call it snoring as that would indicate there is
something natural about the sound that you give off while sleeping.
Eventually we got into the water at 9:10 (Just over 3 hours
after we arrived). I went in with Dave A, Lou, Darren, Daniel, and Maria. Dave A
was trying out his new dry suit and was with me, while the others played follow
my leader as I took them over the ledge to the Wessex, then to the
Stanegarth.(strange how EVERY dive in Stoney seems to involve the Stanegarth one
way or another) After a poke around inside it was back over to the wall and then
up the roadway onto the 7 metre shelf.
The second dive was the same team, minus Dave A. We went
down the roadway to the coach then past the Stanegarth and on to the minis. From
here to the far wall and then up the face to the 4 metre blockhouse and return
to home along the shelf.
That evening saw us back in the same pub again causing
mayhem and confusion for the kitchen staff. After being informed that several
things that we had ordered were not available the manager gave us 2 bottles of
wine to compensate for the delay.
Again my organisational skills were called upon when
deciding what time to leave the hotel the following morning. I decided that due
to the car park not being full on the Saturday, we could decide to leave a
little later on the Sunday. But not much as I pointed out because Stoney is
always busier on the Sunday. I was therefore decided to leave at 6:30 to get
there just as they were opening at 7am.
Huw decided to ignore my good advice and stay in bed the
following morning, the fool he was going to have a long walk with his kit. Most
of the others arrived at 7am and got prime places again in the bottom car park.
It was very cold and no one seemed too keen to get in the water. I think I
eventually managed it at about 10am. Just after Huw arrived at Stoney and still
got into the bottom car park. However I don’t think he really enjoyed the
extra 3 hours in bed.
My buddies for today were Kiril, Adrian and Kieran, 3 guys
we were on their first UKRS outing. Just hope that I haven’t put them off any
further trips. I led the dive over the edge of the drop off to 20 metres and
promptly turned the opposite way to what we had planned. But through expert
navigation (pure luck) I still got us to our intended destination. Yes it was
the Stanegarth again. Another poke around inside then back to the Wessex and up
the wall to the 7 metre shelf.
A couple of our intrepid team were converted to the “dark
side” today. Maria and Dave were tempted to go in with twinsets. I well
remember using Digs’ twinset at the last Icebreakers and ended up buying one
within a couple of months. So you two had better realise that you will soon be
paying a visit to the dive shop.
Just as I was preparing to go in for the second dive Nigel
said that he was leaving. Unfortunately he didn’t get too far as he had left
his lights on and his battery was now flat. Fortunately he was able to call on
the combined force of UKRS to push his car. One person who shall remain nameless
suggested pushing into the water as a new attraction.
Second dive was down the roadway to the coach and then
another visit to the Stanegarth and then back to the wall and up the face to the
Nautilus. While on the way back to the exit point we came across a large pike
which we followed for a while.
All in all a good weekend and the opportunity to meet old
friends and also make some new ones. The weather was reasonably good albeit
cold. Water temp was 8 degrees which isn’t bad for this time of the year.
Those of us remaining met up at the pub afterwards before going our separate ways, traffic was kind and I got home in about 2 hours 20 minutes.
Many thanks to Chris for the use of the pics. For others see his web page.