Its been almost three weeks since our return from diving the WWI German High Seas Fleet wrecks at Scapa Flow. As usual it took a little ‘while’ before I could get to writing up the trip report, work requirements had doubled its normal expansion and consumption of time available. So without further a due… or excuses… here follows the First4Scuba Scapa Flow 2009 trip report…
Day 1: Friday 18th…
The epic road trip begins. I had spent Thursday night checking and loading my gear into the car. So Friday morning I hit the road at around 10am and pulled into Conor’s house in Carlow at around 10:30. We loaded Conor’s gear and headed for our Dublin rendezvous. We were meeting Mike Scott and Marty Johnston at the Red Cow hotel on the infamous/famous Red Cow roundabout on the M50 for 12 o’clock. We pulled into the Hotel car park just on 12 and within 5 minutes Mr. Scott proceeded to pull in and drive into and over the car park! A club sandwich later and the four of us headed to Belfast to meet with Colin and Brendan before boarding the Stena Line fast ferry to Stranraer, Scotland. Marty came with me and Conor went with Mike. All road and ferry travel went well and we pulled into the car park of the Travel Lodge in Perth Scotland at around 22:30 that evening. With an unhealthy consumption of a hot MacDonald's meal (conveniently located in the same car park!) we headed for bed… A long day… but enjoyable none the less.
Day 2: Saturday 19th…
Upon a 9am gathering and refuelling of cars we head up the motorway towards Scrabster in the north of Scotland via Inverness. Breakfast was found (surprisingly) in a lovely diner in the picturesque town of Pitlochry. We had a little time to kill today and so decided to head for John O’ Groats which is the most northerly point of the Scottish mainland. Ok it wasn’t Vegas, but it did kill time getting there. We then spent a little time in the Weigh Inn where Colin decided to teach us all a lesson in how to play pool… unfortunately he did this back in 2007 too! Eventually it was time to board the Northlink Ferry from Scrabster to Stromness; our home town for the week in the Orkney Islands. Ferry crossing proved uneventful, but Colin and I did run into Garry our DSAT instructor for a course we did in Malta in 2008. As we pulled off of the ferry we met Chris and Damien who had arrived earlier that day and were already settled into the house we had booked for the week – they gave us directions and soon we were off loading our gear. The house was ideal… just a little up the road from the Stromness Hotel towards the Scapa Scuba dive centre. Close to everything of importance in Stromness and it was really comfortable and well equipped. All rooms were en suite, warm, plenty of hot water and with decent water pressure. The kitchen was also well equipped and bore witness to the fine culinary skills of the brothers McBride… one more successfully then the other it has to be said. After a quick catch up with everyone, we all settled in and got an early night.
Day 3: Sunday 20th…
At 8:30 am we headed down to the pier and began the human chain loading process of getting all our gear (and there was lots and lots of it!) onto our dive boat the MV Crusader, skippered by Kenny and ably assisted by Stephen. Once all our gear was onboard and safely stowed we met to discuss the dive plan for the day. Unfortunately we were down one diver as Brendan was still suffering form the tail end of a cold and had wisely decided to sit out out for a day before getting into the water. We all agreed to head for the dreadnought battleship Kronprinz Wilhelm and then to head for the light cruiser Cöln for the afternoon dive.
Kronprinz Wilhelm (Dive 1)
I did not carry a camera for this first dive, as I wanted to make sure I was paying attention to all my vital kit… just in case something was damaged in transit. However I really enjoyed this dive immensely. Using the word ‘immense’ is no exaggeration to describe this Dreadnought Battleship. She rests at 38m max depth.
I dived this beauty back in 2007 on a single 15L… but this year I was carrying a 12L twinset with Eanx 28% and a 11L deco stage with 50% Eanx. I was aiming to dive Scapa on Trimix but there was a ‘delay’ in getting the Helium… so I had to settle for 28% back gas today. My dive buddy Colin and I were both diving the exact same mixes to ease planning for the week. We were also diving in a team formation… Colin as diver 1, I was diver 2. Colin took the lead position as I had the most powerful torch… so from a team safety point of view he could always signal me and I him. If I had been in the lead Coin would not have been able to signal me, as my torch would have drowned out his beam… thus I would have always been looking back over my shoulder and our dive efficiency would have been in the toilet.
We dropped onto this behemoth and in our team formation we cut a great visual swath along this wreck. She is almost completely turtle; with a slight lean to her starboard side on the seabed… so we came down her Port side and had plenty of superstructure to examine suspended just above the seabed. The visibility was quite good roughly 10 to 15 meters and we had this wreck to ourselves as no other dive boat dropped divers in while we were on her. Great dive, and a superb first dive. Myself and Colin clocked up 15 minutes deco and surfaced with big smiles. Our final delight was provided by the Crusader’s dive lift… it is such a joy to be lifted out of the water with stage bottles rather than having to struggle up a ladder. Dive lifts rock!
Surface interval = lunch and plenty of good humoured banter… and even I got a bit of stick over my GUE ninja ways but apparently my taste in biscuits make up for a lot! :)
Cöln (Dive 2)
Great… in fact a fantastic dive. Loads of penetration within the bulk of the wreck. Colin really was on fire in finding interesting ways through the wrecks.
Needless to say we did not have any difficulty working as a team and absolutely flew through the superstructure of this WWI engineering marvel resting rather serenely at 35 meters deep. From stern to bow this dive was fantastic and the wreck was absolutely covered in life to add that little extra spice. The visibility was very good probably 15 meters and the dive conditions were excellent.
I took the camera but shot video so I will put a composite video of the footage together at the bottom of this post (when I get it done… ahem!). We clocked up 20 minutes deco and surfaced with that superb feeling that only diving can provide… WOW!
Sunday could not have ended any better… two great dives, great team diving and decent weather and to top it all off a fine evening meal of Spaghetti Bolognaise provided by the master chef of the week Brendan McBride. Thanks Brendan!!
Day 4: Monday 21st…
Monday saw another 8:30am start and unfortunately Brendan was still not feeling right so he sensibly opted to say warm and dry. Our team reviewed our dive options for the day with the Skipper Kenny and decided to head for the Brummer and the Dresden. I had been hoping to get Helium on board by Monday morning but this turned out to drop in the “can’t do” box… Kenny apparently had encountered some supply ‘issues’… so Colin and I were destined to run Eanx 28% back gas with a deco stage of Eanx 50% for most of the week. Disappointed but unperturbed we jumped into our first dive of the day… our favourite wreck of 2007 the SMS Brummer…
Brummer (Dive 3)
Again an excellent dive… Colin and I were getting far more time on the wrecks on this trip than back in 2007. We found the Brummer just a little bit ‘less than’ what we though of it back then. I again carried the camera and took video… A great dive with good visibility. Colin took the lead as normal and we rolled through the wreck like a well oiled machine – taking care not to disturb the visibility as we passed through the internals of her superstructure. She lies on her Port side in 36 meters of water. We navigated Bow to Stern and really enjoyed the dive. Her stern guns never fail to impress me, Colin must have radar guided instincts because we literally exited from penetrating the superstructure and we were directly above these impressive weapons. 15 minutes of deco clocked up and we emerged happy and content – we re-jigged our list of favourite wreck dives upon surfacing… the Cöln had definitely overtaken the Brummer on the hit list.
Surface interval = lunch and everyone fell victim to good humoured slagging in the style of Fox News “Fair, Balanced and Unafraid” :) (yes I am being sarcastic!)
Dresden (Dive 4)
The Dresden has always been a favourite wreck of mine. She rests on the seabed at maximum depth of 38 meters and is the most intact of the WWI fleet. I was really looking forward to this dive and so it was with more than a little ‘crap’ that I gave Colin the signal that I was aborting the dive right at the bottom of the shot line almost 1 meter above the wreck… why? My Dry suit inflation had failed.
I was getting a squeeze – my suit inflation was not working and as I was only at the top of the wreck, so I judged it wise to call the dive. A matter of head ruling the heart I am afraid (as well as plain common sense!) Colin joined up with Marty and Mike Scott and I reluctantly headed up off the wreck. As I neared the surface the squeeze was gone so I decided to stay around the six meter mark for a while on the Eanx 50% and just relax. After 8 minutes I surfaced and got back onboard the Crusader. What had failed? – unfortunately for me – it was simple human error. I had not taken into account the depth and time of the morning dive when judging the remaining amount of Argon in the small cylinder I carry it in. As I did not bring my gas booster, I was just partial pressure filling the cylinder… the supply cylinder only had 116 bar. So I only had 116 bar in a .85L cylinder and I had used it all up on the hour long dive on the Brummer that morning. Lesson learned!!
We arrived back in port in Stromness with the team having had another excellent day of diving. Unfortunately there was an ambulance waiting for someone on the pier as we tied up… I hope they had a speedy recovery from whatever happened. I suppose were were all glad it was not waiting for any of our divers… back in 2007 (out of precaution) our skipper called the ambulance to meet two divers on our boat who had to execute an emergency ascent after running out of air on their safety stop! Thankfully both or divers were fine but got a 24hour diving ban.
Day 5: Tuesday 22nd…
Tuesday started with very high hopes as Brendan was back in action and raring to go diving. However as we approached the dive site, in fact as we were kitting up the conditions deteriorated to an alarming extent. We decided to call it a day before putting any divers in the water… it just was not worth the risk… philosophically we took the view that the wrecks would still be there tomorrow! The journey back to port took some considerable time and unfortunately a few of our hardened crew were feeling a bit green around the gills, but we won’t name names! The people who were not sea sick were easier to identify; me, Brendan, Damien, Chris, Mike and Conor :)
So Tuesday consisted of watching most of the Colin McBride DVD library in the sitting room of the house. We then headed out to Kirkwall and the Indian restaurant Dil Se again a favourite from our 2007 trip.
Day 6: Wednesday 23rd…
A fresh morning and with the weather much improved we gathered on the deck of the Crusader at 9am. Our diving targets for the day were the Cöln and the Brummer. This was great… our two favourite wrecks rolled into one day… what more could we ask for? I only have video of these dives… so no pictures to include until I get the video montage sorted…
Cöln (Dive 5)
Again I loved this dive, loads of penetration and Colin and I were really diving in sync… our dive lights were doing all the talking and everything was running slick and efficiently. This was diving at its very best… everything was in its right place, and we were loving it. There was definitely less life on the wreck on this dive. However Colin managed to find new and interesting ways to navigate the internal structure… in fact he made it look almost effortless the way he kept finding entry and exit points and I was grateful for the superb tour he was giving me! We clocked up 15 minutes deco and surfaced with another great dive in the bag!
Surface interval = Lunch and plenty of banter, I am sure you are noticing a pattern here :)
Brummer (Dive 6)
I always love this wreck, and this dive was by no means an exception… the dive was superb. However I was more than a little disappointed to hear that some of our divers who exited the water after me spotted another group of divers from a different boat dropping onto the wreck with hammers and chisels in their kit and running lines all over the external hull. This all just smacked of gross disregard for other divers not to mention pure disrespect for the wreck… I have never, ever found the need to even contemplate the use of a hammer and chisel in my dive kit configuration. Needless to say we were not very impressed with this and to top it all off apparently this group moved around the wreck so incompetently that they killed the visibility. No buoyancy control, no respect and no good intentions, not exactly the type of guys we would go diving with… they wouldn't last one day on our team! I still get a little annoyed now weeks later just thinking about it… and I only heard about it… it was Conor, Marty and Mike who had to suffer as a result of these cowboys.
Day 6 came to a close. Another two great dives in the bag and we began to hatch a plan for Thursday… we decided to try to squeeze 3 dives into one day.
Day 7: Thursday 24th…
Our morning began at 8am with the group discussing the dive planning for the day. We decided on the Dresden followed by the F2 & Barge and finally the Karlsruhe and to top it all off we agreed with Kenny that we would head for the Interpretative Centre on Lyness for our first surface interval.
Dresden (Dive 7)
The “return” and this time I had plenty of Argon for my dry suit… This dive again went like a dream… I really enjoyed it and was still raging that I had to bug out of the dive on Monday. Some great penetration diving followed and I do love the view of her unshielded gun. We clocked up 15 minutes of deco and on our final 6 meter stop we were privy to a sea bird diving and swimming beside us while we looked on in wonder. I had only really ever seen this on TV documentaries… needless to say it is rather fascinating to see occurring for real right in front of your eyes. These boys can swim and certainly this guy was underwater for what felt like 3 minutes. Luckily for the fish, they seemed to be absent from the water that this avian bad boy was patrolling with gusto.
Surface interval on Lyness and a visit to the Interpretive Centre… was very interesting and we were offered the chance to see a brief film on Scapa Flow. Of course we all said “yes please”… the rather helpful lady proceeded to escort us out into a giant oil tank… converted to a museum/cinema. We were all very impressed… and the film showed extended footage of the scuttling of the German fleet and the island life at that time. Great ‘re-cycling’ of an oil storage facility and the items on display ranging from mainland base equipment to recovered artefacts from the wrecks to photographs of the ships and their crew really added a fantastic historical dimension to the sheer size of the endeavour that was Scapa Flow during the great war.
Unfortunately it seems a ‘truism’ that nothing develops mans ingenuity quite as much as war. At their time the ships we were diving on were right at the cutting edge of technology for the 1900’s… its amazing just to think how far we have progressed since… who knows what the technology of the 2100’s will look like… I just hope for future divers that they manage to always scuttle decommissioned specimens along the way to develop as artificial reefs and for our underwater exploration. But I digress… back to the dives…
F2 & Barge (Dive 8)
The F2 is actually a WWII wreck which was captured early in the war and sank at her moorings in Scapa Flow in 1946. Beside her rests the wreck of a 550 ton YC21 salvage barge which sank containing the twin 20mm anti-aircraft guns that the salvagers were attempting to recover. The barge fell victim herself to a storm in November 1968 and she is now connected to the F2 via a 30 meter line. Well as they say; less for the salver leaves more for the diver. While I was not overly impressed with the F2 dive back in 2007 I decided to be magnanimous about the whole experience and give the lady another chance. In fact I believe I said that “in two weeks time when I am stuck behind my desk I would die for a chance to dive the F2”… I wasn’t wrong… foresight is a great thing.
Colin however decided to give the old girl a pass and so I jumped in teamed up with Brendan. We dropped onto the F2… she is resting at max depth of 18 meters; we were both on 32% Eanx and obviously did not need to carry any deco stages. We circled her twice before following the rope across to the barge. Again the barge is exactly that… a barge with a large twin bore 20mm anti-aircraft gun resting in her. Myself and Brendan arrived at the barge and had a nice mosey around and we were soon joined by Chris and Damien. Brendan and I headed back to the F2 and had another little peek around the place and then decided to call it. No deco, safety stop and boarded the Crusader. Ok without doubt this was a very underwhelming wreck… but as I say “a dive is a dive” and I was still glad I jumped in for it, not to mention the fact that I always enjoy diving with Brendan and this dive was no exception.
A point to note: back in 2007 there was a dive capsule visible on the bow dedicated to the memory of a diver who had lost their life diving the F2… it was not there this year, or at least I didn't see any sign of it.
On a happier note: Marty Johnston also opted to pass on this dive; but he did take some interesting ‘entry’ shots as we jumped in… note the optical illusion of Mike Scott walking on water – great shot Marty! :)
Brief surface interval followed… I actually just stayed sitting in my kit on the dive bench… next stop the wreck of the Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe (Dive 9)
To be honest… before we jumped in, I was not overly keen on this dive… I remembered the time back in 2007 where I really did not take to this wreck at all. Well I can’t say for sure what changed over the last two years… but from the moment myself and Colin dropped onto the wreck I really began to enjoy this dive. We dropped down to roughly 24 meters for most of the dive and there was plenty to see as the wreck has suffered from significant “salvage” work.
I am a little curious myself why this dive was so different to the dive back in 2007… but as myself and Colin ascended from the dive I was very happy we did it. I certainly didn't think I would find myself saying I would dive it again when I am back in Scapa next. Upon surfacing myself and Colin noticed that the surface conditions had deteriorated significantly. We got on board and once everyone had lashed their gear down we headed for port. It was a long and very rough passage, although people were not as sea sick as Tuesday the conditions were less than favourable to spines and spleens… and Mike Scott's twinset did a full 360 jump from the kit bench to the deck… thankfully and luckily nothing was damaged in the process of this acrobatic feat.
When we were pulling into port Kenny told us that he had heard that three divers from the boat that dropped in with the hammers and chisels on the Brummer dive on Wednesday, had unfortunately ended up in the recompression chamber. I don't know if it’s true… but it seemed to fit the type of diving they were practicing. No one was surprised… but then again no one would wish that experience on anyone and I hope (if its true) that they all made a full recovery.
Thursday; Day 6 came to a close with three dives in the bag… Friday was unfortunately just around the corner, this was to be our last day diving and we planned two dives… one to include the block ship Tabarka… this was one of our top 3 dives in 2007 and so we were all really looking forward to it immensely.
Day 8: Friday 25th… blown out!
Something about “the plans of mice and men” comes to mind… I was pretty emotional… the early morning conditions were very poor… so the diving was cancelled. However I didn't get appropriate time to wallow in the misery of my disappointment as there followed a flurry of activity to reschedule ferries to get home one day early. We had not intended to leave Stromness until Saturday morning, now we were leaving on Friday. Taking the morning ferry at 11am to Scrabster followed by a “rally” across the whole of Scotland to get to Stranraer in time for the 23:20 sailing to Belfast that night.
A frenzy of unloading the Crusader and reloading our cars was followed by quick showers and a brief but pleasant phone call to a very friendly ‘Sue’ at Stena Line to rearrange our tickets and in the blinking of an eye we were boarding the Northlink ferry leaving Stromness and heading home. Marty thankfully shared some of the driving from Scrabster to Stranraer, luckily the sun was shining and the roads were not too mental with traffic so we made good time. When we landed in Belfast Conor switched with Marty and again Conor helped out with the driving on the way to his house in Carlow. I dropped Conor off at some ungodly time in the early morning only fit for birds and special forces units and I managed to make it in my front door. I did not notice the time when I fell asleep but it was less than 5 minutes from the time I turned the key in my door.
In the end:
Scapa 2009 was a great success; for a number of reasons. The diving was superb. Colin my dive buddy was gifted in finding ways through the wrecks and our slick team work really helped us motor along and enjoy the diving. There were no significant in water problems for any of our dive team. Marty my room mate didn't snore! (nice one mate!) and he was great company during the epic road trip. Finally the esprit de corps amongst all our dive team was great and that made the trip a success from the start… thanks guys…it was a real pleasure!
Scapa Flow is an awful long way to go… but the payoff is really fantastic wreck diving. It was a shame that we lost two days diving on this trip due to bad weather… but that's mother nature for you… unfortunately she does not always comply with our diving schedule or indeed dance to our iPod playlists. Hopefully we will have better luck next time.
First4Scuba Scapa Flow 2009 Dive Crew were:
- Brendan McBride
- Chris Jones
- Colin McBride
- Conor McGrath
- Damien Joyce
- Marty Johnston
- Mike Griffin
- Mike Scott
Note: I will upload a compilation YouTube video of our dives as soon as I can – hopefully before the 13th of October… hopefully :)
