Good turnout for this trip: Jonathan and Joan; Malc and Karen; Stewart, Alistair, Nigel, Steve Pedlar, Craig, and yours truly, Chris. Non divers Steph, Sarah and Sophie did their best to make sense of us all. We met up at the Oban Inn and after some moderate drinking, returned to the Puffin Dive Centre for an early night. There was a restrained gathering in the lounge and, mindful of his Health and Safety duties, Jonathan did a 2.30.a.m. chalet inspection. He checked that all bedroom lights worked and that we were alert enough to handle any emergencies. Top marks on all counts.

Day one: the diving varied from excellent to average. In the morning, we dived on the Thesis. The bow is at 12 meters and the stern is at 29, making this a good, multilevel dive. The wheelhouse is intact but many of the deck and hull plates are missing so divers can enter the wreck safely. There were starfish, sponges and dead men’s fingers. The hull was well populated with wrasse and pollack. In the afternoon, we moved on to a scenic wall dive but visibility wasn’t too good. There were a few crabs and a couple of shrimp but that was pretty much it.

That night we reported to Jonathan that all lights were in working order. We pushed dressing tables against our bedroom doors and slept the sleep of the just.

Day two: we were away at 8 a.m. and started with a dive on the Breda. This is another nice wreck. The sea bed is at 30 meters and the ship’s deck is at 25. There’s easy access to the holds and again, the wreckage has a lot of starfish, sponges and dead man’s fingers. There was crab, colley, pollack and Jonathan spotted a conger.

Later we moved to Heather Island but again, visibility was not good. Minutes after entering the water, Nigel and I accidentally followed the wall into a cavern. We immediately made our way out but whilst in there, we saw some nice polyps and sponges clinging to the roof and walls.

See divesitedirectory for some good photos of Thesis and Breda. Follow the location search to ‘UK’ then ‘Oban’ and click on the two wrecks.

We booked the trip with Puffin Divers, a very professional company offering a wide range of services. They’re not cheap but prices include tank hire and air. The staff are friendly and helpful; the chalets are clean and comfortable; there were even free bottles of wine. But what about that boat? The boat was fun up to a point but that point came shortly after we left the jetty. There was room for twelve divers and their gear but sadly, not all at the same time. Dive preparation was like kitting up in a crowded shower cubicle. Dive over, we were hauled aboard like gaffed seals. Many thanks to Alistair and Stewart who took care of the gear, broke it down, kept it together and helped marry it up to the right diver.

To be fair, rib diving is not for the faint hearted and things got better once we settled into a strict regime of seating and kit discipline - whoa, the word ‘discipline’ used in a club write-up; blame it on the 80/-.

In brief, some great diving, some fair diving, excellent companionship (as usual) and taking everything into account, a very good weekend.