Mull Trip
by Paul Doyle, May 2011
15/10/2011
What’s the story from Tobermory
Thursday
After a 5 hour drive from the Cheshire area up to Oban we all checked into our B+B and then assembled at a local eatery.
Friday
At 9am our dive boat ‘Silver Swift’ skippered by Paul Gallagher had made its way to Oban to pick us up. After loading everything onto the boat we set off for our first dives.
Dive 1 was the wreck of the Breda; a 400ft Dutch steamship sank by the Luftwaffe in a bombing raid on Oban in WWII with plenty of life. Dive 2 was a reef dive with loads of life for the enthusiastic photographers to shoot, namely; small lobsters, crabs, starfish, kelp and a bright orange Lumpsucker (see photo).
We were then transported to Tobermory and off to our B&B.
Saturday
Clear blue skies but rough seas for our transit to dive 1, the wreck of SS Shuna a steamship wrecked in the Sound of Mull in 1913 – good viz and an abundance of marine life. The second dive was a reef dive off Calve Island – the marine life included a seal – but only once we’d surfaced.
Saturday evening was fish and chips from the cabin on the habour front; followed later (for some) the champions league final. Barca won 3-1, which left 2 Manchester City supporters wrecks in their own right the following morning!
Sunday
Dive 1 was the wreck of the Hispania, a Swedish ship which sank in 1954. The captain of this vessel reportedly elected to go down with his ship – rather than accept rescue! The 2nd dive was another reef dive off Calve Island.
Sunday evening was a group meal in the Mishnish restaurant, where some of the group sampled local shellfish and others local whisky. A good night was had by all!
Monday (last day!)
All belongings loaded back onto the dive boat as we set off back to Oban, via the last 2 dive sites. Dive 1 was the wreck of the Rondo a 260ft dry cargo ship which sank in 1935. Plenty of marine life to be seen even on the safety stop! On the transit to the 2nd dive site we encountered some seal basking on the rocks near our second dive site, the wreck of the Thesis. The Thesis is a 19th Century wreck (sinking in 1889), but plenty of the structure is still visible.
Overall Tobermory is a lovely place to be based on a dive trip and I would definitely recommend the trip.
Despite the fact that the weather was mixed, clear blue sunny skies, followed rain and high winds, no dives were missed and visibility was generally very good. Thank you also to our resident instructor Janine – hope it wasn’t too stressful!
p.s I must commend Jon for his numerous attempts at a descent, despite not having his integrated weights in his BCD – who took them out?
