Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago, someone decided he wanted to go on a drift diving weekend. Try as he might, he couldn't pursuade anyone else to organise one, so after three years of waiting and hoping, he finally decided to organise the trip himself . . . .
Friday 18th of June, fantastic weather for a wee trip up the road to Ballachulish; two boats, a truck, a car, a camper van, seven divers and six drysuits set out on a drift diving adventure.
On the road to Ballachulish
Although the "Organiser" had managed to book accommodation, due to unforeseen circumstances he hadn't really done much more, the dive operation was subcontracted to the "Dive Organiser". The "Dive Organiser" called a pre-trip meeting, printed off pages of charts and tide tables and discussed the many options, risks and logistics of the weekend.
The "Organiser" arrived late in Ballachullish and scuttled off to watch the World Cup in deep depression . . . the "Dive Organiser" didn't make the pub. Everyone else ate, drank and made merry in the sure and certain knowledge that the weekend was "planned".
Saturday morning started with a hunt for the "Dive Organiser" and his assistant, who had parked the camper van in an industrial estate car park overnight. Once found there was discussion about launch and recovery, travel to the second site and a sudden flurry of activity as dive time approached.
It was about this time that the "Dive Organiser" discovered the seven divers, six drysuits issue and reported it to the "Organiser". After the six suited divers had stopped laughing, the "Organiser" graciously offered to share his leaky, Compo suit with the the "Dive Organiser" . . . more of this later.
The first dive was under Ballachulish bridge at the mouth of Loch Leven, The "Dive Organiser" had previously done this as a shore dive so was confident of his arrangements . . .
Ready to go . . .
Under Ballachulish Bridge
Waiting for pick up.
It was a stunningly beautiful day and we eagerly kitted up to be whisked through the narrows. "Organiser" and buddy in first, followed by the "Photographers". We expected a teeth chattering, hose-wobbling current, but instead we were gently carried along at a rather sedate pace . . . bit disappointing. "Dive Organiser" and his assistant went in last and managed to hit the water bang on slack, they didn't move a centimetre . . .
No current whatsoever . .
After lunch on the slip, and much amusement at the "Dive Organiser"'s ability to hit slack on a drift dive and full flood on a wreck, we moved to the next site at Loch Creran.
On the slip at Ballachulish . . . current, what current?
Three of us went round to Loch Creran in the boat whilst the "Organiser", his buddy, the "Dive Organiser" and his assistant drove the camper, cars, boat, and trailers round by road.
Castle Stalker, on the way to Loch Creran
Loch Creran produced another problem; having launched the boat, the suitless one needed a hand to get aboard. . .
Event Horizon suffered an entanglement with her own painter . . . and yes we do know that it shouldn't be that long . . . it wrapped itself round the prop, and managed to clip on too.
After all the excitement we did get a dive round the dogleg at the mouth of Loch Creran, it was slightly faster than this mornining's dive for most of us, but by the time the "Organiser" had been in, got out of his suit and got the "Dive Organiser" kitted up and ready to go. . . it was slack water.
The "Organiser" had arranged accommodation at a Faulty Towers franchise in Oban for Saturday night, and even stretched his skills to booking a table at the one remaining restaurant with room for seven. A fine time was had!
Sunday morning found us heading out across the Firth of Lorn to the mouth of Loch Spelve on Mull - it looked promising; a shallow, narrow entry to the loch and an incoming tide, how could it fail? The "Organiser" team and the "Photographers" team had an OK dive, the drift wasn't especially strong, but the sun was shining and the scenery was beautiful. Loch Spelve is definitely worth a visit.
After the usual suit changing shenanigins the "Dive Organiser" team managed to hit slack for the third time!
The final dive of the weekend was to be at the Falls of Lora, the "Dive Organiser" was a bit peckish and decided to stop off for tea and sandwiches before tackling the Falls. There was some debate about the state of the tide at this point, but the "Dive Organiser" was supremely confident.
We chugged up to the Falls to find it at last 10 minutes of the incoming tide . . . i.e. just about slack!
To keep up our spirits we indulged in a bit of Loch Bobbing before the dive.
Divetech Synchronised Loch Bobbing Team at Connel Bridge
Bobber's Eye View
The videos prove conclusively that there was in fact zero current for the first hour at the Falls
Although it did pick up a bit later.
Thanks to the "Organiser", "Dive Organiser", boat skippers, divers and photographers for a thoroughly entertaining weekend!
Our return trip to Loch Torridon was plagued with problems, the club boat was damaged and the other boat we planned to take was no longer available. Consequently the actual trip was a trimmed down version of the original plan.
Four of us braved wind, rain and snow to drag ourselves, and a tonne of boat, the 200 miles north to Shieldaig.
Torridon - big bit of rock
By the time we arrived at Kinloch it was sunny!
Kinloch - our base for the weekend
There was enough time to fill cylinders before heading off to the pub in Shieldaig
View to Shieldaig village across Loch Shieldaig
Friday was a bit blustery so we dived a site with no name on the north shore of Lower Loch Torridon. It looked like a pinnacle on the chart but was more of a dome, there was plenty of marine life and we did see this rather fine edible crab having lunch, amongst other things.
For the second dive we did the narrows between Upper and Lower Loch Torridon. This drift dive is one of my favorite sites, loads of life, clear water and stonking current.
Saturday brought flat calm seas but overcast weather with a forecast for rain - it looked like the best sea conditions of the weekend so we hightailed it out to Hinds Shoal, north of Rona. This massive lump of rock comes up from around 100m to 20m in giant steps. It's very tidal and anything living there has to cling on for grim death, certainly one to do at slack water! The up side is that the water is clear and it's usually light down to 40m or more.
Fulmars over Hinds Shoal
Sea Scorpion, Hinds Shoal
They look like Oaten-pipe Hydroids . . . but they're way too big
Northern Seafan, Hinds Shoal. No Seafan Anemones this year.
Hinds Shoal was such a fab dive we ended up doing over an hour on it - I was frozen, very glad to have a trusty Weezle for insulation..
Just one dive meant we managed to gets fills done, eat dinner and still get to the pub :)
Ian gave us a tutorial on Paint Shop Pro.
And Kev fixed the punctured jockey wheel tyre, there be spikes on that slip!
And all before bedtime :)
As the weekend wore on the weather improved, the rain stayed away and the sun came out. On Sunday we dived Sgier nan Train Shoal near the mouth of the Loch, again the scenery below the surface wasn't stunning but the there was plenty of marine life to keep us interested.
Seahare . . . running out of kelp
Laidback Common starfish
Edible crab
Ian . . . a bit surprised!
In the afternoon we had a beautiful shallow wall dive on the Ardheslaig Peninsula, a gentle drift carried us along, so we didn't even have to fin.
Tiny Hermit crab Not so tiny Kev
Before travelling home we got a fantastic drift dive thorugh the Narrows, the tide was ebbing so not such great vis this time, but it was great fun.
The Narrows
Alison kitting up
Yarrell's Blenny
Hanging on!
Packing
Typically the weather was perfect for our trip home.
For Ian's wonderful photos of the trip take a look at Cyclops-Online.
Thanks to Brian for sorting the marks, Ian & Kev for fixing, lifting and diplomatic skills (that'd be Ian!) and to Claire at Kinloch for fab food and a diver friendly place to stay.
The UE-77 is a WWI submarine, sunk off Dunbar. She doesn't always want to be found and as a result there have been many aborted attempts to dive her, and one or two dives on a muddy seabed somewhere in the vicinity of the UE-77!
Having decided it was high time we had another attempt, we set the date for Sunday, May 23rd. The party consisted of Brian, Alison, Sarah, Gordon & Carpe Diem. The Saturday was sunny and calm . . . but what would Sunday bring?
An early start found us on the harbour at Dunbar, lots of kit and boat faffing going on. Edinburgh was sunny and hot, but Dunbar was under a cloud, Gordon's shorts didn't seem quite so appropriate here. As we headed out of the harbour a few raindrops made an apprearance, but the sea was as flat as a newly ironed sheet so we made good progress to the site. The Sub lies in a hollow on the seabed, so doesn't show up too well on the sounder. We had two marks and saw a fleeting shadow on the sounder as we passed over the most promising . . . we decided to go for it. The shot was dropped and the guys chivalrously stood back and let the girls go first.
UE-77 lies in about 42m, on a featureless mud and sand seabed. As we dropped down the shotline we couldn't help wondering if there would be a wreck at the end of it, or just a miffed crustacean. At the surface the water looked clear and blue, at 10m is was green and snotty, at 25m it cleared but was pretty dark. At 35m I thought I saw a darker shadow, but it could've been wishful thinking. Then at 40m, there she was, the shot was through the port side aeleron and we landed at the bow - right on the nose, she must've fancied a bit of company today.
Although it was dark we did get a few ropey photos;
Sarah by the port aeleron
The handrail and expansion tank on the starboard side
Sarah by the gun on the rear deck
Conning tower and periscope
Sarah at the conning tower
At the bow
Sarah and I had a great dive, and got to the surface to find the sun shining fit to bust, so we had a relaxing hour of sun worshipping while the lads went for a wander, secure in the knowledge that the Sub was taking visitors that day!
Thanks to the UE-77 for her hospitality, and to Brian for perfect shotting :)
The U12 was rediscovered in January 2008, and a few of us have been wanting to dive it ever since, but between the bad weather and inconvenient trip dates is just didnt happen, until May 16th - just over 2 years later!
Spurred on by tales of a white, sandy seabed and perfect vis - the camera was the first thing to get packed., next were the seasickness tablets. The U12 is quite a way off shore. After a week of reasonable weather Sunday arrived calm and sunny. The steam out was comfortable and things were looking pretty good. Iain shotted the wreck,and almost everyone else got in while Brian and I took our time kitting up. We dropped down to disappointing vis, there was loads of plankton in the water even at 45m, making it much darker than I'd hoped for. Despite that we had a good dive, the U12 sits upright on a sandy seabed and is covered in Deadmen's Fingers. She's also covered in nets, and there's a whole trawl door by the bow!
The shot was just aft of the conning tower so we dropped onto her at the perfect spot, slid down to the seabed and headed to the stern. Because it was so dark the photos are pretty poor.
The shot was just aft of the conning tower - you can see all the plankton!
Brian at the stern, by the tiny prop
U12 carried a biplane that was launched from the forward deck
The conning tower
Brian by a hatch on the forward deck
Ann by the conning tower
Brian at the bow
The conning tower
Paul exploring the conning tower hatch
Brian at the conning tower
Divers on the shot
Content!
Waiting for pick up
Jacob George
End of a great dive.
Although the vis was a bit rough it was a great dive, can't wait to go back! Thanks to Iain at Marine Quest for a brilliant day
This was by no means the first Divetech trip of the year, but the first that anyone has written up.
Sarah, Alison, Ian and Brian decided to trek over to the west coast for a dive and then lunch - the lunch was more important to some than the dive!
A 7am start found Brian running round Edinburgh picking everyone up before we hit the M8 in high spirits en route to the Pitstop for breakfast. There had been a fire at our usual refuelling point, so we headed on to the tearooms at Loch Fyne. Mixed news here too - plenty to eat and drink, but the loo was temporarily out of order :(
Kitting up for the first dive of the season is always a voyage of discovery; did the suit shrink over the winter, can you remember where everything goes, does everything still work . . .
Ian's suit repair, in fetching green and black, result of a previous trip to Loch Fyne.
Fortunately for the three of them everything still fitted and was mostly in the right place. Apart from the Loch which apparently was too far away - just part of the ritual whinge expected on the first dive!
Enjoying the shore part of shore diving . . .
Considering the dump of snow on Thursday and Friday, the weather was quite kind to us, it was sunny most of the day and quite warm when the wind died down, Loch Fyne looked remarkably fine,
and the sky was blue.
Even though the vis wasn't fantastic Ian got some great underwater photos;
Back on the surface there was enough time for Easter eggs and a cuppa before heading off to Furnace.
Whilst Ian and Brian went in for a second dive, Sarah and I headed for the local hostelry, which ticks all the boxes with beer, good food and an open fire :)
Alison 
