A review of the club trip to the Farne Islands provided by John Taylor.

 

Firstly, thanks to John McPoland for organising the trip and thanks to all who attended for stumping up the fees etc well within the deadline.

 

The trip? Surprisingly for so early in the year, the weather was fantastic, certainly for the trip up and on Day 1. Seahouses is a traditional and picturesque fishing village on the coast of Northumberland, facing the Farne Islands

 

On the Saturday, we headed off in the rocket-propelled Farne Island Divers RIB to the Blue Caps for Dive 1. Unfortunately, the environment underwater didn't match the beautiful surface conditions! Visibility was very poor and the water was 5-6 degrees. It quickly became apparent that the white short-spined urchins ruled this particular coastline! They were everywhere! No fish were seen but this was not surprising as we could hardly see each other!

 

Dive 2 took us to the Longstone Hopper. This involved traversing a few gullies and kelp beds. Visibility remained very poor, making the dive difficult to enjoy. No fish or seals seen but again, urchins were everywhere. Large lobster spotted.

 

Our mild disappointment was smothered somewhat on the Saturday night by the excellent beer in the Olde Ship Inn!

 

Day 2 saw the weather and wind freshening, resulting in rougher sea conditions. The RIB bounced its way out to Dive 3 which was the Big Harcar. This dive saw us follow a long rock wall which was festooned with "Dead Man's Fingers" and of course, more urchins! Still no fish seen but the nearby presence of hundreds of North Atlantic seals may have accounted for that! The visibility was marginally better on this dive. Couple more lobsters were spotted. Useful navigation exercise!

 

Dive 4 saw us over the wreck of the St Andre. This area by Staple Island lighthouse was famous for the Grace Darling episode, where the lighthouse keeper's daughter Grace rescued many sailors from the stricken SS Forfarshire. The St Andre was a 1120 ton French steamship carrying pig iron, now lying very broken up at the base of the cliff half way along the edge. Wreckage is spread over a wide area of boulders.

 

Half the boat were tired and a bit despondent so didn't fancy diving. Those that did dive found a bit more life in the form of coldwater shrimps. Still no seals or fish though I understand John McP spotted a dead seal!

 

In summary, the trip was useful to get us all back in the sea for the first time this year. Some elements were quite disappointing, including the consistently poor visibility and lack of marine life (except urchins, of course!). Due to the low water temperature and sea conditions on day two, the diving was also quite challenging. I'm sure there will be mixed feelings amongst the group on the trip. I personally enjoyed the soft corals which covered the rock faces and the craic on the Saturday night.