After a few one day trips and the extravagance of Malta (even if the weather was a bit rubbish!), it was time to hit the UK again and our first 2 day trip into UK waters – Weymouth.

Friday night on the M3 is never going to be fun, but eventually everyone got to Weymouth and the pub (after navigating the new road network around Weymouth – as it tries to ready itself for the Olympic Sailing Events), and after a reasonable night’s sleep we all trawled down to our adopted home for the 2 days, the immaculate Outrage skippered by the experienced Rod Thompson.

Day One saw a trip around the Bill to the M2, a WWI submarine which went down in a training exercise.

Unlike previous trips to the wreck (which is great and fully intact due to the nature of it’s sinking), the viz wasn’t too poor and so we ended up having a very nice dive and for once, got a chance to venture into the hanger on the top of the wreck where the biplane was stored.

A nice drift to the bow to see the torpedo tubes before popping the blob and getting back up top.

Everyone agreed it was a great dive (bar Ali who had a regulator issue and didn’t dive) and were merrily chatting away and enjoying some scrummy cake when the skipper announced we had to return to the wreck as he’d forgotten the shot! Apparently this is the first time ever he’s done it… we must be rather distracting! Alas, this added an unnecessary journey which, due to the bouncyish nature of the sea, lead to a few casualties (of the seasickness nature).

Dive 2 was a ripping drift around the bill which at times was a little bit too ripping – but exhilarating all the same, and we soon headed back into harbour after a fun day. The evening was spent swapping stories at the pub and then down at the great Balti House curry emporium (even after they stated that prawns would be ideal for a vegan!).

Day 2 was just as nice with the first dive on the Wreck of the Elena R.

Again we were blessed with good visibility and much fun was had routing around in the nooks and crannies of the ship. Quite a few lobsters were spotted, one particularly grumpy one (albeit this was probably due to Ali hitting it on the head with her torch!).

We then motored over to Lulworth Cove for a very nice surface interval before heading off for a nice scallop dive. The current and viz weren’t great, but Ruth and Andy won the “scallopers of the day” with a majestic haul (over 60!). A nice ride back to port and before we knew it, everyone was heading home.

Thanks to Ness for organising a great trip, Rod for his boat (albeit not for his shot retrieval!), and everyone who came and contributed to a great weekend…