In June, the club went to spend a weekend diving in Portland on skin deeper. It was our second weekend of the year. The first in April was very dark and with very strong current. So we were all very hopeful.
And that was Corinne’s experience….
It’s a family tradition that I always provide hand-dived scallops on Christmas Day as a starter, so I was on a mission on 23rd April. Terry and I were doing well on Lulworth Banks, then my goody bag snagged and I lost it – curses!
Terry bought a brand new, impressively large, bag that evening. The next day we were supposed to dive the St Dunstan, but visibility was so poor that we lost the wreck at the bottom of the shot line. No matter, we did a nice reef instead and found a monkfish (my first in 30 years’ diving!) and…. scallops. Lots of them. However, the new goody bag was on the boat, so we only got the 4 we stuffed in pockets.
On 4th June we were due to do the St Dunstan again. This time, we hatched a cunning plan – do half the time on the wreck and the rest scalloping. Brandishing his brand new goody bag, Terry and I again found loads, which we hooked onto the reel. At the end of the dive, Terry reeled up and seemed to be finding it more difficult than usual. The reason was obvious on deck – 43 scallops! A tad over-enthusiastic? We shared them out of course. Christmas Day sorted!
Cover photo by Photo by Henry Perks (unsplash).
