I can't quite remember date of my first time diving in the open sea and it must be roughly eight years ago now.We were meeting at the local dive club in Thurso before traveling to a little place called Papigoe near Wick.When we got there there there was a fresh breeze blowing and although not cold it was far from warm.Especially when getting changed.This is another fact of scuba diving in scotland.You will get cold so be prepared and wear warm clothing.After getting kitted up in our gear we clambered down the cliffside on to the rock shelf at the waters edge.I was both excited and also nervous at the thought of
diving in the open sea and the inlet where we were going to enter was fairly sheltered.There was only going to be four of
us actually diving on that particular day with one or two opting out prefering the warmth of the cars on the shore.I still
remember one of the team members having a laugh at my look of revulsion when I was informed of the proximity of a sewerage outlet near to our dive location. I was none to impressed by this and fact and the others all seemed to be unconcerned about it so I swallowed hard and tryed to relax the best I could while getting ready and tryed not to think about it.
On stepping of the ledge and entering the water it took a few moments to orient myself in the choppy waters and locate my
buddy before signaling each other to say we were OK and ready to dive.On sinking I still remember how rapid my breathing
became as we sunk far deeper than I had ever been in the pool and how exillerated I was at being in this weightless enviroment without the worry of returning to the surface before my breath ran out.Man was I chuffed :) And made sure no water
was getting in my mouth :¬¦ as I tryed not to smile.Underneath the surface things took on a whole new perspective.The noise
of the surface was replaced by a silence only broken by the sound of my breathing and the noise of the bubbles trickling to
the surface.The light had a strangely calming greenish tinge and the rays of sunlight danced slugishly trough the water.
These my first perceptions of being under the water are more than likely exagerated by my excitement and expectations of this
occaision and so what if they are.The next thing I can remember noticing is the fact that we were floating in a underwater
canyon which ran deeper as it went out to see.This was something which suprised me as there was no indication of this from
the surface.Almost at the same time I can remember thinking how the distance to the sides or cliff faces of the canyon were
somehow not the right distance away. Strange how water can both impeed and enhance your vision at the same time.Things close
are magnifyed and objects further away are hiden through what I still clame to be silt in the water :)
Within moments of gaining neutral bouyancy all my aprehension had dissapaited and any thought of what I might be swimming
in were gone.Sticking close to my buddy's side we swam out to sea following the "canyon" as I marveled at all the different
colour's of seaweed lying at the bottom of the canyon.This sediment had collected to make a thick carpet of rotting vegitation between the walls of the canyon which would only shift slightly with motion of the swell due to our depth. As you could imagine the water must have been thick with neutrients and this could easily be seen due to the abundant plant life and sea creatues which inhabited this sheltered haven.There were numerous types of fish in various stages of growth with crabs and the occiasional lobster in the nooks and cranies of the cliff faces.At one point a small cave had been worn into the cliff face which,while small and bare,provided another point of interest to investigate.What we discovered near to the cave was much more exciting though.A horizontal crevice had been worn into the rock face which,for want of a better description, resembled a water pipe bending in and out of the rock.If you can imagine the parts of the pipe which jutted out of the rock were in cross section,enabling you to look inside and the other parts hidden by the rock face in front then you will be fairly close.It was not this peculular rock formation itself however which caught my interest but its occupant.The largest living conger eel I had ever seen,many times larger in fact from others I had seen at the bottom of harbours and the like.Not only that but for the first time I was in the water with one.I still shiver slightly at the thought of my unease at being so close to an eel which was easily as thick as my leg.We traced it back along the crevice and its body seemed to go on for ever but I estimate it at between 6-8 feet in length! Let me put it this way.Do you remember the Moray eel in the film "The Deep" which chewed the baton which the lead actress was poking under the rock shelf.Well it was like that only bigger but thankfully less agressive :) Still it gave me the willies at the time.Eels are powerfull creatures. Anyway by this time my air was nearly touching the 50 bar mark and I signalled to my buddy,who had considerable more air left than I, that it was time for us to return to the surface.By this time our depth had crept up to about 10 meters more than it should have for a first dive and we were fine.. I am fairly confident in the water and the eel didn't bother me that much..Plus we were in a sheltered area close to the coast and with another experianced buddy pair nearby if there assistance was required.All in all my first dive was a trully unforgettable experiance and it motivated me to get into this sport in a big way that summer...Anyway that's about all for now..See you next time ;)