Almost half the club members went diving to Mullaghmore for the Easter Bank Holiday. Mullaghmore proved a great choice for this early season weekend when the weather can be very unpredictable. The wind was from the south east all weekend making diving possible in this north western dive mecca while our usual haunts on the south east coast were blown out or suffered bad visability.

Problems with the trim & tilt on the starboard engine on Naas 4 made it a tricky start launching on the Saturday morning but with plenty of hands on deck we were soon heading out to sea & enjoying our first dive of the weekend on Thumb Rock. The 7.3m Gemini RIB (Naas4) earned her keep taking up to 15 x divers to the dive sites.

Tom McCabe took control of the group as DOD for his Leading Diver, organising four boat dives over the two days. Starting out with two dives on Thumb rock on the Saturday, Thumb Rock & the Gullies on the Sunday. Plenty of life was on view on both dive sites with 4 – 5 meters visbility.

Most of the D* members made the journey, gaining valuable diving experience & another step closer to their D** test & certificate.

Music and craic was enjoyed in the Pier Head Hotel where we mingled with fellow divers from Dublin, Drogheda and Roscommon.

Monday morning the weather had deteriorated and the tide was going to be too low to retrieve the boat after a dive. We therefore decided to be happy with what we had got and load the boat and head for home early.

Quote of the weekend:

“Do you have a nipple?”

(Eamon Russell while looking for a DIN insert for his dive cylinder from a fellow female club member)

Eh, she probably had a couple of those Eamon!

 

The force 4 southerly winds forecast for the south east coast made us retreat to Dublin Bay diving last weekend. We Boat dived out of the Coal Harbour Dun Laoghaire & completed two dives off Dalkey Island.

Our first dive was on the South tip of Dalkey Island & all divers were pleasantly surprised to find four meter + visibility when they dropped in. Several lobsters made an appearance & even one conger was spotted.

After lunch Tom McCabe was in charge, taking on his first Leading Diver DOD of the 2009 season. We headed out for the second dive on Naas 4 but as forecast the weather had deteriorated & we decided to dive in the shelter of Seal Bay on the North East side of Dalkey Island. Once again we were all surprised by the abundance of colour with the rocks covered in anemones & five meter visibility. The sea was noticeably a bit colder than Wexford with some dive computers recording 8°C.

So far we have been blessed with the weather & this was our 4^th Sunday in succession to get two dives.