Well, here is my last update of the Scapa holiday
Friday, Dive day 6
the day started pretty much as the rest a little breakfast and then head off to the boat. This time we picked our favourite dives of the week that we wanted a little more of.
Dive 1, SMS Dresdon
The visibility today was a little worse than before, and we all decided to explore the stern... cough... we all know that plans change under water at any given moment in time, soooo.. some of us ended up at the bow. funny that. Another great dive
Dive 2, SMS Coln
Just a fantastic as the day before. lots of fish conga eels, crabs and starfish. Oh and a wreck. A great dive to to more than once, it was not boring at all.
Once back on dry land we unhappily packed all the gear in to the van and either, did a little shopping, went to the pub of fell a sleep. Some of us did all three. then off to dinner and that's when the party Started. There were live bands playing in the Ferry inn so that is where we settled for the night. Then the After shocks started. People drifted off as they chose, and then three mad men launched them selves into the harbour....you know who you are...to an audience of about 50 people.
ahh what an end to a fantastic week of diving. I can Highly recommend Scapa Scuba for overnight repairs if you have a dry suit nightmare up there, Emily aboard the Radiant Queen is a fantastic captain (she is the one that found the camera) and the company has been excellent.
A top week in all and I highly recommend that you dive Scapa at least once in you life. It is awesome. However, these wrecks are deep, the sea is dark, the weather is changeable. You have to be prepared for a strenuous week of deep diving, it takes its toll and is not for novices. Minimum requirement is Advanced open water with Deep Dive Spec and previous sea experience IMHO.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Well obviously dinner took a very long time as this is the first chance I have had to blog again.
Here goes......
Tuesday, Dive day 3
Dive 1, SMS Kroneprinz Wilhelm
Fantastic dive on the dreadnought, This wreck is almost upside down and you have to get underneath to see anything, but it is really worth the dive as you can see the HUUUUUUGE guns on the stern and then swimming up shallower through the rudders. A very nice deep and dark dive. Torches are a must or you see nothing and the bottom time is a bit short because of the depth. Recommended
Dive 2, SMS Tabarka and Doyle
here we split up as the two Light cruisers are quite close together, the SMS Tabarka need a negative entry so not every one was up to it, still some of gave it a fair crack.
Negative entry in a dry suit with all the stuff attached....special.... Fletch however had an extra special time with his little legs flapping out of the water, it was a sight to behold, unfortunately no one had a camera ready, they were too busy laughing anyhow. needless to say, he dived the Doyle in the end.
Tabarka, not shot lined so you need the tide to take you to the wreck or you miss it, hence the entry. Really nice wreck with lots of swim throughs and a big cavern engine room. lots to explore and covered in wild life, and I am not talking about the divers.
Doyle. similar dive to the day be for.
Everyone had an early night, the scapa diving is taking its toll.
Micks quote of the day "that boat is proper on its side"
Wednesday Dive day 4
Dive 1, SMS MarkGraf
Another Dreadnaught, again almost upside down on the seabed.
Tried to do the gun run on this vessel although if you were not at 40m you missed them. This was a deep dark dive and these ships are sooooo large that sometimes it is difficult to understand what you are looking at. There are 7 guns still in tact along the side of this vessel although again your bottom time is limited to take them all in.
in between the dive we all went to Lyness on Hoy to visit the museum.
Dive 2, F2 and the Barge.
The F2 is a light cruiser that was tied off to the barge. The salvage people moored her too tight for the tide and she sank taking the barge with her. These are two little nice wrecks to do at once in about 16m of water, full of life and fantastic to explore. a great dive. On exit from the dive Mick R had Emily, boat owner and captain, instigating a search pattern, not for him but for the smallest camera known to man that has been lost in Scapa flow. Emily is "a top bird" according to Mick, cos she found it. She is an Excellent skipper, definitely the boat of choice for up here and she gives great briefings and the "Emily drawings" are a site to behold.
once we were all back on land we sat outside in the sun for a few beers and then food. One of us ended up swimming across the harbour, wonder who that was. ( not me that's for sure )
Everyone is having a fantastic time.
Mick's quote of the day "If you catch a weasel asleep, wee in its lug 'ole"
Thursday Dive day 5,
The day started much as the rest, breakfast then all aboard.
Dive 1, SMS Konig.
Dreadnaught battleship, again upside down on the bottom at 46m. 24m to the hull. This dive really is about investigating the engine rooms through the blast hole, again these vessels are so large that it is often difficult to work out where you are and what you are looking at.
Dive 2, SMS Koln,
Fantastic light cruiser in 42m of water, covered in live and fish, "proper on its side", you followed the shot to the hull and then dropped down the side to about 37m and then swam towards the bow, on the way seeing the bridged followed by the conning tower, anchor capstans and where the front guns had been. if you swim of the bow and look back you start to get the feel of what these are like. A very good dive, everyone came up raving about it and want to dive it again tomorrow. So we are.
We are currently in the pub having been fed and watered and playing pool. this is a great trip.
Micks quote of the day "He had breath like Gandhi's flip flop"
Well thats it for now, we have the last day tomorrow. ;(
Here goes......
Tuesday, Dive day 3
Dive 1, SMS Kroneprinz Wilhelm
Fantastic dive on the dreadnought, This wreck is almost upside down and you have to get underneath to see anything, but it is really worth the dive as you can see the HUUUUUUGE guns on the stern and then swimming up shallower through the rudders. A very nice deep and dark dive. Torches are a must or you see nothing and the bottom time is a bit short because of the depth. Recommended
Dive 2, SMS Tabarka and Doyle
here we split up as the two Light cruisers are quite close together, the SMS Tabarka need a negative entry so not every one was up to it, still some of gave it a fair crack.
Negative entry in a dry suit with all the stuff attached....special.... Fletch however had an extra special time with his little legs flapping out of the water, it was a sight to behold, unfortunately no one had a camera ready, they were too busy laughing anyhow. needless to say, he dived the Doyle in the end.
Tabarka, not shot lined so you need the tide to take you to the wreck or you miss it, hence the entry. Really nice wreck with lots of swim throughs and a big cavern engine room. lots to explore and covered in wild life, and I am not talking about the divers.
Doyle. similar dive to the day be for.
Everyone had an early night, the scapa diving is taking its toll.
Micks quote of the day "that boat is proper on its side"
Wednesday Dive day 4
Dive 1, SMS MarkGraf
Another Dreadnaught, again almost upside down on the seabed.
Tried to do the gun run on this vessel although if you were not at 40m you missed them. This was a deep dark dive and these ships are sooooo large that sometimes it is difficult to understand what you are looking at. There are 7 guns still in tact along the side of this vessel although again your bottom time is limited to take them all in.
in between the dive we all went to Lyness on Hoy to visit the museum.
Dive 2, F2 and the Barge.
The F2 is a light cruiser that was tied off to the barge. The salvage people moored her too tight for the tide and she sank taking the barge with her. These are two little nice wrecks to do at once in about 16m of water, full of life and fantastic to explore. a great dive. On exit from the dive Mick R had Emily, boat owner and captain, instigating a search pattern, not for him but for the smallest camera known to man that has been lost in Scapa flow. Emily is "a top bird" according to Mick, cos she found it. She is an Excellent skipper, definitely the boat of choice for up here and she gives great briefings and the "Emily drawings" are a site to behold.
once we were all back on land we sat outside in the sun for a few beers and then food. One of us ended up swimming across the harbour, wonder who that was. ( not me that's for sure )
Everyone is having a fantastic time.
Mick's quote of the day "If you catch a weasel asleep, wee in its lug 'ole"
Thursday Dive day 5,
The day started much as the rest, breakfast then all aboard.
Dive 1, SMS Konig.
Dreadnaught battleship, again upside down on the bottom at 46m. 24m to the hull. This dive really is about investigating the engine rooms through the blast hole, again these vessels are so large that it is often difficult to work out where you are and what you are looking at.
Dive 2, SMS Koln,
Fantastic light cruiser in 42m of water, covered in live and fish, "proper on its side", you followed the shot to the hull and then dropped down the side to about 37m and then swam towards the bow, on the way seeing the bridged followed by the conning tower, anchor capstans and where the front guns had been. if you swim of the bow and look back you start to get the feel of what these are like. A very good dive, everyone came up raving about it and want to dive it again tomorrow. So we are.
We are currently in the pub having been fed and watered and playing pool. this is a great trip.
Micks quote of the day "He had breath like Gandhi's flip flop"
Well thats it for now, we have the last day tomorrow. ;(
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Yey, we finally discovered that the pub had Wifi, so here is a very large update.
We arrived at Stromness on Saturday evening checked in and then headed to the pub..
Sunday, Dive Day 1
We arrived at the boat The Radiant Queen at 8:30 and loaded a;; the kit on the boat, It is a fantastic set up and the Captain Emily is top. There is a deck to store all the dive kit, in the open, then there is a cabin with a centre dest that you can all sit around to have a cup of tea and do the dive logs. You go down stairs from the cabin weher you enter the dry room where you can put on your undersuits, this also contains the head. you then go through a door to the wet roon where you put on your dive suit and then up the ladder on to the open deck for your dive
kit. it is fantastic. when you have finished the dive you do it in reverse.
We then set off to the flow...and the The Dresden, this was a fantastic first dive and the water was flat calm. The Dresden is a cruiser, laying on ots side. and the deck at the bow has peeled forward where you can see the guns. Visibility was about 6m and tha water was toasty. Everyone had a great dive. 32m dive.
For lunch we went to the museum on Lyness, a great display of some of the things that had been salvaged and lots of info.
Dive 2 Karlshruhe fantastic dive at nice open wreck, easy to see the guns and capstans a very nice dive. everyone...again....had a fantastic dive. 28m
When we got back we had a night out in town. People drifted off as they chose, a good night.
Micks qoute of the day.......swan neck and giblits.
Monday Dive day 2
After breakfast we headed to the boat and then out to the wrecks.
Dive 1, The Bummer 32m
The shot line is on a really bad place on this wreck as it goes right into the blast hole. you have to spend a fair amount of time working out which way to go to het to the deck of this as it is laying in its side. Once you get there though it is a fantastic dive with the guns and conning towers. Not everyone went the right way. It was a great dive.
Dive 2 , The Doyle 12m
This is a ww2 block vessel a nice open wreck with some very nice swim thoughs, covered in seaweed, a great wrek to spend some time on although we had to wait for the tide to be just right, slack water was only about 10mins though. Everyone is buzzing and has really settled in to the diving up here now.
Quiet evening for everyone, we all needed a rest.
Micks qoute of the day, put wood in thole
More to come after dinner......
We arrived at Stromness on Saturday evening checked in and then headed to the pub..
Sunday, Dive Day 1
We arrived at the boat The Radiant Queen at 8:30 and loaded a;; the kit on the boat, It is a fantastic set up and the Captain Emily is top. There is a deck to store all the dive kit, in the open, then there is a cabin with a centre dest that you can all sit around to have a cup of tea and do the dive logs. You go down stairs from the cabin weher you enter the dry room where you can put on your undersuits, this also contains the head. you then go through a door to the wet roon where you put on your dive suit and then up the ladder on to the open deck for your dive
kit. it is fantastic. when you have finished the dive you do it in reverse.
We then set off to the flow...and the The Dresden, this was a fantastic first dive and the water was flat calm. The Dresden is a cruiser, laying on ots side. and the deck at the bow has peeled forward where you can see the guns. Visibility was about 6m and tha water was toasty. Everyone had a great dive. 32m dive.
For lunch we went to the museum on Lyness, a great display of some of the things that had been salvaged and lots of info.
Dive 2 Karlshruhe fantastic dive at nice open wreck, easy to see the guns and capstans a very nice dive. everyone...again....had a fantastic dive. 28m
When we got back we had a night out in town. People drifted off as they chose, a good night.
Micks qoute of the day.......swan neck and giblits.
Monday Dive day 2
After breakfast we headed to the boat and then out to the wrecks.
Dive 1, The Bummer 32m
The shot line is on a really bad place on this wreck as it goes right into the blast hole. you have to spend a fair amount of time working out which way to go to het to the deck of this as it is laying in its side. Once you get there though it is a fantastic dive with the guns and conning towers. Not everyone went the right way. It was a great dive.
Dive 2 , The Doyle 12m
This is a ww2 block vessel a nice open wreck with some very nice swim thoughs, covered in seaweed, a great wrek to spend some time on although we had to wait for the tide to be just right, slack water was only about 10mins though. Everyone is buzzing and has really settled in to the diving up here now.
Quiet evening for everyone, we all needed a rest.
Micks qoute of the day, put wood in thole
More to come after dinner......
Friday, 27 June 2008
Here we are with less than 24 hours to the trip and a few people have asked about commenting on the blog already. Good effort peeps.
You need to enter the blog, on the left there is an underlined section, click that to open the blog and you can add comments.
The next entry will probably be from somehwere in the UK from the shop van as 8 of us are going to set off in it at 5am tomorrow. Thats when the fun will start.
You need to enter the blog, on the left there is an underlined section, click that to open the blog and you can add comments.
The next entry will probably be from somehwere in the UK from the shop van as 8 of us are going to set off in it at 5am tomorrow. Thats when the fun will start.
Well here we are setting up the first Reefers and Wreckers blog. With any luck we will be able to access the internet in the Orkney's and carry the blog on. Saturday will see the start of the Reefers and Wreckers trip to Scapa flow, 10 of us will head up north and we are all looking forward to a great trip.
Chris
Chris
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)