It did not look very inviting as it was raining windy and cold but I think the chance to dive Windermere for the first time for some helped keep the enthusiasm going. We checked in with the Warden to find as usual the launching price had gone up but they also now want you to report in as we do at sea by VHF. At first it looked like a dive to Blake Holme would be off but we put our nose out and had a look. Still windy but not bad so off we went at the regulation 10mph and a bit.

When we got to Blake Holme our regular mooring buoy was still there so we moored up to let the divers kit up. Now my brief was the usual one for this dive down the mooring chain swim due East over the bank and turn left to follow the rock face and would you belive it they all managed it. I have to say it was probably better underwater than on the surface with one squall after another passing through with wind and driving rain. Contacting the Warden by VHF proved a bit of a problem as we must have been in a local dead area as I finally managed to get hold of him with the boat in the middle of the lake.

Our divers lasted about the usual thirty minutes with Dave and Daniel surfacing first close to the island. When I got to them they were low in the water then as I approached the stood up but being two big lads I had plenty of water under the boat. I got Daniel into the boat only to find that Dave had dropped his weight belt in about one and a half meters of water, now any diver with no weight belt is pretty useless when trying to get underwater. Dave tried several times to get down to his weight belt but was getting no where so I gave him Daniels weight belt and with that in one hand he managed to retrieve his weight belt in the other hand. By this time Stuart and Andy had surfaced so we picked them up and started a debrief. Whilst the visibilty was good down to about six meters by the time you got to twenty six meters it was getting a bit dark. However as usual there were lots of Perch in the water with one Pike, now Dave had said before the dive that he had fished for Pike in this area and never caught one so he must have been doing something wrong?

Anyway by this time everyone was getting very cold so we got back to the slip recovered the boat in record time and headed off to the Gateway Hotel. It was very pleasant with a pint of Wainwright and some very good food I can not wait to go again. So look out for any future trips to Windermere as it is a good day out with some reasonable diving and good company.

Divers - Dave Hadwin Daniel Hadwin Stuart Corless Andy Copeland