Merry Christmas Everybody

Merry Christmas Everybody

and a happy New Year

Mike Clark

Mike's Book for Christmas

If you are still looking for a Christmas gift for the diver in your life, I have 8 copies of my book left. These can be signed with a special dedicated message. Just order via e mail at mikeclark100@talktalk.net  . Price for the book is £15 with a £3 P&P charge.
Mike Clark

Second Attempt

The weather was far kinder this weekend and i enjoyed a couple of nice dives off of Derek Anderson's new boat Oceanic. Here is a picture of it.
Mike Clark

Islandmagee Wrecked Feature in this months Scuba Magazine

In the December Issue of Scuba Magazine is My feature on the wreck of the Islandmagee. Even though this shipwreck is around 40 metres deep. It makes for an extremely scenic wreck dive.
Mike Clark

Sport Diver November Issue Front Cover Image

I was pleased to note that one of my images graced the front cover of Sport Diver this month. The cover relates to my feature on 6 of the best boat dives from St. Abbs.
Mike Clark

GREY SEAL PUP

Every year in October Grey Seals have their pups around our coastline. This one was pointed out to me by a group of photographers from Glasgow. (Many thanks to you). just wanted to put this post up to let you know what to do if you find a seal pup on the shore. Underwater close encounters on the seals terms are welcome and exciting but for a seal pup on the shore all contact should be avoided and they certainly should not be touched, even if they look injured. The reason for this is that the mother seal will be keeping a close eye on the pup from the surf and too much disturbance can scare the parent off. human scent on the pup will almost certainly mean abandonment by the parent. If you do see one enjoy your encounter from a safe distance and use a long lens to get a nice picture. 
Why im writing this is that 15 years ago i found an injured sea pup on the beach and rushed to phone the SSPCA to report an injured seal pup on the beach. They advised me  me as above.
Mike Clark

OCEANIC DIVE BOAT

I was out on Derek Andersons new Dive Boat last weekend. Although the weather topside was fantastic, there was a big swell running. vis was as terrible as i have ever seen it at St. Abbs.
The boat is called Oceanic and its berthed at Eyemouth. First impressions is that its a spacious boat with good benches and stowage for divers. I will write up a more detailed report next time im out and can get some decent images of it. I did get one pleasing shot of a butterfish underwater which was nice as conditions were very bad. 
Thanks derek, next time we will get some great shots.

Mike Clark

A BIT OF SUCCESS

This image took runners up spot in the travel Section of the Digital Photo Photographer of the year 2012 competition.

Mike Clark

OTTER VISIT

OTTER SUIT

It was 4 years almost to the day from the last time that I was heading down the M6 to Otter Watersports in search of a new drysuit. My current suit is a Britannic telescopic and I had enjoyed using it and I was interested in a new one.

  

Once I arrived, John Womack (Jnr) checked the computer for my measurements and went to look for a suit. Unfortunately or fortunately as I looked at it, there was not one to fit my size and john offered to make me a made to measure suit. This was great as it let me choose things like seal type, pocket location, colour and most importantly the suit would fit like a glove. (I’m still a growing lad and my current suit was feeling a bit tight, Hence my trip back to Otter Watersports)

In those 4 short years there has been a considerable development in the Britannic suit. Firstly the material has changed again. My first Britannic suit was made of a heavy weight indestructible material which kept me dry for over 11 years and I’m sure its still going strong. My current suit sported a much lighter material which was stated to be just as strong. I certainly found no problems with this and I found the lighter suit advantageous. For my new suit a new material known as Britannic armour skin would be used. This tough material is smooth and shiny on the inside and helps when donning the suit.

I like neoprene seals and the neoprene now used on otter suits has a special webbed design that stops you putting a thumb through a seal when donning the suit. This was certainly of interest to me as a month previously I had done exactly that.

Ever put your legs into your suit and  then noticed the internal braces are tangled up. The new Otter suits now come with braces that sport quick release clips which can quickly sort out the tangles without removing the suit.

Another improvement was too the boots of the suit. In the past I have always noted that the boots wear down in the same place, most likely due to fin abrasion. The boots on new Britannic suits now come with a redesigned boot with a larger protected section on the front of the boot. This should stop the wear and tear.

Lastly I noted on my current suit that the elasticated strap connecting the umbilical part of my suit was wearing away the fabric where it ran between my legs. On the new suit John has added a Neoprene sleeve to stop this happening.

The new suit comes with valves and hoses and a bag that doubles as a changing mat and you have a choice of hoods.

So for me my trip went well. I travelled down by car on my own (as the train fare was more expensive “what’s the point of that”?) Fuel for the 400 mile journey cost me £60 and its worth trying to car share if you plan a visit.

Even with a Hefty fuel bill I’m very happy that I travelled down. I received a great deal on my new suit and it fits me very well. I’m looking forward to many years of untroubled diving in it.

Mike Clark

TYES TUNNEL

I was out a few weeks ago with Iain Easingwood of Marine Quest. We Dived Tyes Tunnel which was fantastic and then we went on to dive the Glanmire in spectacular conditions. This most scenic of wrecks still produces superb diving on its day.
Another magic day on the Jacob George. thanks to Gordon Mackie and Derek Borthwick for their excellent posing in the pictures.

Mike Clark

Farne Diver II Seal Image

First of my images from a Recent trip to the Farne Islands with Lee Hall of Farne Diving Services.
As said in previous post. I had a great time. The seal diving is fantastic here.

September

Well,
Summer has arrived and departed again in September and i made the most of the good weather.
Earlier in the month i ran an underwater photography workshop at st Abbs. The weather was kind and my student Bryony did very well. 
Next up was a trip to dive Tyes Tunnel and the Glanmire off St. Abbs. i had 2 superb dives and when i bumped into a dive buddy Conor Sutton from East Lothian SAC.I was invited on board for a 3rd dive of the day and had a superb dive at the Craig.
Last weekend i met up with my friend Lee Hall Skipper of the Farne Diver II. I had a fantastic weekend on board with a great bunch from BSAC 1641 (Maidenhead, Eton and Windsor Branch). We had fantastic dives all with close encounters with Seals.
Needless to say all this action has left me a little behind in the editing of my images and i plan to post the images over the next couple of days.
Mike

mask

DRYSUIT

Purple Nudibranch

Probably my best shot of the day.

Mike

FANTASTIC EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FIREWORK FINALE

FANTASTIC EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FIREWORK FINALE

ST. ABBS & EYEMOUTH VMR SPLASH IN 2012

Well everybody had a splashing time at the splash in this year. Strengthening winds made conditions exciting on the Saturday afternoon and Sunday was just about written off, until things calmed down a bit in the afternoon. Vis was fairly good at around 6 metres. Gordon Mackie was my buddy for the day and he was on fine form, in some seriously challenging conditions, in the Wuddy Swimthroughs. Many thanks to you Gordon for your help. We were out in Paul O'Callahan's boat pathfinder. For our second dive we planned for Anemone gullies, as photographers on the boat wanted to see some Wolf Fish. Unfortunately Paul's port Engine packed up and that plan went out the window. In freshening conditions we ended up just outside the harbour for a fairly tame dive made worse as i had on the wrong lens for the new site. Not what was needed on the splash in day. However, It was a great day out in good company. my shot of Gordon in the Wuddy Swim through earned 3rd place in the Wide Angle category.
Well done to Georgia and Lawson, Jim and Duxy the judges for the great show in the evening.
Here are my entries for the competition and as i left my dive gear at home on the Sunday I have also added in some images of topside st abbs. these give a flavour of just how bumpy it was.

Mike Clark

Topside photography

Not diving this weekend,  so Went to take pictures of a motorbike race.

Click here to see more of my topside images on Flikcr TOPSIDE IMAGES

MAY ISLAND IN AUGUST

Well after a few attempts, a return trip to the Isle of May in the firth of Forth was achieved on Friday 10 Aug. 2012.
The weather was superb and everybody had a great day out. The trip turned out to be so popular that Marine Quest had to take both boats. I really enjoyed myself and it was great to meet up with friends that i had not seen for a while and also to meet new ones too. My buddy for the day was Derek Borthwick, who was in fine posing form in the bulk of my photos.
Both boats had slightly different dive plans. Both dived the wreck of the Island MaGee and also had a Seal Dive to finish off. (SEALS ARE BEHIND YOU). The middle dive for one boat was on the scenic wreckage of the Island while our party dived the remains of the ss. Scotland.
The Isle of May is a spectacular place to visit in its own right but with super diving, great company and sunny calm weather this was an amazing trip for me.
Many thanks to Iain and Jim of Marine Quest and to Derek Borthwick (ace poser).
Here are a few of my images i hope you enjoy them.
Mike Clark