Sound of Mull on Gaelic Rose

"The Pipes Are Calling"

by Simon Nash

Having missed last year's trip to Mull I was glad to see that certain traditions had been maintained. On the Thursday evening after loading the kit on the good ship Gaelic Rose folk adjourned for pints in the Oban Grim and a curry in the Shite of India (aka Oban Inn & Light of India).

On the Friday morning, day dawned a little early for some especially as the main heater in the bunkroom of the Gaelic Rose was not working and it was pretty cold. Bill was soon banished from the main cabin on account of his snoring. People emerged from their bunks in a variety of woolly bears; Tina soon established herself as Queen of the Weezles, whilst David opted for something that his Grandfather had worn in the trenches in WW1.

Still spirits soon rose as we headed up the Sound of Mull. The first dive was on the wreck of the Shuna which is normally dark and silty. To our surprise the viz was very good and torches were not needed. The Shuna is very easy to get round in a single dive and was a good warm up. This was then followed up with a dive on the Thesis. The Thesis' bow plates have fallen away and when the light shines through the ship's ribs you do get something akin to a Jonah and the Whale feeling.

Les and Kay soon became the trip's official Kit Retrieval Team. In spite of the best efforts of Bill and I to lose pieces of kit ranging from weights to net cutters, Les and Kay would find them and dutifully reunite them with their owners.

After mooring along side the Silica mine in Lochaline for the night, we headed off to the Working Men's Club only to find it was quiz night. The highlight of the quiz was not the fact that the Yellow Fins (Bill, David and I) scored the maximum 500 points in the final round (a first in the history of Lochaline) but that all 3 of our teams beat all the locals in the Scottish round. I think that says more about them than about us. Beating the locals in the quiz is one thing but when Ian and Tina decided to trounce them at pool the rest of us decided it was time for a sharp exit.

Saturday's dive on the Rondo was quite eventful. The Rondo is an excellent wreck, which sunk when it hit a very small island in a storm and eventually slid down the other side to lie with its stern in 5m and its bows in 50m. There was no buoy on the wreck so Bob the skipper had to shot it; unfortunately the shot was not on the wreck so some made it to the wreck whilst Bill and Ian ended up having an excellent scallop dive. Dave and I got to the bows and proceeded to shake hands only for Dave's DV to start to freeflow. We then headed quite quickly to shallower waters. Dave was glad that he had asked Bob to top up his tank from the 160 bar it had when Dave checked his kit.

The afternoon dive on the Hispania was also quite eventful. The Hispania is the most intact wreck in the Sound as it sits upright with its deck in about 15m. Swimming through the holds is quite stunning and the wreck is covered in life. Whilst there was no current at the start of the dive by the end it had picked up. With four of us hanging on the line and another boat's divers trying to pull their way down the line onto the wreck meant that the buoy soon joined us at 8m…

We pulled into Tobermory in late afternoon which enabled those who needed to, to get "guilt presents" for those left at home. The Mull Silver shop seemed to be doing a roaring trade. Only one or two said they were going to leave getting presents till the motorway services in Cumbria on the way home; most thought this a high-risk strategy. After the frenzied activity of retail therapy it only remained to withdraw to The Mishnish pub to watch Scotland trounce Wales in the Six Nations. Dinner that evening saw us scoffing Bill and Ian's scallops.

A fantastic cliff dive was had on Calve Island on Sunday morning, although the Yellow Fins had trouble keeping up with Gordon and Phil as they sped to the depths at a great rate of knots. This afternoon Gordon had asked us to keep close, as he would have to take it slowly because of his ears. In the afternoon the wind picked up and our diving was limited to finding some shelter behind Lismore Island. It was a nice dive although it would qualify for an entry in "Mud Slopes I Have Dived - Vol. 3".

Time in between dives was either spent reading or listening to how Phil managed to get the highest score on the FHM "Lads Quiz" or Gordon regaling us with of tales of catering malpractice or his passion for mushroom hunting. That night back in the safety of Oban harbour, Bob's fabled pipes came out and much fun was had by old timers and trip virgins. It is of course more than my life is worth to reveal the secret of the pipes and how to get them to work without ending up covered in talcum powder. If you want to know the secret you will have to come on next year's trip.

Monday morning saw us do a quick dive on the Breda, a cargo ship that was sunk by the Germans in WW2. She sits upright with her bows at about 13m. People had great fun scrabbling around in the holds which contain gas masks, tyres, shaving kits, photographic plates etc., etc. However with the weather worsening a quick straw poll saw the punters voting for a quick Chilli for lunch and then heading home. Everyone had had a great time and many thanks must go to Ian for organising yet another superb start to the diving year.

Leamington and Warwick Sub Aqua Club


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