Dives
Monday Breda, Heather Island
Tuesday Thesis, Ard Na Cuille
Wednesday Rondo, Breda
Thursday Hispania, Calve Island
Friday Garvellachs: Dun Chonnuill Sound, Slipper Island
In September, a group of 10 Dacorum Scuba members as well as some partners travelled up to Oban for a week-long trip diving around the Island of Mull on Scotland’s west coast. With the conditions in the Sound of Mull being both amenable to divers and yet occasionally treacherous to ships, the area offers some excellent and very unusual wrecks as well as interesting walls to explore.
The majority of members stayed together in a large comfortable house offering lots of room as well as facilities for dealing with both pre- and post-diving activities, located only a short walk from the centre of bustling Oban itself.
We were diving out of Dunstaffnage Marina (a 10-minute drive north of Oban) on the nine-metre Dive Oban & Argull RIB Cearban with skipper Shane Wasik. Our dives generally consisted of one wreck dive to catch the available slack, and a drift or less energetic dive to finish the day. Half of the divers were using closed-circuit rebreathers, with the other half on open circuit, the majority using some form of twin configuration.
Monday was a civilised (not too early) start to the week for us to get to know the boat and skipper and him us. Flat calm water allowed the RIB to quickly power us to our first destination SS Breda.
Carrying mixed cargo, including 10 horses, the Breda was part of a convoy preparing to head off to India in 1940. A bombing raid failed to hit her directly but did damage a critical seawater intake pipe; following this she took on water and was run aground for salvage. Later storms then took her to deeper water where she sank.
She remains a very intact wreck, sitting upright with depths ranging from 11m to 30m offering a variety of diving depths. This allowed our mixed group of divers to explore very different areas of the ship easily. Seeing pollock and the surfaces teeming with plumose anemones and tunicates was a highlight, then we were back up the starboard shot for hot drinks before returning to the marina.
The second dive was Heather Island, in Kerrera Sound. This wall dive was notable for the large sun stars but especially for the numerous squat lobsters, singly, in pairs or larger groups, hiding in the various crevices. Kelp above 15m meant most divers stayed below that level exploring nooks and crannies, until it was time to start returning to the surface.
Despite a lorry losing its load on the road outside the marina and backing up traffic for miles, we all managed to meet on time for our second day of diving in beautiful bright sunny conditions. Our first dive today was the Ard Na Cuille wall, offering a variety of anemones, brittle stars in profusion and large sun stars. Then it was off to the Thesis, a wreck close to the shore with a depth of 30-35m.
Scattered hull plates harboured large shoals and gave some pairs an excellent guide to start roaming the wreck. The large upright structures also allowed for a variety of swim throughs. However the unpredictable eddies and currents for this part of the Sound of Mull meant others hit a slight current and ended up themselves sheltering by the hull plates before ascending.
Ropes off at 8.30am had the group assembling at the marina earlier than previously. Some cooler cloudier weather with wind picking up in the afternoon from the south meant we tackled the Rondo in the morning, followed by the more sheltered Breda in the afternoon.
Swept south from her anchor in Tobermory by a terrible snow storm in 1935, the Rondo drifted aground onto a small island down the Sound where she stuck fast. She was salvaged over the course of several weeks before eventually slipping off the rock, sinking bow first into water off the island. Today she is a particularly unusual wreck to explore, sitting almost vertical with her bow resting on the bed in 50m while the rudder post remains just a few metres deep.
This peculiar stance allowed our group again a variety of dives; with some descending to 45m to explore near the bow, and others descending to around 20-30m where a large A-frame punctuated the wreck and created a natural floor for a descent. The structure is covered in plumose anemones and crevices sheltering football-sized colonies of sea squirts, allowing photographers within the group ample opportunity to frame some beautiful shots.
We headed back up the Sound to the first dive of the day, the SS Hispania. However we weren’t far up before the skipper shouted out and we slowed to watch dolphins playing around the RIB. We’d come across a biggish pod so we watched them play for several minutes before they slipped beneath the waves and both they and we continued our journey north.
Storm winds drove the Swedish steamer Hispania into the Sound of Mull for shelter in December 1954, before she struck rock in the poor visibility and darkness. Holed and sinking, the crew got to lifeboats and pleaded with their captain for him to join them but he was last seen on the bridge saluting as both he and the ship sank beneath the water.
Today the Hispania rests in 30m, but strong currents and tides mean she can only be dived in a short slack window. However, the strong currents sweeping nutrients through have made her into a veritable fairy-tale of a ship. Festooned entirely in white and orange plumose anemones, she emerges from the dark as you descend onto her almost as if glowing – truly a stupendous sight and very unusual dive. Heaving with life and the structure still very intact, she allowed our group an exceptional dive in a perfect slack and proved to be one of the most popular dive sites of the trip.
Buzzing from the Hispania we headed off to Tobermory for lunch, where the group disembarked to explore the scenic town or visit shops or the catch-and-release Mull Aquarium. After lunch we dropped into the waters off Calve Island for a gentle drift, seeing some enormous crabs on the way up.
A change of scene took us on a day-trip (so with no return to shore between dives) out to the uninhabited Garvellach islands. Our first dive was in the Sound of Don Chonnuill, a bowl-shaped dive site with large boulders around the edges hiding a variety of sun stars, urchins and anemones. Between dives we headed to Slipper Island, watching eagles and stopping to explore the ruins of an old monastery.
With winds picking up, the final dive was a vertical wall dropping to 50m and offering a high-energy site again full of marine life taking refuge in crevices and rock corners.
The Oban trip offered the mixed group of divers a good chance to explore the waters around Mull. For some it was a chance to visit familiar haunts, for others a chance to finally see what everyone else had been talking about. Thanks to the skipper Shane Wasik from Dive Oban and Argyll, our Diving Officer Kevin for arranging the trip and accommodation and much more, and to the group for supporting each other and working well together to make for a truly memorable experience.