Donegal, Malin Head 2005

Jack · December 21st, 2005, 01:34 PM

Hi guys,
August 2005, a motley crew assembled in Malin for a weeks diving organised by Paul Stewart (PS1). We had 2 casualties before the off, Mark Powell and Stuart Lizardland who were unable to make the trip. Nonetheless , we had a European flavour with Derk Remmers and Dirk from Germany , Jan-Egil Heiersjo
(Nordic) Norway and Galway and Stuart Hearn from London alongside Paul , Belfast. and myself and Kevin Darling from Dublin.
Stuart and Kevin were diving ccr, the rest of us on oc.
U-286?
Atlantic swell as normal when we hit the site. Paul called the dive as he was not feeling well leaving myself and Jan in our team. Jan hit the water first, I followed. At 10m I met Jan on shot line. Jan had a problem with suit inflation and decided to surface. What to do? Derk and Dirk were descending so I waited @ the shot and made up 3 man team.
Right call? Maybe, maybe not........BUT we hit the 30m mark and out of the blue 30m below us we could see stem to stern the U-boat. Shot was on the sky periscope and she was lying with a 45`list on her port side. The conning tower was amazing and the whole wreck was visible from here.Derk and Dirk ventured towards the bow section with the ccr lads at the stern. The outer hull is gone with the pressure hull intact. AFAIK this is one of the deadlight subs.
All too soon we were back on the shot with a nice lazy deco all the way up. The vis had cleared :D and I could still see the sub @ 21m switch :D. Back on the boat, Paul was clearly dissappointed missing the dive but had made a good call. Gas 18/45 50% deco.
I`ll let Jan-Egil post about our second dive on the Carthiginian 60m.(erm.......Cumberland 60m

)
Jack

*Clare Gledhill* · December 21st, 2005, 02:35 PM

Thanks Jack...

I do hope Jan does post - we are diving Malin Head from Loyal Watcher in September next year - can't wait :D

PS1 · December 21st, 2005, 03:24 PM

Ahhhh..so that's their names Jack - now I know who Bill, Ben, the Viking, Lloyd Bridges and StewartTAYyyy actually are :D

If Jan writes up the Carthaginian dive, I suppose I could add a few brief words about our two warm up dives on Laurentic on the first day. This is a 'dive anytime' site as it isn't effected by tide - only swell, depending on wind strength & direction - on our day it was pretty much flat calm & sunny, so the trip over to the mouth of Lough Swilly (from Malin Head) was very pleasant. The wreck had already been shot (around the boilers) so it was just a case of getting kitted up and getting in in our teams - Derk & Dirk, Jack, Jan & me and, finally Kevin & Stuart. The viz was excellent (easily 20M) so we had a relaxing dive around the boilers and down towards the stern,looking at various bits and pieces, and back again. The shot was easily located and we had an easy (and short) deco back up to the boat.

Back on board, we slowly motored towards the eastern shore of Swilly and anchored about 1/2 mile or so off-shore for a relaxing lunch, top-ups & sun-bathing (& its not often that you can do that in Donegal!).

For the second dive Jack & Dirk were sitting things out so the teams were Derk, Jan & Myself and Kevin & Stuart. This time we made our way toward the bow and had a look around the remains of this, the bow-rail, anchor etc before making our way back to the boilers for a quick circuit and up the shot for another unevenful, lazy deco.

21/35 & 50%.

The laurentic (in 40M absolute max and with no strict tidal window) is a great dive for a warm up, a second dive of the day or just a nice relaxing dive in it's own right without over burdensome obligations although it is very much blown to pieces. The viz here won't be as good as the off-shore sites but even when it's bad, it's still very good!

This is an area positively dripping with dive sites of all kinds which is usually blessed with fantastic viz

but an exposed place often cursed with lousy winds

Claire, enjoy your trip to Donegal next year - just keep saying your prayers about the weather! - if you're curious about anything else in relation to the dives here, please feel free to PM me.

Oh and Jack - I'm sure no-one will bother to write up our 'bored about being blown out' mid-week harbour dive!

best

Paul

fraser · December 21st, 2005, 03:33 PM

You could still see the wreck at the gas switch?? OMG I can't wait :D

Fraser.

PS Thanks for posting!

Jack · December 22nd, 2005, 02:19 PM

The Lauentic has to be one of the best dives in Malin. Dont just head for the deeper wrecks, spend at least one day on this. HUGE conger living in the HUGE boilers.

December 21st, 2005, 01:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jack(Offline) Paddy Exley Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Dublin Posts: 198	Donegal, Malin Head 2005 Hi guys, August 2005, a motley crew assembled in Malin for a weeks diving organised by Paul Stewart (PS1). We had 2 casualties before the off, Mark Powell and Stuart Lizardland who were unable to make the trip. Nonetheless , we had a European flavour with Derk Remmers and Dirk from Germany , Jan-Egil Heiersjo (Nordic) Norway and Galway and Stuart Hearn from London alongside Paul , Belfast. and myself and Kevin Darling from Dublin. Stuart and Kevin were diving ccr, the rest of us on oc. U-286? Atlantic swell as normal when we hit the site. Paul called the dive as he was not feeling well leaving myself and Jan in our team. Jan hit the water first, I followed. At 10m I met Jan on shot line. Jan had a problem with suit inflation and decided to surface. What to do? Derk and Dirk were descending so I waited @ the shot and made up 3 man team. Right call? Maybe, maybe not........BUT we hit the 30m mark and out of the blue 30m below us we could see stem to stern the U-boat. Shot was on the sky periscope and she was lying with a 45`list on her port side. The conning tower was amazing and the whole wreck was visible from here.Derk and Dirk ventured towards the bow section with the ccr lads at the stern. The outer hull is gone with the pressure hull intact. AFAIK this is one of the deadlight subs. All too soon we were back on the shot with a nice lazy deco all the way up. The vis had cleared :D and I could still see the sub @ 21m switch :D. Back on the boat, Paul was clearly dissappointed missing the dive but had made a good call. Gas 18/45 50% deco. I`ll let Jan-Egil post about our second dive on the Carthiginian 60m.(erm.......Cumberland 60m ) Jack __________________ Jack www.dublinbaydiving.com Last edited by Jack; December 22nd, 2005 at 02:14 PM.

December 21st, 2005, 02:35 PM	#2 (permalink)
Clare Gledhill(Offline) GUE Instructor Site Admin Pacman Champion! Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: UK Posts: 1,541	Thanks Jack... I do hope Jan does post - we are diving Malin Head from Loyal Watcher in September next year - can't wait :D __________________ Clare . "Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions....Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great." Interested in DIR dive training? Always happy to chat/answer questions so get in touch via PM or visit www.dirdiver.co.uk

December 21st, 2005, 03:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
PS1(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Northern Ireland Posts: 77	Malin Head August 2005 Ahhhh..so that's their names Jack - now I know who Bill, Ben, the Viking, Lloyd Bridges and StewartTAYyyy actually are :D If Jan writes up the Carthaginian dive, I suppose I could add a few brief words about our two warm up dives on Laurentic on the first day. This is a 'dive anytime' site as it isn't effected by tide - only swell, depending on wind strength & direction - on our day it was pretty much flat calm & sunny, so the trip over to the mouth of Lough Swilly (from Malin Head) was very pleasant. The wreck had already been shot (around the boilers) so it was just a case of getting kitted up and getting in in our teams - Derk & Dirk, Jack, Jan & me and, finally Kevin & Stuart. The viz was excellent (easily 20M) so we had a relaxing dive around the boilers and down towards the stern,looking at various bits and pieces, and back again. The shot was easily located and we had an easy (and short) deco back up to the boat. Back on board, we slowly motored towards the eastern shore of Swilly and anchored about 1/2 mile or so off-shore for a relaxing lunch, top-ups & sun-bathing (& its not often that you can do that in Donegal!). For the second dive Jack & Dirk were sitting things out so the teams were Derk, Jan & Myself and Kevin & Stuart. This time we made our way toward the bow and had a look around the remains of this, the bow-rail, anchor etc before making our way back to the boilers for a quick circuit and up the shot for another unevenful, lazy deco. 21/35 & 50%. The laurentic (in 40M absolute max and with no strict tidal window) is a great dive for a warm up, a second dive of the day or just a nice relaxing dive in it's own right without over burdensome obligations although it is very much blown to pieces. The viz here won't be as good as the off-shore sites but even when it's bad, it's still very good! This is an area positively dripping with dive sites of all kinds which is usually blessed with fantastic viz but an exposed place often cursed with lousy winds Claire, enjoy your trip to Donegal next year - just keep saying your prayers about the weather! - if you're curious about anything else in relation to the dives here, please feel free to PM me. Oh and Jack - I'm sure no-one will bother to write up our 'bored about being blown out' mid-week harbour dive! best Paul

December 21st, 2005, 03:33 PM	#4 (permalink)
fraser(Offline) "I'm only late on your timescale" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent, UK Posts: 463	You could still see the wreck at the gas switch?? OMG I can't wait :D Fraser. PS Thanks for posting! __________________ Damn it feels good to be a gangsta

December 22nd, 2005, 02:19 PM	#5 (permalink)
Jack(Offline) Paddy Exley Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Dublin Posts: 198	The Lauentic has to be one of the best dives in Malin. Dont just head for the deeper wrecks, spend at least one day on this. HUGE conger living in the HUGE boilers. __________________ Jack www.dublinbaydiving.com