By Peter Hanlon
STORMY WEATHER caused a pontoon to break loose at Dovestone Reservoir in Greenfield and threatened to restrict the world class sailing class as the new season kicked in.
But the club called upon Chadderton Sub Aqua Club (chadsac) to retrieve the heavy chain from the bottom of the reservoir and save their season.
Usually divers always descend in ‘buddy’ pairs but the peaty dark cold waters were so inky black that dive leader Steve Corbet went down to the bottom alone.
Despite high-brightness dive torches the swimmers could hardly take account of air supply and depth on their dive watches but managed to fix a line for Steve to follow down to 15m.
Steve hardly knew which way was up as he could not even see his bubbles rising and his hands groped through the silt while a dense murk restricted any remaining light.
Against all the odds his gloved fingers felt a link – he had found the chain but it was too heavy to lift.
Instead he used a grappling hook he had devised to haul it onto a buoy so it could then be lifted by the strong-engined rib boat.
Chadderton Sub Aqua Club meets once a week at Oldham Swimming Pool from 7.30pm – 9pm and offer Try Dives, Training or just going for a swim. For more information please contact Steve on 07723 022557.
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