Dive 2 Mohegan and Raglans Reef. Depth 25m, Run time 35 minutes.

After the stunning visibility of the City of Ghent, the vis was maybe a little disappointing on the second dive of the day which was back on the Mohegan and Raglans Reef. Lisa decided to sit this one out as her suit had leaked again and although she was still nice and warm she didn’t want to chill going in on the second dive. So I was buddied with Tim Ingmire of digigreen.net fame and Mark Milburn . Both photographers, so I imagined that I would end up losing one of both of them, as they stopped to take pictures on what I knew was going to be a very colourful reef. I was half right, on reaching the sea bed after a free ascent over the Mohegan, Tim and I had lost Mark already, however Tim and I managed to stay together for the rest of the dive. We stayed for a few minutes over the Mohegan but were soon onto Raglans. As Tim had his camera with him, I took on the SMB duty, and duly deployed my bag as we drifted off the wreck. This time I stayed purposely to the left of the reef, so as to keep out of the kelp and on the more exposed element of the reef which would show off the jewel anemones as they filtered the passing current. After drifting over the exposed faces for 15 minutes or so, I was surprised that we hadn’t stopped more, I had only seen Tim set up once for a shot and had expected to see the strobes going off a little more, as the reef was in excellent colour and splendor. After a few minutes more it became apparent to me why Tim wasn’t taking any shots. I had stopped for him to catch me up, the vis was a good 8-10m so wasn’t difficult to see him, as he got closer I noticed his camera upturned and Tim holding it very steady. It was only then that I saw the dome port full of water. I am sure I gave out a little yelp, as I realised his camera setup was flooded. I signalled to abort the dive and ascend, to which he agreed and we ascended slowly back to the awaiting Celtic Cat.

And that was that, the last remaining task for us as a family was to pack up and head home. The rest of the group who were staying on for Sunday started the BBQ, by the time the tent was down and the car and trailer packed, it was well and truly underway. Although all of the scallops had gone!!!! So we bid farewell to everyone and headed off home. Four or so hours later a weary family pulled up at the house, well probably I was just weary, everyone else had slept the entire journey!

I love diving Porthkerris, especially when the sea conditions are as they were this past weekend. This season Mike Anselmo, skipper and owner of the Celtic Cat has invested (and a superb investment it is too) in a purpose built two diver lift which nestles in between the two water level dive platforms at the rear of the Catamaran. I really cannot over emphasize just how good this lift is. It comes deep in the water allowing exceptionally easy access and is smooth and jerkfree in it’s operation. Chatting with Mike on Saturday he explained how already this year, he has been able to go out in heavier swells than he would previously because of the ease of operation of this lift. I can see how.

In addition Mike has also fitted 3 kitting up benches, that make life so much easier on board particularly with twinsets and stages. This was previously a very good dive boat, mainly because of it’s skipper and the space on board. But since the introduction of the lift and the benches, it is now an excellent dive boat.

To book Celtic Cat, or any of the rib dives or camping and shore dives visit http://www.porthkerris.com/

Popularity: 100% [?]