The Sheephaven Sub Aqua club is celebrating the graduation of one of its youngest former club members, Matthew Mc Monagle.
Matthew graduated from the National Maritime College in Cork with a BSc in Nautical Science after 4 years study.
During that time Matthew spent a year sea as a Cadet when he travelled the world on board Liquid Natural Gas vessels, which will become his future career as a Third Officer once he has passed his Certificate of Competence.
Matthew got his first taste of the sea as a Trainee diver with Sheephaven SAC as a very quiet spoken teenager and when old enough successfully completed his Club Diver test, with his proud parents beside him every step of the way.
The club wishes Matthew the very best in his chosen career at sea and knowing his determined personality we expect that he will achieve the very highest command available to him.
Sheephaven 4th July.
Sheephaven SAC approached July 2021 with an increased level of participation by club members with boat dives Wednesday evening along with Saturday and Sunday morning, while the snorkelers were out on Wednesday and Sunday.
The calm weather made for excellent in-water conditions, with horizontal visibility well over 10 metres while the temperature is a comfortable 12 degrees or more depending on the dive site.
Wednesday evenings dive was at Pat Mc Gees’ – a short boat ride from PortnaBlagh and where divers can get a choice of depths to meet their preference.
In close to the shore there is a sandy sea bed at 10 metres that eventually gives way to a rock substrate at deeper depths, while further out there is a reef at depths of greater than 20 metres.
Marine life is varied and abundant throughout the site, in particular here were swarms of fish fry and juvenile fish observed.
Indeed the site was so good that the divers returned there on both Saturday and Sunday mornings with maximum dive times of over 40 minutes being conducted on each occasion.
For the club snorkelers there was the opportunity on Sunday morning to getting out on a boat and starting their swim from Breaghy Head and then finning back to PortnaBlagh.
Of particular interest to the party was swimming through the Arch, which unlike its more famous counterparts in the Galapagos and Gozo still remains intact.
Girls in the Water, Breaghy Head Arch, PortnaBlagh, Co. Donegal
Prior to setting of on Sunday morning the Sheephaven SAC 50-50 weekly Lottery was done, with Ben Boyle the lucky winner.
Once again the Club appreciates each and every contribution made, as all the proceeds of the Lottery go to funding the Sheephaven Search and Recovery Unit.
