The First Day
Paul(2) G (who had to drop out from the weekend) asked on the SubVenture
list:
> For those of us invalided out of the trip (and their spouses) could
> someone very briefly fill in the gaps in the post trip review.
>
> Especially please explain Surfing, Exmouth (God forbid - I grew up
> there) and Dislocations. I am also somewhat curious about the lack of
> any clear references to Lundy.
I saw Lundy on the Saturday morning when I went for a walk up the hill and looked out
from beside the flagpole. Mind you, I also saw mushrooms up there (including, I think,
Psilocybin sp.)
If anyone wants to contribute their trip report (no, silly, for Devon) then that would
be great, and I'll put it on the website.
Nobody has yet, so you just get...
My version:
The weather forecast had sounded ominous but we thought we'd go to Ilfracombe anyway and
hope for the best. Before any of us arrived, our skipper had dropped into the hotel and
told them we wouldn't be needing our packed breakfasts on Saturday morning 'cos the
journey to Lundy would be blown out.
Anyway, the group assembled in the bar until closing time plus a bit then moved to the
residents' lounge and had a few more drinks. Suddenly it was 2am and we agreed to meet up
at breakfast to discuss contingency plans. It was noticeable that the masts of the boats
in the harbour, just outside the lounge windows, were swaying around very impressively.
Saturday morning: eventually the skipper turned up to talk to us and cancelled the
Sunday trip as well. Real local seadog - we'll see if we can charter him for a weekend in
May or thereabouts. His friend Don who handles the bookings wasn't anywhere to be found so
I couldn't check dates or get our refund cheque yet.
Paul Ftn had been on the phone and it sounded more optimistic on the South Devon coast
with a chance of diving with Southwest Divers on their RIB from Exmouth. The Ilfracombe
hotel was OK about letting us just pay for the one night and go, so we packed hurriedly
and decided to head south for Saturday night.
But what about the rest of Saturday? Well, there were plenty of waves so surfing
sounded plausible. Much uncoordinated driving around led to one group hiring bodyboards at
Croyde bay and going to Saunton to surf, but via Putsborough to look for the others. Who
were actually already surfing at Croyde having sneakily hidden their cars in the Baggy
Point NT carpark. Got that? Good.
Tim meanwhile had volunteered to stay in the pub at Croyde and watch the rugby. This
was actually, of course, his modest way of offering his services as rescue coordinator.
Time passed (not much though). Even the surf was rather poor given the strong northerly
winds, dumping rather than rolling and being very broken up. To be honest, Angharad and I
never actually got round to going in. Meanwhile Sarah's donning of a drysuit to go
bodyboarding did impress various people in the Saunton carpark.
Back in Croyde bay, Paul E had been getting his feet back on a hired board. "It's
all in the pop" they had said, but unfortunately the pop was all in his shoulder.
Things got more confused at this point, but Paul Ftn took Paul E to Barnstaple hospital
and left him there. Tim rescued Kim from a surfshop and hypothermia. Nick F rescued his
deposit by returning the hired bodyboards. Sarah rescued her phone charger from the hotel
back in Ilfracombe and Nick F rescued our reputation by paying Angharad's hotel bill which
they had forgotten to add to mine. The hospital anaesthetised Paul E to remove his wetsuit
and replace his arm, then gave all the bits back to Tim.
We all ended up back in the pub in Croyde, at which point Paul Fr and Nick &
Christine escaped towards London where they had remembered they had a party to go to.
Eventually Southwest Divers called again with a weather update, and it still sounded
good, so we drove south and reconvened at the Dolphin Hotel in Exmouth
("diver-friendly" and very nice, too). Thence to the Ganges restaurant to sample
the local cuisine past various pubs which it was interesting to look at from the outside
and one where it was feasible to go in for a drink.
Then on Sunday we just went diving...
The Sunday
The eight remaining divers had two excursions on Southwest's excellent Rebel.
This is one of the biggest and best RIBs I have ever been on, well equipped and very
spacious.
The dives (times and depths are those that I logged):
