The weather was promising and it was a neaps weekend. Phil decided to put out an email on Google Groups to see if anyone fancied diving. Mark and Anna said yes, and Jan opted to come on Sunday. Phil prepped and checked Top Cat before we headed to Anglesey on Friday evening. Not the smoothest of journeys as the traffic was held for 45 minutes at the Conwy tunnels.

Saturday the 17th of September

We met in the car park at Rhoscolyn at 7:30 AM to load and launch Top Cat. We headed out to The Beacons for our first non-tidal dive. A stiff north westerly breeze resulted in a bumpy ride out.

The water temperature was 17 C and the viz around 4/5 metres. We saw all the usual marine life: Lobster, Edible and Velvet Swimming Crab, Tompot Blennies, Reticulated Gobies, Bloody Henry Common Starfish, Elephant Hide, Boring and Crater Sponge, Ballan Wrasse, Cat Shark, a variety of hydroids and bryzoa, and Star Sea Squirts. Our best finds were octopus, one out sitting on a rock and one in a hole, plus a series of horizontal cracks in a short rocky wall, which was jammed full of Common Prawn with several Squat Lobster on the roofs.

We returned to Rhoscolyn to change cylinders before heading out to Caernarvon Bay to dive the lightship which Steve and Jon found and dived last year. Another bumpy ride!! We arrived and found the site, put the shot in and waited for the tide to slacken. The wreck lies in 35m of water on a sand and gravel seabed. It is tiny with just a side, the collapsed tower and a jumble of planking and metal work visible. However, it is worth diving. The structures were covered in Plumose Anemones, the collapsed tower was full of Bib and Poor cod sheltering from the current. Shoals of juvenile Pollack scattered in our torch light. There were several large Lobster, Conger eels and Edible Crab beneath the planks, tiny squid, several flat fish and a Thornback Ray on the seabed. The shot was pulled back into the boat without a problem, thanks to Phil attaching a lift bag to it. We headed back to Rhoscolyn to recover and unload Top Cat before heading to Holyhead to refuel, ready for the morning.