Day 6, 16 August: James Barrie 43m
I was to lead this dive with plan of 8 @42m, 10@39m and 10@35m, deco of 14 mins at 6m and a switch at 21m onto 50%. Down the shot line and the viz was approx 10m and as we passed 30m it started to get dark. Onto the wreck at 35m and over the edge towards the seabed at a max of 41.5m. We started working aft from just behind the wheelhouse and saw the engine ventilation hatches. It would take a small diver to get inside the engine room through here! Further aft towards the stern I turned the dive around but Wilbo and Rob didn’t notice me move off nor did I notice that they weren’t with me! I realised that they weren’t with me at the same time they did and we met on the stern after only being separated for 30 secs or so. Moving forwards past the wheelhouse we noticed the trawl gear midships which confused me slightly as I thought the wreck would be longer that this. However, looking beyond the gear the rest of the wreck was visible in the 10m viz we had. Moving past the trawl gear and the masts we came across the fish holds which went from ‘top to bottom’ but there were bulkheads between the holds which limited the scope for swimthroughs. Off to the bow and over the hull at 36m to begin a swim back along the length of the trawler on the starboard side including a swimthrough towards the stern of the boat. Back to the shot and Rob decided that he was going to shoot the bag from 35m, I signalled him to deploy it at 21m along with the switch as there was a risk of being pulled some distance off the wreck with the current that was running. Up the shotline to the 21m point, switched and then Rob deployed the bag which got caught on the line. This meant that we couldn’t drift off as planned. Upwards to 6m for the rest of the deco and to join the rest of the gaggle on the line. Rob was still hanging off the entangled blob line until someone ‘kindly’ unravelled it which meant that Rob drifted off the shotline while Wilbo and I stayed there until our time was up.
Rob doing the 'Monkey'
Surfacing it then became apparent what had happened and we decided that in the future we would drift further off wreck completely and bag from 21m after the switch or stay on the shot until it became too busy and then drift off and then bag up.
On a couple of occasions we had fizzing stops in Lyness and had a look around. I decided to explore and found that the area around the museum has other wrecks…
3lb gun at Lyness Museum
The Old Lyness Pier
An Old Wreck on the Beach at Lyness
Topping up to 40% we decided on a 50min dive onto the Karlsrhue with no deco obligation. Dropping down the shot we followed Gary and NickB and met the ‘virgins’ coming up the other way. Onto the wreck and a good swim around. The viz was picking up nicely and we had 10m or so, enough to make out more of the ships shape. This wreck is now considerably more broken up than the McDonald pictures but nonetheless it makes for an interesting wreck with plenty of opportunities for swimthroughs and penetration. Wilbo led towards the bow to start with overtaking NickB and Gary on the way before reaching the bow and turning around. Again passing Nick and Gary we headed off towards the stern investigating the wreck as we went. On reaching the stern, Wilbo entered one of the hatch openings and continued inside the wreck, the lower part of the hull has rotted away which provided some light. Exiting approximately 20m along the keelside, we continued along the hull until we found the shot and came up that. Carrying out 3mins at 6m and a slow ascent from there.
Wilbo on Deco...
A nice dive with plenty of scope for penetration with more experience. NickB had fun with some divers on the JohnL who were coming down the shot while he and Gary were doing their stops; the descending divers, complete with pink snorkels, expected the deco’ing divers to move out of the way while they descended the shotline! A few words were administered afterwards!!
Day 7: 17 August.
SMS Dresden, 34m.
With only 2 days left to dive and only 3 wrecks left to dive we decided to do the Dresden today and leave the Markgraf and Konig for another trip. We planned an average depth of 31m and bottom time of 40mins which gave us 10mins at 6m following a switch at 21m. Following a multitude of faffs from Rob which included a blown o-ring inside the valve of his stage bottle, we finally managed to get into the water. Wilbo led and down the shot we went into 6-7m viz. Plenty of ambient light meant that we could see more of the wreck. It became apparent that there were plenty of opportunities to conduct swimthroughs and penetration. We limited ourselves to swimthroughs where daylight was visible at the other end as the holds at the stern looked they could silt up quite easily. From the bow moving aft we saw the forward gun turret but no barrel, following the hull aftwards, past the remains of the control tower across the blast debris field were salvagers have gone through the top decks to retrieve their wares.
The lightsabres in overdrive!
Moving further aft the holds do look very inviting but they also look like they would silt out quite quickly and remembering Garf’s experience last week we decided to leave it at that, especially as we were diving as a three. Right to the stern, Wilbo turned around and we came back at about 26m following the deck, again past the blast area until we found a very nice swimthrough along the topside of the control area, exiting just aft of the command towers and mast. Following the hull along until we reached the bow and the dive was thumbed. A conservative deco of 10mins at 6m meant that we felt fully refreshed once we got back onto Invincible in classic Scottish weather of low cloud and light rain. This wreck has lots of potential for more exploration after some wreck penetration training. After we surfaced we wondered where Gary and NickB had got to, as they had gone in after us. Once they surfaced, the story came out. As Gary descended the shotline, he managed to get the shot line wrapped around this stage and unknown to him at this point, the working parts of his poseidon made a bid for freedom. He noticed this when he came to the 21m stop and tried to deploy his reg and it wasn’t there. A small amount of extra time was then added to allow him to deco on backgas despite NickB offering his stage reg (no swapping of stages here!).
Day 8: MV Mara, F2 and Barge 15m.
With only 3 dives left to do we went with the Skippers suggestion of combining the Mara, F2 and Barge...mmm maybe not such a good idea...! 9 of us dropped in on the Mara with the plan to swim the 100m on a bearing of 275 degrees after we had finished there. The Mara is a dive boat which sunk a few years ago in alleged dodgy circumstances is about 15m long. After a couple of laps we decided to head off on the planned bearing to see if we could find the F2...nothing was seen after 10 mins of heading on 315 (tracking approx 275) so we decided to go for a little drift dive. After 25 mins BT we decided to bag off so the skipper could keep a track of where we were. I learnt a valuable lesson on this dive that I should have unwound and rewound the spool because it jammed after it unwound approximately 5-7m of line. Rather than take the express ride to the surface I let it go, hoping to pick it up later (which I did). Wilbo then deployed the backup and we conducted an uneventful ascent. On reaching the surface I saw my blob and swam over to it. Once back on the boat we could see how far we had drifted and how far everyone else had too!! The only pair to make it onto the F2 were the Tricky twins which we all (obviously) put down to luck rather than judgment!! Justin and Paul were guaranteed to find the wreck as they were dropped in on it but had to end their dive after 60mins or so as Paul needed a pee!!
After a quiet meal in the pub I saw my first example of ‘beer jumping’! One of the local lads was somewhat worse the weather and staggered down the pier with his t-shirt and top in his hands. Getting to the end he stripped down to his shreddies, staggered about a bit and then waved at me. I turned around to talk to Gaynor, turned around and he had disappeared, slightly concerned I went over to the end of the pier and saw the lad managing to climb up the ladder (god knows how considering his state). Asking if he was alright, he slurred he was fine and I watched him get dressed and stagger off! Transpired it was his birthday!!
Day 9: SMS Koln, 34m.
The last days diving began with some fog which had the appearance of burning off.
A Foggy Evening
Making our way out to the Koln we had a plan of 40mins at an average depth of 31m on 32% giving 2@21 and 9@6. Dropping in with me leading, it was apparent that the vis was much better than Sunday’s dive and that we might get to see more of the wreck. Hitting the wreck at 25m we dropped over the side to the seabed making sure we kept above the 33m MOD we had. Heading aft we passed the debris field of the blast area and towards the 2 large guns at the rear. With the increased viz and natural light, it was easier to make out the different parts of the wreck although we were still looking at little sections at a time. At the stern we turned around after I took some pictures and headed towards the bow.
Rob blowing bubbles...
The wreck provides some opportunities for swimthroughs which on a couple of occasions we took advantage of. Passing Jeremy and Nick on the way forward we could see what the new PT LED heads were like in action and they were pretty impressive (Nick’s primary light had failed after about 15mins on the bottom).
Past the bridge area and onto the bow for some more pictures and we saw Paul and Justin. 30mins into the dive and we headed aft towards the superstructure and at 35mins Wilbo thumbed the dive as he was cold and bored (!). After another uneventful dive we got back onto the Invincible and another hearty breakfast.
Tabarka and Doyle: 16m
This was to be the last dive of the week and half the boat wanted to dive the Tabarka again, the other half wanted to dive the Doyle. We suggested to Ian that he motor over the Tabarka drop the first bunch, carry onto the Doyle and drop the next lot on that. He came up with a better idea…drop everyone on the Tabarka and swim to the Doyle. We were a bit reticent after the last episode but went with it...
Rob inside the Tabarka
In we went minus Gary as he had enough (Nick was with the Tricky twins), straight down to the bottom to get inside the wreck. If this was slack I would eat Jeremies bright yellow dive hood. After 20 mins exploring inside the wreck our team decided to make for the Doyle and following the cobble road…the tide was still running at this point and in hindsight we should have stayed inside the wreck, but hey ho! We found the cobble path and followed it and found something with a large boiler and a gun barrel but it wasn’t the Doyle! Anyway we had a couple of minutes mooching around here before deciding to have a drift dive in the still running tide. I was to launch the blob, which I did but it slipped out of my fingers but didn’t go too far above me. Wilbo, quick as a flash, got his out as backup, but in the process it unclipped and dropped into the kelp, doh! After a quick rewind it was neatly back in his pocket and I was winding in the spool. On reaching the surface it was obvious, as we weren’t going anywhere, that slack was about now! Oh well, it was a nice dive and we saw the inside of the Tabarka along with a load of snorkelled silt kickers!
This dive was the only chance that Rob and I had to compare the Heser and new PT LED upgrade; despite having a slightly yellowed reflector due to the battery solution, the PT was as bright and tight as the Heser and well worth the £48 from Knakcers (when he gets them in stock).
Gaynor with her big smile
The diving over, we quickly stripped things down and sorted out kit before loading the trolley that we had liberated. The wheels did look a little flat when we finished loading all the tins into one trolley! Off out for a few pints in the Ferry Inn before going around to the Royal for a final meal. Lots of stories related and funny pictures taken, which will no doubt make it into this thread, including the one where Gary, pissed off at having his photo taken, managed to format Nic’s card while in the camera. It’s a good job there are file recovery programs out there…
Day 10: 19 August.
Nursing some sore heads, we pushed the loaded trolleys half way to the ferry before Ian pitched up and towed them the rest of the way. A few tearful goodbyes and onto the ferry to start the long journey home. Some of us made detours, stop-offs but everyone made it safely back by Sunday night.
This was my first trip to Scapa and I am already booked on a trip for next year with some like minded souls. Hopefully I will have a Tech 1 ticket by then and the majority of the others will also have mix tickets, so we can explore the deeper wrecks with a clearer head. It was a great experience, meeting some nice people, diving some great wrecks and just generally having fun.
A big thanks to Fiona for excellent breakfasts, Ian for being a sound skipper and giving us nice decent fills, the weather gods for being lenient on us, Wilbo and Rob for being part of my team and the rest of you for providing me with some entertainment, Gary for eating the Orcanian supply of cheese, Jeremy for providing hours of entertainment with his fluorescent yellow hood and gloves, Gaynor and Paul for being so chuffed to be there and having the energy to cycle to Skara Brae, Justin for providing the evidence in the sea urchin murder case being brought against Paul and NickB for trying his best to beat Gary to death with a pillow to shut him up and finally thanks to Nic for providing some interesting South American video clips but a big boo to the sea-gods who gave us pants (by Scapa standards) vis. I have just received a text from Porg who said she can see the barge from the F2
Safe diving everyone…