Mikhail Lermontov
Saturday 15th August 2009
It was an early start for a Saturday as we met up and travelled over to Picton. We met up with Des, loaded up “Playmate”, and before long we were steaming out of the Waikawa Marina on route to the Lermontov. The trip went fast due to Des’s wealth of knowledge of the area - he educated us on everything from the marine reserve, bird sanctuaries, wrecks and current stats on the cod and scallops fisheries in the Marlborough Sounds. We arrived at the Lermontov around 10am. The first group suited up and entered the water with the rest of us following shortly after. As it was Katie and my first time on the Lermontov we teamed up with Stu who had dived it several times. Our plan was to drop down and sidle the port side to the bow then drop down to the prop. We dropped in off the boat and instantly the chill sunk in, it was much colder than expected so we quickly got a move on and descended down the line. We were told that the visibility is generally pretty poor on the wreck so the 5m vis was a pleasant surprise. Descending down the line, the wreck seemed to materialise in front of us and we landed on the hull in a plume of slit. As we moved along the side of the wreck we were stalked by an assortment of blue cod, sea perch and scarlet wrasse that had made the wreck their home. When hovering above, it was hard to believe that there was a hull under the thick layer of encrusting organisms. Huge bundles of tube worms stretched out in the current quickly as they felt the presence of a curious diver. We regrouped at the stern and descended into the darkness to the prop. The dark gloom was overwhelming and soon the torch light was a dim glow, so Stu decided to flag the prop and go explore the port side deck. We cruised in and out of the deck framework peering through the windows with our touch and disturbing the resting sea perch. Looking to the outer edge of the wreck, just within view, revealed schools of butterfly perch drifting in the current amongst a protruding section of the wreck. As we approached the bridge our air was getting low and the chill was setting in so we decided to head to the bow line and ascend. Boarding Playmate we were greeted by Beryl with a hot cup of soup and fresh bread rolls which went down a treat and eased the shivering. After a suitable surface interval Doug, Karen and Andy did a second dive on the wreck while the rest of us were treated with more of Beryl’s baking. Once the second dive on the wreck was done we wasted no time in shooting across the bay to the scallop beds. We quickly suited up and were dropped off in pairs along the shore. Katie and I were buddied up and as usual she was committed to get the goods. We were dropped off last, closest to the rock on the far side of the bay, however Des was a bit off his game and we descended on to rock and sand with no scallops in sight; Katie was keen and before I could signal to surface she was off. After a quick chase down I caught up and we surfaced. Now the pressure was on Des to put us on the spot, he didn’t disappoint. As soon as we hit sand it was on, we both zigzagged along the bottom collecting up scallops left, right and centre. As I looked over to Katie all I could see was a blur of hand going in and out of her catch bag followed by a cloud of silt moving at 100kmh. After about 15 min we met up, catch bags scraping along the sand bulging with good sized scallops. We attached the lift bag and ascended. Back on the boat there was barely a need to check the size as they were all well within the size limits and a quick quality check revealed the best looking scallops I’ve seen in a long time. The day was getting on and light was starting to fade but we still had time for a cray dive. Des took us to Cape Lambert and dropped us in for our final dive. Bevan and I buddied up and wasted no time in getting in and descending to the bottom. It was prime cray country - big boulders and rocks with plenty of seaweed cover. We headed a bit deeper to about 20m and within minutes I had my first cray and things were looking good. The dark clouds overhead were making conditions dark and gloomy at 20m so started to head in shallower. After the initial cray there were no more legal sized ones to be seen for the remainder of the dive, however the abundance of marine life made up for it. Back on board we learned that Stu and Andy hadn’t had much luck either but had a good dive none the less.
With everyone back on board we headed for home. The hot shower on board was put to good use and helped to bring feeling back into our fingers and ease the weariness of a full day of diving. As we steamed back the weather conditions deteriorated and the sea fog drew in limiting visibility to about 50m. However most of us were oblivious to the outside conditions due to more captivating stories compliments of skipper Des. We arrived back at the marina and quickly packed up in the rain and thanked Des and Beryl for a great day then headed off – but not before a quick stop for a beer at the local pub, a perfect end to a fantastic day of diving. By Louis Olsen
NOVEMBER COMING EVENTS * * * Mt Lyford ski trip 26/27th September (snow dependant) Contact Bevan 3rd-11 Fiordland Charter trip Okiwi Bay and beyond scallop trip 17th October Contact Bevan 7th November Port Tarakohe scallops crays Kaikoura - Barnacle Bill’s – 28th November Deposit required Port Underwood/Cape Lambert/Port Gore 12 TBC Santa Parade 6 December Next Meeting Tuesday Oct 6th Nelson Rugby Clubrooms 6.30pm
