Christina and I sent off for Plymouth at 7.30 am. Our plan was to avoid most of the morning rush hour on our journey to Fort Bovisand, Plymouth. The weather forecasts at the start of the weekend had promised cold, mixed weather. Our journey to the south west showed you can only trust the weather that you can see, as we enjoyed warm, golden autumn sunshine and the beauty of the English countryside.   

We arrived at our destination at lunchtime and met up with Lisa who had travelled to Plymouth via Newquay, Cornwall. Our home for the weekend was just a few minutes drive away at a small, smart caravan site.  We had a modern three bedroom static caravan. It was very comfortable for a weekend but I would not like to spend any longer in one, not with five other persons. Once settled, it was back to Fort Bovisand harbour at the foot of the hill and a slow kit–up to enable the incoming tide to fill harbour. Christina and I completed a shallow dive here around the base of the wall and just outside into the Sound. The visibility was about 7 metres with plenty of animal life to provide interest. Once back into the harbour, we were joined by Lisa who guided Christina through diver rescue skills with me acting as the casualty.  

Christina made good progress with her training and I survived to join her and Lisa in our return to the caravan for our evening meal. Various members of the diving party, from both Batsac and  Sasac, arrived between 8 and 11pm and were settled into their own respective caravans.  

On Saturday morning we arrived at the harbour to prepare our kit and load the boat, Red Alert, from which we would be diving this weekend. Red Alert is a hard boat of fibreglass construction, with a large enclosed forward cabin and a diver lift at the stern. Luxury, just how it should be!  

We were enjoyed our journey along Plymouth Sound with a calm sea and the sun shining. Our first dive was on the James Egan Layne, the iconic WW2 American liberty ship. She crossed the Atlantic and although torpedoed and still afloat, sank whilst being towed into Plymouth. The JEL sits upright in 24 metres of water and although the upper part of the ship was cleared by wire sweep to avoid it being a danger to ships and boats, it’s still a large ship.  The top of the bow at 8 metres hosts the shot line to the surface. Once there, it’s a matter of adjusting your buoyancy to begin your exploration of the ship at your chosen depth. The holds still contain war material and are open to inspection by swimming through the sides of the ship where the plating has disintegrated and in between the beams which make up the ship’s structure. The JEL was as good as I remember it to be from my last dive there.  Although the visibility was only about 4 metres at the bow of the ship, it improved as we swam towards the stern. I noted the seabed alongside the JEL was littered with some very large sections of hull and there was a large vertical crack towards the stern of the largest portion of the wreck. This I suppose is only to be expected as the JEL has been underwater for 66 years and disintegration is a progressive and dynamic action of shipwrecks.  

My dive partner on this trip, Drew (from St Albans SAC) and me were the first pair into the water and were the first pair to surface. This enabled us to enjoy the best viz on the wreck and on our return to the dive boat, lots of space to de-kit and the first cups of tea from the skipper. All the other divers rejoined us and the boat made for a nearby small bay, for our surface interval and pasty lunch.  

The second dive was on HMS Scylla, an ex Royal Navy frigate, purposely sunk as a diver attraction. The Scylla is just 800 metres from the JEL. It’s at a similar depth and has had holes cut in the upper hull and superstructure to provide diver access. It’s a great dive but can be dangerous if you do decide to penetrate the ship. Dredged material from Plymouth Sound has been dumped in Whitsand Bay and in consequence more silt appears to have found its way into the interior of the ship. Divers have become lost within it and died when they have been unable to find their way out and exhausted their air. The Scylla presents a wealth of enclosed and overhead obstruction scenarios with no clear access to the surface. These should only be attempted if you are a trained and experienced diver capable of dealing with such conditions.  

Bearing in mind the challenging conditions of the Scylla, Drew and I explored the outer companionways of the ship, venturing inside only those areas with a clear visible exit which could be seen from our entrance. We also visited the helicopter hanger with the sunshine roof, (ripped off by some poor seamanship and heavy tackle) and the bridge area of the ship. Once again it proved an enjoyable and successful dive.  

On our return to Fort Bovisand harbour, Christina continued her diver rescue skills training, this time with Drew as her pretend casualty.  

Our Saturday evening was spent at a local pub, for a communal dinner, just around the corner from the caravan park. No one mentioned that “just around the corner” meant a three quarters of an hour uphill walk. It was plain to see that most of us are grossly unfit! It was not until our return journey, taking only 20 minutes in the dark, that I realised how steep the hills were that we had previously walked up.  

On Sunday morning, during our boat journey along the Sound, we passed a small herd of pale coloured deer, high above us on the cliffs. We were returning to the JEL as everyone was happy to expand on their dive of the previous day. Drew and I decided to swim to the detached stern of the ship where neither of us had been previously. All the other divers of our party appeared to have stayed closer to the shot line on the bow as we did not see anyone else during our dive. I was particularly impressed by seeing the drive shaft between the engines and where the propeller should have been in its readily identifiable tunnel.  

Once all divers had safely returned to the boat, an early lunch was served before motoring back to the circular fort just behind the breakwater across the middle of the Sound. Some circuits of the fort showed lots of wildlife and an amazing amount of junk at its base.  

A short journey back to the harbour and some speedy unloading ensued, allowing the skipper time to moor the boat before the outgoing tide drained the harbour of water.  

A greatly enjoyed weekend thanks to continuous good weather and organisation by Lisa.   

Bob.