Diving
Dives
I've dived with Graham Russell 10 times:
| Dive number | Date | Site | Location | Area | Country | Wreck | Freshwater | Depth (m) | Bottom time (min) | Total time (min) | Divers | Quality | Summary | Equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
221
|
6 May 1985 | Rondo | Eileanan Glasa, Sound of Mull | Mull | Scotland |  |
40 | 11 | 14 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell, Sarah McCracken |  |
Dived at full flood for added excitement. Current swept us down to 40m pretty quickly and down there it was fairly calm, but the current was then against us on the way up. Most invigorating dive yet on the Rondo, and a good end to the trip. First dive with Graham. | Own +Scubapro Mk II | |
| 229
|
5 Jul 1985 | Eilean Grianal | 2 miles north-west of Dunvegan | Skye | Scotland | 30 | 20 | 22 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell |  |
Flat calm and pissing rain. Bombed straight down onto Sarah and Carole (saw them from more than 10m above them). Swam north from the island over a series of terraces. Saw a really bright cuckoo wrasse - yellow and blue; also squat lobsters, cushion stars, blennies, sea squirts, cup corals. Swam through a shoal of about 1000 jellyfish on the way up [and saw rain on the surface of the water]. | own | ||
| 242
|
3 Aug 1985 | Loch Long | Clyde | Scotland | 31 | 18 | 22 | Iain Hosking, Carole Mullen, Graham Russell, Sarah McCracken | |
Forecast SW 5 so called off the 'Kintyre' and dived at the usual spot in Loch Long. Straight down to 30m in very clear water, torch beams lighting first on a washing machine, then on huge boulders covered with anemones and feather duster worms. At 18 minutes ascended to 5m and spent another half hour among plumose anemones, wrasse, codling, blennies, crabs and clabby-doos. Good dive. | own | |||
| 267
|
23 Nov 1985 | Falls of Lora | Loch Etive | Oban | Scotland | 28 | 20 | 20 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell, Sarah McCracken |  |
Sarah's idea. Another Mythological Site. HW 'slack' 3.30pm. We dived then and hit a current immediately. We were just beginning to feel smug about keeping together when we were split up and whirled along by an estimated 5 knot gale. Ended with a gentle plowter in a large diameter whirlpool. Brilliant. | own. USD Deepstar DV | ||
| 291
|
10 Jul 1986 | Helena Faulbaums | Belnahua | Oban | Scotland | |
55 | 15 | 45 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell | |
Mega dive. Last chance to save the day, and Malcolm's steering pedestal, reckoned to be more than 150kg. In fact it slowly and gratifyingly rose off the bottom when Graham filled the lifting bag. For the rest of the dive we disentangled another pedestal and swam under the bridge into the boiler room. | Twin 55s | |
| 306
|
27 Sep 1986 | Wallachia | The Gantocks | Clyde | Scotland | |
28 | 22 | 24 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell | |
Dedicated stoneware jar search. Marginal conditions. Wreck was buoyed. Jars fixed in place much more securely than we thought - bent knives trying to free them. A taxing dive. | New Avon dry suit - dry! | |
| 425
|
22 Jul 1990 | Oigh Sgeir Light | West of Rhum | Outer Hebrides | Scotland | 25 | 45 | 45 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell | |
Oigh Sgeir is a flattish lump of basalt west of Rhum. Conditions absolutely perfect - the sea glassy calm, the sky blue with unlimited surface vis. We saw a panorama of the entire Outer Hebrides, from the Butt of Lewis to Barra Head. After some bowsprit-jumping Graham and I descended down a cliff of basalt pillars with an overhang at the top. A short meeting of the EUSAC headstanders was followed by a plowter along the boulder slope looking at sea cucumbers. Came upon Andy and Iain Fairbrother, then Adrian who was menaced by a crab claw on the end of a stick. Jewel anemones, nudibranchs, fish. Spent a long time watching fish feed off a sea urchin. Hilarious dive. | |||
| 433
|
11 Nov 1990 | East Shark Island | Sydney | Australia | 12 | 37 | 37 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell |  |
Out on the 'Cape Bailey' again, with Sarah and Steve. Too rough to dive off the National Park, so we chose this site. A single gully, kelp either side, strong wave action, poor vis. Saw morwong, blue groper, bullseyes etc. Graham's first Australian dive. | ||||
| 434
|
17 Nov 1990 | Coolooli | Long Reef | Sydney | Australia | |
49 | 20 | 46 | Iain Hosking, Graham Russell | |
One of the best wreck dives ever, reminiscent of Scapa Flow. Up at 5am, left at 5.45, at Palm Beach 6.30, boat left 7, in the water at 8am. Keen. Wreck lies on its starboard side. We swam straight through the middle - out at the bows, past the buckets, then back over the deck, along to the stern and back. Beautiful inside - very accessible, and full of fish, mainly bullseyes, but some leatherjackets, morwong, sea perch, sea scorpions etc. Inside engine room - generators are still there. Other divers - Martin, Graham, John, Adam, Sarah and Sarah. (One of the Sarahs is from Scoutscroft, Eyemouth.) | 2 x 63 cu ft tanks with 2 DVs, 28lb shot belt. Just right. | |
| 449
|
24 Feb 1991 | The Docks | NW of Point Perpendicular | Jervis Bay | Australia | 20 | 0 | 49 | Iain Hosking, Cathy Humphries, Graham Russell | |
Better than this morning's dive. Took off a heap of lead and was much more comfortable. The water was also lighter because the sun was higher. Saw a blue devil fish in the docks, then swam south-east over jumbled boulders with lots of sponges and coral. Found a cuttlefish (as usual) and Graham saw a shark. |