Stoney Cove

A midweek trip somewhere had been on the cards for a while and Stoney Cove was suggested. Len was quite keen to get back there after last years diving there where he broke his leg!!! Also the conditions at Stoney were being reported on as excellent so it seemed like a good idea.

Next it was waiting to see who would be available and a suitable date. The 3rd of February was selected as it was Geoff’s birthday and he fancied a dive, also it seemed to suit a few people. The group ended up as Len, Gareth and Geoff, heading down in one car.

That morning saw temperatures of minus 5 as we loaded up the car and we all wondered what we were doing in this weather.  The trip down was fairly steady and we arrived at Stoney just after it opened. It was great, only a few other mad fools had decided to dive that day so the car park was virtually empty. We got our air fills and did a brief of the dive plan we had decided on. It had warmed up a bit and the temperature was now a balmy minus 3!!

As part of our preparation for Scapa in July we planned to dive the deep hydrobox at 35 metres if the conditions were good enough, and on the second dive bimble around the area of the Stanegarth.  The visibility was at least 10 metres so we decided the hydrobox was worth doing. Also as there was no one else in the water yet, it would be fairly clear.

An orange buoy marks a line leading down to the deep hydrobox - a large metal structure about 5 metres tall with a round entrance on top, it is designed to provide a dry working environment for welding and other tasks. If the hole is closed, the box can be filled with air, and then divers enter the box through the gap between the floor and the sides to work.

After breaking the ice in the bucket to rinse our masks we jumped in and did a surface swim to the line down to the hydrobox, got settled and then descended. The top of the hydrobox was visible from just over 20 metres which was great. We continued down to the top and bottom of the box and had a general mooch around before heading back up the long road. During our trip back we found a couple of imitation rifles that were being used for some search training. We arrived at the Viscount cockpit to do a safety stop (and write Happy Birthday to Geoff) and then got out, to try and warm up a bit.

After an hour of warming up/eating/chatting we decided it was time to brave the water again. This time we were heading for the area of the land rover/Stanegarth/bus for a mooch around. Again the visibility was great and we took a few pictures whilst diving and then headed back to the 6 metre ledge/Viscount area for a safety stop.

A few pictures

Happy Birthday to Geoff

On the Stanegarth

Safety stop on the Viscount

ALWAYS REMEMBER!!!!