Bill Cooper kindly organised this day of diving, but could not participate, so Dave Woodward took over the organising. The diving was off Pathfinder, running out of St Abbs with Paul O’Callaghan and his big yellow catamaran.
The divers on board were: Nic, Dave W, Nick , Maurice, Dave (a guest of Dave W), Ray and Sheena.
The first dive was the Glanmire: the only wreck in the area which is within most people’s diving range. For a little bit of history read on:
In 1912 the 1141 tonne Glanmire steamship struck the Black Carrs Rock and then drifted until she finally sank 300m north of St Abbs lighthouse.
The plates and boilers, which are left, are covered in dead men’s fingers and plumose anemones so make for a nice photographic dive if there is good visibility.
We had 5 – 8 metres of visibility, but not so much light; however, the nice thing about this wreck is the amount of fish. As you swim around the wreck the fish either just watch you (the pollack) or they follow you (the wrasse). At the stern of the wreck, the propeller stands proud of the seabed and makes for a nice photographic subject.
The second dive was on Black Carrs, always a nice dive to do. It is quite a high energy site, so has cliffs just plastered with life: soft corals, plumose anemones, brittle stars and always a few curious wrasse. We found some nice gullies and bimbled around looking at the wildlife while having a very relaxed dive. Generally on Black Carrs it is possible to find some of the huge deeplet anemones, however this time none were found 🙁
Following the diving we all headed back to our vehicles to drop off the dive kit, then headed up to Ebb Carrs Cafe to have a cup of tea, and cake. The kids all enjoyed the hot chocolate!
A lovely day, and nice to have some of the children along too! 🙂