3rd – 7th May 2013 by Tiago Moreira The plan, set a couple of months before, was to enjoy a weekend of club diving in the waters of the Firth of Lorn, known mainly for its scenic and drift dives. The weather at the end of April has been promising, and for those of us […]

14th April 2013 by Richard Booth Four members of Tyneside 114 had set out that morning with the intention of nothing more dramatic than a quiet training dive in Cawfields quarry in the rugged hills of Northumberland. Little did they realise on that fateful morning that they would soon be forced to confront one of

2nd April 2013  by Richard Booth & Hubert Desgranges En-route from Glenuig back to the NE of England, Hubert and Richard could not resist the temptation to stop and dive the waters of Loch Leven just outside Ballachulish. Parking off the road, in the woodland car park next to the St Johns church and cemetery,

28th March – 2nd April 2013 by Richard Booth In 2010, the club made its first expedition to Glenuig. Now nearly three years later we were returning to yet again sample the diving delights that this area has to offer. We again opted to rent Viking cottage as our expedition base for the long weekend,

2nd March 2013 by Richard Booth The unusually poor weather since the start of the year has meant that opportunities to dive the East coast have been few and far between. In early March however, after a fortuitous break in the weather over the previous week, things were looking good for the club’s first excursion

23rd February 2013 by Richard Booth Attempts to book a charter boat were met with hoots of laughter and derision.  The recent weather had yet again taken its toll on local sea diving. In desperation and with an increasing need to wet the gills, a plan was hatched to dive Cawfields Quarry in Northumberland. Saturday

19th January 2013 by Andy Hunt With sub zero temperatures, mountainous and murky seas and snow threatening to block access to inland sites, out came Plan B – the Blue Reef Aquarium at Tynemouth. Jonathon and Andy tackled the outdoor pool which didn’t feel as cold as it could have.  Air temperature was about 2

12th January 2013 Written by Tiago Moreira Photography by Richard Booth After almost two weeks of light westerly winds and calm sea, as the weekend approached it was only to be expected that the weather would once again challenge our plans for a winter sea dive. In these circumstances, we normally head up to our

…but colder and clearer than the tea! 16th December 2012 Written by Kevin Thompson Photography by Richard Booth With a recent attempt to dive at Capernwray having been thwarted by flooded roads and leading to an extremely long drive to Ellerton Park (see The Secret of the Green Lagoon?) a plan was hatched to source

1st – 8th December 2012 Written by Kevin Thompson Photography by Nicola Faulks and Kevin Thompson After the success of the 2011 club expedition to Malta it seemed a no brainer that a return trip would be on the cards.  With such positive feedback from the previous year’s outing there was a considerable increase in

1 December 2012 by Andy Hunt The weather wasn’t promising and most of the club were off to Malta where the weather was only slightly better.  Then one of our members, Michael Keenleyside, rang having received an invitation for the branch to dive with seals in the morning and then in the tropics in the

25th November 2012 by Richard Booth and Kevin Thompson Setting off from home at 8:30am in the morning with the heavy rain pounding off the car roof and windscreen, one began to perhaps question the sanity of a journey over to Caprenwray for a dive.  Approaching Scotch Corner and with no apparent let up in

16th – 18th November 2012 by Tiago Moreira As we departed from Newcastle, the weather forecast for the weekend was uncertain but typically Scottish. This was no surprise as we were going to spend the next two days diving in the waters of the Sound of Mull, based at the Lochaline Diving Centre. While waiting

A club mini expedition exploring the rich waters off the Garvellachs  (Isles of the Sea) 5th-8th October 2012 by Richard Booth Back in the early 1990’s Tyneside 114 use to make occasional forays out to the Garvellachs using the club RIBS on weekends based out of Oban.  Having focussed more recently on the numerous wrecks

23rd September 2012 by Richard Booth The plan was to dive the wreck of the MV Buka, a small Dutch coastal cargo vessel lost off Craster on the 7th April 1970, fortunately without any loss of life. This 195-ton vessel was originally built in the 1930’s, survived the ravages of WWII and continued to give

9th September 2012 by Richard Booth With the club RIB complete with its new Suzuki engine away up in Scotland along with some of the more regular diving members exploring the waters of Uist, Ray was left with the dubious honour of rallying the remaining troops for a hard boat dive out of St Abbs.

19th – 28th August 2012 by Richard & Belinda Booth Having visited North Sulawesi in 2008 and experienced the superb and varied diving to be found in the Bunakin marine reserve and the muck diving of the Lembah straits, I was all too well aware of the amazing diving opportunities to be found in this

5th August 2012 by Richard Booth We headed out of the Tyne with bright sunshine and a relatively flat sea powering around the South pier and across the bay towards the wreck site of the Oslofjord. Slowing down and with eyes peering at the sounder screen it was not long before a solid trace appeared

28th-29th July 2012 by Richard Booth The aims of the weekend were two fold; maximize the opportunity for club members to dive St Abbs whilst also providing training opportunities for individuals to complete qualification ‘drills and skills’. On the Friday evening various members headed up the A1 to St Abbs to book into the accommodation

8th July 2012 by Richard Booth After all the recent rain and with a northerly swell running nobody was exactly quite sure what to expect when the dive party assembled at Seahouses harbour to launch the club RIB Seawitch. We anticipated some swell and were not surprised by the waves breaking against the harbour wall.

30th June – 2nd July 2012 Written by Kevin Thompson Photography by Richard Booth, David Hyde, Kevin Thompson and Tiago Moreira With the North East of England having just experienced a major super cell storm; thunder, a months worth of rain in a single day, the Tyne Bridge struck by lightning and floods meaning thousands