Wrecks, Reels, and Remarkably Good Pudding
Report by Annabel and Ellis
Day 0 – The Gathering of the Scuba Clan
Divers arrived in dribs, drabs, and various states of organisation on Thursday evening. Once the inevitable kit explosion had been contained, we were rewarded with a culinary masterpiece: cheesy bread, chilli, and brownies.
Steven and Rebekah arrived too late for dinner but right on time for regret.
Day 1 – Overhangs, Eels, and the Sticky Toffee of Dreams
A boat brief as we left the marina, and then a 2.5-hour steam to Insh Island — plenty of time for excitement, sea air, and a little existential pondering about whether anyone had remembered their weight belts.
Dive 1: Insh Island
A “slope and boulder field with an amphitheatre-like structure around 23m,” said the briefing. No one was really sure they saw said amphitheatre, but everyone pretended they might have. Solid dive, good life, possible amphitheatre
We enjoyed a delicious lunch (deli platter, cheese, soup, and more brownies) and the sunshine on the deck while heading towards the next dive.
Dive 2: SS Meldon
A shallowish wreck with a big, showy propeller and rudder. Several divers became unreasonably thrilled by a pipefish sighting until Annabel came along and scared it away.” Multiple conger eels were also spotted — some may have been the same eel, but we’ll never know.
Dive 3: Loch Buie Night Dive (a surprise bonus round)
A magical dusk dive featuring octopus, butterfish, a fifteen-spined stickleback and little hermit crabs doing their thing.
Dinner was an absolute highlight: bread with dips and cheese, pulled pork/tofu wraps, and sticky toffee pudding so divine that someone genuinely declared, “That’s the best sticky toffee pudding I’ve ever had.” (No one disagreed.) After dinner some people stayed up to play several rounds of exploding kittens, no friendships destroyed… so far…
Then came the anchor watch rota — universally met with the enthusiasm of a tax audit. Huge thanks to the noble volunteers who stayed awake to ensure we didn’t drift to Ireland.
Day 2 – The Great Drift and the Drowned Dry Suit
A leisurely start after the night shift was much needed, first dive was around noon!
Dive 1: Sassenach Point
A delightful drift dive where sightings included catsharks, flatfish, conger eels, an octopus, and — to the envy of everyone else — a John Dory (thanks for the great picture, Angela!).
Dive 2: SS Rondo
Divers selected their preferred depth like it was a tasting menu. The wreck delivered, the eels appeared on cue, and one unlucky diver tested the limits of “dry” in a flooded dry suit. Fortunately, Sarah and Rohan were amazing as always and helped speed along the drying process massively. It always helps to have an engine room that can be used as a sauna on board.
Dinner: Curry night with salted caramel pie — which officially set a new record for the number of desserts per capita on a dive trip.
We stayed in Tobermory overnight, arrived to a beautiful sunset, mingled with the locals and chased the northern lights (semi unsuccessfully).
Day 3 – The Navigation Olympics
Dive 1: SS Hispania
An early start for the SS Hispania, a stunning wreck with legendary swim-throughs. After a thorough brief, every group but one swam confidently… in the wrong direction.
Annabel alone earned gold in Listening to the Dive Brief.
Lunch: A Full Scottish Breakfast. Because nothing says “surface interval” like black pudding.
Dive 2: Auliston Point
Lots of life — catsharks, shrimp, a tompot blenny, and possibly the ghosts of our navigation errors. Another flooded drysuit, but again, Sarah and Rohan to the rescue!!! A quick pressure test on the dive deck, problem identified, fixed, another night of drying things and Ellis was good to go again.
A very pleasant surprise on the way back to Tobermory was a pod of dolphins swimming along with us for quite some time!!! There was also an alleged whale sighting the day before, but despite enormous efforts, Rohan remained the only one to have seen it.
We went to the pub in Tobermory before dinner and made sure to be back in time for a Sunday roast with pineapple upside-down cake, followed by an enlightening marine life presentation from Rohan, who somehow managed to keep everyone awake past 9 p.m.
Day 4 – Lost Reels and the Final Curtain
A slightly earlier than planned start prompted the now-infamous wake-up call: “Briefing in the galley!” directed pointedly at the still-snoozing Jorge and Steven.
At least there was a fresh supply of homemade sourdough bread waiting for us, Sarah really outdid herself with this new culinary experience! (each bread lasted about 10 min max)
Dive 1: SS Shuna
Excellent visibility, lots of exploring, and — as always — rumours of yet another conger eel.
Lunch: Baked potatoes with assorted leftovers (the most British of meals).
Dive 2: SS Breda
Our grand finale, but first we had to gain access to the wreck’s shot line by bribing a few people on a small rib with cake, success! Good to go, the Breda, our last dive of the trip, a multi-level dive filled with eels, a bit of underwater pot-liberation (we cut open a ghost lobster pot — eco-heroes, us), and a comedy of lost gear featuring a runaway DSMB, a missing reel, and a strobe that decided to stay behind for another dive.
We surfaced for the last time with smiles, soggy socks, and stomachs full of pudding.
Highlights included:
100% eel and dolphin sighting success rate
0% amphitheatre and whale sighting success rate
2 flooded drysuits
1 heroic act of lobster pot liberation
0 friendships destroyed while playing card games
and approximately 37 desserts.
Another legendary club trip in the logbook — equal parts diving, dining, and mild disarray. Thanks so much Sarah and Rohan for taking such good care of us again! And also, to Tate who did an amazing job as deckhand.
Would absolutely do it all again (once we’ve dried everything out).
The end