Friday 6th July

Chris, James, Ali and Grant decided to travel up during the day so as to test the pubs before getting a Ferry over to the Island in the morning. Chris and James spent the night in Oban but Ali and Grant had decided to get a good nights sleep in Glasgow...... Big mistake! With riots and gunshots out their window not a lot of sleep was had and their venture to the local pub was like a trip to a gang land movie..... lessons learned. Danny, Tony and Terry travelled from London early in the morning hoping to catch some kip on the way as did myself, Debbie, Sally-Ann and Roy only we left at 8pm on the Friday only to arrive before everybody else at 11 am on Saturday. The last thing we wanted to do was waste the rest of the day so straight down to the Mishnish Hotel for a top up or two which lasted well into the night.

Saturday 7th July 

The accommodation was at the Island Cabins and all that can be said was it was a bed for the night. The wooden cabins had great big gaps in them and the added burden of having to pay for the electricity used at the end of the week at a cost of 10 pence a unit, most of the week was spent deciding if it was worth putting on the immersion, shower or cooker. Hardly anything worked and the first thing Roy and I had to do was fix the dodgey plumbing and decide which electricity plugs weren't going to kill us.

Sunday 8th July

Diving at last....... As you know we are a bunch of divers from three corners of England and our abilities and experience was varied so what do we do.. Find a nice deep wreck with lots of tide running. I am not sure if our skipper planned this so as to see who on the boat was up to the week ahead. The boat was the MV-Amidas skippered by Charlie who was a very experienced skipper but was having none of the whimpy stuff from any of our lot. His motto was "Bring them Back Alive".

Our first dive was the Rondo. A steel steamship which was swept onto Dearg Sqeir rocks in January 1935. She sits nearly vertical and her depth ranges from 5 meters to 50  meters.

Charlie's instructions were to be careful after 20m as there would be a bit of tide. Was this to be the dive to sort out the men from the boys? Well we found the tide at 46m and it wasn't a little bit. It was a hang on for your life type of tide and struggle back up to the shelter of the hull. Terry lost a fin and nearly saw it drifting under the hull and to add insult to injury his octopus decided he didn't want all his air so passed the whole dive and his suit dump didn't want to work so he spent all his assent time dumping air out of his cuff hence a wet dive. James also had a bit of kit troubles so when we landed back at Tobermory it was a quick hike back to the cabins for more repairs.

The afternoon dive was on something a little easier as I think Charlie was getting worried about these experienced divers in his charge. We dived on the Shuna, a small steamship which sank in 1913 and lies in about 30 meters. Upright with lots of holes to enter this was a dive that everybody would love. All repairs made no one should have any trouble should they. Well Terry's kit was working and his dump did now let out air but was it supposed to let water back in? Another wet one Terry....

There is only one solution for a day like today... Yes back to the pub

Monday 9th July

One thing everybody told us about diving Mull mentioned the fact that what ever the weather you can find somewhere to dive. This is not entirely true. Today we had strong North Westerly winds which ran straight down the sound making the water choppy. Now in a Rib most divers would laugh off the swell and have a great day but the MV-Amidas has a draught of just 3 feet and we saw a few divers looking at the land wondering if they should have had that last pint. The next problem was the ladder... Here came the first complaints, the rungs were spaced well apart and at intermittent levels causing all of us a bit of a struggle getting back in as you found yourself hanging on for dear life every time the boat was hit by another swell. Our first dive was the Tapti off the isle of Coll. A wreck which sunk in 1951 and lies between 10 and 25m. A lovely dive but you may need to swim to the boat as there are rocks everywhere. Ali didn't dive this as the boat trip over had sapped her strength and Sally-Ann was the first casualty as she strained her arm whilst hanging to to that bloody ladder for ten minutes as 3 others tried to haul her over the side every time the boat lurched to Port. It was the last dive of the week for Sally-Ann but nether mind, she and Debbie were able to test out all the eating places and Pubs back on the Island for us. Weren't they good to us?

In the afternoon we dived the Aurania. Well most of us did. The Aurania was a 520ft steamship and sank in 1918 in 20m of water. Very flat now and covered in a lot of weed and can take a bit of finding... Especially if the skipper picks the wrong Buoy and sends you down to a Lobster Pot! We found it eventually but just as we were getting to the boilers the tide started to run and as the chart showed over falls not 100m away we decided it was time to come back up.

In the evening.... well the pub looked inviting so we thought why not.....

Tuesday 10th July

Due to the worsening weather conditions we decided to dive a nice drop off. Enter the water at 25m and go due North to the wall and go down as far as you like up to 50m of course but be wary the bottom is about 130m. As you can guess a couple couldn't tell North from South on their compass so didn't find the drop off, Jame's computer seemed to think he was diving at altitude so gave him decompression stops before he hit the water and a long, long wait before he could come back to the surface. Roy and I decided to spend our valuable dive time searching for Scallops which we dutifully shared with the Skipper (as you do).

Lunch back at the Mishnish and supply the girls with the scallops with instructions on how to prepare them. I am not sure the Landlord was to impressed with the muddy puddle of water left by the bar when the Girls went back to the cabin.

In the afternoon we dived the Pelican off Calve Island. A small steamship which sank in 1895 and lies in about 20m of water. Due to its location there is about 3ft of silt and mud at this site so Roy and I were in the water before anybody could say "Are we there yet?" And a good job to. As soon as you passed another diver who's buoyancy was a bit slack you couldn't see a thing and I caught a glance at Roy swimming with his hands stretched out in front of him waiting to hit something he couldn't see. We had all the time in the world but couldn't find the boilers only to discover that they had been removed years before. Roy was a bit miffed, "why dive a wreck if you can't see the boilers!" Never mind Roy we will find a nice wreck tomorrow for you.

Later that evening we were looking forward to some fried scallops. Debbie and Sally-Ann had done a great job preparing them and the local cat who had taken residence in our cabin sat patiently in the kitchen waiting for his share and then disaster struck.... "Kevin what have you touched!" Why do I always get the blame? The power had gone and we soon realised it was not just the cabins but the whole Island. Now none of us like our fish Japanese style so the scallops were given to the cat and we and everybody else on the Island had to make do with Fish and Chips from the van on the Harbour who looked very pleased with themselves (did they have anything to do with the power cut?) Soon the power was back and we consoled ourselves with the loss of the Scallops with a couple or three pints in the Mishnish as you do.

Wednesday 11th July

Why oh why such glum faces?????

James is going home... Why.... I am still not sure to this day. He had worries about his sisters pregnancy but we believed that was sorted, now it seemed he was needed at work. Whatever, he would be missed but mostly by Chris who had been badgered to leave his car at home and travel up with James. Now he was stranded with twinsets and no transport. With a lot of juggling most of his kit was sent back with James and everything else would be shared around but Chris would only be able to get back to Birmingham on the return trip with a nightmare journey involving trains and coaches from there. Now Chris has a heart bigger than his beer belly and didn't complain at all but underneath I don't think he was best please with the situation. Lesson learned next trip he will bring his own transport no matter what.<

The first dive was again a reef dive on the back of Calve with more opportunities for Scallop hunting but it looked as if the area had been recently dredged as the damage on the sea bed was horrendous.

In the afternoon we all dived the wreck we had been waiting for ... the Hispania. Sunk in December 1954 she lies in just 30m of water and is still upright and very much intact. The life on the ship is amazing and many hours could be spent on this wreck. We had to wait over an hour for slack so Roy and I spent the time fishing, pulling out Mackerel at an alarming rate. As we were all going for a curry that evening they were all given to the skipper for his tea. Soon we were all in the water dodging the Jelly fish (the sea was covered in these all week to the extent that the boat intake had to be cleared daily) and a great dive was had by all. Again Terry got wet due to a nice tear in his suit right on the knee.

As we mentioned earlier we all congregated to the Curry House together as this was Tony's last day and lots of stories were told, wine drunk and tears shed.

Thursday 12th July

Now I am not a paranoid type of person but by 9:45 myself and Roy were the only two divers on the boat..... Were we supposed to be somewhere else? Did no one want to dive with us? Had we said something to P**s everyone off? A quick phone call to the cabins found everyone suffering from diving related illnesses which I believe is called a "Hang Over" so it just left Roy and I to decide whether to go out or not.

(Roy) "well we won't have any diver cover"

(Skipper Charlie) "Do you mean you would rely on that lot? you still have me!"

(Roy) "Good point, lets go" And so off we went to the Rondo again.

(Charlie) "No tide to worry about today"

So in we go.. well nearly. I caught my wrist seal on the ladder and put a hole in it. Not to worry, a little bit of Black Witch and a spare bit of inner tube and within 5 mins I was ready to test my quick repair skills.

(Charlie) "What if that repair doesn't work?"

(Kevin) "Then I get wet, and I am damned if I am not going in now"

So off we go and what a sight........ Roy has missed the buoy and is finning like hell.... I just grab it to find Roy climbing up my fins, along my pony and onto the shot line....... The jelly fish were flying past at a rate of knots and we decided to give it a try. Down we go and at 5m would you believe it no tide! A great dive and we sat on the bottom wondering how easy it was going to be getting back up. But back on the surface... nothing. Oh and my dive was dry....

One thing I can say about the tidal conditions on Mull and that is get local advice. When Roy and I did our Scallop hunting at the beginning of the week the tide was going round in circles and we seemed to be constantly finning into it to the extent that Roy swore blind his compass was stuck and had to compare his to my digital one.

No diving in the afternoon as there was just the two of us so a trip around the island and to the Distillery was arranged. If you like the Tobermory Whiskey then get some but most of us thought it was awful and we like our spirits. The trip around the distillery was we thought a waste of £2.50 and equated to an expensive taste of the whiskey they supplied.

Friday 13th July

Yes Friday the 13th and everybody was crossing their fingers, toes, and fin straps.

Back to the Hispania again and yet again a great dive. If you do get a chance to dive this site twice then do what Roy and I did and go to the sea bed and around the debris field. You will have a great rummage dive.

I didn't dive in the afternoon but by all accounts they went back to the Rondo again and had a nice calm dive to end the week.

In all a great week was had even if the weather prevented us from getting out to other wreck sites. Our Skipper Charlie certainly looked after us. As some of you might know the 3 divers from Penzance always wear orange hoods and this helped Charlie find us in all conditions and at one point he believed we all wore them and nearly refused to pick up a diver saying "He's not one of ours is he?" at the beginning of the week. In the end he has decided to order a dozen and insist that any diver using his boat must wear one to aid recovery and confusion especially if there are more than one dive charter boat at the same site.

Saturday 14th July

Well the story has been told. A great week with just a 14 hour trip to finish off. I am not sure if Chris has managed to get home yet, the last I heard he was wandering around Birmingham.

So until the next time................. Cheers

Our trip was arranged by Chris Parsons in conjunction with The MV-Amidas at Mull who it must be said looked after us very well.