The trip started late on Friday evening with a 13 hour drive from Bristol to the port of Scrabster on the north eastern tip of Scotland. Despite a long and sometimes tiring trip, we arrived in plenty of time to catch the ferry across to Stromness on the Orkney Islands which was to be our home for the next week. Dive gear was immediately dispatched onto the Jean Elaine, our boat for the week, ready for an early start in the morning. For some in the group, this was a return trip although for others a great sense of anticipation was building being a virgin of the Scapa Flow waters!
The morning of the first dive arrived and the view from the balcony of our apartment revealed calm seas and a bright sunny day. Once on board the Jean Elaine it was decided that the initial checkout dive would be on the SMS Coln, a light German cruiser resting in approximately 34m of water. A leisurely cruise out to the wreck gave time for a variety of experienced divers to kit up into re-breathers, twin sets and single fifteen litre tanks. After pre-dive safety checks, the Dive Right crew entered the water and descended down to the Coln which we found lying on her port side. It was amazing to see the amount of soft coral, anemones and Dead Men’s Fingers covering this wreck which was particularly vivid on the upper parts due to the sunlight. Our last Dive Right trip to Pembrokeshire ended with seals and amazingly we were joined by seals on this wreck which was a wonderful treat. At one point, at 20m, a double take was needed as one diver signalled that he thought he had seen a bird. This was indeed confirmed with the bird being a Guillemot which amazingly can reach depths of 60m searching for fish.
The second dive of the day was also on the Coln although, unfortunately, seals were not around this time. Despite this there were thousands of juvenile Pollock which, in parts, were difficult to see through!
Day two found the group heading to the SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm battleship of some 28000 tons sitting in approximately 40m of water. Tales from the more experienced divers suggested that this may be a dark dive although it was pleasantly surprising to see a reasonable amount of daylight at 40m, revealing the huge guns on this 178m long battleship. The size of the ship is certainly impressive although sitting “turtle up”, many of the armaments and decks were difficult to access. The second dive of the day was on the SMS Karlshrue, a Konigsberg II class cruiser, launched in January 1916. This was a slightly smaller ship in relation to the previously dived battleship although still impressive at some 150m in length with big guns and plenty of coral/fish life.
Our third day was Tuesday 13th October 2009, which was the anniversary of the sinking of HMS Royal Oak at the start of World War II. The Royal Navy were in the harbour to undertake the memorial service which involved unfurling of the Naval Ensign to commemorate those who died on this particular wreck. The Royal Oak is a war grave and as such cannot be dived without special permission.
The weather on this particular day was fittingly overcast with only five out of the nine divers on board making it to the boat! The first dive was on the SMS Brummer, a mine laying cruiser of some 4400 tons, launched on March 11th 1916. She lies on her starboard side in 30m of water and as with all of the High German Fleet was scuttled on 21st June 1919. The dive was very pleasant if a little on the chilly side due to a slightly leaking dry suit(!!). There were many big guns, crabs, lots of fish life and again, we were joined by seals on the surface. The second dive of Tuesday was conducted on the SMS Dresden, a light cruiser of 5600 tons, launched in April 1917. The wreck again, sits in some thirty six to forty metres of water and its an interesting dive.
Back on board we were treated to homemade rice pudding by the resident chef, Mark, who also provided fantastic homemade soups and breads for the divers as well as a hot tea/coffee as soon as we got back onto the boat!
Wednesday found the conditions overcast although markedly better than early the previous day. The first dive of the day was to be on the battleship SMS Markgraf, a 25000 ton Oonig class ship, launched in June 1913, and scuttled on 21st June 1919. She currently lies in 45m of water which also saw action at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. As we prepared to enter the water for the dive on this huge deep wreck, one of the Dive Right crew suffered a terminal zip failure on his dry suit and unfortunately the dive was “binned”. We then spent a number of hours exploring options for the second dive and eventually were able to borrow a dry suit from Mark the chef/ captains assistant much to the mirth of everyone on board. This particular suite resembled something from Josephs Technicoloured Dream Coat with a particularly fetching pink and yellow inside lining. The particular diver was referred to as Mika for the remainder of the day and we encourage you to visit the picture gallery to see the offending dry suit! After the aborted dive, the boat headed off to dive to shallower wrecks being an older barge and F2 supply boat. These were shallow picturesque dives at approximately 15m with plenty of fish, kelp and coral to keep us entertained. Unfortunately, the Dive Right member wearing the multi coloured laminate suit was rather cold and the dive was cut short after approximately 30 minutes.
Thursday saw us return to the Kronprinz Wilhelm which, again, was a great dive with a seal joining us on the shot line before our decent. The second dive of the day was an interesting drift dive, undertaken on the Tabarka. Due to the tide/current this involved a negative entry and a swift swim to the inside of the wreck where we then spent some 20 minutes exploring a fantastically picturesque cathedral like environment. Once the current had completely turned around and changed direction, we came out of the wreck and put up SMB’s and drifted with the current for a further 25 minutes.
Friday saw the divers meet up for the final time and head towards the SMS Markgraf. Our final day was sunny and bright with beautiful diving conditions being great visibility and little swell. The majority of divers hit approximately 40 metres depth and were able to inspect the large guns on the battleship. The second and final dive was undertaken on the SMS Coln, which we had dived twice on the first day. It was a great last dive with many of the decks and internal sections penetrated. Thousands of juvenile Pollock were, again, on duty and this was, indeed, one of the highlight dives of the week for the Dive Right crew. The final safety stop would normally be a sad affair although, in this case, we were joined by a seal for the last two minutes which was a fitting end to a fantastic trip.
During the week we were skippered by Andy and Kevin with fantastic help from the chef/assistant skipper Mark, who kept us fed and watered during the trips. Evenings were spent at a variety of hostelries, including the Royal Hotel on the majority of evenings where tales of broken zips and lost SMB’s were swapped to the general merriment of those on board. The accommodation and boats were both first class as was the diving (thank you to Jayne for arranging everything!). Both experienced divers and Scapa Flow virgins all agreed that a fantastic week was had by all and this will definitely be a place we will return soon!
