Cornwall Scubafest 2016

John and Alistair joined Fiona, Chris and Ken with their RIB from Richmond SAC in an expedition to Scubafest based at Pentewan in Cornwall. The drive down took most of Friday but wasn't too gruelling although the car was very full what with scuba kit and camping kit at the same time. Diving began on Saturday with a trip on the RIB to the wreck of the Kantoeng Dredger just outside Fowey harbour. The wreck was full of fish life although largely broken up with just the dredging buckets and large bits of superstructure left although still a good dive. After lunch back at the beach a second dive was done on Blank Head rocks which was full of life and another good dive. It was at the end of this dive that disaster struck: the RIB wouldn't start so the divers were left in the water whilst the boat crew tried paddling to them. After a little bit of a chat with the skipper of Woodpecker, a passing dive boat, the divers were out of the water and the RIB was towed back to the beach. A bit of fiddling and a call back to Richmond had the boat fixed. The evening was spent in the pub discovering just how filthy and perverted some people are over a game of Cards Against Humanity. The following day was blustery; the tractor driver wasn't sure that he could recover any launched RIBs; and it was grey and looking like rain. After discussion it was agreed to take the RIB to Fowey and launch from the harbour to try to get to the Kantoeng Dredger again. Once afloat in the rain and at the entrance of the harbour it became increasingly obvious that it was too rough for diving. After taking the boat back to the beach an enjoyable lunch and visit to the museum at Charlestown was had by all. The evening was spent at the presentation evening where Chris won a prize for his best Go-Pro photo and Alistair won third place in the splash-in photo competition.

Monday was grey and wet so diving was off and everyone drove home. Fiona took only six hours in her camper; Alistair and John had a terrible eight hour journey queuing almost everywhere on the motorways; Chris took the longest but did tow the RIB and saved two elderly camper van drivers when their van overturned in front of him. Many thanks to everyone that made the weekend so enjoyable. Particularly to Fiona for her RIB driving and paddling; the skipper of Woodpecker for saving the day; Chris for towing the RIB and saving pensioners; John for bringing a spare towel and Ken for opening my eyes to new concepts during Cards Against Humanity!