Oban, November 2007
Pirates take the Kylebhan by Simon Read In May 2007, I finally had the pleasure of meeting a man who goes by the name of Jeff. Having heard the rumours, I was intrigued, especially about Jeff’s toons (patent pending) and particularly when I found them all to be true! Later that weekend, he fleeced me…
Plymouth, May 2007
“Mark’s @*£$?! twin set” by Simon Read This was my second trip to Plymouth courtesy of Ray. The first was the previous year’s trip and was enjoyable enough to convince me to sign up and hand over the necessary bank details to the TSAC treasurer. This year was also my introduction to the legend that…
Training Report – Gaelic Rose
On Friday the 3rd, of March 2007, four trainee ocean divers (Stuart Larsen, Peter Thompson, Paul Tweedale and Paul Brown) and six instructors (Andy Crosby, Stuart Owen, Rick and Jen Scarsbrook, Neil Smitham and Rachael Blackwell) crowded onto the MV Gaelic Rose moored at the North Pier of Oban Harbour, for the trainees’ first experience of a liveaboard dive weekend.
Galapagos, October 2006
Six members of Trafford Sub Aqua Club went on a liveaboard diving holiday to Galapagos in late October 2006. We were away from home for 11 nights including 7 on board the boat. Was it expensive? Yes, very. Was it good value? Yes. Is it a long way to travel for only 15 dives? Yes.…
Sudan, October 2004
Sudan, 2004 by Richard Scarsbrook. The Sudanese Red Sea has long been on my ‘must do’ list. Our first attempt was in 1995 when Jen arranged a two-week TSAC club trip on the Colona IV. The plan was to sail from Hurghada to Sudanese waters and back. Unfortunately shortly after we had paid in full…
St Abbs, September 2004
“Not the best spectator sport!” by Neil Smitham Debbie Robinson organised this trip for 10 of us to St Abbs. Accomodation was two chalets at Coldingham loch, reasonably priced and equiped for nine divers and my wife Linda and daughter Olivia to come along too. Six in one, four in the other and Olivia in…
Scapa Flow, June 2004
With having a trip to St Kilda the same week, this trip would only have ten members of Trafford Sub-Aqua Club on the boat, so the charter had filled the other two places with two divers from Germany, Dieter and Burkhardt travelled over 1800 miles (one way) to have their first experiences diving in Scapa…
Rosa & Ada, August 2002
August Bank Holiday 2002 For those who also like to sail old boats as well as dive, the Whitstable oyster smack Rosa & Ada is an ideal combination. Built in 1908 as a gaff cutter, she is about 48 foot on deck. She has been fitted out with six berths in the main cabin plus…
Anglesey, July 2002
The Launch of Nessie by Michelle Pryke This was to be the maiden voyage for the new club RIB, aptly named Nessie in my opinion due to its size. The boat is 5.8m in length and 2.5m wide, not including the trailer. Fortunately the residents near Dave & Connie’s must be RIB friendly people as…
Stoney Cove, February 2002
A lost weekend, recovered! by Neil Smitham All week Colm had been looking at the weather reports for Oban for the weekend. This was his first organised live aboard, well, second strictly speaking, the first had been organised back in December – same weekend as our Christmas Dinner Dance. (He kindly cancelled it !). By…
Oban, September 2001
“Feeling quietly confident” by Phil Leigh Looking forward to a great weekend Dave and I made good speed up to Glasgow and then down the “A” roads to Oban. We set off at 5:00PM and arrived at 10:30PM to unload our kit onto The Gaelic Rose and then had a few pints at the Oban…
Red Sea, October 1999
Red Sea, 1999 by Dave Godson The journey to the Red Sea was the third in as many years for the club and the dive team of 12 had only changed by 2-3 people from previous years. We had chartered the boat, Wave Runner, through Oonas Divers. The worst part was actually getting there. Manchester…
