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PortnaBlagh Pier was the location on Sunday morning for the Sheephaven S&R Unit training snorkel, conducted in excellent water and and weather conditions.

This was also the location for Saturday mornings departure for the Kevin Boylan led dive to Skate bay.

Busy weekend of club activivies, taking full advantage of the beautiful winter weather.  

Photographs and an video image are posted on the Sheephaven SAC website Photo and Video Galleries.

On New Years Eve Sheephaven SAC responded to a request from Anne Marie Ward, Nula Moore and Ram Barkei to provide support boat assistance for a cold water swim in North Water, Mulroy Bay.

The swim was conducted in water temperatures of 6 degrees Celcius over a measured nautical mile.

Photographs and video are posted on the website.

For club members who wish to continue diving though the year they should consider paying their annual subscription now so as to prevent any bureaucratic lag in January.

The fee can be paid directly into the  Sheephaven SAC account at 71943050 sort code 937320 and the payee should make sure they put their name in the narrative box at the end of the lodgement slip to let the Club Treasurer, Gerry Lennon, know who paid.

A call to the Club Secretary, Kevin Boylan, by the payee to let him know that the fee has been paid will result in getting the information directly up on COMS, thereby ensuring insurance cover for 2012.

 For a Sheephaven diver to be authorised to dive in any given year, they are required to have three green ticks on the CFT COMS system. Each of the ticks represents a particular qualifying criterion and these are current medical certification, water fitness test and payment of the annual subscription, which includes the diver’s insurance premium.

Tuesday the 29th November sees the beginning of Trainee Lectures and Pool Work with Registration at 6.45pm taking place at Lecture Rooms in Tobins Service Station, Port Road, Letterkenny.

Anyone who is interested in availing of the Sheephaven SAC Trainee Course but missed last Mondays Try-A-Dive should also come along and talk to the Club Training Officers Joe Neely and Ryan Ward.

The course fee is €200 and a sucessful candidate can look forward to being awarded with a CMAS D* Trainee Diver qualification in the early part of 2012. Divers fom other affiliations who wish to dive with a CFT qualification can take this opportunity to discuss with the Training Officers what they need to do to cross over.

The entrance to Tobins Lecture Room is to the side of the building with pool work held later in the Clanree Hotel swimming pool.

Don McGlinchy & Sean Staunton are running a Gas Blending Course at Donegal Bay SAC's clubhouse on Saturday 14th January 2012.  The course is up on COMS, course no. 516. If you want to attend please add your name to the course list using the COMS facility.  Course fee is €100 which can be paid online, or by contacting Head Office on 01 01 284 4601.

Pre-reqs and course details are as follows:

Gas Blender - Prerequisites

Candidate must:

1. Be a registered member of CFT

2. Have a current diving medical

3. Be a Nitrox Diver

4. Have a correctly completed Certificate Request Form

Instructor must:

1. Be a Gas Blender Instructor

The course will be run over one day. 

THEORY (4 hours)

1. Introduction to course 10 minutes

2. Development of Gas Blending for Sports Divers 10 minutes

3. Basic Nitrox Theory – Review 20 minutes

4. Gas Properties 20 minutes

5. Blending Methods 45 minutes

6. Blending Theory 30 minutes

7. Hazards 30 minutes

8. Oxygen Cleaning 30 minutes

9. Standards 30 minutes 

PRACTICAL (2 hours)The practical will be guided by the method of blending available to the Blender Instructor.

Each candidate will :

1. Be instructed in the partial pressure method of mixing.

2. Be required to fill a cylinder, performing all tasks necessary to ensure safety and the correct final mix.

As you need to be a registered member of CFT to attend and as the course is on early in the New Year, you need to have your 2012 membership paid asap, so Head Office can issue your 2012 membership card.

Please bring: -

• Your log book
• A Certificate Request Form (CRF) signed by your Club Diving Officer.
• A packed lunch

Dear Club members
We will be starting our new season's training fairly soon and need your help to recruit new members & trainees.  Can you add your contact details to the note below and send it into your local parish / church group / town publication? If you don't want your name added to the note, you can use ours (i.e.Joe & Ryan)If you see someone in the above list from your area / parish / townland - can you give them a buzz to make sure one of you put in the note? Many thanks
Joe Neely, 086 1270 897, Training Officer.
Ryan Ward, 086 869 4021, Assistant Training Officer

Can all members check their emails re advertising for this years Training nights.  A text will issue with the specific details once Ryan & Joe confirm same.  If they haven't received an email please contact Anne Boyle. 

Posters available to put up in your local area, to advertise our new training nights - if you want one contact Joe Neely.

 Regards,

              Joe and Ryan

There are two important dinner dances coming up in November, with first a Fundraising Draw and Dance in memory of the late Eddie Doherty (Liza) and Robert McLaughlin (Jackie) which will take place in the Malin Hotel, Malin Town, Inishowen on Saturday 12th November next. 

Tickets are €20. Proceeds will be in aid of the RNLI, The Coast Guard and the local Diving Clubs.  €5,500 in prizes available. Special rate for Malin Hotel are also available.  Hotel rooms are €50 single B&B, €90 double B&B. Contact Madeline McLaughlin on 0749370606. 

Sligo SAC are organising this year’s Northern Region Dinner Dance on the 19th November in the Clarion Hotel, Sligo.  The tickets are being sold at €40, nearly cost price, so the club needs maximum numbers to turn out in order for it to work, with a special deal of €75 for two. 

Sheephaven SAC are on tour again with a visit to Ballycastle on the 1st October for a weekend of diving at Rathlin Island, including the wreck of the Lough Garry.

Anyone interested should contact Dearn Mc Clintock to book a place.

CFT is fast approaching middle age, in 2013 we will be celebrating our 50th anniversary! Over the years we have seen many changes in Executive and indeed the location of our Head Office, from the car boots of various officers to a porta cabin.

Thankfully we now have a fully staffed professional office in Dun Laoghaire equipped with an Archive Room. The result of all these changes are some gaps in our archive records. To this end we would ask each club to please email us back the following information on your club to ensure our records are correct and complete. What we would like to know is:Club Name:Date of acceptance to CFT:Has your club changed name:Location of your club:Founding member(s):We would be very grateful if you could send this information to us by the end of September.

Lastly, if your club has any other relevant information or documents you would like stored in our archives please email louise@cft.ie

Yours in Diving & Snorkelling Mick Moriarty

Cathal Twomey is trying to convince FÁS to run an external commercial diving course for people that would be interested in getting the HSE level 4 Scuba, which is the entry level qualification to work on any commercial operation.

 However he needs to first ascertain the number of people who would be interested in partaking in this course, please note however they must also be out of work and signing on  the dole already .

He wonders if there are any divers out there that would be interested in this course, the minimum is 10 to run the course. If its a runner the divers would get the course paid for but they would have to sort out there own accommodation and food for the duration of the course.

If you are interested in this course please email ndo@cft.ie
 

The Ulster Museum Northern Ireland will host a series of lunchtime lectures - the first of which is on Wednesday 7th September and will be on the subject of Shackleton and Sponges: Marine Life of South Georgia, delivered by Dr Claire Goodwin.

Further talks will take place on the first Wednesday of each month in October, November and December, with subjects such as Seaweed Harvesting, Chasing Terns around the Irish Sea and the Ocean Sunfish.

Entry Free of Charge.

For further information contact http://www.nmni.com/um/What-s-on/Events

Anemone and Coral Workshops with Chris Wood on the 17th and 18th September mornings followed by dives in the afternoons.

The dive locations will be Renvyle and Killary Fjord, Connemara, Co. Galway.

Cost €75 which includes workshops, ID Sessions and shore dives.

Boat dives will cost €42, with €6 for fills.

For further information contact seasearchireland@gmail.com

FROM SHEEPHAVEN TO BROADHAVEN.23rd July 2011.

Sheephaven SAC travelled to North County Mayo last weekend and took full advantage of some of the best diving that can be found outside Co. Donegal.  Seventeen divers and two club boats travelled to Portacloy Pier near Broadhaven on Friday and began a weekend of diving in the vicinity of the nearby sea stacks known as The Stags of Broadhaven.

The Stags consist of three large exposed rocks that rise to nearly ninety metres above the sea and fall of to a depth of nearly forty metres to the seabed. The cliff faces of The Stags are nearly vertical and provide no apparent landing access from boats, but they are the nesting sites of Puffins and smaller gulls in large numbers.  The Stags consist of arches and swim-through’s that have been carved out of the rock face by the action of the full force of the Atlantic due the exposed nature of the site.Sheephaven SAC used Portacloy Pier as the departure point to The Stags which reduced the travelling time to the dive site to less than fifteen minutes and provided a slipway and pier that were sufficiently sheltered to allow for the safe launching and recovery of the dive boats.

The first dive was on Friday afternoon and saw a dive party in two boats put out to dive in the narrow channel between the southernmost Stag and its northern neighbour. The dive was conducted in an easterly direction and began in twenty metres and ended in less than ten metres of water.The most obvious feature of this dive, and indeed all the subsequent dives, was the outstanding in-water visibility. With at least fifteen metres of horizontal visibility the divers were able to fully appreciate the abundant flora and fauna that made up these dive sites. Soft and hard corals were everywhere and in some areas the rock walls were carpeted with Jewel Anemones of a variety of colours. Large fish life was very prevalent; in particular Pollock in shoals and in singles were present on this dive, along with various Wrasse and Brown Crabs. In the shallower areas of this site there was vast kelp park which was interrupted by a sandy area at ten metres which made up of finely ground down mussel shells.

The first dive on Saturday morning was from the eastern side of the Northern Stag though a swim though in the Stag to the channel dived on the previous afternoon. The swim-though was approximately fifty metres in length and to a maximum of eight metres in depth. To the divers and trainees once within the swim-through it felt like a cave dive, although in fact the surface is exposed at all times during the dive.  On exiting the swim-though the divers descended to fifteen meters and subsequently carried on westwards for a thirty minute dive.The second dive on Saturday afternoon was to the east of Portacloy to Corraduff and an underwater ridge that runs in a north-south direction from thirty metres of depth to twenty metres at the cliff face. The deeper part of this dive was very impressive but much less so in the more shallow areas.   While the corals and anemones were present as at The Stags there was very little presence of large fish, no doubt as a result of the feeding activities of a large seal that was observing the proceedings during the dive.Sunday mornings dive was back to The Stags and to the outermost and deepest Stag, which also had the most spectacular arch on the site. The western side of this Stag gives way to a depth of forty metres and consists of large boulders, caves and overhangs. Once again the corals, anemones, sponges and Brown Crabs were in very abundant numbers but this site produced the sighting of the one of the most elusive marine animals, a Crayfish and not once but twice, to top of the sighting of Dolphins near Portacloy Pier on Saturday afternoon.

The final dive on Sunday afternoon was back to the outer Stag and a last opportunity to observe a truly pristine marine habitat in water that had near perfect clarity. On return from the dive the boats were recovered and the long haul back to Donegal began along the N59 towards Ballina and then onto Sligo, a journey though some of the least populated lands in the country and from a coastline that is truly spectacular, making for a memorable road and dive trip in the most glorious weather of the summer to date.

Sheephaven SAC were the guests of Kilcommon Lodge Hostel who provided Bed and Breakfast and evening meal for a rate that cannot be equalled for the quality of the fare received. Sheephaven SAC cannot praise Kieran Schultz highly enough as he kept us right with good food and cheerful good advice. The dinners on Friday and Saturday evenings followed by a few quiet drinks in the nearby pubs were the opportunity for gentle discussion of matters of importance to divers and should conclude in the true spirit of all dive trips, that is what goes on tour stays on tour - until of course the next après dive when there will be endless repetition of the dive trip to Mayo in July 2011. The only thing to be added is - where to next?

The destination is Kilcommon Lodge Hostel and travel details can be downloaded from the Destination to Kilcommon Lodge Hostel website link.

The best advised route is N15 to Sligo, N4 to Ballisodare, N59 to Ballina, N 59 towards Bangor, then follow signs to Kicommon and the Hostel. Advised travel time from Downings to Kilcommon is given as 4 hours.

There are 2 rooms booked in the nearby Bed and Breakfast, if anyone sould prefer a little more comfort than the hostel accomadation.

All divers should bring at least two full dive bottles with them.

Fin Swimmers are reminded that this years Fin Swim takes place on Saturday the 25th June, meeting at Burtonport Slipway at 1.45pm to catch the ebbing tide.

All Fin Swimmers should bring an Isotonic drink for the trip. Finally anyone who wants to have their car brought across should contact the ferry company for a special rate.

Until further notice trainee diving will be take place at 7.00pm on Wednesday evenings and 10.00am Sunday mornings, meeting at the clubhouse in Downings.

As always help from Dry Coxswains and qualified divers would be very much appreciated.

This year's Fin Swim takes place on Saturday 25th June. It's always a great event, with plenty of boat cover for picking up stragglers along the way, a t-shirt for every participant, food afterwards on Arranmore Island plus plenty of craic agus ceoil into the wee hourrs and possibly even an early morning barbecue to top it all off!

Final arrangements are still being sorted, so more details to follow.

Please let me know: -

1. If you are interested in taking part
2. Your t-shirt size for presentations.
3. If you need accomodation in Arranmore for the after party.

If you can join us: -

• Sponsorship cards will be left at the Clubhouse or I can post one out to you if you like.
• Please make sure you get a minimum of 3 x 30 minute snorkels every week from now until June 25.
• Arrange to meet up with a buddy or 3 some evenings or early mornings. 
• If you have some arrangements made already - let me know & I will pass them on by text, so more people can join in.
  

Go on...it's one of those events you'll be sorry you missed!!!

Contact Anne Boyle for further information

The proposed trip to Mayo is starting to take shape, with accommodation booked in the Kilcommon Lodge Hostel, who will provide bed and breakfast and an evening meal for less than €40 per person per night.

The dive sites will be based from Portacloy pier and slipway which allows for access to the Stags of Broadhaven, weather permitting.

In a follow on from Seasearch Ireland CFT have identified that some of its members would like to know more about their Marine Heritage and to this end a Nautical Archaeology course is being organised on the 7th and 8th May in the Dublin Region.

The NAS International Training Programme is open to everybody who is interested in learning more about maritime archaeology. Internationally recognised it provides the knowledge and skills to help divers get involved with projects around the world.

On the 2nd April Northern Region DO Anne Boyle attended the CFT Technical Committee and has circulated a copy of the minutes for the information of the Sheephaven Club members. Anne has asked for following additional information to also be made available.

COMS & Insurance
Please remember that you need 3 green lights on COMS to dive. If in doubt, check your COMS page on the CFT website and DO Ivan Irwin.

Sunday morning dives JohnJoe Rowland, Training Officer & Ryan Ward, Assistant Training Officer - need volunteer Moniteurs to help out with Sunday morning trainee dives. Each trainee must be accompanied by a min Monituer* for the first 5 dives.

Just to clarify a number of points that may come up during the year, with some of our younger trainees, here is an extract from Courses & Tests (CFT \Downloads\Training).  Please read & be familiar with it.

Section F - Children Diving

1.      Divers of 14 years and above may be included in the Trainee Diver Course and achieve Trainee Diver status.

2.      Divers under the age of 16 must dive within the limits of their qualification and not dive deeper than 20m.

3.      Divers under the age of 16 must be directly supervised in open water by a diver who has at least Club Diver qualification plus at least one year’s diving experience after such qualification.

4.      Dive marshals are reminded of the Duty of Care, subject to risk assessment, to provide sites and conditions suitable for all the divers in the diving group and divers under 16 years must dive in sheltered waters.

Where divers under the age of 18 are involved, all club members must be aware of the CFT Code of Conduct for Children’s Underwater Sport.

If anyone knows of a Child Protection course coming up in the near future - please pass on word to the rest of us. Also attached is the latest list of Dive Buddies, Grades & Max depths.   All trainees must do their first 5 dives to a max of 10m with a Moniteur.

Sheephaven SAC intends to travel to Mayo on the weekend of the Fri 22nd July until Sun 25th July for a series of dives in the Ballyglass area.

 Anyone interested should contact Dearn Mc Clintock on 087 9819120

Congratulations to Jim Muldowney for qualifing as Sheephaven SAC's newest M1 in Mullaghmore on Saturday 26th March 2011.

Jim was joined by Michael Toohey from Athlone SAC, Martin Mc Gee and Emmett Mc Hugh from Donegal Bay SAC when they were examined in Mullaghmore Harbour and the Great Northern Hotel in Bundoran.

Well done to all involved.

Photos on the Club Website

Sheephaven SAC club member Derek Flanagan has been recently appointed as the new Coastguard Divisional Controller for the North and West Region of Ireland. This appointment will leave Derek in charge of the Coastguard from Malin Head in Co. Donegal to Slyne Head in Co. Galway.

During 2010, Seasearch divers – who want to do their bit to protect the marine environment-    completed 2,075 records from all over Britain and Ireland. These were made by 447 different volunteer divers with one diver from Ireland, Deirdre Greer from Aer Lingus SAC, submitting 92 forms, more than twice as many as anybody else.

Seasearch, which is coordinated by the Marine Conservation Society, is a project for volunteer sports divers who want to protect the marine environment around Ireland and Britian. The aim is to map out the various types of seabed found in the near-shore zone around the coastline.

Seasearch is always looking for new volunteers to join courses and surveys. Volunteers need to be qualified divers with their own diving equipment, but Seasearch is happy to teach them about what they are seeing underwater. All the information about courses and survey dives for 2011 is on the Seasearch website www.seasearch.org.uk

The Sunday morning snorkel from PortnaBlagh was very well attended by both trainees and divers - with Timmy Boyle offering up his snorkel to fulfil the duties of Shore Marshall.

Sheephaven SAC club member and Regional Diving Officer Anne Boyle reports that the trainees are making great progress and are beginning to get their weights and finning technique right. It is envisaged that they will be able to snorkel much further on their next outing. 

PortnaBlagh has proven to be very popular with all involved due to easy access to the water and ample car parking facilities, however its use will be determined on the prevailing weather conditions on the day.

Trainees and divers got into the water on Sunday morning in what became a great turnout for the opening snorkle of the year.

 Club DO Ivan Irwin had plenty of support from qualified divers to assist with the trainees and looks for similiar assistance in the months ahead .

Ivan reminds all divers that they must complete the CFT pre-diving obligations of insurance, medical and water fitness test. All divers that have not been diving for longer than thirteen weeks must conduct 3 qualifying snorkles and are subsequently restricted in depth to less than 20 metres for 3 dives.

Photos from Sunday are posted in the Photo Gallery.

In November Peter and Kevin travelled to the Orkneys to dive the Scapa Flow wrecks. They have kindly donated their photos which can be seen in the Photo Gallery.

Even at this early stage they are both planning to return again next year, hopefully leading a dive party from Sheephaven SAC.

Sheephaven SAC sends its heartiest congratulations to Annie Marie Ward for her award of Open Water Woman Swimmer of 2010, which she won with 47% of the vote.

Annie Marie has had a long and successful association with Sheephaven SAC and the recognition of her swimming achievements is a testiment to her hard work and determination.

So once again from Sheephaven SAC - well done Annie Marie.

Long distance swimmer Anne Marie Ward has been nominated for the Open Water Source Women Swimmer of the Year and she needs your vote.

Voters should click onto www.openwatersource.com and follow the links for the Women Swimmer of the Year and vote for Anne Marie.

Presently Anne Maire is in second place, just behind the Brazilian swimmer who undoubtedly will expect to have the support of a huge voting population.

Anne Marie has brought great credit to herself as a result of her successful cold water long distance swims, culminating with this years North Channel crossing.

So pass the word and vote for Anne Maire.

Present

Sheephaven divers Jim Muldowney and Dearn Mc Clintock joined Emmett Mc Hugh and Martin Mc Gee from Donegal Bay SAC to sit their M1 Pre-Requiste exams in Omagh on Saturday.

The candidates sucessfully completed four one hour papers covering Physiology, Physics, General Knowledge and Decompression.

The academic examination was subsequently followed by pool tests for the candidates to demostrate their in-water skills.

The Jury President Des Mc Allen complimented the candidates for the high standard that they had achieved and thanked the attending examiners for their assistance.

The M1 candidates now move on to a series of lectures and tests that will qualify them to assist in the training and examination of divers.

On Monday and Tuesday evenings of the:

15th and 16th November,

22nd and 23rd November,

29th and 30th November.

there will be a series of lectures and pool training to train new divers up to Trainee level.

Lectures will begin at 7.00pm  in the Clanree Hotel.

For further information contact Gus O'Driscoll at 074 9125118. 

Sheephaven Search and Recovery Unit were honoured with the presentation of Long Service Medals to thirteen divers on Thursday by the Minister of Justice Dermot Ahern TD on behalf of the State. A total of ninety six volunteer divers from 13 CFT clubs around Ireland had the long service to their communities acknowledged in the first ever such award ceremony.

The role of honour from Sheephaven SAC, in order of seniority were, Willie Sheridan, Noel Brennan, Frank Mc Gory, Damien Kelly, John Joe Rowland, Eddie Mc Fadden, Owen Fogarty, David Mc Gloin, Hugo Mc Fadden, Donal Mc Eleny, James Doherty, Gus O’ Driscoll and Kevin Boylan. The qualifying criteria were at least ten years continuous service and indeed the first six divers had over twenty five years service each.  

After the medal presentation the divers were then taken to Áras an Uachtarán to meet President Mary Mc Aleese who spent over an over an hour with the medal recipients. The President commended the divers on their dedication and service in providing a voluntary community service in times of great distress.  

There was a considerable amount of  organisation over the last eight months which included Sheephaven SAC Chairman John Joe Rowland as well as Noel Kernan and Mick Loftus from Grainne Ueile SAC, Paddy Agnew Dundalk SAC, Noel Henderson Roscommon SAC and Noel Hayes from Blackwater SAC.

A selection of photos are displayed in the Photo Gallery

With the onset of the Autumn and a reduction in diving opportunities divers can keep up their fitness with a 8 week course of Pilates training and get some swimming done as well.

The classes will be run at the Mevagh Dive Centre in Carrigart and the new pool will also be available for participants. Seperate classes for ladies and gents beginning the 17th September 2010.

Anyone interested should contact Orlagh on 087 2819746, fee €100.

Sheephaven SAC congratulates Annie Marie on her sucessful swim across the North Channel from Ireland to Scotland. Annie Marie arrived safely in the early hours of Thursday morning after nineteen hours in the water, battling cold and at least two tide changes.

On this her fourth attempt Annie Marie entrusted the navigation to Club member Derek Flanaghan who along with Noel Brennan, Ryan Ward, Owen Fogarty, Gus O' Driscoll, Ivan Irwin, Brendan Proctor and Joe Devenny accompanied her on her outstanding personal achievement.

Well done to Annie Marie and all her loyal supporters.

Sunday's dive was a multi-club affair, with divers from Monaghan and Omagh adding their names to Sheephaven's dive log, lead by Gerry Donnelly from Monaghan SAC .  Donegal Bay SAC joined us on the slipway for a group photo, with 4 dive boats in the background.  Weather conditions prevented the planned swim through on the west side of the Green Isle, but the Gully's before the Green Isle, suggested as an alternative site by local man Oscar Duffy, had all divers reporting successful dives of between 15-25 metres for bottom times of between 30 & 40minutes.

During this time Monaghan coxn candidate Martin Breslin was put through his coxn test by Agnes Westwood, Mon 1, under the guidance of Doug Fox, Mon 2.  The difficult weather and sea conditions didn't prevent Martin from performing all the pre-requisite manoevres and the club would like to take this opportunity of congratulating him on passing his test.

Following a tasty Surface Interval in the Lobster Pot, Claire McGeever rounded up the remaining divers joined by JohnJoe & Margaret Rowland together with Michael O'Donnell lending a helping hand and brought the two boats back to the gullys at the Green Isle.  Again, all divers reported relaxing 30min dives of between 15 and 20 metres. 

Many thanks to Claire for suggesting a 2 dive Sunday - a very successful days diving all round!

Check out the Sheephaven Sub Aqua Club divers tagged on the inaugural Wet n Wild Glenveagh 28K Challenge. The event was a great success and has raised much needed funding for Donegal Downs syndrome association and the Friends of Abbey Court a community based sheltered employment scheme for people with an intellectual  disability.

The presentation of the sponsorship monies raised will take place at the Thatched Cottage in Kilmacrennnan on 20th July at 8pm and any Sheephaven divers who walked or helped out are invited to this event.

Check out the photo albums and the Sheephaven divers who did  the walk on the Facebook site "The 'Wet n Wild' Glenveagh 28K walk 2010"

On 7th October members of the Search & Recovery team who have contributed 10 years continuous service will be awarded medals followed by a meeting with President Mary McAleese at Aras an Uachtarain. 

Anyone who wishes to be included in this unique honour should contact JohnJoe Rowland.  Further details to follow.

A big thanks to Sheephaven Sub Aqua Club members Hugo Mc Fadden Eddie Mc Fadden Damien Rodgers Kieran & James Doherty for participating in and successfully completing the challenge raising much needed funds for the recipient charities Donegal Downs Syndrome & the Friends of Abbey Court.

A note of thanks also to the Sheephaven club members John Jow Rowland Joe Devenney Eoin Fogarty & Donal Mc Eleney who helped out on the day with transport & errecting the canteen tents. The event was a great success in no small part due to the participation & help provided by Sheephaven Sub Aqua club members. Well done!

Team Delta MRU members Gus O Driscoll Joe Devenney & Eoin Fogarty spent Saturday night and Sunday morning aboard Dive Ciara providing MRU cover for Anne Marie Ward as shen enters the final stages of training for her 2010 North Channel swim Challenge which if sucessful would make her the first Irish lady to swim from Northern Ireland to Scotland a 20 mile crossing that is known among long distance swimmers as the "Everest of long distance swims".

Anne Marie swam strongly clocking up 3 hours in the water in a vicious sea blowing a force 6 in the late hours of Saturday night about 9 miles off the Scottish coast and a more kindly 1 1/2 hours in a becalmed force 2 sea off the cliffs north of Whitehead on Sunday morning.

Navigation and passage planning were 100% pefect thanks to Derek Flanagan who had Capt Brendan Proctor aboard Dive Zebedee

Delta MRU looks forward to providing MRU cover to the bravest Irish long distance swimmer in Ireland.

Some nice photos of the training can be viewed on

http://picasaweb.google.com/Sheephaven.SAC/DeltaOnInternationalMRUDutyWithAnneMarieWard#

Calling all Divers

Wet n Wild is sponsoring the Wet n Wild 28K Challenge Hillwalk on Saturday 26th June 2010 in aid of Donegal Downs Syndrome and the Family & Friends of Abbey Court (a project to provide employment in the community for people with an intelectual disability). It promises to me an excellent enjoyable day out on the hills and scenery of Donegal with Breakfast and Lunch provided and offers everyone a chance to put something back into society so show the strength of your character and register online at wetnwild.ie

The underlined is the prodecure relating to medicals for 2010 Dive Season

Medicals 

1.             Print off a copy of Form 4092.

2  Bring it to your doctor’s office together with your logbook

3.  If / when you pass your medical your doctor  Keeps Form 409·        Signs & stamps your logbook

4. Show your logbook to the DO

5. The DO will update your profile on COMS

6. Check your profile on COMS before you dive

7. 3 green ticks = clear to dive 

Any other questions or clarifications contact Anne Boyle DO

On Monday night the members of An Club Óige Gleann donated €700 to Sheephaven SAC S&R Unit. This generous donation was collected by the boys and girls from the Glencolmcille and Meenaneary regions over the year from fund-raising activities such as organised car washes and table quizzes.

Sheephaven SAC Chairman John Joe Rowland was honoured to accept the presentation on behalf of the clubs Search and Recovery Unit.

Sheephaven SAC Diver Kevin Boylan took the coveted award of Diver of the Year for the 2009 dive season, at the CFT AGM in Athlone today.(Photo in the Photo Gallery)

Kevin scooped the prize with 95 dives in Irish waters. This represents nearly two dives a week over the year for Kevin, during which Sheephaven SAC had at  least one dive every week -irrespective of the conditions.

While Sheephaven divers were aware that Kevins' diving achievements thoughout 2009 were exemptorly, to have this to acknowledged nationally is a great source of pride to his fellow club divers in Sheephaven SAC.

Once again, contragulations to Kevin - CFT Diver of the Year- as it is a truely fitting accolade.

Sheephaven SAC members can pay their club fees directly into the club account at any branch of the AIB.

The fees are directed into the club account in the Dunfanaghy branch of the AIB by entering the branch code 937320 and the account number 71943050 on the lodgement slip. 

The club member must then ensure that they include their name in the narrative box provided at the bottom of the lodgement slip.

The club fees for 2010 remain the same as last year at €400.