Читать книгу Into the Abyss. Diving to Adventure in the Liquid World онлайн

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On the surface the powerful down currents produced by underwater waterfalls cascading down the side of the Pinnacle, create large standing waves and numerous swirling eddies. It is perhaps the most fearsome natural feature in British waters.

I gripped large rocky outcrops – my fingers searching for secure handholds to prevent me being picked up by the strengthening current and swept away into the abyss below. Apprehension upped my breathing rate - I tried to slow things down, taking several long draws on my breathing regulator.

I looked around the 100-foot wide Pinnacle summit. The underwater visibility was about 50 feet here and I could see the sheer sides of the Pinnacle dropping away all around me, disappearing vertically into the surrounding blackness of the Gulf.

My buddy diver Dave Hadden and myself finned over cautiously towards the side of the Pinnacle. The tide had now turned and I could feel the mass of water in which I was suspended starting to propel us over towards the edge. In just a few minutes the down-currents would be so strong that this very edge would be a cascading underwater waterfall. Huge volumes of onrushing water were starting to meet the immoveable Pinnacle, being pushed up one side to plunge and fall over the other side.