Plymouth - August 2014

Last week a group of us went down to Plymouth, the plan being to dive the off shore reefs from Falcon of Dartmouth, a boat and skipper that a few of you know. As luck would have it Ben's leave from the navy coincided with the trip so he was able to meet us in Plymouth and join the trip. 

The first evening we met up with ex DO and long time member  Dr Lee Johnstone and his wife for a very enjoyable evening in the Fox Hound. After a long spell of great weather we woke up on the first days diving to heavy rain and strong winds. To be fair to Tony and Lol they gave it a go and we poked our nose's out past the break water but although the weather had improved the swell was just too much to get out to the Eddystone. Unlike a lot of skippers out there, Tony refused to put us in just anywhere for the sake of a dive and canned the day at great expense to himself. "Well try again tomorrow" Sitting in the pub (funnily enough) that evening we get a text saying that" the wind has swung round and should flatten the swell enough to get off shore" ,so next morning in bright sunshine we head out to hands deep. 

In keeping with the vis all along the south coast this year I wouldn't describe the vis as great but at about six to seven meters it was a very good dive. Lots of jewel anemone's of differing colours covering the cliff face, small lobsters and other crustaceans, couple of small congers and lot of Pollock. I'm sure I even heard Craig comment on the actual dive and marine life as well as his equipment and deco ect. The second dive was on the Eagan Layne. A couple of locals on the boat had told us that the winter storms had taken their toll on the wreck and we found that a lot of it had collapsed and quite  a bit previously hidden have been exposed, still a great dive with vis of about 6 mts, lots of life. 

Despite the disappointment of losing a days diving it was a very enjoyable trip.

Gary

London to Brighton Cycle Ride, June 2014

We set off from the Club Hut at 6.20 am and arrived at Clapham Common in time for a leisurely 8:00 am start to the 2014 British Heart Foundation London to Brighton cycle ride. The team; Paula, Stan (aka Steve), Helen, Ian, Heather and James set off towards Brighton.

There were one or two delays on the way as there were a number of serious accidents involving cyclists which meant that rest of us (there were almost 30,000 on the ride) has to wait while they looked after the casualty in the middle of the roads ahead.

The ride was long (55 miles in total) with a couple of gruelling hills (Turners and Ditchling Beacon) and an equal number of great down hill sections where we could get speeds of up to 40 mph (which can be quite scary). The six of us tried to stay together, for both moral and technical support which was useful when James' back tyre picked up a puncture.

At the top of Ditchling Beacon (the highest part of the ride) we celebrated with an ice cream and then headed down the final hill towards the finish line.

We finally reached the sea front in Brighton at around 6.30 pm. It was a great fun day with some very happy memories. 

A HUGE 'thank you' to Richard and Jen for moral support and bringing a big van to drive us back to Bushey at the end of the tiring day.

Who wants to come next year?

Portland Harbour Training Weekend, June 2014

We left on a Friday afternoon at about 8.00 pm and settled in for a long drive down to Portland. The three hour drive meant that we then only got there at 11.00 pm and were just in time for the dive brief for the next day. We were all sharing two caravans in the Caravan Park in Portland.

On Saturday morning, we went down to the Portland Marina where we all got our cylinders filled by Scimitar Diving. When we had all changed, the boat refused to start for ages, and eventually had to be jump-started. The diving group split into two groups on the separate ribs, ICY Diver (thanks to Imperial College Underwater Club) and the Bushey Diver.  We paired up with our buddies and got ready for our first dive, the Countess of Erne. At this point I was very excited but also nervous as this was my first ocean dive. The Countess is an old paddle steamer, used as a coal hulk in many ports. It sank in the Portland harbour on 16 September 1935. The actual dive was quite cold for me because I was in a semi-dry, but still it was an excellent dive. The visibility was pretty good and there was lots of animal wildlife like fish and crabs. On the sides of the ship were also lots of coral and shells. On the surface, the water was quite calm and the sun was beating down on us, drying us out quickly after we surfaced. 

When all the divers returned, we came back to the Marina to get lunch and refill our tanks. Our second dive that day was The Dredger, a vessel used as a sand dredger until it sunk. On the dredger, we saw lots of fish, all of which I don’t know the names for, and a few crabs, the biggest one I saw was probably bigger than a dinner plate, and was put in front of my face to scare the life out of me (thanks Ray). After we came back up from the Dredger, the sea was still quite calm and warm. Getting into the rib was just as elegant as the first time, with a lot of flapping and grunting included. We then returned to the Marina, where we again filled our tanks for a third dive. For the third dive, we dived the Countess of Erne again, going to the deck as a maximum depth (at around 6m). We then went back to the caravans where we ordered Chinese takeout and did the dive de-brief for that day. 

Sunday was our second, and last, day of diving and we woke up early in the day to pack up our clothes and wash the dishes, and in general, clean the caravans. We then rushed to the Marina to get changed as fast as possible. We wanted to fit in two dives before we left. Our first dive on Sunday was the Black Hawk, or rather, it was meant to be the Black Hawk. Unfortunately, the shot had drifted onto a sand bank away from the wreck and only one pair got to see the Black Hawk. Instead the rest of us dived some mud banks which were full of crabs and coral, and even a few fish every now and then. Again, our second (and last) dive of the day was on the wall just outside Portland harbour. Because of the high amounts of silt and chalk washing off of the cliffs, the vis was not very good with less than half a metre of visibility. When we returned from our last dive of the day, we unloaded the ribs and found a hose to wash our kit there. We packed it all onto a trolley and took it to our cars, where we packed our kit into the cars, said our goodbyes to the weather, and headed home. 

It seemed like it was only a few hours ago that I was setting off to Portland, I would be sad to see it go.

by Kye Cunningham

Scapa Flow, May 2014

May saw 7 divers from BBSAC travel to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands for a week's diving among the wrecks from the German High Seas fleet from WW1.

Scapa is a fantastic natural harbour among the Orkneys, which has long been used as a naval base due to the protection given by the surrounding islands.

The BBSAC trip had been planned for 18 months and eagerly awaited by all those attending as Scapa Flow offers some of the most interesting and challenging diving available in the UK, and arguably the world.  The area is full of local history, but the most notable event occurred at the end of the First World War then the German fleet were all interned at Scapa while the peace negotiations were underway. After some months, and as negotiations were being concluded the German Admiral gave orders for the entire fleet of 74 ships to be scuttled.  Of these the majority were salvaged over the next 20 years, but 7 notable wrecks remain, including 3 battleships and 4 'light' cruisers.  These are all significantly sized ships, with even the cruisers being 150 m long, and they sit fairly far down at 30 to 45m.   In addition to these 7 ships from the fleet, there are many other wrecks around Scapa, including a number of 'blockships' which were used to protect the entrance to the bay during WW2.

After a 12 to 13 hour car journey we reached Scrabster on the north coast of Scotland to catch the noon ferry to Stromness and after a short journey (90 mins) were in Orkney to settle in to the 2 cottages rented from the local dive centre and have a relaxing evening before the start of the diving on Sunday.

On the Sunday we set off at a sensible time, heading out at 9am (for the wrecks in the Flow, tide times are not an issue). Our boat for the week, the "John L" was an old tug that had been converted to a dive boat, complete with lift, thankfully.  It was well suited to the trip, having plenty of space inside and on the deck, and a helpful and attentive crew.

It is fair to say that our first dive that day, literally blew us away.  None of us had expected the visibility to be so good, at 12 to 15 m, and such that you could really appreciate the sheer scale of these ships.  Our first dive was on one of the 7, the "Dresden" and we were all pleasantly surprised by how much there was to see - you could spend a week diving just one of these ships!

Between dives on the day we dropped off at the local maritime museum in Lyness, which was to prove to be a regular lunchtime haunt.  There is a fair bit to see here, with a museum full of exhibits from both world wars, a cinema built inside a giant oil tank (think 'I-max' with a forties flavour..) and a nice cafe which served a huge variety of cakes - including as many flavours of chocolate tiffin as WW1 ships....

Our 2nd wreck of the day was on the F2, a German escort boat, this time from WW2.  Smaller than the WW1 wrecks, this is nonetheless a great dive, particularly for a second, sitting at just 16m, and is in fact 2 wrecks in one as the wooden barge used for her attempted salvage sank in a storm while tied to her by a 30m line. The 20mm guns removed from the F2 are still clearly visible in the barge.

The 2nd day saw us diving on 2 more of the light cruisers. Firstly the "Koln", which was exceptional, being in even better condition than the "Dresden" and again with 12 to 15 m vis.  The 2nd dive of the day was on the "Karlsruhe", the shallowest of the fleet, at 'just' 28 m, but also the most deteriorated - nevertheless an impressive dive, just tempered by the quality of the ships already seen.

The next day we dived on the last of the cruisers, the "Brummer", and it wasn't until the 4th day that we dived the first of the 25,000 ton battleships.  At 175 m long these were all impressive to see, but the "Kronprinz Willhelm" was arguably the most impressive of the three.  All 3 lie upside down, but the Kronprinz on the greatest angle so easier to see underneath, where some of her 12" guns are truly impressive to behold.  We were even graced with a visit by a seal at 30 m.

The 2nd dive of day 4, we went out to one of the block ships, the "Tabarka" which is a little out from the Flow and so really needs to be dived at slack. A relatively small and shallow (15 to 18 m) wreck this also proved to be a great dive.  Starting with a negatively buoyant entry so you can get straight down and not miss the wreck, you need to get inside quick before the current builds up and so almost the entire dive is conducted inside the ship, which is a quite sizeable space.  Swept by the currents, the visibility on the Tabarka was exceptional for British diving, at 20 to 25 m.  This meant you could easily see our entire group in different areas of the ship. There was also plenty of life within with some sizeable crabs and lobsters wedging themselves between rocks.  The dive ended with deployment of a DSMB and and a fairly swift drift away from the wreck.  

The next day we dived the 2nd and deepest of the battleships, the "Markgraf".  Visibility was starting to deteriorate as the plankton bloom could be visibly seen developing in the water, though at still nearly 10 m was not bad!  It has to be said that lower vis and a little less light did not seem to detract from the experience of diving these wrecks and in some way adds to it by creating a more 'ghostly' atmosphere around these historical behemoths, which have been beneath the surface for nearly a century.

For the second dive that day we went on a scalloping dive around the remains of the salvaged "Seydlitz".  Not much of the ship remains but there was plenty of food to be found, enough for a decent starter which we followed up that night with a traditional meal of haggis, needs and tatties, accompanied by the local spirit.

On our final day we dived the last battleship, the "Konig", completing the seven from the fleet, and then made a second dive on the "Koln", which was generally considered the favourite.

Among other experiences from the trip, of note was a trip out one evening to visit the Churchill barriers and the beautiful "Italian chapel" built by Italian POWs during the Second World War using a Nissen hut as starting point, the great hospitality and friendliness shown by all the staff of the "Diving Cellar" and on the "John L" and 3 pleasant and hospitable bars which were visited occasionally.

And so after an absolutely fantastic week's diving had by all, which could not be dampened by the Orkney weather (which was consistent and simple to forecast - if it wasn't raining, it had just rained and was about to rain), we headed back on the long journey home - a long way to travel but more than worth it !!

Here is a great video from Alex: http://youtu.be/X1Gvu-3RqIA

Dartmouth, May 2014

Saturday - The Falcon II roped off at 8:30 and then dropped uson the Maine at 10:30. The Maine lies in ~34m of water, breaking up with lots of life and big shoals of bib. Unfortunately,it was covered with monofilament fishing line and ropes, probably left over from last winter’s storms. A few divers found a discarded stage cylinder with regulator containing 80% O2 which was unceremoniously savaged (swagged). :)

 

The second dive of the day was Gammon Head, which was a rocky white reef sand bed lying at 17m. There were lots of reef life and inquisitive cuckoo wrasse. Gammon Head was also reported to be the site of a wrecked paddle steamer (1800?), but no one found the wreckage.

 

Back on land, tanks were filled, food was cooked, a generous bowl of spag. Bol. was eaten, a generous bowl of apple pie with custard was eaten and beer was drunk.

 

Sunday - We gained 2 more divers from the club and we travelled 1.5 hours to the Bretagne. It was an intact WW1 wreck with a lovely vaulted bow with plenty of life. She laid in 28m ofwater and 4m proud. It was easy to access the engine room and boilers. As with the previous wreck, there were many fishing hooks and lures (plenty of opportunity to use shears, knives and net cutters!). One of the divers found plenty of fishing weights who he kindly donated to a nice fisherman who stayed off the wreck whilst divers were on it.

 

The second dive was the Emsstrom. This new wreck was only deemed safe to dive March/ April 2014 having sunk in 2013. She laid on her starboard side in 30m of water and was essentially in pristine condition. All of her fixtures and fittings were intact (tables, consoles, gauges, notice boards, etc). We were surprised about how much life was on the wreck despite her underwater age. However, not all the team, got to dive her as a muppet from another dive boat pulled our shot off the wreck and onto a featureless seabed (despite being told not to pull on the shot if they were gonna use it)! It was a unique opportunity to dive a new and unmolested wreck, let's hope it stays like that (Ed - as if!).

 

Sunday’s dinner was a curry house. Curry was eaten, beer was drank. We headed home and drank whiskey under the stars.

 

Monday - It was an early start on Monday morning in attempt to miss the forecasted southerlies. Our dive was at the Middle Black Stone, a pinnacle lying at 8m-17m. It was covered in life (anemones, polyps, dogfish, crustaceans and scallops). We had an exciting return to the boat as we had failed to avoid the southerlies. So, in the interest of people's breakfast, we returned to shore for cream tea before heading home.

 

All in all, a fantastic weekend!

 

Addendum - Brussels sprouts do not belong on a dive trip! Whiskey, beer, dessert wine and any alcoholic beverage do!

Portland, October 2013

Anticipation mounted as I felt the RIB cruising over the water, I felt myself falling backwards into the heaving sea and descending down the shot line like a pro. The cool water ran over the exposed parts of my face as I finned with perfect neutral buoyancy, my trim and technique equal to that of an Advanced Diver. Divers around me were in awe. I was amazing! - All this, while sitting behind my desk at work.

Ok, so I have a very fertile imagination. But it was an imagination which was being well and truly hijacked by Portland and all its offerings. Focusing on anything for longer than it takes to signal “OK” was proving a mean feat. The state of disarray in my usually tidy home was evidence to this! I could think of nothing but the trip we were about to embark upon.

A few hours later we were finally on our way and our Portland Dive Trip was becoming a reality. After a late arrival and a brief of the next day’s proceedings by the lovely Caz, we all headed for the comfort of our static caravans, where the full view of the sea through the window was only spotted the next morning, along with several “oohs” and “aahs” and nods of approval!

The end of a quick wash, breakfast and brief (particularly concerning the inclement weather) marked the beginning of our first dive day. Portland Marina here we come! Parading our Oh-So-Fashionable under suits to all of Portland Harbour (especially James’ “special” suit), tasks were delegated and duly carried out. The RIB was launched, conditions were discussed (again), kit was set up and the first wave was ready to go!

The Countess of Erne was a great dive! Visibility could have been better at around 2m but there was some life to be seen. For those of us who didn’t dive with our eyes closed (Calum and Joel!), we saw a shoal of Pollock within touching distance, a Tompot Blenny and too many very little fish I still need to learn the names of! All this, along with a significant amount of “squidge” to keep us amused, made for a great dive. The wreck itself was awesome, with its huge bulk quietly waiting to be explored. Too soon, it was time to ascend and tackle the challenge of getting back into the RIB as gracefully as possible. Graceful simply didn’t happen.

Later that afternoon, as the wind speed increased and the waters became ever more unfriendly to us diver-types, the last dive of the day finished on a rather more exciting note than the previous, with the last divers needing a tow to make for an area further from the harbour wall and a safer pickup point. Needless to say, that boat entry was a very far cry from glamorous. Think beaching whales and death throes and your mental picture is complete.
As the wind was, by this point, “Blowing a Hooley” (a technical term, I am led to believe), the sad decision was made to blow off the remainder of the second wave for the afternoon. It simply was not safe enough. Back at the caravan site, we consoled ourselves with a massive Chinese takeaway, a bottle of something wet and the mandatory briefing. We waited with baited breath for the next day’s weather to present itself.

And present itself it did! With more “Hooleys A-Blowin’” it looked increasingly doubtful that we’d be diving that day. However, with optimism in our hearts and determination on our minds we set off for the Marina. The RIB set off for The Dredger not long after. And soon returned.

It was official; and with 2 of the more experienced divers literally testing the waters, it was clear that no diving would be done that day. The same decision was however, not taken by a local dive school, who chose to take their trainees out anyway… only to put them in a very real position of danger. With trainees popping up out of the water all over the place like Bop and Pops, with only 2 SMB’s between the group of 12, no buddy pairing evident and one trainee dangerously close to the harbour wall, their safe return to the RIB was questionable, to say the least. But with skipper Steve to the rescue, (someone hand him a cape) the stray trainees were plucked from the waters and returned to the relative safety of their dive school RIB.
Although there was a certain air of disappointment at calling off the dives while de-rigging and packing up, it was with a somewhat philosophical attitude that we all accepted that we were not masters of the weather and that such is the life of the diver. As we would no doubt experience some of the most incredible and rewarding diving in our diving careers, we would also have to learn to deal with the disappointments that come from powers outside of our control flexing their muscles.
Disappointment, however, is no match for Retail Therapy. Off to the local Underwater Explorers we go. AKA “Underwater Expensive” (Thanks James), followed by a visit to O’Three. With James and Trina now fully kitted out and James no longer sporting the “special” suit, we’re all calling it a very, very good weekend.

Thank you to Caz for all the organisation. Also thank you to Steve, Paula, Tony and Wayne – our instructors/mentors/buddies for the weekend.

When’s the next one??

Tanya

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