And so to the dives. The stunning visibility I had been expecting was hidden behind the silt. Lots of silt. We dropped down the stern shot and met up, OK'd and headed off along the port side, wreck to the right, rocks to the left. The vis was appalling, but we were up close so it was not too much of a problem. The Countess has a decent amount of life clinging to her and we found large crabs, flatworms and I think I spotted a nudibranch, but as I looked away to check on buddies I lost sight of it and that was that. The most significant part of the first part of the dive was my torch going out. Had I flicked the swich off, had it flooded (please no!) I flicked the switch and it came back to life and then it went off again. A third time and the same thing, so I clipped the light head of, tried to put aside thoughts of replacement costs and get on with the dive. And ironically enough, as this is an easy dive and one that can be done torch-free even in very low vis, and as I was rushing to make it on time I did not attach the scout backups. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

We reached the pointy end and ascended to the top of the wreck and started the return aong the top and over the holds. I passed up on the first couple of oportunities to drop into the holds - vis was very poor, but could not resist the third. I know that the swim throughs are not too tight and even in very low vis we should be able to see the glow of the open exit points. Vis was that poor that even if we kicked up the silt - and there is a lot - it could not be much worse. We dropped down and I slowly poked my head into the gloom. Yep, exit glow was visible so through we went. We passed through a couple of holds then exitted. I came out first, then Sean. No Scott. I was about to drop back in and look for him when I thought I'd have a quick look outside. I motioned to Sean to stay put and then headed back along the top of the wreck, Scott was there, so the three of us grouped up again and continued the dive.

We did another swim through on the way back ad had a general bimble. There is enough life on and around the wreck to keep you interested for 45 minutes, so all in all not a bad dive. And back on shore I found that the torch had not flooeded but the battery waf flat. I later read the manual (yes, I know) and found that I had probably not charged the thing fully. The charger will swap between the charged and charging light while cycling so I reckon I had removed the battery early when the charged light was lit but the charge cycle not complete. You live and learn. Nina at UE put the battery on charge so I would have a little oomph for dive 2.

Another leisurely motor across the harbour and we were over the Landing Craft. Just five of us on Saracen this time, so a bit more room to get kitted. Over and down we found similar vis to dive 1, although right on the sand and when the sun poked out from behind a cloud it di appear to be clear for a brief moment. The back down to very poor. The landing craft has two flat and no pointy end, but there is a large door to the stern and this is were we started the dive. We made our way along the starboard side and then kept going, trying to find another nearby wreck. My bottle went before we found it, so we turned tail and headed back to the main wreck.

The Landing Craft is quite intact and has plenty of bits still on it - engine bits, winch stuff, cables and so on. It also has a reasoble amount of life attached to it so makes a pleasant, easy dive. The highlights (for me) came late on and were a patch of jewel anenomes on the underside of the back door, which I lit up before the battery died on me again, and then right at the end of the dive a Tompot Blenny. One of the cutest fish in the sea, and a nice way to end the dive.

The final notable momentwas on our safety stop. I looked at Sean and Scott in their plates and wings and though how clean the setup was and how slick they looked in the water. Much better than the guy in the Fenzi from dive 1, who had suicide clips all over the place, a safety clip, one of the 'flag-on-a-pole' things I keep seeing and other horrific items dangling. But he has been diving for years and has alwasy come back, so there you go. Worst gear offence of the weekend was the dual inflator bugeed 100lb lift wings on the single tank. Shocking, and I am glad they were not on our dives.

And that was it. Gear off and washed, feet dried out and back on the road.