Mikhail Lermontov
29th August 2004
Mikhail Lermontov & Scallop / Cray Dives
It was a fresh Sunday morning t 6.30 am in North Road where Paul, Nigel, Alan & myself stood waiting not sure who else we were to expect for the trip over to Picton. After trying to get hold of Stu (who had stayed the night in Picton) we decided to head off with just the four of us. It was a good road trip with only gear to take and no boats to tow. We arrived in Waikawa marina about where we found Stu and Pauline along with Ross and his Pauline waiting for us and rearing to go. A couple of trips down the jetty with our gear and the boat was loaded and we were ready to head to our first dive site, the Mikhail Lermontov. With only Stu, Paul, Alan and myself diving we planned our dive on the way out, an important thing as neither Alan nor myself had done dives like this before.
When we arrived at the dive site I was quite excited knowing that very soon I would be seeing and diving for the first time a shipwreck. The water was quite refreshing when we jumped in (not too cold!!). We descended following the rope down from the buoy to the ship where I was blown away the sheer size of the vessel. We dived as a team of four with Paul leading the way. With good viz we were able to have a good look around the bridge. I can see why people say you need to do several dives to have a good look. Personally I think it was amazing.
When we were back at the surface it was good to see the fishermen had been doing well with several good size blue cod and a few jock stewards on board.
Next up was our scallop dive where we trusted Paul to pick the right spot. Top job Paul! This was also my first scallop dive so I was unsure what to expect. Tried to count and size as required by our friends at MOF but found this difficult to say the least. We easily got our quota with the one dive and they were all bigger than I have seen in a long time. A top spot and well worth a visit if you are over that way.
Our last dive of the day was for the ever hunted crayfish. Unfortunately this dive had the same result as other recent dives, females in berry and the males nowhere to be seen. None the less this was a very enjoyable dive.
We must say thanks to Des and Beryl, owners and operators of “MV Playmate” the boat we chartered for the trip. This is a great boat with plenty of room for divers and their gear as well as being easy to board with all of your bulky gear on. Also a great service supplied with plenty of stories, places to try dives and the refreshing hot drinks, hot soup and filled rolls. If you didn’t make this trip I highly recommend you do it next time. I know I will be!!
Cheers – Mark Hellewell
