Furness Diving Club

Furness Diving Club - Oban, November 2008

Boat,

The Gaelic Rose, Skipper Bob Jones.

Divers.

Graham Coulson, Paul Wojcik, Neil Martin, Simon Mulgrew, Paul Burton, Rob Hughes, Simon Kay, Dave Beaumont, Andy Hewitt, Dirk Hadwin, John Smith, Andy Doherty.

Friday.

Set off early as usual for the drive up to Oban, fortunately Woji left the Pork Pies at home this year so there was no need to make any emergency stops on route. We arrived mid afternoon to be met by the Gaelic Rose at North Pier, the boat was sitting low at this time due to the tidal condition, so it was a quick trip to Puffin Divers, for a bit of a spend before returning to unload the car in the pouring rain.

Once unloaded the rest of the afternoon / evening was spent between the Oban Inn and the Lorne, sampling the local beer.

Saturday.

Wet and windy, so if was ropes off and heading off towards the Sound of Mull, with hot drinks and porridge on the way out to the first dive site on the side of Lock Linnie, followed by hot drinks and a full English breakfast on the way to the second dive of the day. The afternoons dive was to be on the Shuna.

The dive commenced with a swim down the shot line to the deck of the boat. Visibility was not too brilliant as the weather had been very rough in the past few weeks and it was also spring tides. There was still lot of life on the wreck with fish in abundance on the deck area which were all on the small size.

As we passed over the boat the larger wrasse could be seen in the holds out of the tidal run, after 30 minutes or so it was back to the surface to be greeted by hot drinks and biscuits and a short hop to Tobermory.

Once tied up in Tobermory we all sit down for the evening meal with the odd bottle of wine just to get things started. First visit is to the Mishnish which is a short walk along the front of the harbour.

It can be seen by the decor the there has been nothing spent on the up keep of the pub since last year and the seat are still held together with black tape, even so there is still quite a few pints sunk before moving back down the harbour to the next port of call the Macdonald Arms, a few drink in there , then is off to Macgochans for yet more drinks and live music, as we leave Macgochans it’s a short wander to the boat to sample Bob’s cheese and biscuits. Then to bed.

Sunday.

As we rose on Sunday we were greeted by a sunny flat calm morning, so it was off down the sound to find some interesting dive sites using Bob’s relatively new electronic toys.

It was eventually decided to dive the atre around a point called the Castle of the Dogs, a submerged reef with drop off on either side with a flat plateau on the top, a sot was dropped and it was down we went. Visibility was not too bad, but there was still quite a run on which made it more interesting. After the dive another cooked breakfast, was to be had followed by a sleep, in preparation for the next dive.

The second dive of the day would be in the same area as the first with the underwater scenery been very similar to the first dive that day. Afterwards it was back to Tobermory for dinner and another night in the local pubs.

Monday.

Monday was another wet and windy day, so it was a short trip to the north end of Calve Island which afforded shelter from the wind. Calve island never fails to disappoint with good vis and spectacular wall, even at this time of the year there is still a good amount of life even though it’s quite dark because of the poor light above the surface. After the dive it was hot drinks and breakfast, and then on down the sound of mull to the next dive that would be on Lismore as it provided the best shelter from the wind.

The crossing back to Oban was rough but that did not stop us from having another hearty meal in preparation for the drive home. Arriving back in Oban in the early afternoon, it was a quick load up of the cars, say our goodbyes to Bob and the crew and then off.

Another good weekend was had by all with the same squad paying their deposits in anticipation for next year.

Graham Coulson.