Alex van Opstal and a drift on the Lulworth Banks, dive report by David Parker

Conditions on Saturday 7th of July were perfect for diving out of Portland, wall to wall blue sky, a F1 northerly breeze, neap tides and slack at 11.00. After leaving Ferrybridge Marina, Newbury Diver flew across the flat calm sea with just the four passengers; David, Ian, Simon and Mike and made short work of the transit to the wreck of the Alex van Opstal which is located approximately five miles south of Lulworth Cove. There was already one other dive RIB on the Alex waiting for slack, so putting a second shot in was easy and then Ian and Simon only had a short wait until slack started. Although we were on neaps, diving on slack is essential on the Alex and there is a 40 min window before the tide starts to pick up again. Ian and Simon had a 50 min dive on the 28m deep wreck and reported excellent (8-10m) viz and lots of life on the wreck.

Once back on board we picked up the shot and headed north for lunch in Lulworth. As expected the beach at Lulworth was pretty well packed given the amazing weather, but we found a space for a picnic and then an hour later were heading back out for the second dive. With Ian coxing, Simon and I had a great drift on the banks and sorted out a few scallops for the team to take home for dinner.

When conditions are right it is hard to find a better place than to spend a day out on a RIB diving in Weymouth bay.