Sheephaven SAC welcomed visiting divers from Dundalk to PortnaBlagh last Sunday, when a significant party of twenty three of their club members stayed over the weekend as guests at Arnolds Hotel in nearby Dunfanaghy.

The visiting divers conducted two boat dives on Saturday in the shelter of Horn Head and completed their trip with a final dive on Sunday morning in the same general area.

Over the weekend the visitors, who included some Trainees, enjoyed the benefit of excellent in-water visibility, which on the surface stretched to well over 10 metres horizontally.

With shoals of Sandeels, Spratt and Juvenille Cod observed in the Bay the divers were very fortunate to see a pod of Dolphins near to the pier in PortnaBlagh, as they prepared for their Sunday morning departure.

Meanwhile the Sheephaven divers were busy at two separate locations on Sunday morning, with a dive from Downings slipway led by club Diving Officer Ryan Ward and at the same time the regular Sunday morning snorkel was also taking place in PortnaBlagh.

The Downings dive party crossed the Bay to Pat Mc Gee’s and were treated to excellent in-water visibility and temperatures of 10 degree Celsius, quite noticeably on the way down as the colder weather begins to have effect.

Similar to the Dundalk SAC experience the Sheephaven diver’s encountered abundant marine life, along with the Dolphins but they had an added observation of an unusual Eel and that is one for the Marine ID people to follow up on.

At this time of the year our attention turns to next year’s registration and the introduction of the new Irish Underwater Council (IUC) GO membership portal may appear to have added a change to the process.

However in essence the annual registration process is much like other years in that a club member goes on-line and fills in the Annual Medical Disclaimer and also completes their in-water fitness to dive protocol, to the satisfaction of the club Diving Officer.

Finally the club member needs to ensure that their Dive Medical is in date and kept it up to date during the year should it be needed to be renewed.

The current Sheephaven SAC membership fee of €410 is paid to the Club Treasurer and it includes the IUC insurance contribution of €110, the remainder of the fee covers the all the club members costs of diving with Sheephaven SAC, that is all air fills and boat costs, along with the costs associated in the running the clubhouse in Downings.

Club members would be encouraged to pay their annual membership anytime on from now, so that there is no lag in membership during the New Year holiday period, especially with the new Go membership process to navigate.

Any club member experiencing difficulty with their registration should contact the Club Treasurer, Kevin Boylan, for advice and guidance on the matter.