It seems like a distant memory at this
stage but haven’t forgotten my first stint as a weekend
DO just yet and I wouldn’t be in a hurry to volunteer
again! The June bank holiday weekend was pencilled in as
a nice, easy dive centre weekend in Mullaghmore so I said
I’d do it. Due to double booking it ended up being
a DIY weekend across the bay in Donegal. It was set to
be a logistics nightmare: 26 divers, 2 boats, 2 compressors-
although it was looking like we’d only have one for
the weekend ‘cept Ken The King went out of his way
to bring the other (thx Ken xxxx). Everything that could
go wrong, did- the weather blew up, the compressor wasn’t
ready in time, the boats broke down, Shane lost his weight
belt…I was on a steep learning curve and surrounded
by Mons offering conflicting opinions and advice on all
matters!
The diving got off to a good start on the Friday- those
who were lucky enough to get up a day early got out to
Rathlin O Beirne Island on a beautiful Summer’s
day. Most of us were stuck in traffic of course but were
reminded
of what we were missing courtesy of several text messages!
By Saturday the wind had shifted and restricted us to
diving in nearer the shore. We did however manage a few
dives
on Gloster and Shark Rock and headed to the local in
Glen Colm Cill to witness Peadar and Ken competing for
attention
on the dance floor with their new American friend. She
certainly knew how to Rock ‘n Roll!
Sunday morning was a disaster! The long term forecast
was completely haywire! What should have been a gentle
SW wind
had turned into a gale and both boats looked like they
were in danger of sinking. To make matters worse the
Northcraft wouldn’t start, however Mr Bannon was
on hand to take charge of this matter. It took two jeeps
and several
enthusiastic divers to raise the boat out of the water.
They were applauded every step of the way by an audience
of photographers! I should add that this was done at
low tide and that Malinbeg slipway is not for the faint
hearted
at the best of times. With Neill at the helm however
there was no way we were going to fail this task and
as the DO
says Neill is never wrong! We were on a winning streak
now. Irene and Alan coxed the Lencraft back to Teelin.
Jamie managed to tow the compressors back up the hill
in his newly hired trailer and we even found Shane’s
weight belt on the afternoon dive!
Thanks once again to everyone on the weekend for your
constant cooperation and good humour! A special thanks
to the towers
who went to a lot of trouble to get the gear up and back
in one piece. It was certainly a memorable weekend, if
not for the diving, for all the craic we had. C u all
on the next weekend away!
Siobhán
