Our day started at 7.00am with a breakfast before hauling anchor and heading for Sheep’s Head to dive the Bullig. There was a bit of a swell at the dive site so we headed in the bay and anchored at Dooneen Pier and headed to the Bullig by Rib. None of the divers had dived the Bullig before and were all well impressed. The Bullig is a Pinnacle rising from the seabed of 60M to 12M. It could be referred to as a high energy site with the rock covered with life, shoals of fish patrol it and cray fish are often seen. Our divers were so impressed that they wanted to dive it again after lunch.

I'm going for a swim

Tonight we are back in the safe anchorage of Lawrence Cove where we had a Bar-B-Q on board and some of the divers have now gone for a night dive on the Bardeen Reefer, a small wreck in the channel between Bere Island and the mainland. The conditions are super for it with clear skys and flat seas. We had a beautiful sunset so lets hope it’s a promise of nice weather for tomorrow.

Happy Divers return from the Second Dive

We arrived in Lawrence Cove Bere Island in the early afternoon after we had a lovely relaxed trip from Baltimore. It was a beautiful day with perfect sea conditions as we passed the distinctive shape of the Fastnet Rock. Rounding the Mizen the coastal scenery was breathtaking bathed in warm summer sunshine. We passed by some old diving haunts, Three Castle Head, The South Bullig, Dunmanus Bay, The Bullig, Sheep’s Head before heading in the bay to Bere Island. Previous dives were relived and new ones anticipated, but today we were picking up the remainder of our guests for the weekend, so diving will have to wait until tomorrow.

Galley Head

Our Liveaboard, Embarr, with our 6m rib, Up To Something left Kinsale this morning heading West for some multi location diving. Conditions were ideal with lovely summer sunshine and a kind sea. We plan to overnight in Baltimore and continue west tomorrow picking up our first diver tomorrow night. Our dive plan at the moment is flexible with all sites between Castletownbare and Cahersiveen up for grabs.

The first land mark we passed was the Old Head of Kinsale where today her lighthouse watched over a calm blue sea. On board at the moment are Skipper Graham, Chris, John and GDB (General Dog’s Body) your’s truly Anne. There was plenty of time for chat, and morning coffee passing the seven heads, with lots of discussions on different dive sites along the way.

By lunch time we were passing the Galley Head, and making good progress. We were shadowed on our Journey by a beautiful Dutch boat that had been moored in Kinsale for the last few days.

Passing the Stags we spoke of drift dives through them and diving the Kowloon Bridge, past the Kedges and we headed in bast the distinctive Baltimore Beacon to tie up at the pier in Baltimore.

Now to try and catch a few mackerel for our dinner…….

If you fancy a short trip on Ireland’s first and only Scuba Dive Liveaboard now is your chance. We are offering an all inclusive 3 day trip for just €400. This includes 3 nights B&B, lunch and Dinner. It also includes all your dives and air. Nitrox up to 30% is free to all qualified to use it. Embarr will be going into port each evening. If you are interested drop me a mail anne@oceanaddicts.ie

This is the third week of diving activities on the refinery at Whitegate. Divers from CEI Collins Engineers take it in turn to dive. The divers are using surface demand when carring out their inspection of the piles. their job has been a bit more difficule this week as underwater visibility was reduced after the strong winds of last weekend. The safety of the divers is the main consideration and each morning a call is made to Cork Harbour Radio informing them when divers go in the water and again in the evening when the diving is finished for the day. All traffic into and out of Cork Harbour has to pass by the refinery and Cork Harbour radio informs each ship of the diving activity and advices them to adjust their speed. Diver makes a Splash

Diver on Steps

On the 25th of January Oceanaddicts started their first booking of 2011 with our Liveaboard Embarr. She, along with our rib Oisre, are providing accommodation and dive support to a team of commercial divers from CEI Collins Engineers Ltd, who are surveying the Jetty at the Whitegate Refinery in Cork Harbour.

For the period of the contract Embarr is moored at East Ferry Marina, near Cobh. It’s an early start each morning with Graham starting the engine at 6.30am, by 7.00am we are sipping lines and heading across the harbour to arrive at the refinery at 7.30am Once Embarr is tied up, and her engines stopped, the divers set to work immediately.

The first couple of days diving the weather was bitterly cold with ice on the deck each morning. The kettle was on the go all day providing hot drinks to ward off the chill. But today 1st February Spring has arrived and we have bright sunshine and a flat sea.

You can catch up on the show here