Sound of Mull, Sept 2008
Well its seems so long ago now, that its probably best if we put together a few words and pictures to remind those of us who where there, what a great weekend we all had, and for those of you who didnt go, show you what you missed.
The Dirty Dozen
Well the plan was for us all to car share and meet at Oban harbour for 4pm, in good time to load the dive boat (Silverswift) and steam up to Tobermory where we would be staying for the weekend.
The drive up was quite uneventful for all, taking an average of about 5 and bit hrs each to reach Oban, with a stop or two on the way.
First on the scene was Ann, Cath and Pete, (who would be getting the ferry over) closely followed by John & Deb. Soon after Phil and Derek rolled up to enjoy the delights of Oban fish & chips... (Well fish only), after seeing how much fish & chips and a pot of tea had cost John & Deb... (note to self, buy McDonalds next time). Not long after Ian (trip organiser) and his co-pilots Rob & John W turned up. Yes you guessed it Barry & Janet were fashionably last as per usual.
Parking was a plus as we found a free overnight car park not far away, so no silly costs for parking, and they were safe 'n' sound all week end!
The Dive Boat
We had planned to spend the weekend diving from Silverswift (a 38 foot twin engined vessel capable of 28 knots). It never ceases to amaze me how much kit we take on these trips, but the boat was more that capable of swollowing it all, with room to spare. The skipper (Paul Gallagher) was clearly a very proud owner, and the boat was very well turned out, and was kept imaculate all weekend. Top Skipper!
In no time at all everything was stowed away and we were making good use of the boats speed heading in flat calm conditions towards our digs in Tobermory. We were pulling into Tobermory Harbour within about 90 mins of leaving Oban.
The Accomodation
As said we had booked into a B&B in Tobermory, which we soon found out was, shall we say, a little off the beaten track, sited high on the hill behind the main habour front. We were here (yellow blip).
The plus side of this was the spectacular views it offered over the sound of Mull and Tobermory. Thankfully we had the use of the skippers 4x4 to drop all our luggage off at the B&B and the hill walk each day served to build up a thrist and an appetite.
The First Night
Once our rooms were all sorted and our luggage put away, it was time to head off down the hill from the B&B and get a bite to eat and the odd jar of falling down water. 
As is customary, the Mishnish Hotel had to be a port of call for a drink or two and to discuss the following days dive sites. Weather permitting the Ilse of Coll and the wreck of the Tapti was our prime target.
Day1 Diving
After a reasonable nights sleep and full of expectation, we all met for breakfast at 8am prompt. Conditions out side were looking favourable, with no wind, calm seas (so far so good). But a fog was rolling in from the west slowly reducing the visability by the minute, not good!
We all headed off to the harbour jetty's for a 9am pick up hoping that the fog wasnt going to get any worse or better still start to lift, otherwise it was likely that the Coll was going to be a none starter.
We needn't have worried as Paul (skipper) was in no doubt that we could make it without problems to our planned dive sites. So we headed off into the fog, which was begining to show signs of burning off and clearing the closer we got to our first dive site, The wreck of the Aurania .
Day 1, Dive 1 - The Aurania
The Aurania was a 13,936-ton Cunard liner, built 1917, used as troopship. 520ft x 65ft. Steam turbines. In ballast, Liverpool to New York.
POSITION: 56 36.10N; 06 19.60W.
DEPTH: 9-26m.
SUNK: 5 February, 1918, under tow after torpedo from UB-67 hit port side of engine room. Eight firemen were killed. Driven ashore by gale at Caliach Point, Isle of Mull. The wreck is well broken up but there are two large boiler to swim around, one offering a nice little swim through.
Unfortunately most underwater photos for the weekend make the diving look very dark, but we can assure you viz was good at plus 5 mtrs all weekend. Heres a little clip to prove it.
Day 1, Dive 2 - The Tapti
This wreck is on the South side of Coll, which ran aground in the January storms of 1951, and an excellent dive site not often dived due its distance from Mull and the need for favorable weather.
The wreck is well broken up, but is broken into large sections which provides lots of spaces to get into to investigate, it ranges from 10m at the stern to 25m at the bows which rise up about 15m from the seabed. There is an abundance of life to be found here which adds to a very pleasurable dive.
After two very good dives we headed back into Tobermory for air fills with clearing skies and calm seas.... Oh and a pose or two for the club album.
Something of a theme going on....?
Day 2 Diving.
Well day two got off to a good start as far as the weather was concerned, however some late night dive planning lead to one or two bleery eyes at breakfast. Fortunately no one had a camera to hand at the table to record the moment, so some nice shots over the harbour and Tobermory roof tops, will have to do.
As this was the last day and we had to finish up back in Oban at the end of it. We all agreed to dive in the sound making our way back towards Oban, (via a small detour back to Tobermory, ah hem...). Our planned dives were the Hispania and the Thesis. So off we set hoping to top yesterdays diving.
9/12th of the crew,
Day 2, Dive 1 - The Hispania
The Hispania is one of those wrecks that most divers want to say they've dived. Some even say its on par with the wrecks of Scapa Flow, well thats for each diver to decide, but we had no complaints.
The shear size of this wrecks means there's plenty to see, but this is a slack water dive. The size of the holds mean theres always some where to get out of the current (if its still running a little) when you arrive on site. Equally, if you spend too long in them, you wont notice the returning tide, which can make for an interesting ascent.
As with the Tapti, poor light conditions on the surface during the dive didnt make for good shots under water. But these still serve to remind us of a great dive on this excellent wreck. The viz to the naked eye was much better than picked out from these photos.
Well after all divers were safely on board it was time to steam back up to Tobermory so that a certain person could pick up their car and have a little break before our last dive of the trip, the Thesis.
During this short trip back Phil decided to show us how to er, .... um .... (what were you doing Phil?). Answers on a post card to .......
Day 2, Dive 2 - The Thesis
Well this last wreck is a very interesting dive, offering depths from 22 mtrs down to 33m and depending on light conditions can make it seem a very dark place. Its very easy not to notice the change in depth as you swim along the wreck from Stem to Stern, but offers some very nice swim throughs. Sadly due the poor light conditions no decent shots were availble from this dive.
But all in all a very good weekends diving, so big thanks to Ian for organising the boat and the B&B. So who's going to book it for next year.
PS
Additional trip photos have now been added to the gallery.
