FOR the Sheephaven SAC it was a weekend of diving with a few interesting dates as well, consisting of a shore dive on Saturday followed by the regular Sunday morning snorkel.Â
The interesting dates stared on Saturday February 1, St Brigid’s Day the first day of Spring and also Groundhog Day, with the weather definitely in Groundhog mode – more strong gales and a big sea whipped up as a result.
The weather dictated the decision to seek the shelter of Mulroy Bay for a shore dive at Carolans Bay, where the divers got a 40-minute dive to maximum of 12 metres.
The sea bed at this location is a mixture of silt and sand and despite the cold water at 6 degrees Celsius there was some interesting marine life, including a decent shoal of juvenile fish and a lovely Pipefish.
In-water visibility at five metres horizontally was reasonable considering all the recent rain and the run-off that is generated as a result, all-in-all a decent dive despite the poor weather at the time.
Sunday mornings was a Palindrome date, which is the date reads the same forwards as backwards, 20200202, apparently the first in 900 years, so it is unlikely we will see the like again.
Leaving that aside the snorkel in Portnablagh got better weather, although conditions are still a bit cold with air temperatures down to less than 4 degrees Celsius, with little swell and a bit of a westerly breeze.
The club members put in another decent snorkel across to the Golf Course, while the trainees are starting to show what they can do and no doubt will be passing out their instructors very soon.
