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Saturday
 
It was a lovely drive up to Ayr, the sun was shining and a fair breeze blowing. I arrived around 4pm and met Adrian, Inge, Brendan, Liz and Rab near the Loyal Watcher. Then Peter and Simon arrived. Darren, the skipper, told us that the weather wasn't looking good and we had to get a move on to get across before it deteriorated. Unfortunately two of the cars were stuck in traffic on the M6 and didn't arrive until around 7pm. Even worse my DPV (scooter) got damaged after it was loaded onboard. The crossing was a bit lumpy and made for interrupted sleep due to the occasional big wave. Most of us woke when the engines stopped. We had docked but it was still only the early hours of the morning.
 
Sunday
 
We arose to the site of Ballycastle on a blustery day. We were in Northern Ireland, Antrim, not as far as we had hoped. Undeterred we had breakfast and readied kit for our first dive. It was the Lochgarry.
 
Lochgarry - She is a 1669 grt freighter, wrecked close to Rathlin Island. Sitting upright and quite intact, it's like the James Egan Layne must have looked 30 or 40 years ago. The major part of the damage is on the starboard side and presumably caused by the collision with the rocks that lead to her sinking in 1942. http://www.plimsoll.org/resources/SCCLibraries/WreckReports/14163.asp Visibility was about 8-10m with no current. The first unusual thing that I noticed was a rectangular white bathroom sink. There are several of these scattered across the wreck. The wooden deck is still clear to see as well as the de-Gaussing wires around the edge. There is also quite a lot of black and white tiling on the deck. The holds are mainly empty but the forward one is piled with chain made of long links. This was apparently placed there after the sinking to prevent the ships munitions from being retrieved. The starboard anchor is still in the hawse pipe.
 
Templemoor - The main feature of this small wreck of a coaster are the two boilers sitting in a little kelp. A slightly sandy dive but lots of congers around. http://www.irishwrecksonline.net/details/Templemore750.htm
 
Monday
 
We headed west along the coast towards our real goal of Malin Head. The weather had improved a little but more windy weather was due to arrive later.
 
William Mannell - This small wreck is one of the most amazing dives I have ever done. Not far below the surface we could clearly see the wreck. She sits on and in white, coarse sand, this means great visiblity probably 30m+ and the warm water (16C) made it feel more like a Mediterranean dive. It doesn't take long to explore the entire wreck but it is very photogenic. Towards the end of our dive, everyone else had left and the current was blowing but it was nice to linger a few minutes.
 
Tuesday
 
No diving. The winds were stronger than ever although the sun was shining. We decided to head for The Giant's Causeway but not before a quick tour of Ballycastle to take in the disused abbey.
 
We caught the local bus to Giant's Causeway. It runs along the scenic coastline and gives excellent views. The Causeway itself is a bit of a walk down the cliffs from the inevitable visitor centre. I hate them but this is old style and has charm. I dearly hope that they don't build the ghastly replacement. The polygonally jointed basalt is stunning although I didn't walk up the cliffs to the other parts. I chose to relax and take it all in. Well worth the visit.
 
Wednesday
 
Castle Eden - The wreck had been shotted and Adrian was going to tie the line in. However things didn't go to plan because his buddy Brendan lost contact with the line and Adrian, sensibly, stayed with him rather. Inevitably this meant the shot was dragged off the wreck in the current. It should have been easy for us to swim upstream and locate the wreck but near the seabed there was so little current that the direction wasn't discernible. We spent a short 15 minutes swimming in about the right direction but saw no wreckage.
 
Drake - Mayte decided to sit this dive out and so did Liz so that meant an opportunity to dive with Rab. The wreck of the Drake carries guns and the shot was right next to one. In such shallow water there was a fair bit of kelp and also sand washing about. The structure is badly broken and the kelp made some of it almost impossible to identify. There are quite a few large fish around and most were happy to let Rab get close and take photos. I found some large pieces of anthracite coal in one small area.
 
Thursday
 
Lochgarry - Another chance to dive this wreck. Still lots to see and easier to navigate a second time.
 
Ailsa Graig - This stunning island just had to be dived even if the diving wasn't going to be great. The only area that was sheltered from the wind was on the only side with anything like a shore and so the seabed was more gently shelving and slightly silty. We met a large shoal of mackerel that swirled around us for a minute then we went deeper. There was plenty to see, crabs, jellyfish and bottom fish like blennies and gobies. Met another shoal of mackerel towards the end of the dive.
 
Friday
 
Erskine ferry - We descended the shot into clear but dark water, maybe it was the time of day or the thin layer of cloud shielding the sun. The wreck is covered in life, dead-men's fingers, plumose anemones brightening the scene but the cold water and darkness made it feel slightly oppressive and difficult to orientate yourself. Saw a dragonet fish sitting on the find sand. We managed to relocate the shot line.
 
Glen Shiel - This 100ft collier lies, almost intact, on it's port side in 25m about 3 miles WNW of Ayr. She sank in 1973 when swamped and the cargo shifted, six of the seven crew were lost. The coal has spilled out across the seabed, still visible despite the attentions of winter storms and thousands of divers. Visibility and light was a vast improvement on the morning dive and although there isn't a lot of life on the hull there are lots of fish around. It doesn't take very long to explore all the wreck but it is still a very nice dive.