Sheephaven divers welcomed in the New Year and indeed the new decade with the best of the tried and trusted from the years gone by, with a swim, a dive and a snorkel last week.Â
The New Year’s day swim at Marblehill has been a traditional fixture organised by the Doe Amateur Swimming Club for many years and has become a huge crowd puller for both local and visiting swimmers alike.
The money raised goes to local charities and the support the event gets is a reflection of the hard work by the club members, the Mulroy Coastguard Unit and the medical personnel in attendance.
The Doe Amateur Swimming Club was the forerunner of Sheephaven SAC and two of the current club members, Willie Sheridan and Noel Brennan are very much involved in both last Wednesday.
Saturday morning dawned clear and relatively calm, allowing a brief respite long enough to get the first Sheephaven dive of 2020 underway from Mevagh slipway to Dunloan Rock.
There was a big sea running, pushing in from a northerly weather pattern overnight and the shelter of Mulroy Bay was the best option available.
In-water conditions were cold with limited visibility at less than 7 degrees Celsius and less than 5 metres respectively, but any dive at this time of the year is too be welcomed.
Sunday morning sea conditions had completely changed, with no swell and no wind, making the first snorkel of 2020 a real pleasure for the Sheephaven divers present at PortnaBlagh.
It was also an opportunity for some returning club members to get back into the water and hopefully they will be joined by other lapsed divers who might want to ‘reboot’ their systems each week with a period of time where the only thing they have consider is the water and leave everything else on the shore.
