Climbing the Walls - 23/09/2018

When my local dive shop arranged a Mares Try Dive Day at Caolasnacon I was always going to be on it like sonnet.

I had wanted to try out a few different things - which in the end I didn't, but a number of my club members did. Examples include:

• the Mares goodman torch strap
• the Mares heated vest
• a Mares single tank wing

However, a suit leak on a wee training dive around the wall with a trainee meant that I chose to spend much of the day trying to dry out my suit and undersuit for an evening dive with Mares UK Sales Manager and his buddy.

Jester was accompanying me as we to Kentallan Wall for the first time in darkness. When we went, Jester and I promised very little. "Perhaps some nudibranch's and ray. No guarantees."

However, between the two of us Jester and I knocked it out the park. 

• Thornback ray
• Curled octopus 
• Sepiola Atlantica
• Nudibranch's

Oh, and let's not forget my magnificent navigation. 

Curled Octopus

Thornback Ray

Caolasnacon

Sepiola Atlantica

Northern Sunstar

Nudi

Nudi

Nerves of Steel - 04/08/2018

I always hate training. I get nervous performing even the most basic of tasks. As an instructor I thought I'd get over those nerves as all I'm doing is demonstrating and watching other perform the skills I've mastered over the years. However, I've come to realise that I now I get a little nervous for the student. I genuinely want them to succeed. Each move they make in a lift or sweep search or whatever skills - I'm rooting for them.

This weekend at Caolasnacon brought me three dives assessing four skills:

• Sweep search
• Aqualung removal
• Compass course
• 15m rescue lift

The Landlady was doing all the hardwork. I was just watching, nervously willing her to succeed. She did. I feel, because she's done it right. She went out and got over a hundred dives under her belt before attempting the skills. It seems to me that people skip the experience step between moving up the levels. It's the experience that makes the difference imho.

The wall itself was the same dark wall I'd experienced earlier in the year, but beneath the brown layer on the surface, it was dark but crystal clear. Fish had returned to it; ling, cuckoo wrasse, ballan wrasse, cod.

The good visibility also helped highlight the immensity of the wall. It's not the biggest, but at points it plunges almost 25m on a sheer drop. Really rather spectacular.

I also managed to sneak in a night dive. It was pretty good to be back in the dark.

Caolasnacon & the Valley of the Frozen Winds - 11/02/2018

It's a beautiful place in summer or in winter and probably has to be one of the best located campsites in Scotland. Caolasnacon (pronounced Cowel-na-cone). It is also home to a dive site. Despite planning a whole weekend around Caolasnacon for March/April 2018, I had never dived here. I had camped here once and dived a number of the nearby sites, but never dived it.

Today, despite the cold, blizzards, and howling wind, today was going to be that day. More than this however, it was also going to be Jester's 300th dive.We were joined by the Wylie Fox and Haylie (the dog).

We kitted up and made our way down to the water and began swimming out. with none of us having ever dived here it fell to me (unfairly) to lead our merry band to the wall. I had expected to be under impressed. But once we found the wall it was actually quite spectacular. A little lifeless, which was to be expected at this time of the year.

We surfaced just before the hour mark and emerged to a blizzard that might of compromised our ability to get the van and car out of the campsite.

Fortunately, we made it up the road with little trouble and made it to the security of the Clachaig Inn for a spot of lunch before heading through the snow back to Glasgow.