Well done to the 2014 Class of Trainees who attended Friday evening’s lectures and pool work, once again under the guidance of the Club training officers, Joe Neely and Ryan Ward. Some of the same trainees were back in the water on Sunday, when they conducted their first open water snorkel in PortnaBlagh Harbor, under the careful observation of their instructors.

While in Donegal this week it is the 97^th anniversary of the sinking of the SS Laurentic on the 25^th January 1917, as a result of striking two mines at the mouth of Lough Swilly after leaving Buncrana. The Laurentic is the most ionic wreck dive in these waters, as she was carrying 43 tonnes of gold when she sank, killing 354 of her complement of crew and passengers in the process. Today a suitably qualified diver can observe her at a depth of nearly 40 meters, with her three experimental engines that generated 11,000 HP and pushed the 14,892 ton liner through the water at 16 Knots now lie in ruins.