Imagine
the scene. All is peace and tranquillity in the retirement
household. I have just returned from "minding" my brother's
pub for two weeks (free ale!) and have consigned the
resultant pile of dirty clothing to the washing machine.
Nothing to do for a while but relax in my chair and muse on
this and that. The phone goes - it is Vikki - would I like
to got to the South of France for a week? Too true I would.
"When?" I ask.
"We leave Sunday, early in the morning." Comes the
reply…Today is Friday and tomorrow I have promised to "mind"
the AKS dive shop in Conway. Better start packing then.
"O.K."
Saturday consists
of dashing to Conway (early!), dashing back (6pm), bolting
my dinner, loading the rapid transport system, rocketing to
Staines, loading my gear into Trevor's van (11pm) and going
to bed. Sunday dawns bright and early (too bl----y early -
0430!) and off we go to Dover. Luckily Trevor finds Dover
too and I transfer to his 4 wheel drive VW van, clutching a
walkie talkie. One sea voyage and a dried up French version
of the standard "Full English" later, and we are in France.
Vikki had described the wonderful views to be enjoyed as we
drive down the backbone of France in glowing terms; just as
well - it was misty all the way.
We
arrive and find a Hotel with rooms available before setting
straight off to the dive site. French dive sites, in my
very limited experience, seem to feature rough tracks, open
fields and possibly a pond in a wood, this one was no
exception. The entrance to the cave is underwater and a bit
of a squeeze, so Vikki took Trevor in for a quick
orientation. Back at the Hotel Martin is discovered sneaking
dive gear into the room via the fire escape. The red haired
lady proprietor is unimpressed and Martin is roundly
rollocked because of his muddy boots. This sets the
atmosphere for the whole visit (frosty).
Tuesday morning
we have breakfast in a field (cornflakes), later we have
lunch in the same field (Not Poodle – V). Eating in a field
becomes a habit. Today the cave is "loaded". I ferry
cylinders to the cave mouth and pass them down to Vikki. It
was a tough dive - I was down to nearly 2.5m! Martin had a
long and deep dive to do, far into the cave, to drop a
scooter and cylinders. Vikki and Trevor meanwhile dropped
cylinders in the first section. This was Trevor's first
cave dive of this kind and lasted two hours - his comments
as he came out? - I quote - "Bloody 'ell Ed"
Wednesday,
the day of the BIG PUSH, and we awake to SNOW!! This
definitely was not in the brochure. The drive to the site
is over a plateau covered in snow but as we approach the top
of the hill that winds down into the valley we can see that
“our" valley has no snow in it at all - God has smiled on
the venture. We stop in the field and, as has become second
nature, eat breakfast. The next priority is to get Martin
off on his big dive. He suits up, slips down the hole, and
Vikki follows to help him clip on all those cylinders he
needs. Once he has gone, Vikki and Trevor do a one hour
dive to drop off some more cylinders, and then the waiting
begins in earnest. There are things to do but everyone is
mentally thinking about where Martin might be and what he
might be doing. After he has been away three hours Vikki
starts a regime of periodically popping into the cave to see
if Martin has returned. At the four hour mark Trevor takes
a turn and reports back that Martin is not there yet. Vikki
is now visibly anxious and suggests that she and Trevor
should get back into their rebreathers in case they need to
go further into the cave to meet Martin. Just then bubbles
are seen seeping through the rocks and Trevor pops down once
more to confirm that Martin has returned to the deco point
and all is well. Good we can all breathe easy now. Martin
still has four (yes four) more hours of deco to do but in
the meantime some cylinders and one scooter can be extracted
from the cave so there is still activity in the camp. By
now it has fallen dark and the generator is purring in the
background. At last Martin emerges after 8 ½ hours (during
which time V & T have each spent over 4 hours underwater and
been in the cave 13 times!) cold but safe having laid 200m
of line at over 120m depth and over 1 mile into the cave.
Everyone is fed and we all go home. Back at the Hotel the
night watchman, the only hotel employee who is friendly
towards us, is persuaded to liberate a few bottles of wine
to celebrate with. Altogether a good day.
Thursday
is a day off so we rise a little tardily. Breakfast was
going to be in our room but the chambermaid shooed us out so
I eat mine in the reception/lounge area. This occasions
double barrelled black looks from the proprietor AND the
waitress, it would kill a lesser man but by then I am
immune. A sightseeing tour is planned for today - guess
what? - yep, it's to a dive sight. This sight is truly
spectacular and is in a gorge (1300m down a mountain) at the
bottom of which is the source of a River. Water gushes in
the proverbial torrents from the rocks and in the past an
enterprising soul has built a water mill to take advantage.
We scramble round it all and then find the entrance to the
diveable cave. Down we squeeze into a short dry section,
stretch over a pool and there it is. A very small pool
about the size of a pub billiard table. The people who do
these things must be mad. We go off to a nearby town to
eat an outstandingly brilliant meal and drive back in a true
blizzard (well Trevor does - the rest of us just shut our
eyes and pray).
Friday and the
remaining cylinders etc need to be extracted from the cave.
The overnight snow has fallen on to ice and we are worried
about that winding steep hill into the valley. We make it
all thus far but the track to the dive sight beats the Vito
and Trevor's 4x4 van is needed to do a bit of towing. A
long dive for Martin again and a lesser one for V and T and
all is safely gathered in. This is a VERY cold day - Vikki
has icicles forming in her hair - we estimate the
temperature to be well below freezing. Similar towing
arrangements and an alternative (read flatter) and very
picturesque return route and we’re back at
the hotel somewhat relieved and completely exhausted.
And then we went
home.
Oh? The Sun, Sand
and Sea - there wasn't any.
& the coddled
sausage? - That’s a tale best left for long dark cold
winter nights.
Techdiveshop.co.uk
Imagine
the scene. All is peace and tranquillity in the retirement
household. I have just returned from "minding" my brother's
pub for two weeks (free ale!) and have consigned the
resultant pile of dirty clothing to the washing machine.
Nothing to do for a while but relax in my chair and muse on
this and that. The phone goes - it is Vikki - would I like
to got to the South of France for a week? Too true I would.
We
arrive and find a Hotel with rooms available before setting
straight off to the dive site. French dive sites, in my
very limited experience, seem to feature rough tracks, open
fields and possibly a pond in a wood, this one was no
exception. The entrance to the cave is underwater and a bit
of a squeeze, so Vikki took Trevor in for a quick
orientation. Back at the Hotel Martin is discovered sneaking
dive gear into the room via the fire escape. The red haired
lady proprietor is unimpressed and Martin is roundly
rollocked because of his muddy boots. This sets the
atmosphere for the whole visit (frosty).
Wednesday,
the day of the BIG PUSH, and we awake to SNOW!! This
definitely was not in the brochure. The drive to the site
is over a plateau covered in snow but as we approach the top
of the hill that winds down into the valley we can see that
“our" valley has no snow in it at all - God has smiled on
the venture. We stop in the field and, as has become second
nature, eat breakfast. The next priority is to get Martin
off on his big dive. He suits up, slips down the hole, and
Vikki follows to help him clip on all those cylinders he
needs. Once he has gone, Vikki and Trevor do a one hour
dive to drop off some more cylinders, and then the waiting
begins in earnest. There are things to do but everyone is
mentally thinking about where Martin might be and what he
might be doing. After he has been away three hours Vikki
starts a regime of periodically popping into the cave to see
if Martin has returned. At the four hour mark Trevor takes
a turn and reports back that Martin is not there yet. Vikki
is now visibly anxious and suggests that she and Trevor
should get back into their rebreathers in case they need to
go further into the cave to meet Martin. Just then bubbles
are seen seeping through the rocks and Trevor pops down once
more to confirm that Martin has returned to the deco point
and all is well. Good we can all breathe easy now. Martin
still has four (yes four) more hours of deco to do but in
the meantime some cylinders and one scooter can be extracted
from the cave so there is still activity in the camp. By
now it has fallen dark and the generator is purring in the
background. At last Martin emerges after 8 ½ hours (during
which time V & T have each spent over 4 hours underwater and
been in the cave 13 times!) cold but safe having laid 200m
of line at over 120m depth and over 1 mile into the cave.
Everyone is fed and we all go home. Back at the Hotel the
night watchman, the only hotel employee who is friendly
towards us, is persuaded to liberate a few bottles of wine
to celebrate with. Altogether a good day. 
Thursday
is a day off so we rise a little tardily. Breakfast was
going to be in our room but the chambermaid shooed us out so
I eat mine in the reception/lounge area. This occasions
double barrelled black looks from the proprietor AND the
waitress, it would kill a lesser man but by then I am
immune. A sightseeing tour is planned for today - guess
what? - yep, it's to a dive sight. This sight is truly
spectacular and is in a gorge (1300m down a mountain) at the
bottom of which is the source of a River. Water gushes in
the proverbial torrents from the rocks and in the past an
enterprising soul has built a water mill to take advantage.
We scramble round it all and then find the entrance to the
diveable cave. Down we squeeze into a short dry section,
stretch over a pool and there it is. A very small pool
about the size of a pub billiard table. The people who do
these things must be mad. We go off to a nearby town to
eat an outstandingly brilliant meal and drive back in a true
blizzard (well Trevor does - the rest of us just shut our
eyes and pray). 
the hotel somewhat relieved and completely exhausted. 
