It’s the May Bank Holiday weekend and the Curragh SAC are back on tour. We set up base camp in the sumptuous Golden Acres Country House & Spa in Killala and we had the north Mayo coast at our mercy. 36 hardy souls had travelled west for a great weekend’s diving – after all Niall had promised us, hadn’t he??

Calm seas, a sunny afternoon and the majestic sea stack off Downpatrick Head beckoned us on Friday afternoon. The advance party of 14 dived Dun Briste to general acclaim. The scene seemed set for the weekend.

The rest of the group (predominantly those who have to work for a living) arrived later on Friday evening and we could make arrangements for Saturday morning (the Force 8 forecast notwithstanding). See you all at Kilcummin pier.

Jean, Gerry, Peadar and Niall had an early start on Saturday morning in order to launch the boats in Killala. Kevin Gilvarry (Grainne Uaile SAC) very kindly joined us to show us the way out of the tricky harbour and give us a few pointers on the way. The wind was blowing hard into the bay but the rain was refreshing at that hour! Kevin inquired as to who was the DOD and tempted as I was to say “I don’t know,” I admitted guilt as he looked somewhat askance over the top of his spectacles.

Nevertheless Kevin & Gerry crewed the new boat and Jean & I crewed the old boat. It was certainly an “interesting” transit towards Kilcummin. We ended up passing Kilcummin pier as it was almost too dangerous to approach let alone load divers from.

We carried on to Lackan and the rest of the group followed us around. Unfortunately Neillo thought Lackan was spelt K-I-L-C-U-M-M-I-N and we were momentarily short a key member of the group. Anxious moments indeed!

It was blowing so hard into Lackan that we had to moor the boats bow into wind in order to stop them being tossed around.

Now when I did my cox’n course I learnt that anything above a F4 was dodgy and a F6 was no-go. Happily those rules have obviously changed and this Curragh crew was not going to be undone by a F8 touching a mere 9. One choppy trip back across the bay restored all faith in diving, as inside Kilcummin Head proved to be well sheltered and a lovely dive.

At this stage your humble DOD must confess that he had been hoping for a high rate of attrition after the first stick given the conditions. I had naively thought we could get away with just one stick in the afternoon but not this dedicated bunch of divers. Only two divers dropped out but I (happily?) had gained four!!

Conditions dictated that we would return there in the afternoon but as the wind came down some were even lucky enough to get outside the head and enjoy a truly spectacular dive with boulders strewn along the bottom, a swim-through and lots of fish life.

We recovered the boats in Lackan thanks to Neillo and Gerry recovering the trailers from Killala. A few hardies who had not been beaten by the conditions repaired to Polkes in Ballycastle for refreshments though the second half of the Leinster match had tempted others in a different direction.

After dinner at base camp, a few more cylinders filled and preparations made for the morning a number of us (selflessly) joined Kevin G at his hostelry for some high quality porter and craic. I do believe that by the end of the night we had survived 10m waves in a F10 (minimum).

Fortune favours the brave and we woke on Sunday morning to the sound of silence. Sadly it was not to be silent for long – the crew were stretching themselves and getting ready for action. The wind had dropped and the sun was making a valiant effort. I got a less than effusive welcome when I knocked on Gerry’s door and subsequently Neillo’s door at 0745. While that is understandable there was work to be done.

Off we went to Ballycastle from where we dived Dun Briste in the morning and under the Ceide Cliffs in the afternoon. Bizarrely the first stick seem to have had far better viz than the second stick (answers on a postcard please) but I don’t think anyone was complaining. Ballycastle was a popular spot with members from Galway SAC and Grainne Uaile SAC operating from there on the day. The Ceide Cliffs was a good dive, good for a bit of variety but the general consensus was that Dun Briste was the better one.

With great efforts from the entire crew our day’s diving was complete with the boats out of the water by 1730. Of course we could not pass Polke’s on our way home.

All present are now well dived up and ready to tackle anything! Peter, Remis and Dave M. all signed off their final 30m dives so they are now ready to take on the 2** test. The best of luck lads.

All in all a dozen dozen (a gross I do believe) dives were done over the weekend. It was a credit to everyone present who got stuck in to achieve this, particularly in spite of the conditions on Saturday. Your DOD, sadly, had to leave you on Sunday evening, but was going up the road chuffed I can assure you!

Newsletter Articles

Notes from the Chair
Curragh Renunion
The “Nasello”, a Sardinian “Guide Me”
Ballycastle Newsletter
Sardinia Diving
Testing Time
Trainee

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