Shetland Diving

**Helen F H** · 13-07-08 06:52 PM

Hey guys,

Just thought i would share some pics i took today on the Fraoch Ban - a small boat which sunk while fishing for sand eels and capsized. Small but perfectly formed, it is a macro photographers dream. Covered in pipe fish, nudi's, shrimps and all manner of anemone. However i had the new wide angle lens and these are the result

Might try to get the strobe together later in the week and be a real grown up camera nerd

**Helen F H** · 14-07-08 04:28 PM

Another splash today, on the Gwladmena.

Sitting in around 36m on a flat sandy bottom, she stands around 6m proud. Rather broken up around the mid section, the bow and the stern are intact.

I arrive around 6m aft of the bow and make my way over the gentle sand waves, covered in tiny hermit crabs and spotty blennies dart away from my shadow. The vis is good at around 6-8m and i ascend over the curve of the metal to the flat of the focscle. The remains of some splinters of wood still cling to the rivets that once held them firm, and behind that the open hold full of debris. Twisted metal juts out from the smooth inner walls of the hull, and lumps of black coal encrusted with the stark contrast of white barnacle shells lie scattered over the lightly silted wreckage.

Moving aft i rise over metal beams which span the width of the hull, around to where i think the engine room and bridge once were. I go down the starboard side and the wreck drops away once again to the bottom of the hull.

Shoals of tiny silvery fish swirl around my light, but the depth has vastly reduced their number from the wreck we did yesterday. The slate blue of a conger slides back into his hole before i get close and the rusty orange of an edible crab sits in a split between some plates.

Soon enough the VR3 tells me i have 10 minutes to surface (only second time in the water with one so still a bit cautious) and i start to ascend. I fire my small bag at around 25m and ascend to 21m for the first stop.

I would say the Gwladmena is an excellent wreck for wrekkies, but not too great for those of us who like squishy stuff too as there was less than i was hoping for.

**flw** · 14-07-08 06:36 PM

Lovely pictures- you're making me homesick!!!! - we dived the fraochban a week or so after it sank, when it was still full of rotting sand eels, my dry suit was truly revolting afterwards

Gwladmena is a very pretty wreck,but not so good for life.
If you want fishie pictures and nudibranchs go and dive the giants leg on the s end of bressay - the boat can get it quite close on the eastern side of the archway-swim into the wall heading w, stay about 6-8m or so,and then the narrow archway will open up beneath you- lovely for macropictures( and always air above you) coming out of the archway you'll be about 21m or so,lots and lots of jewel anenomes, sartagia elegans n stuff - head up the rock face and accross to about 9-10m and you should be in the big wide archway - which the aluvion can go through, but the valkyire won't - wider archway, heaps of life - often loads of nudibranches and angler fish. As you exit keep to the left hand side of the archway, go accross the entrance to the narrow archway again and swim along the wall( away from the arches) - you'll be in about 12m or so in a bowl shape - when you reach the long piece of metal ( like a big mast) - the end of that points almost into the cave which goes wayback

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**Helen F H** · 15-07-08 03:38 PM

Oooooooo cant wait to do the giants legs - saw some piccies of them the other day and dribbled.

We got a DSC warning that there was gale 8 winds today so spent the day mooching around Scalloway (on the West side of Shetland). All looks very Norweigan, plus was where the "Shetland Bus" was based during the war. This was a system of comparativley tiny boats which went back and forward over the north sea taking resistance members supplies and bringing back refugees. Many men died taking part in this and there is a beautiful memorial to them on the seafront.

Here are my piccies from today: