Connemara with Aughinish, in April.
Cleggan beach Snorkelling time.
Maybe Badger from the wind in the willows, decided to move to the seaside...
Showing posts with label scubadiving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scubadiving. Show all posts
Saturday, July 18, 2015
[Overdue post] Diving weekend 2015 ...the story so far...
Much overdue post, just couple of pictures of diving weekends.
Connemara with Aughinish, in April.
Cleggan beach Snorkelling time.
Maybe Badger from the wind in the willows, decided to move to the seaside...
Connemara with Aughinish, in April.
Cleggan beach Snorkelling time.
Maybe Badger from the wind in the willows, decided to move to the seaside...
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Busy day above the water - Kilkee
A busy Saturday in Kilkee, where i did dry cox fro our diving club.
View from the boat of the dive site ( Middle Rock ) , we used the Lought Dergh in the morning, after having stuck our in the sand by stubbornly trying to launch at low tide.
View from the boat of the dive site ( Middle Rock ) , we used the Lought Dergh in the morning, after having stuck our in the sand by stubbornly trying to launch at low tide.
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| middle rock |
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All pics from a GoPro.
It was a beautiful sunny day in Kilkee, and the place was busy, in particularly because the great swim was organised that day. Anyway our plan was to go diving, with a very low tide at noon, we planned to launch our boat at 10AM.
We were all ready for the boat launch on the slip around 10, but we decided to purge on refill the hydraulic steering wheel of the boat first. This operation took a lot longer than the 10 minutes initially planned, and it resulted in a very slippy boat covered by oil. Off course by that time the water had almost reached it's lowest point in the pier, and we had to try launching the boat with a rope ; after 4 attempts, we managed to have the boat in the water and out of the trailer, only to find it beach on a sand bank in the middle of the pier.
There was no way we could drag the boat for 10 meters over the sand until it reaches enough depth.
So we threw an anchor ( so it would not drift on shore once the tide was rising ) and borrow our friend from lough Dergh boat to go diving.
We settle upon Middle Rock as a dive site, with 1 hour delay to the initial plan.
Sadly it was not the end of our misadventures. A threesome of divers had an equipment issue - one of the guy's regulator went on free flow and refused to give air, forcing the three of them to air sharing, and aborting the dive. It resulted in an uncontrolled ascent , sightly faster than recommended - well depending on which table had been used, the rate could have been bound safe - ah the good old navy tables ( 9 meters per minutes ).
Unfortunately for me as a cox, they surfaced in the worst possible site over middle rock, right where the waves are breaking on top of the rock. I collected the 3 boys, not without having to drag them with the boat out of the danger zone. One of them was feeling a bit unwell and was put under O2.
We then proceeded to recall the other divers, without any success, despite revving the engine and banging cylinder underwater.
After 10 minutes, they finally surfaced, and once everybody was on-board we headed to the pier. Once there we called the coast guard for advice, and soon the problematic party was rush to the Kilkee rescue center for examination and all 3 of them were put under O2. They were evacuated soon after to Galway by helicopter ( the helicopter came to Kilkee for another emergency, and it was decided to use it to transport all causalities ).
Once in Galway the boys were put in a re-compression chamber and put under observation before being released late, all safe and sound.
With nothing left to do, except checking by phone on the lads progress, we decided to go on with the afternoon dive. By that time our boat was afloat ( finally ), thanks to the rising tides, and a group of 7 divers headed again for middle rock, and once again I served as dry cox.
Once again we did not escape incident, but it was more minor, one of our diver had its high pressure hose blow up on the boat, and as a result did not enter the water - which was as well as i had an helpful hand for what follow, as one of the pair aborted the dive early due to high PPO2 reading on a rebreather.
Anyway after all that stress, everybody was brought back safe and sound on the shore, for those who did dive, they had a lovely one - well that's what they said despite the puking on the boat afterwards.
And that was all for the day, best thing was to head to the pub, have some food, and welcome back the boys from their escape to Galway.
Some key lessons from this:
It was a beautiful sunny day in Kilkee, and the place was busy, in particularly because the great swim was organised that day. Anyway our plan was to go diving, with a very low tide at noon, we planned to launch our boat at 10AM.
We were all ready for the boat launch on the slip around 10, but we decided to purge on refill the hydraulic steering wheel of the boat first. This operation took a lot longer than the 10 minutes initially planned, and it resulted in a very slippy boat covered by oil. Off course by that time the water had almost reached it's lowest point in the pier, and we had to try launching the boat with a rope ; after 4 attempts, we managed to have the boat in the water and out of the trailer, only to find it beach on a sand bank in the middle of the pier.
There was no way we could drag the boat for 10 meters over the sand until it reaches enough depth.
So we threw an anchor ( so it would not drift on shore once the tide was rising ) and borrow our friend from lough Dergh boat to go diving.
We settle upon Middle Rock as a dive site, with 1 hour delay to the initial plan.
Sadly it was not the end of our misadventures. A threesome of divers had an equipment issue - one of the guy's regulator went on free flow and refused to give air, forcing the three of them to air sharing, and aborting the dive. It resulted in an uncontrolled ascent , sightly faster than recommended - well depending on which table had been used, the rate could have been bound safe - ah the good old navy tables ( 9 meters per minutes ).
Unfortunately for me as a cox, they surfaced in the worst possible site over middle rock, right where the waves are breaking on top of the rock. I collected the 3 boys, not without having to drag them with the boat out of the danger zone. One of them was feeling a bit unwell and was put under O2.
We then proceeded to recall the other divers, without any success, despite revving the engine and banging cylinder underwater.
After 10 minutes, they finally surfaced, and once everybody was on-board we headed to the pier. Once there we called the coast guard for advice, and soon the problematic party was rush to the Kilkee rescue center for examination and all 3 of them were put under O2. They were evacuated soon after to Galway by helicopter ( the helicopter came to Kilkee for another emergency, and it was decided to use it to transport all causalities ).
Once in Galway the boys were put in a re-compression chamber and put under observation before being released late, all safe and sound.
With nothing left to do, except checking by phone on the lads progress, we decided to go on with the afternoon dive. By that time our boat was afloat ( finally ), thanks to the rising tides, and a group of 7 divers headed again for middle rock, and once again I served as dry cox.
Once again we did not escape incident, but it was more minor, one of our diver had its high pressure hose blow up on the boat, and as a result did not enter the water - which was as well as i had an helpful hand for what follow, as one of the pair aborted the dive early due to high PPO2 reading on a rebreather.
Anyway after all that stress, everybody was brought back safe and sound on the shore, for those who did dive, they had a lovely one - well that's what they said despite the puking on the boat afterwards.
And that was all for the day, best thing was to head to the pub, have some food, and welcome back the boys from their escape to Galway.
Some key lessons from this:
- Direct system horn, which was very helpful to signal and call for help, without the lads blowing it, i would have reacted much later.
- Dry cox: it has the advantage to speed up the dives, avoiding for people waiting on the boat ( in case of 2 sticks ) while over are diving - either before or after their own dives. But in case of emergency, the cox is busy driving the boat, and cannot take care of the diver at the same time. I would highly recommend to have 2 people on the boat at all times.
- Recall: there is a need to find a proper recall procedure for diver underwater, revving the engine did not work - but maybe I was to gentle with that - banging piece of metal underwater did not work either ( which i thought would ).
- The importance of working mean of communication with land ( either VHF or cell phone )
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Scubathon 2012
Nevermind Bastille Day, this weekend my diving club ( Aughinish ) along with the local diving club in Kilkee were organizing a scubathon:
By Scubathon this meant 24 hours diving, with diving in the water all the time, rotating by one hour slots.
The event coincided with the maritime festival in Kilkee, so the town was busy.
I started off by trying to help setup the camp early in the morning, then I was off to do the first 2 hours of cox duty over Newfie, bringing divers to the site, watching over them and recovering them at the end.
Later during the day, it was my turn to dive, 62 minutes of easy diving in 10 meters of water, with a nice blonde mermaid. We saw a couple of flat fishes, some pollock, and tiny fish hiding in the sand.
I was actually quite annoyed by my main regulator which was leaking, and i was not sure i could make the full hour, by loosing air permanently... but it ended up ok, finishing with 50bar on the dot.
After a night sleep, in kilkee under the tent, I went back to Limerick, leaving the others close the event.
And it was time to close the weekend with a nice chowder, some tunes and some stout in the Curragower:
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| Poster Scubathon |
The event coincided with the maritime festival in Kilkee, so the town was busy.
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| Maritime festival in Kilkee |
I started off by trying to help setup the camp early in the morning, then I was off to do the first 2 hours of cox duty over Newfie, bringing divers to the site, watching over them and recovering them at the end.
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| The last boat to get in the water |
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| Covering diver over newfie |
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| Covering boat in newfie, george's head in the back |
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| Flags |
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| Sunset in kilkee ... :D |
Later during the day, it was my turn to dive, 62 minutes of easy diving in 10 meters of water, with a nice blonde mermaid. We saw a couple of flat fishes, some pollock, and tiny fish hiding in the sand.
I was actually quite annoyed by my main regulator which was leaking, and i was not sure i could make the full hour, by loosing air permanently... but it ended up ok, finishing with 50bar on the dot.
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| my mermaid ... buddy |
After a night sleep, in kilkee under the tent, I went back to Limerick, leaving the others close the event.
And it was time to close the weekend with a nice chowder, some tunes and some stout in the Curragower:
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| The End ... |
Thursday, June 28, 2012
What would you do on a Wednesday evening...
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| George's Head seen from Middle rock |
Off course you could wonder intensely on CR7 haircut during a penalty shootout...
Or you could head down to Kilkee, for an evening dive.... as I did
Oru club had the boat moored in Kilkee bay for the week, after a busy weekend, doing water safety for the Kilkee Hell of the West triathlon ( http://www.limericktriathlon.com/drupal/?q=kilkee ) like we do every year.
This time I actually decided to stay for the Saturday night in Kilkee, enjoy a few scoops in the local pub ( The Skinny dog ... or more accurately The Greyhound Bar ... not to name it ) with triathletes, and their partners. We also manage to squeeze a dive or 2 over the weekend.
With the boat easily accessible ( no need for launch or recovery, happy days) , we decided to go on for a midweek dive.
When I arrive the sea was flat calm, and the temptation to go farther the coastline was pressing, but the lack of dry cox made me think better of it. Five of us were diving.
So I settle upon middle rock once more, the visibility in the water had deteriorated from the weekend.
With the boat easily accessible ( no need for launch or recovery, happy days) , we decided to go on for a midweek dive.
When I arrive the sea was flat calm, and the temptation to go farther the coastline was pressing, but the lack of dry cox made me think better of it. Five of us were diving.
So I settle upon middle rock once more, the visibility in the water had deteriorated from the weekend.
Funnily Sunday, the visibility was poor, green and murky for the first 15 meters but all cleared up down below. On Wednesday however it was murky all the way down ... which did not help my photo-graphical skills ...
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| Poor visibilty.. combined to poor white balance settings |
Middle Rock: Right in the mouth of Kilkee Bay, this is said to be one of the finest dive sites in the area. On nautical charts you'll find it rightly in the middle of a groups labelled "Black Rocks" from the color you can see when the tip of the rocks emerge from the water.
Middle rock is easier to access than outer rock, which usually see big waves and swell even on calm sea, we usually approach it from the North, dropping the divers the deeper (up to 33 meters ) and leaving them heading south to find the sheer wall of the rock.
While the first group was enjoying the site under we made use of a fishing rod, and were lucky enough to capture some mackerels.
Soon enough it was time, to go back to land, moor the boat ( no tricky boat recovery this time ) and head for the next curry in town.
Incidently you can check the different dive sites in Kilkee on our friends website http://www.kilkeesubaquaclub.com/ , I encourage you to have a read at Noel Gleeson on "Oileán Na Bátha".
How else would you spend your Wednesday evening ?
Soon enough it was time, to go back to land, moor the boat ( no tricky boat recovery this time ) and head for the next curry in town.
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| Happy divers... post dive... |
Incidently you can check the different dive sites in Kilkee on our friends website http://www.kilkeesubaquaclub.com/ , I encourage you to have a read at Noel Gleeson on "Oileán Na Bátha".
Monday, May 07, 2012
A good start for the Month of May
Bank May Holiday, with his now traditional Riverfest, was planned to be a busy weekend. The weather at times was menacing, but everything turned out great.
All started out with a chill out session on Friday night in the infamous Wicked Chicken, all with good tunes and excellent company (K & P )
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| The infamous Wicked Chicken.... |
We could not end up the night like that, so off we went finish ourselves to the Costello, his sticky carpet, and relax dance-floor, made some brilliant encounter down there, from past DJ (now teacher of the place) to Mr Scruff gig's friends.
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| Costello godess overlooking the dancefloor... |
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| Water the drink of legends ;) |
Definitely the perfect warm up for the long weekend.
On Saturday the big BBQ cook off, took place on Arthur Quay's, we manage to preserve ourselves a table, well guarded by bubbles gun.
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| Almost shining on a busy Arthur Quay... |
Nice free food, and free music along with great people, mostly musician and psychology student, with the odd intrusion from work colleagues.
After an afternoon baking in the - at times - sun, it was time for me to go to Thomond Park, to enjoy a game of Rugby (Munster vs Ulster )
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| Munster Mascot |
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| Munster on the attack.... |
This end up my day, but from what I heard the festivities were to continue long after my departure.
I had an excuse to leave early (10pm), as I was going diving in Doolin the following day.
On sunday morning, I arrive in Doolin, after escaping the gates in place for the Great Limerick Run.
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| Stoned view from Doolin pier |
It did not take long to launch the boat, and off we went to the Aran Island ( Inis Mor ) to dive the wormhole ( I am still in the process of editing the video, so wait for the next post ).
In the afternoon we went for another one, along the Cliffs of Moher, under the sun.
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| The Cliffs viewed from the sea.... |
Once we were done, we had to take care of the boat, and after complicated exchange with some locals ( not facilitated by the foreigner accent of our diving club - including mine ), we ended up finding a suitable place to park it overnight. And it was time for fulfilling dinner.
A bit later, I had the extreme pleasure to be join by G&T in McDermott pub , around some nice guinness, enjoyable trad music session, for a nice chat. And it was not till well past 1AM that we had to say goodbye.
A bit later, I had the extreme pleasure to be join by G&T in McDermott pub , around some nice guinness, enjoyable trad music session, for a nice chat. And it was not till well past 1AM that we had to say goodbye.
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| Guiness for strength in McDermotts |
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| The legendary G&T |
Up came monday, after a restful night - not enjoyed by everybody due to the weather conditions.
And we were off, for another dive, this time the club boat was hosting many guests from different clubs ( Cork SAC, Burren, and Ennis )
Delightful dive, starting with an impressive wall of Anemones displaying all their colors in patches ( Orange, Yellow, Purple, blue.... ).
And on our way back, we were greeted by a jumping dolphin, following us up to the pier.
You can actually read a bit more about this May dive weekend on the Aughinish website:
http://www.aughinishdivingclub.com/news/159-dolphin-the-cliffs-and-worm-hole
Some more....
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| Aughinish Boat |
Delightful dive, starting with an impressive wall of Anemones displaying all their colors in patches ( Orange, Yellow, Purple, blue.... ).
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| Aughinish Diving boat making way for the happy hooker. |
You can actually read a bit more about this May dive weekend on the Aughinish website:
http://www.aughinishdivingclub.com/news/159-dolphin-the-cliffs-and-worm-hole
Some more....
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| Happy Hooked in Doolin ... ( the ferry name ;) |
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| The Cliffs viewed from Doolin.... |
Monday, April 30, 2012
Life's a beach....
A quiet weekend to end up April 2012... Starting slowly with a visit to the Milk Market, got some lovely tart-let, which did not last very long ;)
Then Sunday was off to Kilkee, for some scuba-diving activities. Gorgeous cloudless blue sky, but with with chilly wind... no hot stuff to warm us up.
The dive on itself was a technical training ( 9meters 35minutes ) to iron up some skills, like:
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| "Om nom nom nom" |
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| Kilkee Pier |
The dive on itself was a technical training ( 9meters 35minutes ) to iron up some skills, like:
- the frog kick
- dry suit inversion
- SMB deployment
- Trim adjustement
Our friends from Lough Dergh were also there, and you can read about their dives :
http://www.ldsac.ie/news/245-farewell-april
I quit my diving gear, in the afternoon, to focus on more important matters, aka the pub (the Skinny Dog in Kilkee ) and the European Rugby Cup Semi Final between my club of heart ASM and Leinster.
Great fantastic game... probably the best of the season, sadly it was not meant to be for my team, and we lost 15-19... despite a desperate last 5 minutes push. :( Now ASM will turn to the French championship to win their second Brennus....
Back to the beach...
And the day was almost over...
I quit my diving gear, in the afternoon, to focus on more important matters, aka the pub (the Skinny Dog in Kilkee ) and the European Rugby Cup Semi Final between my club of heart ASM and Leinster.
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| Arrrr SM... |
Great fantastic game... probably the best of the season, sadly it was not meant to be for my team, and we lost 15-19... despite a desperate last 5 minutes push. :( Now ASM will turn to the French championship to win their second Brennus....
Back to the beach...
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| Windsurf on kilkee beach |
Monday, April 16, 2012
Bringing the boat to Kilkee
Another gorgeous weekend, with clear blue sky in Limerick.
A very early start on saturday, in order to bring the Aughinish Diving Club boat to Kilkee, using the Tarbert Ferry.
So by 9:30 AM the boat was on Kilkee slip, ready to launch.
We had a lovely dive in Diamond Rocks, just outside the bay.
The sea was calm initially, but the weather started to pick up. Underwater there was quite a bit of movement, surprising since we were around slack water, loads of life down there, with fishes and a couple of small lobsters.
After the dive we decided, to recover the boat. Back in Limerick, I ended the day with a lovely walk up to Barringtons Pier.
Sunday morning, I was back in Kilkee for another dive, shore-based this time, absolutely lovely. We enter the water through the Pollock holes, and headed to Doctor's Rocks though a gap in the rocks.
We were welcome in the first meters by a conger eel swimming peacefully through the seaweed.
In the first minutes of the dive, we stumble upon a sleepy dog fish. After another snorkel in Newfie, I headed back to Limerick.
Ended up the day by a walk up to the living bridge in UL, with some French and Italian company.
Amongst the graffiti near the Locke, I found the thought of the day ...
A very early start on saturday, in order to bring the Aughinish Diving Club boat to Kilkee, using the Tarbert Ferry.
So by 9:30 AM the boat was on Kilkee slip, ready to launch.
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| Anuka on Kilkee slip before launch |
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| George's Head ... calm sea |
After the dive we decided, to recover the boat. Back in Limerick, I ended the day with a lovely walk up to Barringtons Pier.
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| Limerick viewed from Barrington Pier |
Sunday morning, I was back in Kilkee for another dive, shore-based this time, absolutely lovely. We enter the water through the Pollock holes, and headed to Doctor's Rocks though a gap in the rocks.
We were welcome in the first meters by a conger eel swimming peacefully through the seaweed.
In the first minutes of the dive, we stumble upon a sleepy dog fish. After another snorkel in Newfie, I headed back to Limerick.
Ended up the day by a walk up to the living bridge in UL, with some French and Italian company.
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| The Living Bridge - UL |
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| Born on the walk way. |
Amongst the graffiti near the Locke, I found the thought of the day ...
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| Love is .... |
Monday, April 09, 2012
First Diving Weekend of 2012
My diving club Aughinish went to Kerry in Portmagee for the first weekend away, using the pretext of Easter Bank Holiday.
So what makes a diving weekend away ?
Answer in pictures...
Sadly no underwater pictures, since i did not bring my camera this time, but in the end 2 lovely dive with one magnificient crawfish, some anxious and damp covering of the diver in the boat, may be a head trauma or 2.... in the end a good weekend.
So what makes a diving weekend away ?
Answer in pictures...
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| Towing the boat down... and back |
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| Launching, mooring the boat in the harbour... |
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| Anchor in Portmagee harbour... |
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| A good bit of delicious food... |
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| A tiny bit of drinking... |
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| Enjoying the scenery... |
And as an added bonus: ASM is going to the semi-final of the H-Cup :D
Sunday, March 18, 2012
First Dive of 2012
At the usual suspect place, Newfie in Kilkee.
And again... ( don't ask )
Me in my outfit
Roll on the next dives...
Great to be back in the water.
My buddies getting down
Me in my outfit
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| me in my dry suit |
Roll on the next dives...
Friday, March 16, 2012
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