View Full Version : Conger Alley
dive granny
03-09-06, 22:47
we went to Conger alley today and there is a notice on the fence where we enter, from Argyll & Bute Council saying "Due to an oil spillage,do not enter the water". I am going to contact them tomorrow to see what is up.
I told Ding he needed to wash his hair ... :D
I told Ding he needed to wash his hair ... :D
Not my hair cos I was diving loch linnie and it was great. I will make a dive schedule for it soon. I'm not diving the lochs for two days and u guys pollute
the water, Gord did your reg fall out your mouth and leave this oil slick or was it an oil tanker at Finnart. :D
we went to Conger alley today and there is a notice on the fence where we enter, from Argyll & Bute Council saying "Due to an oil spillage,do not enter the water". I am going to contact them tomorrow to see what is up.
Gas guzzler and I went to Conger too - when we saw the sign we went round to Finnart to try there - there were loads of signs there too, and a group of about 30 divers, who said they had asked the guy at the fuel depot if they knew anything about it, and they didn't.
We decided against a dive (mostly because od the 30 other divers) and headed home.
Gas guzzler and I went to Conger too - when we saw the sign we went round to Finnart to try there - there were loads of signs there too, and a group of about 30 divers, who said they had asked the guy at the fuel depot if they knew anything about it, and they didn't.
We decided against a dive (mostly because od the 30 other divers) and headed home.
Now u know me I wouldent rub it in but loch linnie was fab the viz was 10m got some great pics and the apree dive at jack and sarahs was A1
PS does anyone know what caused the poloution.
we went to Conger alley today and there is a notice on the fence where we enter, from Argyll & Bute Council saying "Due to an oil spillage,do not enter the water". I am going to contact them tomorrow to see what is up.
I thought I'd do a wee bit of digging and spoke to a guy at SEPA. He wasn't aware of any reports of an oil spill but was looking into it. He wondered whether or not the sign was genuine.
Perhaps it's been put there by fishermen or maybe the people in the houses nearby to discourage divers.
dive granny
04-09-06, 22:29
Gas guzzler and I went to Conger too - when we saw the sign we went round to Finnart to try there - there were loads of signs there too, and a group of about 30 divers, who said they had asked the guy at the fuel depot if they knew anything about it, and they didn't.
We decided against a dive (mostly because od the 30 other divers) and headed home.
We went to St. Catherines seal reef. ten of us. Had two nice dives.
dive granny
04-09-06, 22:30
I phoned Argyll and Bute Council. Waiting for a call back. If they don't I will phone again.I wondered if they were genuine too:confused: :confused:
We went to St. Catherines seal reef. ten of us. Had two nice dives.
We thought you probably had, but we'd just driven over the rest, coming down from tarbert and by the time we had been to finnart, it was a bit late to go back.
Gas guzzler e-mailed SEPA today and the central office said they would pass it on to the local office but they haven't got back to him yet.
Reading this thread with great interest as we're hoping to go in L Long on Wed night ;)
This just proves how valuable this forum is to the local diving community.
Thanks for sharing the info, folks :)
Poloution in loch long, no o2 in aquatron, suit still got leak in arm whats going on in this world? I just want to dive.......
I spoke with Argyll & Bute Environmental Health in Helensburgh today. Apparently the oil spill was caused by an act of vandalism at the weekend whereby the Village Inn in Arrochar had their fuel tank valve opened and fuel was pumped into Loch Long.
I was told that Operational Services in Helensburgh are dealing with it and will have further information, e.g. the current position. The contact is Tom Murphy on 01436 658908 - I have tried calling but there is no answer at present.
Anyone wanting to dive Loch Long might want to try to give him a call.
Claire
alexmaclennan
05-09-06, 15:56
Thanks for letting us know.
Alex
dive granny
05-09-06, 20:29
I phoned Argyll and Bute today who transferred me to SEPA. He had no word but would contact A. and Bute himself. Email from Campbell who had got throught to SEPA and he was told Thursday not advisable yet to dive but should be OK by Sunday.:)
Just received these emails from the council:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Turner, Stewart [mailto:Stewart.Turner@argyll-bute.gov.uk]
Sent: 06 September 2006 08:48
To: Charles McGurk; Taylor, Sandy
Cc: Kerr, Alan; Murphy, Tom
Subject: RE: diving in Loch long
Charlie
As you quite rightly say there was an act of vandalism at the weekend and Tom Murphy attended from the Council. We will review the situation and when considered appropriate the signs will be removed.
Stewart Turner
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Murphy, Tom [mailto:Tom.Murphy@argyll-bute.gov.uk]
Sent: 06 September 2006 08:50
To: Turner, Stewart; Charles McGurk; Taylor, Sandy
Cc: Kerr, Alan
Subject: RE: diving in Loch long
Stewart
Booms and signage to be removed today.
Tom
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So it seems as if it's safe to get back in L. Long!
Great! thanks for the updates, Charlie. Oil be diving there next week, then!
R u still diving 2nite let me know asap got 02 and am ready for a deep dip
Was talking to your wakeboarding buddy in aquatron about the deep bit at loch long, I know where to go know. :)
Great! thanks for the updates, Charlie. Oil be diving there next week, then!
Yeah, good to know that weel not have to wait any Longer :rolleyes:
Yeah, good to know that weel not have to wait any Longer :rolleyes:
Still up for meeting at 6pm at finnart :D
Enjoyable dive at The Caves tonight with cheeky_diver. No warning signs evident there nor at Finnart according to Alex. However, a small amount of oily scum was present on the surface. Lots of freshwater run off making the viz atrocious in top couple of metres but OK below 8m.
Great to meet up with Alex & Ding in the Village Inn for a pint afterwards. Becoming a habit? I could live with it! ;)
Enjoyable dive at The Caves tonight with cheeky_diver. No warning signs evident there nor at Finnart according to Alex. However, a small amount of oily scum was present on the surface. Lots of freshwater run off making the viz atrocious in top couple of metres but OK below 8m.
Great to meet up with Alex & Ding in the Village Inn for a pint afterwards. Becoming a habit? I could live with it! ;)
Hi charlie do you and cheeky diver fancy helping alex and I to map GDRE on wed night then an apree dive in the village Inn?
Sounds good to me, Ding. But I will have to check if the cheeky one is available and if I can get a ticket to come out to play ;)
Do u have a dive slate to mark things for the underwater map? Its a good way to accurately get depths and distances.
Sounds good to me, Ding. But I will have to check if the cheeky one is available and if I can get a ticket to come out to play ;)
I think they sell the correct tickets in florists :)
alexmaclennan
15-09-06, 19:55
.........or get one from the deli counter at Tesco
alex
I think they sell the correct tickets in florists :)
.........or get one from the deli counter at Tesco
alex
Good advice, guys! :eek:
Everything in moderation, eh Alex? ;)
alexmaclennan
16-09-06, 09:58
Good advice, guys! :eek:
Everything in moderation, eh Alex? ;)
Close to a yellow card there Charlie :rolleyes: . Hope to see you Wed night
alex
Scottish Dave
16-09-06, 17:47
Thought I would get in on the act, now living and working out in Greece. Sorry to hear that you are unable to dive conger, let me know whats happening back in Scotland.
Could not dive myself today due to weather whilst in very high 20s the seas are a bit rough due to a wind from the south blowing up, coast guard wont let us out. maybe tomorrow.
Speak later
Thought I would get in on the act, now living and working out in Greece. Sorry to hear that you are unable to dive conger, let me know whats happening back in Scotland.
Could not dive myself today due to weather whilst in very high 20s the seas are a bit rough due to a wind from the south blowing up, coast guard wont let us out. maybe tomorrow.
Speak later
I dived Conger on Tuesday this week and it was fine, no sign of the oil spill which I believe came from some vandalism to a tank at the Village Inn in Arrochar. For the morning dive the tide was very low and the vis was only about 4m. Lots of fish life with shoals of saithe and some big ballan wrasse very evident. Went in for second dive and the tide was on the flood this seemed to improve the vis quite a bit and it was 7-8m horizontal. Lying on my back in 12m I was looking up though a large shoal of saithe and could see a small shoal of around 30 mackeral feeding at the surface. Not bad for Loch Long in September.
Close to a yellow card there Charlie :rolleyes: . Hope to see you Wed night
alex
Actually, I've been red-carded, so won't be able to make it this Wed I'm afraid. :mad:
Hope to catch up with you some other time very soon. :)
Enjoy the dive (and the apres dive), guys. :rolleyes:
Build up your brownie points and we will se u soon
Cheers
;)
I dont like getting kitted up in the rain and having an apree dive in wet clothes. Doom and gloom, mabe its cos its been raining for 3 days. SAD (seasonly afected disorder) is taking hold, Where r the razor blades?
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/The%20caves/P8226523a.jpg
Have u guys noticed that there r not many big congers about?
yeah. I noticed that too. Do you think they've been fished?
Airmonster
21-09-06, 11:16
I dont like getting kitted up in the rain and having an apree dive in wet clothes. Doom and gloom, mabe its cos its been raining for 3 days. SAD (seasonly afected disorder) is taking hold, Where r the razor blades?
Dived Conger Alley last night. Managed to stay reasonably dry kiting up under the tailgate of the car. Walked over to the beach and you could see from the surface the water was dirty. When the waves were breaking on the beach, they were brown. Walked into the water to knee depth and I could not see my feet!. Gobbed in the mask and rinsed it in the water. You could see the sediment suspended in the water, thought to myself "This is going to be sh1t". Between the wave action disturbing the sediment in the shallows and the amount of fresh water running off the hills, the vis was sure to be crap. The tide going out wouldn't help either. We swam out a bit and descended to about 3 meters. Yep!, vis was as expected, about a meter and that is being generous. Quick check to ensure everything was OK and headed down. As we were descending, I could feel the cold at the inflation valve at the centre of my chest. As the dive went on, this feeling slowly got lower. Not cold, but I knew I had a slight leak. At about 20 meters the water cleared and the visibility improved to about 5 meters. Not too bad! Levelled off at about 25 meters and turned left. Followed the reef along for a bit, turned left and slowly ascended to 15 meters and turned left again to make our way back to the exit. Saw a couple of congers, one pretty big! :eek: a few Wrasse and the usual Gold Shiny Wrasse. We were surrounded by a shoal of Saithe as we sat at 3 meters. On surfacing we were not surprised to see it was still raining. :( Back out the water, over to the cars and got dekited. Found I was completely soaked down the front. Even my socks were wet. Quick change and round to the Village Inn for a wee refreshment. :D
In the water about 17:15 and back out for 18:00 Not too bad a dive considering the weather, but defiantly a wet dive!
Can't wait to get back out! :D
Thanks,
/Colin.
Colin,
Glad to hear that you continued with your dive despite the adversity. ;)
Sounds as if it was enjoyable in the end. I'm just the same: not keen to call a dive off. My buddy and I had a bit of a gruesome time at Dunbar on Sunday when we decided to dive despite major swell & all the other divers who arrived turning tail and running. ;) Not the best (viz 0.5-1.0m) but we still managed to spend 56 min UW! Getting out was a bit of fun though. :eek:
Hope to catch you at a dive site before too long.
my last dive at conger alley was in feb i had just replaced the boots on my dry suit ebay for 6.00 quid o how i would regret that bargain . it was a nice clear day but obviously cold some other divers had a fire going on the beach thats cheery i thought . we went in got down to about 25mtr and i started to feel wet then very wet by the time i got out my legs were full of water i staggered up to the fire and nearly fell in it . absolutely frozen trying to walk back to the car i must have looked like billy connely wiht the incontenance trousers . both boots had split ah a lesson learned .down to aquatron to buy a nice pair of neoprene boots 70 quid fitted.
I counted 7 congers at anchor spot/bay a couple of weeks ago
but there's not as many in loch long this year (mybe the swordfish ate them)
If anybody fancys a night dive on thur night meet at the little thief dumbarton at 7pm :cool:
If anybody fancys a night dive on thur night meet at the little thief dumbarton at 7pm :cool:Will you be trying out new dive kit from your trip down south, Ding? Maybe you could model Mermaid's new pink fins. :rolleyes:
Afraid I can't make it this week: Thursday's not a good night for me due to my daughter's swimming lessons. Have fun though & get some good photies. Watch out for the CA shark though! :eek:
Will you be trying out new dive kit from your trip down south, Ding? Maybe you could model Mermaid's new pink fins. :rolleyes:
Afraid I can't make it this week: Thursday's not a good night for me due to my daughter's swimming lessons. Have fun though & get some good photies. Watch out for the CA shark though! :eek:
She didn't buy them because she already has pink fins.....:eek:
Scuba-Doh!
20-10-06, 16:24
http://static.flickr.com/84/251711521_8cab98af61.jpg
Photo I took day before I went diving at conger alley, weather was beautiful that day. The next day it didn't stop raining for a minute.
Nice photo of a great site. :)
I wonder if Ding is in that picture: there's probably about a 50:50 chance! :eek: We'll never know as there would be no bubbles to give away his position!
Ding, when you dived Capernwray did you follow their rule no. 12: "Divers using re-breathers are to ascend under surface marker buoys."? :rolleyes:
Scuba-Doh!
21-10-06, 00:13
Nice photo of a great site.
thanks *smiles*
I wonder if Ding is in that picture: there's probably about a 50:50 chance! :eek: We'll never know as there would be no bubbles to give away his position!
Doubt it, no other cars parked up that day.
Heres the rest of my Conger Alley photos:
Sunday 18th Sept 06
http://file018.bebo.com/4/large/2006/09/24/20/17939465a2099071059b802581581l.jpg
http://file018.bebo.com/4/large/2006/09/24/20/17939465a2099072439b448604926l.jpg
Saturday 23rd Sept 06 (as was pic in other post, dived conger alley on the sunday)
http://file018.bebo.com/4/large/2006/09/24/20/17939465a2099073758b320928738l.jpg
Mermaid, gas guz, clare and myself dived the alley today the tide was very high, up to the path. The viz was good only to 12m. Got a pic of a nudi, maybe urchin or bubblemaker coud tell me what type...
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/Nudi1.jpg
This is Gas guzzeler and clare at the end of the dive
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/ClareAndy.jpg
This seams to the time for snails to lay eggs...
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/Snail.jpg
PS have you looked at the picture in the Village Inn at the bar
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/Sordfish.jpg
Can u imagine meeting this at conger alley
bubblemaker
21-10-06, 18:48
Your Nudi appears to be Limacia clavigera. it's quite a nice photo. Well done
Are those air bubbles coming out your head gas guzzler? Are your ears leaking or are the contents of your head escaping?
Nice dive today, my 100th. Had to stay in for 60 minutes for it - it may have been a balmy 12 degrees but I still couldn't feel my fingers at the end of it.
Claire
takes a lot of talent to be able to breathe through your ears.;)
well done on your 100th dive.:D
dive granny
21-10-06, 23:49
Are those air bubbles coming out your head gas guzzler? Are your ears leaking or are the contents of your head escaping?
Nice dive today, my 100th. Had to stay in for 60 minutes for it - it may have been a balmy 12 degrees but I still couldn't feel my fingers at the end of it.
Claire
Maybe it is air escaping from his cylinders. Can't believe you are on your 100th dive. Well done. You will soon catch up with me:)
Conger alley today was like picadily circus, as u can see there were plenty of divers..
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/PA228279.jpg
The weather today was excellent the morning had a bit of low cloud but after 10.30 it was sunny and warm. Inbetween dives we sat in the sun and gabbed as only divers can do...
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/Surface.jpg
We met divers from neptune, they seem to be attached to the mitilary base..
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/Neptune.jpg
And divers who are not aloud out to often were there... Hi Nial
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j62/johnnicolson/Conger%20Alley/Nial.jpg
There was a conger at 24m which was as wide as my thigh, it was quite docile and stayed under Its rock. Shoals of fish were overhead most of the dive, and ballin wrasse darted in and around the rocks. The lobster is still there at 12m under a big rock, and looks like he has found a place thats safe from food divers. There were gold sinny darting about in front of our masks which at first was fun but after a while they bugged us as we were trying to take pics of other things and they got in the way. Again a great day's diving, where will I go on tuesday....
Gas Guzzler
22-10-06, 21:03
I wish to claim mitigating circumstances for my "very sexy" thermals. In my rush to get into my first dive I folded my neck seal under as I pulled my hood on. Shipped a couple of litres of water during my 40 minute dive and was trying to dry out so I could have a second dive.
alexmaclennan
23-10-06, 09:00
Agree that Sunday 22nd October was a crackin' day. Went for an island barbecue and waterski on Loch Lomond. Speedboat comes out of the water next weekend so no more waterskiing/wakeboarding this year.
alex
dive granny
23-10-06, 22:47
This post was started as a warning about the 'oil leak' nearly two months ago. May I suggest that the next thread about events at Conger has a new title. Not that I am an expert on threads and posts and things but it is getting very long!!
Yeah, DG, you're quite right. :)
This thread has gone somewhat off track & is a bit cumbersome to wade through now.
We'll say a few quiet words and allow it to be put out to pasture now... :rolleyes: