Wednesday.
Caught the Castello early this morning, then the chain ferry, and made my way to Studland. A short walk to the beach: lovely, calm and not many people!
Damon and Jim pulled into the car park five minutes later. We walked down to the beach for a recce, as neither have dived Studland before, then returned to the van to don our gear. It’s a longer walk to the beach all togged and weighted, and thankfully it’s downhill!
We discuss the dive ahead and make our way to the water. I have a real problem to begin with: my BCD isn’t tight enough (I’m a bit weak with the straps) and I keep turning turtle. It takes a while to sort it out, then we make our way out to look for eelgrass.
Being new to diving, the possible loss of control in buoyancy whilst drawing could be a real problem. I am mindful of this and remain a meter above the grass throughout the dive. I’m surprised by the abundance of small snakelocks anemones. They are attached to stems of grass: all healthy, and all like little children’s sunshines. The grass is cleaner, with some darker areas and some lighter.
I keep the boys in sight at all times. Damon looks back now and then, to check I’m still there, and sits cross-legged hovering above the grass – show off! If only it was so easy. I struggle to cross my legs out of water, never mind in the water! And the last time I hovered, it was upside down?!
I make two drawings of Damon as he leads the way. The 300lb paper no longer works; it’s breaking up as I draw. The 425lb holds up well and holds the graphite for the duration. There is a dark shore crab (not as large as the Brownsea crabs) and little sand fish. Damon and Jim see snails, but we don’t come across the seahorses.
The sun sends rays through the water as we swim toward shore. Damon’s computer reads 2.5m and Jim’s going one better, at 2.8m with a 50 minute dive. It’s been good to finally see the environment I hope to work in. I thoroughly enjoyed it – even the walk back to the van, which warmed me up!
Coffee and Green & Blacks white chocolate… cool!
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