Diving Shetland - August 2013

he Shetland Isles are renowned for their great diving, superb visibility underwater, large wrecks and scenic reefs. We spent a week aboard the MV Valkyrie, owned by Hazel and Helen and crewed by Rob which offers a full-board service and is equipped with a compressor and enough tanks of O2 and helium for air, nitrox and Trimix fills (232bar) and access to the many dive sites around the Islands. There were 10 divers aboard the boat (all DL or above) diving on twinsets and stages and were either advanced deco procedures (ADP) or Trimix trained. We were lucky to be able to set our own itinerary for the week as a few of us knew Hazel, the skipper, from previous trips to Shetland and the Orkney isles. We chose a couple of reefs and a handful of wrecks in the depth range 20-44 m. We did two dives a day and, since most dive sites were only a short trip from our moorings, each day started with a quiet breakfast before kitting up and getting in for a 10:00-11:00 am dive. We had a 3-4 hr. surface interval (including lunch and plenty if 'deco cake', cake of course does not aid decompression or off gassing but does taste good!) and then an afternoon dive at around 3:00-4:00 pm. Being at around 60 degrees N we had good light until around 8:30pm.

The reefs (we dived Score Head and Grutwick Wall) were reminiscent of those in St Abbs or the Farne Isles with vertical walls of rock and boulders. On the dives it was a case of 'pick your depth' (the bottom was at 65 m) and enjoy the view. There were squat lobsters, ling, lots of squishy stuff and lovely vis. In the deeper sections the sandy bottom was covered in scallops and rays whereas the shallower sections <30 m depth were home to things that cling to rocks in the currents.

The wreck of the G'wladmena (http://www.divernet.com/Wrecks/wreck_tours/159461/wreck_tour_17_the_gwladmena.html) was a Welsh coal transporter who sank after a collision with another ship and sank almost

The Bow of the G'wladmena

intact and upright at a depth of 38m. She's a pretty dive covered in anemone, dead mens' fingers and crustaceans and teaming with shoals of little fish. She has an intact forecastle and bow which makes a great swim-through and towards the mid-section and the stern are some nice places to look for lobsters, conger eels and crabs. The compound engine lies in the superstructure amidships and the two massive boilers are there to explore. This was the first wreck we dived in the week and was a perfect introduction to what to expect of the Shetland wrecks, 15-20 m visibility and abundant with life.

The Bow of the Lunakhods-1

The Klondykers were huge Russian ships that served as floating processing plants for the Russian North Sea fishing fleet which operated in the 1980's out of the Shetlands. Now two of these huge vessels, the Lunakhods-1 (http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/travel/diving-destinations/uk-diving/diving-destinations/scotland/2764-lunokhods-1) and the Pionersk now lie at 42 m and 20 m, respectively. These ships really are vast and offer plenty of opportunities for exploration inside and out.  We had between 15 and 20 m vis on these dives (although, being shallower, the Pionersk was a little more silty). Particularly on the Linakhods-1,  If you swim off the bows and look back you get an amazing view if the whole bow, bridge and forward holds. The stern of the Lunakhods-1 rests on a 20 m shelf above the bow section so we spent our dive on the bow section.

Inside the Pionersk

The Pionersk is broken into 30-40 m sections along her length which gave us access to her interior, where we could find the engines, processing plants, fish holds and accommodation.

Octopus on Fraoch Ban

The MFV Fraoch Ban was a fishing trawler which sank close to the island of Noss. She lies in 32 m of water listing to port. She is mostly intact, and supports a lot of  life including soft corals, anemones, octopus and ling. We watched an octopus walk all the way from the sea bed up to the top of the superstructure over the netting and winches. On the sea bed surrounding the wreck are hundreds (literally) of plaice who dance playfully on the sand as you approach.

The E49 Seen from the shot at 21M

The E49 was a British E-class submarine which hit a mine just after leaving port towards the end of WWI. She sank with all hands (32 crew) and is now a protected wreck (as a war grave) lying in 42 m. With visibility of over 30 m, this is a tremendous dive with the upper decks, conning tower and various pipes, valves portholes and hatches still intact. The conning tower is made of brass and leans to starboard and still has all the hand-rails, periscope (and optics) and is teaming with life. The bow section, which was blown off by the mine, lies 10 m away from the rest of the superstructure and has winching gear, and the forward  loading hatch for the torpedoes, 10 of which still lie within the wreck.

Pressure Vessel (Part of the engine) on the
SS Glenisla

The SS Glenisla, a 1423 ton steamer,  was the highlight of the trip (so much so, that we dived on her twice). She was a huge steam ship who collided with her sister ship (the SS Glenelg) while in a convoy and lies at  45 m on a shale sea bed. She is considered one of the best diver sites of her type in the UK. Although quite dark, the visibility was 20 m or so.  She was wire swept (as she lies in a busy shipping channel) which removed all of the upper decks and superstructure, however now the entire lower decks are accessible including the holds, engine rooms, engineers workshop and there's loads to see. Imagine an early 20th century steam ship with the lid taken off, and you've got the Glenisla. A fantastic dive and worth a few tanks of Trimix and some substantial time on decompression stops to see her all. In total we spend a glorious 1hr and 20min on this wreck and enjoyed every second!

Having now dived just a few of the reefs and wrecks the Shetlands have to offer I can thoroughly recommend it as a destination for some exciting and adventurous diving. Our itinerary would  not be for less experienced divers (all dives were beyond the depth range for Ocean Divers and some beyond that of the experienced Sports Diver) and the dives we did would be hard to do properly without undertaking decompression stops or using nitrox mixes to lengthen bottom times and shorten decompression. I dived with a guy I'd not met until Saturday morning (Adrian, from Exeter SAC) who features in my videos from the week (to follow). We did most of our dives on run-times (most of the dives were square profile) with gas-switching computers as a backup.

Of course, there are plenty of other sites that we could have dived on the islands at depths between 10-30 m, so maybe I'll dive them next time I go.  If you are thinking of going to the Shetlands diving, make sure you take a camera, the past week has been the best UK diving I have ever done and I'll not forget it.

Here are some more photos from the week (U/W shot on GoPro): http://www.sound-board.com/photos/Shetlands_2013/

A Short Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP8rCPuAYMA - more videos (one of each wreck) will be uploaded once I've finished editing them!

James

Blue lagoon, March 2013

Hi All.
I've been asked to post a brief report on this mornings dive site. For those that don't know, Milton Keynes Sac are fortunate to have access to their own lake which they encourage other clubs to use for a small fee of £5 per diver.

The lake is quite large and about 18mts at it's deepest. Situated in Bletchley blue lagoon nature reserve,access is through a private gate and parking is on the water front. Under water attractions include the usual stuff, a couple of boats and cars ,a mini bus, small plane as well as a few other odds and sods.Other features are a few submerged trees which seemed quite eerie and a steep muddy cliff face.

There is also a 10mt training platform. Though i did not see any i'm told there are plenty of fish in the lake as well as lots signal crayfish which divers can take if they so wish.

Though cold, 3 degrees our dive was uneventful but served as useful shake down dive. Vis about 7mts. There were two members of MK and they they kindly offered to guide us around the lake. Ben, myself in one pair with Alex T and Simon in another. I don't get over enthusiastic about inland sites but for basic training and equipment testing ect the Blue lagoon is ideal. No crowds, 45min drive and a reasonable depth .
Mk sac use the lake on sundays between 1030 and 1330 (1530 if pre arranged) and also wednesday evenings from april onwards. They seem a friendly bunch and have invited us back any time. Any one wishing to visit the lake either see me or contact Graham Nash the DO, details can be found on their website. Remember though there are no filling or food facilities but this isn't a problem if your organised.

Regrds Gary

Photo competition results - Nov 2012

Photo Competition Results!

This year the club had held their first annual Photography Competition. There were three categories for entry: Overseas, UK & Humorous. We received many entries from enthusiastic members of the club. Congratulations to our winners of each category and those awarded the runner-up prizes.

Overseas Winner: Craig Barker; Runner-up: Cheryl Barker

UK Winner: Steve White (Overall Winner)l; Runner-up: Caz Allen

Humorous Winner: Paula Cheung; Runner-up: Steve White

The category winners and runner-up pictures will be on display in the Club hut after the announcement of the finalists at the AGM

A big thanks to everyone who entered the first photography competition. We'll be holding another one next year so keep snapping those great photos!

Dive leader training, November 2012

by Stu Bailes
Coming from a military background my diving career to date has been very disjointed. I have managed to progress through the levels quite quickly, however in the main I have not had much time to go diving. The main issue that stops me diving is the amount of time I tend to spend in the desert where there is a distinct lack of water. I have however, been lucky and dived two of the world's best wrecks, the Zenobia in Cyprus and more recently the Thistlegorm in Egyptian Red Sea; so what I lack in numbers I make up for in the quality of dives.
A few years ago I managed to get on a military run Dive Leader (DL) course, this was run in accordance with BSAC rules but both the theory and open water dives are condensed into a week long course, the only thing not covered is the organisation of a dive trip. Soon after the course finished it was off to the desert again.
Upon return I moved to Northwood and decided to resurrect my DL training and to assist me in this aim I joined BBSAC. Due to the amount of time that had passed since my original DL course I opted to go through the lessons with the other club members who were also working towards their DL qualification. So far, the lessons have been very well aught and even though I have previously done them I am still learning new things every time.
The lessons focused on Dive Management; including how to get to sites (charts and navigation) and what to do once there (shot deployment and diver management). We have also had courses on oxygen administration and, probably the best course, Practical Rescue Management (PRM). This will ensure we know what to do in the event that something goes wrong.
The main difference between DL and other courses is that you learn firstly how to be an example to other divers and secondly dive management, not only whilst divers are in the water but for the duration of a trip.
The Dive Manager is not only responsible for safety (although this is their primary role) but they will also ensure that they have organised all the dive admin right down to ensuring that divers are fed and have a bed for the night.
To ensure we were up to the required standard we were all asked to organise a number of club trips, to places including Portland, Swanage and the Sound of Mull.
So what have I learnt? Hopefully this became apparent in October, when 6 BBSAC divers set off to the Sound of Mull to carry out a week of wreck diving. It was a great trip and, I think, everyone enjoyed both the diving and the "après-dive"! If all divers had a bed for the night; were fed, the diving ran safely and everyone had a great time then hopefully I will have learnt something and take a step closer to my DL qualification.
[Ed: Stu passed the assessment and if now a qualified Dive Leader,
well done Stu!]

Swanage, July 2012

Well, where do I start....? This was my Dive Leader training trip and I wanted it to be a good one. I happened to pick the same weekend as the Swanage festival making things more challenging. 

On Saturday morning we got off to a great start diving the wreck of the Betsy Anna. This was an amazing wreck at 25 metres with so much life on it (I'm sure you've seen the video James has sent around). After a long (but busy) surface interval we went out to do our second dive on the Carentan at 30 metres. Once again we had amazing viz and lots of life (have a look at James' video). As far as I'm aware both of these wrecks haven't been dived by the club before - making it even more rewarding for me. It was a very long but also very enjoyable day. After the boats were put back on their trailers and we had returned to the camp site, we sat eating fish and chips watching the fireworks from the festival...Perfect!

On Sunday the weather was not so good (we still had sunshine but the wind had picked up) and we were expecting it to be a nightmare to get out of Swanage with the festival traffic, so decided to keep things simple. We did a lovely drift dive in the morning followed by a dive on the Fleur De Lys. This is a wreck I've dived lots of time and if I'm truthful was not looking forward to it, but 'wow' once we got into the water everything changed. The wreck was teeming with life. My favourite bits of the dive were seeing a John Dory and a massive Cuttle Fish - What a great way to end the trip.
Once safely back on land we had lunch on the pier whilst watching the Red Arrows display, which was fantastic. I really could not have asked for anymore from this trip.

I just want to add a massive thank you to everyone that came making this trip possible. Simon and Cheryl for supplying Jaffa, Towing and helping me plan, Kerry & Martin - the Coxswain's, Alex T for Prepping Elstree Diver and helping with the boats all weekend & the instructors for their time and guidance.

Bring on the next trip... what to do next???

Craig B

Blue lagoon Arlesey, April 2012

Last Sunday Phil, Ben and Gary had a dive in the "blue lagoon Arlesey". 

The dive itself was pretty uneventful with poor vis, being only about 3-4 mts . This was due chiefly by all the rain we have had and also by a couple of other clubs at the site. 

North Herts sac have the lease to the lake but they sub let it to Mid herts sac and Stevenage SAA .Unfortunately we chose the weekend when both clubs were doing OW Training. 

Water temp was 10 degrees and we had a 50min dive. Max depth was about 11mts, slightly low water level because of the drought. Its pretty easy to find your way around due to lines being laid to most of the features in the lake which include several small boats, cars, a cabin cruiser as well as the huts and quarrying equipment. It also has training platforms at 6 and 10 mts. 

The lake is home to some very big fish including a big catfish that lives under the cabin cruiser but they were elusive today. This time of the year the big fish tend to lay up in the margins but in the summer the two huts act as a protective reef to the thousands of small fry and so the big predatory fish tend to hang around them.  The lake is situated in the village of Arlesey close to Baldock, 35min up the A1, though no facilities at the site it makes a good alternative from Wraysbury but you have to be out of water by 930 due to the sailing club and they limit visiting divers to 4 .  In the summer north herts often have their club nights at the site with a dive and BBQ.  Anyone who fancies different site and wants to dive the lake let me (Gary C) know and I’ll tell you who to contact.

Kimmeridge, April 2012

On the 14th and 15th of April, we had our first warm up diving weekend of the season. We picked Swanage for one day and Kimmeridge for the next day, due to the easy launching and sheltered slipways with array of different diving sites in nice sheltered waters..

We picked accommodation at Helston Touring Park in Swanage with a Farm House that turned out to be a Palace! The first morning on Saturday was diving out of Swanage with a forecast of NW winds which makes it perfect in Swanage Bay. We picked the Fleur De Lys which is a small wooden vessel that caught fire and sunk, in 12m of water. This made a nice easy dive for our newly qualified divers as well as a warm up dive for our experienced divers. Its a haven for marine life with cuttle fish, lobster, and an array of other life living on her. Viz was around 2-3m due to the unsettled weather we had before hand. We used two Ribs for the trip making shuttle trips to the dive site.

After the early morning dives, some of the experienced divers took a RIB out to the Kyarra as slack was around 11am. She is a old steamer that was sunk by a German U-Boat at a depth of 30m. As usual a small current was running on the shot and being a popular wreck two other hard boats were also deploying divers on this wreck. As me and Cheryl B descended down, the lights went out and we arrived at the bottom. I haven't dived her before in the dark so found it challenging finding my way around, but I did find a large edible crab at the beginning of the dive to say 'Welcome to the Kyarra'!

The weather was cold at around 10 degrees air temperature which made some of us only have one dive.. but James and Steve W had a dive on the Tanville ledges in the Bay which make a good second dive at around 6-9m. This is a rocky reef that runs out from the shore line in the bay with an array of different marine life. At the end of the day, we retrieved the boats and headed back to our warm palace to get cleaned up for the evening drink and dinner at the bar at the touring Park.

On the Sunday we took the RIBs to Kimmeridge! The sun was out and the sea was nice and calm. I always find this a magical place with fantastic launching and fantastic scenery. As for the diving; we have the Blackhawk at 16-18m which was a liberty ship that had been sunk by a another German U-boat in the War- well broken up but like a fish tank. I found it the best dive on her yet, 4-5m viz and a Ballam Wrasse that took a liking to me and for a good few minutes interacted with me as we were swimming together! Also James and Ian found Squid on her!

The Second dive was the Barge and Nature trail, this was a great way to finish the day. The Viz was around 4-5m with yet again lots of marine life, and a Boiler where a Conger has made it's home and greeted James.

It was a Fantastic weekend with fantastic members! They made the trip. I had a very enjoyable dive with two of our newly qualified divers - Tom and Joanna, who both did really well. A very Big thanks to Kerry for towing and Cox'n, Alex T for assisting with the boat launching and retrieving and equipment repairs on site, Lesley for assisting the Cox and boat handling, Keep up the good work! James, Steve and Paula for their big input with the diving and pairing.

Simon.