ON THE weekend of the 2019 Winter Solstice at last Sheephaven Sub Aqua Club divers got a decent break from the progression of Atlantic storms that have been dominant over the last number of weeks.
With the fourth winter storm of the 2019-2020 season to hit Donegal passing through mid-week we had clear skies and slack southerly winds that allowed for the first boat dive in many weeks on Saturday morning.
The Sheephaven diver’s fortunate enough to take advantage of this opportunity put out from Mevagh boatyard to the nearby First Narrows and caught the low-tide slack water at Dundoan Rock.
The divers conducted a 40-minute dive to a maximum of 24 metres, with reasonable in-water visibility of no greater than 5 metres horizontally.
Water temperature at 6 degrees Celsius is about as cold as it gets at this location, although it can get much colder further up Mulroy Bay – where there is more fresh water and the shallower depths prevent any thermal circulation.
There was some fish life present, with Conger Eels observed along with a number of Butterfish and a few Lobsters and their attendant Shrimps.
Sunday morning saw a collection of Santa clad divers taking to the water in PortnaBlagh for the 2019 Sheephaven Santa Swim, on what turned out to be another fine winters’ morning, where the near freezing air temperature was lower than that in the water, which was recorded at 7 degrees Celsius.
The Sheephaven diver’s snorkelled across the bay to the Golf Course Point in near calm sea conditions and just relaxed for a while on a near perfect Winter Solstice day.
