Originally posted by Gilian in the Autumn 2000 club newsletter

Mark and I were taking Fiona and she kept us
entertained with a stream of jokes. I had my
first dive at Lochaline Pier soon after arriving
and was gob-smacked at how sheer the drop
is. We then got involved in laying the shot lines
for the boats and then dived again later when
the other keen divers arrived. Lots of masks
were cleared at the pier including Miss
McWhirr who completed her Sports diver
training that evening. We scrounged some Pizza
from Colin for Tea and it was lovely.

Saturday was to see us breaking into 2 groups.
The club boat went to the wreck of the John
Preston where they carried out training and
testing of depth gauges! Ted and Ruuds boats
went to Pennygowan quarry. Ted was
especially pleased to try out his new GPS
system and found the wall very quickly. Mark
and Lindsay decided to celebrate the fact that
she had passed her sports diver training and
bounced to 40 metres. Ruud and I enjoyed a
comfortable dive, harassed only by squat
lobsters and bold swimming crabs. This site
reminded me of Stallion Rock in Loch Fyne, a
bit dark and foreboding but pleasant anyway.

In the afternoon, Mark and Lindsay tried for a
bravery award by seeing how far down the
Thesis shot line they could pull themselves. A
few minutes later the dive was aborted and
they drifted onto it instead. Ruud and I went in
between the islands and stuck to the bottom of
the reef wall at about 20 metres, it was a lovely
drift and made interesting by finding a weight
belt. Ruud decanted some of the lead and
carried the belt in his hand for the dive. We too
drifted onto the wreck of the Thesis. Alejandro
and Fiona sort of missed the wreck totally.

Dinner that evening was 5 courses including
Andy and Lil's lasagne and we were joined by
Colin McWhirrs brother who provided some
after dinner entertainment whilst instructing
Colin on proper dish washing procedures.

Sunday was overcast and we headed for
Calve Island. I remember being very impatient
to get in for another dive at this wonderful site.
Louise was my buddy for the day, we
managed to play with a dogfish and spot a
breathtaking Dahlia Anemona. During the dive
we came onto a boulder slope and spent a
considerable amount of time feeding Ballan and
Cuckoo Wrasse, I really enjoyed this dive.

After stopping at Tobermory for Clams and
Chips we dived in Loch Sunart. It was a bit
choppy and so I was glad to get into the water.
This was even better than Calve Island. A
superb profusion of life and a great sandy shelf
that provided an excellent base for an
elementary clam diving lesson that we both
enjoyed. I sent up Mark's DSMB and

surfaced after 56 minutes, I would have liked
to have stayed for an hour but was too
desperate for a pee.

That evening after dragging some of the
reprobates from the Social club bar we all
enjoyed Heather and Alejandro's "sweet tattie
curry" and jolly nice it was too. Another huge
meal followed by Liquor coffees (thanks to Ted
for the Brandy).

On Monday our mean organiser had us up at
the crack of dawn and Susan and I were the
first in the water at 7.37AM (must be mad). At
this point I woke up, stopped grumbling and
enjoyed another drifty dive. Susan was digging
around in the kelp and found some clams too
although there weren't as many as in Loch
Sunart. This dive was noteable for the EARLY
morning sun streaming through the water. It was
my earliest ever dive and yes I would do it
again. It was similar to the feeling you get when

reaching a mountain top earlier in the day than
anyone else.

Mark would like to thank everyone who helped
to make this weekend a success.