Vobster 13th June 2026 Dive Report

A beautiful day at Vobster – sun was shining, and although there was a little bit of wind at the beginning, it soon calmed down for before the second dive of the day. It was busy at Vobster, with most desks occupied by various dive schools – lots of regular twin-sets, rebreathers, technical and student set-ups were to be seen. Those in attendance from the club were PJ, Paul Chappell, Richard, Ester, Matteo and David. Water conditions were fantastic. Visibility was really good, with clear views of the (for David and Richard) sea king helicopter, the crushing works, (PJ, Paul, Matteo and Ester) the car and the aircraft fuselage during their underwater adventures. The small fish that are usually found at Vobster were easily spotted. Ester and Matteo continued their training towards the Ocean Diver qualification and I’m pleased to say they both managed to tick off a few more goals under PJ’s expert tutelage. From what I saw, they managed to at least perform controlled buoyancy lifts and now, that sets them up for their very first sea dive at The Mulberries on the 4th July! I could tell they were very excited about the forthcoming sea dive. It should be a lot of fun – and if conditions are great, they should see some lobsters and crabs (and lots of starfish). David, on the other hand, managed to complete his final part of Sports Diver qualification – compass navigation, under the watchful eye of Richard Cooper. David managed to take bearings, fin towards the crushing works, then navigate towards the Sea King Helicopter, then navigate back to the crushing works, using a combination of compass bearings and visual aids (look for the tyres was a helpful hint given by PJ during the pre-dive briefing). He even managed to get to 25 meters (thereabouts), thus ticking off the first depth progression too! Richard (apart from buddying with David and keeping a watchful eye) was testing out new equipment and getting to grips with the changes to buoyancy control that comes with equipment changes. One of the high points, and certainly something that everyone tells from time to time, is the drysuit diver who jumps in, only then realising when the cold cold reality of UK diving hits the hard reality of the body, that they forgot to ensure their drysuit was zipped up. Our lucky addition to this mythical lore yesterday was Paul. After Paul jumped in, he quickly emerged from the lake at Vobster soaked inside and out – with water sloshing about in places it shouldn’t be sloshing about in. Even with words of encouragement to try again (you’re wet anyway Paul!), he bravely(!) decided not to tempt fate and decided to provide valuable onshore support for the rest of the divers about to go in. Perhaps Paul was simply being a good teacher and teaching by example to Ester and Matteo, and to others, why buddy checks are still a good thing to do, even after 20+ years of diving experience! Or perhaps he just simply plain forgot 🙂 No-one (apart from Paul) knows the real reason 🙂 Suffice to say that PJ was most amused by the “teaching” from Paul. With the final dive of the day over, each diver unsuited, grabbed a drink and had a debrief/chinwag about the day before setting off on the long (for most) journey home. Overall, the time at Vobster was great, with much learning to be had by all.