In contrast to last weekend's excellent outing, the weather this weekend was very disappointing - Saturday blown out, Sunday so uncomfortable that half of us only did one dive.
With no diving on Saturday we visited Holy Island just down the coast, walked round the castle and warmed ourselves with some of the sweet Lindisfarne mead :-) In the rain we got almost as wet as if we had gone diving. With a hearty meal in Oblo we finished making the most of a non-diving day.
There was an unconfortable swell on my one dive on Sunday, but I did spot the biggest lobster I have ever seen striding over the rocks, an abundance of pipefish and a big old ling. Some went back for antoher go, but I had myself put ashore in St Abbs and caught the bus back!
Bad weather aside, Marine Quest's boat is good (could do with a few more hand rails, but it does have a lift) and the accomodation is right on the harbour edge. Homemade shortbread on the boat was a highlight, too!
They make a fair alternative to the regular St Abbs boats, especially when the weather is good and they can go further afield to the Isle of May and so on. Dive brief's were a bit brief, but I am sure as the business develops they will do more.
Not sure about the bunkrooms - for B&B I would prefer smaller rooms (they have 2 of 6beds each, plus one twin, all ensuite), but they are new,clean and made with divers in mind. The lounge is excellent and even has wifi for geeks with laptops and a PC for guest use in addition to the more usual tea making facilities. The compressor is hidden away downstairs so you don't have to go far all weekend.
Bring back the summer, its been kidnapped!
Iain C.