In the days leading up to the competition the weather was ever improving and doing just what the promising forecasts were predicting. Sure enough Saturday dawned fine, clear and calm. Unfortunately a mysterious bloom in the water was reducing our normally outstanding visibility to just 3 metres in places. Undaunted, no fewer than 26 entrants were quick to register at 8am and get into the water. Once films were loaded and gear assembled the divers rushed to try and squeeze in as many dives as possible before the 2pm deadline for returning their films. The tide was high at noon allowing those who boat dived first thing the chance for an easy shore dive later on.

All but two of the entrants returned their films at 2pm which were rushed up to Edinburgh to be processed and returned to the divers by that evening. Everyone then had plenty of time to select and mount their best images and enter them into our four categories.

This year we got good numbers of entries all across the categories, despite the cloudy waters proving tricky for wide angle shots and those using flashes. On the Sunday evening over 90 people made their way to St Abbs Village Hall to sit and see all the entries and vote for their favourites.

As ever the Marine Life Portrait category proved most popular with some excellent close up shots of everything from mating velvet swimming crabs to friendly wrasse. The voting was very close in this category but Jason Gregory's close up of a scorpion fish was voted winner.

Next up for the vote was the Diver Scenic category- a wide angle shot with a diver in the frame. There were some very innovative shots in this category and the three winners were all exceptionally good images. Third place went to Brian Jubb with a shot showing a divers reflection in the air pocket that forms under Cathedral Rock, second place was a wide angle shot showing a diver hovering in mid water just off a huge underwater cliff covered in Dead Man's Fingers. Jason Gregory's photo of two buddies swimming in clear waters and excellent light just below the surface was a popular choice for winner of this category.

The Reserve Atmospheric category is also taken with wide angle lenses and did suffer slightly from our reduced visibility. However, the planktonic bloom in the water did give everything a mysterious green hue that was caught beautifully by both John Naylor and Peter Ladell in third and second place respectively. The winning image was a technically difficult split shot of both the surface and underwater showing a diver just leaving the rocks on the far side of St Abbs harbour. Peter Tatton was voted winner for this shot.

Our final category was the John Goldie Most Humorous Shot dedicated to the memory of local diver and VMR supporter John Goldie. This year we had a record number of nine entries and it was great to see the efforts some entrants had gone to. This category has always added an element of light relief and made the whole competition more light hearted. All the entries were suitably humorous and got a good reaction from the assembled audience in the slide show. Third place went to Malcolm Hey for a carefully placed picture of a Garden Gnome fishing on a rocky reef. A diver with an umbrella won second place for Ian Taylor but the winner of the category by a landslide victory was of Nessie amongst Dead Man's Fingers taken by Roy Waller.

As the votes were counted in the Village Hall a reception was held in the VMR Visitor Centre across the road. As the entrants, divers, and amassed public enjoyed a glass of wine they got the chance to see our marine tanks, photographic exhibition, and watch the new VMR video. Alan James of Bristol Dive Photo Shop also brought along a display of his own and some demonstration set ups. All of the photos on his stand were digital and of very high quality. All being well we are planning to have a digital category in next years competition, hopefully allowing more beginners to enter the competition.

By way of encouraging beginners to enter the competition we have a Best Beginner category for anyone who has not been placed in a competition before or had any photos published. Based on a cumulative count of all the votes for all their entries the winner was announced as Derek Clarke who entered a shot in three of the four categories.

Our last duty at the slide show on the Sunday evening was to vote for the Overall winner. We showed the four winners and allowed everyone a moment to take them in and then asked for a show of hands. Voting was close here but one winner stood out, Jason Gregory's shot of two buddies from the Diver Scenic category proved most popular. Jason was presented with a number of prizes including the John Goldie Quaich presented by Sarah Goldie.

'Splash In 2003' raised over �150 for the Voluntary Marine Reserve (a registered Scottish charity SCO18593). The event also did a great deal to raise the profile of the VMR with divers, visitors and locals alike, all appreciating the stunning photographs taken within the Reserve.

Thanks to this years sponsors:

• Alan James Photography.
• Aquastars Dive School.
• Beaver.
• D & J Boat Charter, Donny Inglis (Ocean Star).
• Divers Warehouse.
• Dive St. Abbs Boat Charter, Alistair Crowe (Lazy G Diver).
• Mares.
• Oceanic.
• Ocean Optics.
• Rock House Dive Centre, Billy Aitchison
• St. Abbs Boat Charter, Peter Gibson (Selkie).
• St. Abbs Dive Centre & Post Office.
• Sea & Sea.
• Springbank Cottage Bed & Breakfast.
• Sub Aqua Divers Scoutscroft Ltd.

2003 Competition Results

Marine Life Portrait

1st Prize

Jason Gregory, Scorpian Fish.

2nd Prize

Ken Sullivan, Hermit Crab.

3rd Prize

John Naylor, Lions Main Jellyfish.

Diver Scenic

1st Prize

Jason Gregory, Buddies.

2nd Prize

Pedro Vieyra, Diver by Wall.

3rd Prize

Brian Jubb, Reflection Under Cathedral Rock.

Reserve Atmospheric

1st Prize

Peter Tatton, Split Level Shot.

2nd Prize

Peter Ladell, Dead Man's Fingers with Kelp Silhouette.

3rd Prize

John Naylor, Velvet Swimming Crab, Kelp and Dead Man's Fingers.

The John Goldie Most Humorous Shot

1st Prize

Roy Waller, Nessie.

2nd Prize

Ian Taylor, Umbrella.

3rd Prize

Malcolm Hey, Gnome Fishing.

Best Beginner

Derek Clarke

Overall Winner

Jason Gregory, Buddies.