It came as a bit of a shock to realise that it had been over two years since the club had last dived at St Abbs, in addition there was a growing number of members who had never dived off a hard boat. Time to sort!

We all headed down on the Saturday morning and for the first time in a very long time we actually got a weekend with great weather – what a difference it makes.

We were diving with Paul O’Callaghan off the Lazy G’diver. First dive was one called Anemone Reef which certainly lived up to its name with a huge number of large dahlia anemones of a wide range of colours from white through to dark purples. One yellow one stood out as a colour I had never seen as bright as that before (see photos). There were also some lovely walls covered in life and a good range of fish, including the ever present Ballan wrasse looking for a free meal! Most people also saw the wolfish that St Abbs is famous for. At the end of a gentle drift along this lovely site, Paul was waiting to pick us up and supply the very welcome coffee and biscuits!

After a leisurely lunch back on shore at the newer of the two cafes that are there - great freshly made soup - there was just time for a short nap in the sun before heading off for our second dive. This one was slightly nearer the harbour but provided a lovely dive with lots of gullies and overhangs to explore, with probably even more fish around and on a different terrain to the morning dive without the anemones.

Read the rest…

It’s that time of year again, already! No sooner have I got my finger out to write a summary of the year’s diving so far and it’s time to announce try dives again.

Close

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..........

In order to further improve the club’s green credentials I’ve cunningly recycled last year’s poster into one for this year - CLICK HERE to download it and see if you can spot the differences.

Dates for your diary are Monday 27th October & Monday 3rd November, 7.30 pm at the Methodist Church Hall, Chapel Street, Montrose. Come along, meet the club members, don the gear, then go for a dive in the Montrose Swimming Pool and find out what it’s like to swim with the fishies without having to spend a penny (particularly not in the pool!). If you enjoy it you can even come back the second week and have another go!

Unlike our blue friend above, we don’t bite, so pack up your swimmers and get yourself along for your free taster of scuba diving. We look forward to seeing you there!

Check out our funky new Photo Gallery by clicking HERE, or on the Gallery link on the menu bar. All photos taken by our budding club photographers!

Close

Cheeeeeeese!

Close

Too shy for the Gallery

Based on the lack of updates on the website over the past several months (guilty as charged), you’d be forgiven for thinking that Montrose Sub Aqua Club has become a non-diving club. That couldn’t be further from the truth though. And just to prove it here’s a little summary of what we’ve been up to since we all got back in the water after the 2007-2008 winter training program produced it’s latest group of new club members eager to don a rubber suit and go for a plop in those sub-tropical Scottish waters.

Our base at Catterline is where the new starts make the transition from the crystal clear waters of the Montrose Swimming Pool (said with a straight face) to the frequently less than ideal diving conditions of the North East coast. Those who aren’t put off by the experience and complete several training dives then get the chance to head out west to Oban, which is traditionally the venue for the first full club trip (and often the most highly attended) of the season. This year’s Oban trip took place from 2nd-5th May and was thankfully blessed with some better weather than last year’s! We dived all our usual favourite sites including Aird Na Cuile (which I read somewhere translates roughly as Meadow on the Hill), the wreck of the Breda (my first wreck dive and no doubt many other’s too), Heather Island (to check up on the wellies) and Dubh Sgeir. Another highlight of the weekend came when Barrie was beaten to the title of ‘biggest steamer of the weekend’ by the Waverley (photos courtesy of Kev), which went puffing past us on our way back from a dive at Aird Na Cuile.

Close

Full Steam Ahead

Close

Steamin

June started with a day trip to the Firth of Forth which I missed out on but I’m told consisted of a dive on Blae Rock and a wreck that nobody seems to be able to remember the name of! The viz was a bit varied as can often be the case in the Forth, but it provided another couple of new dive sites to add to the club’s every growing tally.

Mid-June saw us heading west again, this time to the Ardnamurchan Peninsula - another of the clubs perennial favourites and our second year enjoying the hospitality of the folks at the Clanranald Hotel in Acharacle. After the long drive over we all piled into the Clanranald bothy and enjoyed a few refreshing ales. It was a lovely evening and we had high expectations of Saturday’s weather allowing us to make the trip out to dive the wall at Bo Fascadale, the wall that had proved to be a bit elusive on several previous trips for reasons we won’t go into! The next morning after a cooked breakfast we headed down to Glenuig, launched the rhib, loaded our gear and all piled onboard. The sea wasn’t quite the millpond that we’d hoped for and during the 25 minute trip out to the dive site a few people (who shall remain nameless) ended up singing a rainbow over the side of the club rhib - obviously completely unrelated to the bottles of brown beer that had been quaffed the night before. We’d originally hoped to make the trip over to Eigg for the afternoon’s dive but following the trip out it was very clear that it wasn’t the day to be making that journey. Instead, after a thoroughly enjoyable dive we headed back into Glenuig for lunch and then opted for a dive on the wall on the south side of Loch Nan Uamh (eh?) in the afternoon instead. Saturday night saw even more hospitality enjoyed, which climaxed in a mass outbreak of ceilidh dancing that even affected Barrie (though he’d probably deny it) and much to everyone’s disappointment I didn’t leave with a damp leg this year. Thanks to Fergie and family for the live music and the continuous stream of erm, hospitality that we were supplied with. Next morning, following another cooked breakfast we set off to dive Gulnair rock and then completed the weekend’s diving with an afternoon dive on another wall that we could all take you to but nobody really knows the name of.

Read the rest…