Sheephaven SAC Sunday Morning Snorkel at Portnablagh.
With a new dive year ahead for Sheephaven SAC it is time to look back at the clubs activities for 2015 when Sheephavens club activities were as busy as ever with 103 club dives conducted in 2015.
Along with a further 24 club snorkels meant that every week there was a club activity, no matter what the weather could throw.
Sheephaven SAC travelled to dive in both Irish and foreign waters, recording 92 and 11 dives respectively, which included trips to Quilty in Co. Clare followed by some warm water diving in Malta in the autumn. The coldest water recorded was 5 degrees Celsius at a dive at Cranford Pier in January, while the warmest was in October in Malta when water temperature reached a balmy 25 degrees Celsius.
The dives were divided into 78 boat dives, 19 shore dives and 6 wreck dives in 2015, with an average of 6 divers per dive. The 103 club dives recorded in 2015 is above the 93 that has been the average over the last 8 years, which is very encouraging indeed.
The average depth achieved per dive in 2015 was 22 metres, while the average dive duration was 36 minutes. The longest dive was 63 minutes on the last dive in Malta, when the divers involved completed both the Blue Hole and the Inland Sea to wrap up their dive trip.
Snorkelling remains as popular as ever in Sheephaven SAC with 24 Sunday morning snorkels organised during the winter months, with an average of 11 snorkelers taking to water and enjoying the customary debrief over a breakfast in Dunfanaghy.
As ever Search and Recovery is an integral part of what Sheephaven SAC is about and 3 S&R dives were conducted in Co. Mayo as part of a regional response in early September.
During the year Sheephaven divers were blessed with some wonderful diving moments, including having a Whale rise close to a dive boat off Arranmore Island and spotting a Turtle in Sheephaven Bay.
There were numerous sightings of Basking Sharks and Dolphins throughout the summer and a first for a number of divers when they encountered Angler Fish of Melmore Head. As always the occasional observation of a Sunfish was a joy, as was the Octopus during the Malta trip.
Sheephavens first dive of 2016 was a cracking wreck dive in Cranford Bay, on thankfully a calm day for a change. There are 3 wrecks sunk near Cranford Pier, 2 touching each other and the other lying nearby.
Cranford Wreck Dive Party at Mevagh
Kevin Boylan led the dive and along with Doug Fox provided Dry Coxswain duties, allowing the 30 minute dive to go ahead in one stick from Dive Boat Bríd. Maximum depth was to 10 metres, in water visibility of no greater than 2 metres horizontally and definitely chilly at less than 7 degrees Celsius.
A great dive on a decent sized wreck and a perfect way to get the diving year kicked off in good style.
There was a big turnout of snorkelers on Sunday morning in PortnaBlagh Harbour. Sea conditions were good, with a very slight swell and an offshore wind from the south east, while air temperature was no better than 5 degrees Celsius.
Water temperature was not too bad at probably not much below 10 degrees Celsius, although visibility was effectively nil throughout the snorkel. It was great to see such a big crowd out and especially to see some old faces getting back into the water again.
The recruitment of the Sheephaven SAC Trainee Class of 2016 is currently underway, contact details of which can be got from the clubs Facebook page Sheephaven SAC. As always the Sheephaven SAC welcomes returning divers, either past members or from other dive affiliations, again contact details can be got from the clubs Facebook page.
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