Glenisla, Shetland 18th Dec

[flw]

It's Toby's birthday dive - predictably the wind blows all week, so once the roof has blown off the hangar just up the road there seems little hope of us diving by sunday.
However, the morning arrives, mirror calm seas and a funny round thing in the sky. Hmm - better get out of bed then! Firts problem, discover I've run out of sofnolime - oh well, prod daughter out of bed - where is her kit, since she's still snuggled up.
Decide on Naomi's kit, plus a borrowed 15l, next hiccup, guess a weight, come up with something that 'feels' about right.
4 of us going in, down the line at about 25m the clean lines of wreck gradually form out of the glood - the shot's just forward of the higher decking section. Turning aft we head under the beams - a good poke around the cochrane boiler and the smaller side slung boilers - plenty of ambient light around, just as well cos my torch fails. I notice the big crack opening up on the port side although wider is still upright. Through the missing bulkhead, a bit of a wriggle around the various pipes and valves.
My favorite bit of this wreck, the triple expansion engine, alongside and down the tool room - spanners welded to the wall, hoses, fire extinguisher type things and a shelf full of ex-tools all merged in together - after silting up the whole room head outwards to get that billy-no-mates feeling. ho-hum oh well, head aft again, as ever the brie-cheese wedge lumps of phorphorus seem to have spread out over a big area again, a quick look around the stern before droppping to the seabed where the gun lies, partly covered by a plate.
Somehow I seem to have re-aquired my buddy again - and the other two - Janet hands me the bit of wing I'd knocked off as it falls - oh well, a meander back to the shot and ascent is about right.
We all head up together, bubbles idly coming off the wreck around us to discover the sun is still out, the kettle has boiled and we've all got cake - all a week before the longest day

[Hazel W]

nice ...


H