Lou removes Dave's trousers in Pembrokeshire

(18th February 2001)

Today's Gang: Steve J, Dave, Lou and Andy

The car actually started first time which was a bit of a surprise as it has been a sod to get going over the last three months. After a bit of meandering around central Bristol, I eventually (with Lou's mobile-telephony help) found where she was so I could give her a lift to a new dive-site. After meeting up with Dave and Steve (Iron Man) Jones at Port Abraham services, we then had the mammoth task of keeping up with them as Dave insisted on accelerating away from us at junctions. I could add here that he had been booked for speeding just minutes before we met up !

That was the first bit of bad-luck of the day !

The next pitfall happened not too long afterwards. With Dave leading the way through a series of little villages (and a wrong turning towards Tenby rather than Haverfordwest) the clutch-cable went on my car (again!). After phoning the AA, Lou managed to get herself and her kit into Dave's car so they could continue with the diving at Martin's Haven, Marloes which was another 25 miles distant. After ten minutes alone, which was barely enough time to get the high-score on 'Galaxians', the AA van arrived. An hour later, I was on my way with a temporary-fix done on the cable.

(Incidentally, many thanks to the lady whose bungalow I had broken down outside. The endless offers of coffee and the use of the facilities was welcomed - although not taken)

That was the second bit of bad-luck of the day !

Via Marloes Sands (which was the wrong car-park) I arrived at Martin's Haven just as Steve, Dave and Lou were descending. Not having much else to do, I took some pictures............

If you look closely at the first three of these pictures, you should be able to make out their bubble-trail. The gap between those and the fourth picture contained a rather entertaining sequence where all three of them got separated, surfaced, descended, surfaced yards apart, etc....

Eventually - and separately - they all arrived back on the shore, just in time for the next occurrence of the day...............

What do you get if you mix a car with a pebble-bank ???......

....The Third bit of bad-luck of the day !

Dave had tried to turn around on the pebbles. It took eight of us to push while Lou (being the smallest and lightest) did the gears. Eventually, after much hassle, the car was free. It was now time to pack up and move on to our next destination.

It was a short drive to St. Brides around some very narrow lanes and lots of gear-changes (much to Lou's and my worries about the clutch-cable). On arriving, Dave could not find his Suunto. After all of us had had a pillage around his car and the various kit-bags/boxes, the hunt was over and Dave resigned himself to the fact that he still had his health although he would need to depend on Steve's computer for the next dive........

That was bad-luck portion number four !

St. Bride's was quite a nice spot (as was most of the Dyfed countryside that we saw). The only snag was that there was sod-all visibility in the water

(The fifth and final bit of bad-luck!)

Steve and Dave disappeared, leaving Lou and myself to try to stay together (which we succeeded in doing) even though my feet came out of the drysuit boots, leaving my fins going in allsorts of non-productive angles. We saw a starfish each but not much else. I think Lou's highlight of the day was taking Dave's drysuit off for him !

All in all, it was a crap day for diving but we will return when we have a promise of better vis.! I apologise for the lack of the gratuitous pub scene but I had to use two of the batteries from the camera for my torch (which was no good in that pea-soup anyway!)