SCAPA 2000 by Nevil Hunt
This year the journey to Scapa involved driving up to Aberdeen overnight. Then the ferry to Stromness, travelling as foot passengers. P & 0 ferries provide a container for all the equipment for free, although the car park costs £45.00 for the week.
| At Stromness, the intrepid travellers and kit made for John Thornton's boat "Karin", ( Shown Right ) a converted fishing vessel which sleeps 14, although 10 makes for more room. Kit stowed and bunks sorted, it was time to investigate the local. The next morning, unusually a sunny one, it was off to visit UMS Hampshire, mined during WW1 and a 60 M dive. On the way the cylinders were filled with trimix and all was ready. Unfortunately the shot line missed the wreck and a 63 m seabed was just the same as a 30 M one. Dive aborted but the experience was good, as weights could be sorted out and back up plans tested! Our 'techi' diver hung at 6 m watching all the leaks from A clamps, first stages and direct feeds in order to drum up business for his service centre back on the boat! Back to shore to make further investigations of the local. | |
The next day, it was back to the Hampshire, with cylinders refilled to dive the early slack. The shot was placed on the port side and the divers were on their way! Port holes were much in evidence, as was the one remaining AWESOME propeller. The bottom time was 18 minutes and decompression took 45 minutes. The evening was spent in Kirkwall.
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The next day was spent diving the Cartania, well broken up but with good viz and at only 40m no need to use a torch, and a second shallower 20m dive in clear water on an intact wreck carrying a cargo of exotic sea shells! One of the divers lifted the trophy of the week from this wreck - the "original" throwing rope, complete with monkey's fist, which had been wrapped round the boat's handrail. Actually, the rope belonged to John, the skipper of the dive boat, who had had to leave the rope on the wreck on a previous occasion several years previously!! John had hoped to tell the diver personally, but he sadly forgot, and left it to the Club's website to reveal all! |
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Wednesday saw the boat travelling to the SE side of the mainland, to dive the 65m deep wreck of the Giraldo, possibly for the first time. At the bottom of the shot line it was very dark, but the water was clear in the torchlight. During the 20 minutes on the wreck it was apparent that it was upright but well broken up. There was a lack of brass, but one of the divers managed to find and send up a brass pump. No sign of propellers or rudder or of the ship's bell! Once everyone was on board, after the usual 45 minutes of decompression, it was off to South Ronaldsay for the night, where the evening was spent dining like lords in The Creel. |
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Day five dawned fine and bright and a dive to an undived wreck at 75m was planned. The shot was true and down the divers went. At 50m the slack disappeared it took 5 minutes of hard finning to follow the shot. The wreck was at 69m in dark but clear water. Planned dive time of 14 minutes was strictly adhered to and the first stop of one minute was at 50m' to control the micro bubble formation. Several stops later a seal cruised by to investigate the two 17 litre tanks carried by one of the divers! A total one and a half hours after leaving the boat, our techi diver was back on board. The last stop of 30 minutes at 9 degrees he thought hypothermia was setting in!
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After a night in Stromness harbour, the divers woke to a stiff breeze, which blew out their planned dive on an 85m wreck. Instead they decided to dive the Markgraf in Scapa Flow. This wreck is in 27m water which was crystal clear. At the stern one diver managed to get inside the wreck and into a secondary steering room with a ship's wheel and two further wheels connected to the same shaft. |
No telegraph or compass binnacle alas. Back on board, John the skipper asked if the wheel was brass. He was told that it didn't look like it, but agreed to repeat the same dive that afternoon. With the other fit divers - two were out of action due to being bent slightly - the wheel was revisited and was confirmed as being made of steel.
Back on board, the hardest part of the diving week came about - paying for the gas. The gas bill for open circuit diving came to £130.00, nitrox and trimix only -air is included with the charter price. The rebreather divers paid about £25 for the same dives. The week's charter cost £320 each, based on 7 people rather than the normal 12 people.
Back to Stromness and back to reality! The container was waiting on the quayside for the kit to be loaded onto the ferry. The overnight trip to Aberdeen was peaceful and by 8.30 a.m. the lads were on their way home. Back in Maidstone at about 8 p.m. A good night's sleep finished off a most enjoyable week! to next Sunday - weather permitting!
