The members of Sheephaven Sub Aqua Club had another busy week of summer diving.
The Saturday morning dive was to what is considered to be the best dive wreck dive available to recreational divers in Irish waters – the Laurentic.
The David McGloin-led dive party left Rathmullan early to catch high water slack in near perfect conditions, with only a slight southerly breeze to disturb the sea surface.
John Joe Rowland provided dry coxswain duties and the Extended Range certified divers conducted their 36 metre dive on 28% Nitrox, which allowed the dive to be completed comfortably in 30 minutes.
In-water visibility was wonderful at well over fifteen meters on the wreck, with the boilers, main engines and the steam turbine all clearly visible throughout the dive.
Conditions were so good that the divers could follow the drive shafts from the engine out to the stern of the wreck and return back to the shot line quite comfortably.
Throughout the dive, they were able to view through the wreckage abundant numbers of Pollock and Bib. Other marine life that was visible included Conger Eels and lobsters of all sizes, with one lobster out in the open making a meal of the remains of a crab.
Last stop on the Laurentic dive.
At the end of the dive, while the divers conducted their mandatory decompression stops, they were able to clearly see the dive boat above them as they waited on the shot line.
Sunday morning’s dive was to the Black Rock over at Melmore Head, a 20 minute journey from Portnablagh and, once again, conducted in the very best of sea conditions.
The dive was led by Ryan Ward, with Timmy Boyle on the helm and conducted in water temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius and over 15 metres horizontal visibility, which allowed for a very comfortable 40 minute dive.
While they were there, they met a two-boat dive party from Portmarnock, who were visiting and experiencing some of the best that Irish diving has to offer.
The snorkelers were out in force on Wednesday evening and Sunday morning, swimming out from Portnablagh pier on both occasions.
Throughout the week Sheephaven welcomed back a number of past members, some for a snorkel and others have returned to dive and they complement the new members to make a vibrant club atmosphere when everyone gets into the water.