A
s surface intervals go, it’s fair to say that lockdown was the longest period of time I’d ever stayed dry. Back in January, few of us could have foreseen what was heading down as the tracks as we made plans for the year ahead. Back then it all looked so rosy, with some genuinely exciting diving giving me much to look forward to. Plans were made, boats were booked and deposits paid - yes indeed, 2020 was going to be a cracker of a year. And then, Coronavirus happened. Literally overnight, everything stopped - airlines around the globe grounded their fleets, businesses large and small battened down the hatches, and every man, woman and their dog found themselves on lockdown. Sadly, diving didn’t escape either, with dive centres around the globe closing their doors. Even the trusty inland dive sites padlocked their gates and closed shop as the UK Government gave us the order to stay at home, get fat and watch far too many TV boxsets. You really couldn’t make it up – all felt quite surreal in a Tarantinoesque way.
Thankfully, we got through it and things are looking brighter. At the time of writing, it’s late-May and the lockdown is just starting to ease. As Boris does his best to get us used to the ‘new normal’, divers have finally been given the green light to take their first tentative fin kicks back into the water. In truth, it all feels a bit surreal - something we all took for granted now seems like a forbidden fruit. Can I honestly go diving? Is it too good to be true? Inspired by Dominic Cummings’ spirit of wandering misadventure, the day that I’d waited three months for had finally arrived - I was going diving! Of course, it was never going to be that straight forward. Guidelines released by the British Divers Safety Group (BDSG) in mid-May had placed some restrictions on what we could do. Diving off a boat was sadly out of the question, so a shore dive seemed the only option. For me, that gave the perfect excuse to return to one of my favourite shore dives along the South Coast - Chesil Cove. Site of my very first open water dive back when I still had hair and a few less kilos, I’ve always had a soft spot for this beautiful location.
After three months of diving ‘cold turkey’, Jason Brown thinks he has discovered the perfect antidote for the lockdown blues… PHOTOGRAPHS BY JASON BROWN
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