SOUTH QUEENSFERRY SUB AQUA CLUB ' SCAPA TRIP 2002 '

26th -29th APRIL 2002

MV JEAN-ELAINE, SKIPPER ANDY CUTHBERTSON, CREWMAN RONNIE.

SQSAC
WARREN IZZETT, COLIN STEELE, ALAN LOW, ANDY HOGG, STEVIE ADAMS
IAN OLIVA, JOE CARSON, NEIL ADAMS.

GUESTS,
HOWARD HUGHES, LAURA WITHERS (REBREATHER DIVERS)

DIVES: - SMS COLN, SMS BRUMMER, SMS KARLSRUHE,
F2 AND BARGE, BURRA DRIFT, SS TABARKA.

We set off on a bright sunny Friday morning and aimed to be at the Forth Bridge tolls for about 09: 30am.
Leaving at this time should give us plenty time to travel the 260 miles to catch the 17:45 ferry, at Scabster and still allow us a large built in 'Faff Factor'.
We made excellent time and decided to find a place to have lunch, after much phoning most of us met for lunch in Golspie. it was crap, while having lunch we heard that the John O Groats ferry had been cancelled due to severe gales ! but we reassured ourselves that our ferry would be ok, it always ran!.

The further North we got the stronger the wind became, on arriving at Scrabster we got the shipping box organised and proceeded to pack all the kit for the journey, this was supervised by Andy Hogg
(who made sure his suit wasn't at the bottom of the pile this time- long story!)
We then went to the pub for a light refreshment, this is when things started to go pear shaped, we heard that the Ferry had just arrived in Stromness, it had left Scrabster at 12:00 am!
The Dive Marshall (Warren) was despatched to find out what was happening while we had another light refreshment. Warren returned with the bad news, the ferry wasn't returning until 10pm, and wouldn't be sailing until 6am on the Saturday.
The Dive Marshall (Warren) was despatched to find us accomodation, so we had another light refreshment. Colin phoned the skipper to find out if it was worth us coming across and he assured us that we would get to dive.

After checking into the New Weigh Inn in Scrabster, we met in the bar and then on to a Chinese restaurant in Thurso, where a meal and a few refreshments were taken, very expensive meal.

Back to the Hotel where most opted for an early bed.

After a very windy night (both inside the room and out) it was up at 5am thanks to Alan and Andy setting off the smoke alarm in their room. Down to the ferry terminal to discover that the ferry wasn't leaving until 07:30 !. Doh.
On board the Old Hands headed for a greasy breakfast while the rest of us grabbed a sick bag and lay down.

After a very rough crossing we arrived in Stromness while arranging for the Shipping box to be delivered to the Jean-Elaine, the Dive Marshall was sent to sort the accommodation out.
All the kit was stowed on the boat and we went to organise supplies for lunch.
The boat set off at 11:30 for the COLN which was about an hour away, while we set up our kit Colin started the Lunch, a culinary delight Curried potatoes and beans.
We arrived at the site at about 12:20 and started to get kitted up, we had a mix of abilities and gases, with some diving on air, some on nitrox and Howard and Laura using rebreathers.









DIVE 1 SMS COLN.

There is a saying in SQSAC 'if youre not fast youre last!' on arriving at the site there was a flurry of activity when we all raced to get kitted up to get onto the wreck first!.
The rebreather divers beat us all and were in first, followed by Colin and Ian, Stevie and Joe, Alan and Andy and lastly Warren and Neil.

The Coln is a Dresden class light Cruiser of 5531 tons which was built in 1916,with a top speed of 30 knots, carrying eight 5.9 inch guns, two 3.4 inch AA guns, four torpedo tubes, and 200 mines.
She lies on her starboard side in 34m of water, with a least depth to the port side of 20m,at 510 feet long this is a large wreck to try and see in one dive.

On reaching the bottom of the shot I was quite surprised how light it was, and visibility was at least 10 to 15m, we dropped over the port gunwale onto the vertical deck and turned left towards the bow, the seabed was visible 5m below, with so much to see you could only spend a little time on each recognisable feature, after arriving at the impressive bow, with anchor chains still run out we headed back towards the stern. All to soon it was time to ascend, we bagged off and headed for the surface.
On the surface the swells were about 1metre high, but the Skipper had spotted us and brought the boat alongside us perfectly.
Once on board tall tales were exchanged whilst Ronnie made us all coffee and tea.
We then had our lunch, curried potatoes and beans excellent! well done Colin, while I washed up the Skipper suggested the F2 and Barge as a second dive, an excellent choice.

DIVE 2 F2 AND BARGE

We arrived at the site and after discussing a dive plan we kitted up(a race again). First in were Alan and Andy followed by Colin and Stevie, Joe and Ian, Howard and Laura, and lastly Warren and Neil.
The shot was on the Barge, although Andy offered to put a shot on the F2 as well, that's service!.

The F2 was an experimental boat, similar to a destroyer built in 1936 with a length of 250 feet and weighing 800 tons.
Armed with two 4 inch guns and four 20mm AA guns, she was used as a torpedo recovery vessel during the last war. She was given to Britain as war reparations and sunk at her mooring near Lyness in 1946. She was sold for scrap in 1972 and was blasted apart, the only intact part being from the bow to the bridge with the 4 inch gun still in place lying on its port side.

The Barge was being used during the salvage work on the F2 and sank during a gale in 1968.
The hold still contains one of the AA guns from the F2 and another gun lying below. It lies about 35m from the F2 and a line usually connects both wrecks across the seabed.
The depth is about 18m and can be tide affected.

At the bottom of the shot we could clearly see both barrels of the AA gun pointing to the surface, with a larger gun underneath, we had a look around the workbenches then exited through a large hole in the hull and found the rope connecting the two wrecks. We arrived at the F2 and had a good ferret around, it is a pile of scrap metal and very hard to make sense of. We arrived at the intact bow, followed by a couple of hungry Wrasse looking for a Sea Urchin meal, my lips are sealed Colin.
It was very impressive with a distinctive sharp line. Heading back to the Barge the current was becoming very noticeable we ascended to the deck and were amused watching two of our party trying to swim around the bow of the Barge, no chance!.We ascended the shot like flags and back onto the Jean-Elaine and a very welcome cup of coffee from Ronnie.
We arrived back at Stromness at about 17:15 and arranged to meet in the Ferry Inn later to have a meal.
The Ferry Inn had a function on, The Stromness was fully booked but we squeezed in to the Royal and had an excellent meal. Spoiled only by the smell of pig slurry coming from the fisherman on his stag night, this tradition is called 'The Blackening', it certainly emptied all the bars that he ended up in!.






Sunday morning we set off at 10:30 to dive the Brummer and the Karlsrhue, although a brighter day it seemed to be windier and seasickness began to set in amongst some of the party.

DIVE 3 SMS BRUMMER

After about an hour we arrived at the Site and agreed a dive plan and prepared to dive.
First in were the Rebreathers followed by Colin and Ian, Stevie and Joe, Alan and Andy and lastly
Warren and Neil.

The Brummer is a Bremse class Light Cruiser built in 1915 with a length of 462 feet,
weighing 4308 tons, armed with four 5.9 inch guns, two 3.4 inch AA guns and 360 mines.
With a top speed of 28 knots she was designed to be able to lay her mines and outrun any opposition.
She lies on her starboard side in 36m of water with a least depth to the port hull of 20m,and is fairly intact, apart from large holes caused during salvage work at the stern.

We landed on the port side and proceeded towards the bow, although a bit dark, visibility was excellent,
and it was very easy to recognise parts of the ship. As I had a fairly rich nitrox mix I limited myself to 32 metres I could just about inspect the bow 6 inch gun and the large anchor capstans, with the chains still running out, at the bow the deck is beginning to peel away from the hull and through one of the holes I could see Howard and Laura with a large anchor hanging over them looking into the hull!.
We headed back to the stern with Colin excitedly showing me a large brass porthole inside the bridge, this was at 32.4m and I refused to go any deeper. Working our way back towards the stern we met Howard and Laura coming towards us, very spooky no bubbles and completely silent.

On arriving at the large damaged area we decided to end the dive as Joe and Ian were on air and were into stops, we found the shot (a first for me!) and started to ascend.
At this point Colin decided that Joe needed to practice deploying his delayed SMB, so as they headed up the shot laughing Joe sent up his delayed, it took of like a Poseidon missile, wrapping around the shot and nearly removing Alan's head as he completed his stops at 6m.
I arrived at surface no Joe I grabbed his buoy and looked down he was at 3m waving at me, he had ended up with three minutes of stops I watched him from the surface until he joined me, the waves were breaking over our heads and when I tried to speak to Joe I got a mouthful of the flow.
Skipper Andy brought the boat to us perfectly and it was back on board to coffee and abuse for nearly decapitating Alan, (We blamed the DO.)

While Alan prepared lunch we headed to Lyness to have a look at the Museum, it was shut, but it was interesting to see the same type of guns we had been looking at on dry land.
Most of us had a lovely Tuna Pasta with bread for Lunch well done Alan, (Joe was looking a bit green and didn?t feel hungry).
After a decent surface interval we set off for the Karlsruhe which was about twenty minutes away.

DIVE 4 SMS KARLSRUHE

On arrival at the site we kitted up and paired off, first in were Colin and Stevie, followed by Alan and Andy, Ian and Joe, Howard and Laura and lastly, you guessed it Warren and Neil.

The Karlsruhe is a Konigsberg class Light Cruiser built in 1916 with a length of 460 feet, and
weighing 5354 tons. She was very fast at with a top speed of 28 knots and heavily armed with eight 5.9 inch guns, two 3.5 inch AA guns, two torpedo tubes, and 200 mines.
She lies on her starboard side in 26m of water with a least depth to the port hull of 12m,she has been heavily salvaged and the bow and stern are the most intact parts although the decking is collapsing at the bow.

We hit the seabed at about 26m and had a good rummage in the large holes, some good swim throughs, although we did find a dead end in one. Heading towards the bow it was very confusing until I spotted the domed fighting bridge then the pair of 5.9 inch guns side by side, and the two large anchor capstans. Heading towards the stern we met the Rebreather divers again in stealth mode finning silently along to the bow. Arriving at the stern it was time to ascend so out with the delayed smb and up to the surface. Back on board to more tall tales and a welcome cup of coffee, thanks again to Ronnie.

On arrival back at Stromness Colin had organised a visit to the Hyperbaric Chamber, we went up to the old school and had a very informative and thought provoking visit, thanks to Bobby Forbes for giving up his time.

We arranged to meet up in the Ferry Inn to eat at the Stromness Hotel at 8pm,we had an excellent meal and departed to Flatties bar, then the Ferry Inn to round off a good evening. Howard and Laura went to the Whisky tasting in the Stromness Hotel and were a bit wobbly when they left.


Monday morning was bright and sunny, with light winds, after waiting to get in for breakfast for over 30mins we finally managed to get cereal and coffee before rushing to get the boat at 08:30am.
It seemed that some of our party had a 'lock in' and managed to shut down most of Stromness with hangovers !.

DIVE 3 BURRA SOUND DRIFT

We had decided to drift dive the Burra Sound on a flooding tide, after a quick brief we entered the water about 2 hours before high water, ill not tell you who was last, you?ll be able to guess by now.
We had decided that we wanted a fast drift, and we got it! It was Spring tides and the highest of the year
When we dropped down we were off, it was uncontrollable up, down around forwards backwards I managed to stay with Colin for about five minutes then he went right and I went left, one minute you were on the surface, next minute you were scraping the bottom. Just when I thought it was dropping off I felt a massive push on my fins and I was off again, as I flew along I suddenly thought about the blockships and started to pay attention where I was going, as I didn?t fancy hitting one!.
After a few minutes I noticed some scrap metal and just as I looked up Wham I was spread-eagled on a large boiler, I pulled myself over it, vaulted a large piece of hull plate and headed for the surface, enough is enough.

On the surface I could see the Jean Elaine about half a mile away, and relaxed as I could see I was drifting towards her, I could hear voices and waved to Alan and Andy as they drifted past me in the opposite direction!. Back on the boat I told Ronnie about my close encounter and he laughed and said 'that?ll have been the Doyle'. When we all were back on board we exchanged experiences, the most scary was Andy Hogg getting his foot caught in a girder and struggling to free it, with his buddy unable to help. The rebreather divers had a fairly torrid time, and are claiming a world record for the fastest rebreathers!.
Colin had a heart stopper when he was at the end of the dive drifting gently along in a dream when he saw the Kelp Monster, aka Joe who hid behind a rock and jumped out at Colin.
I think there was a mess in Colin's DUI after that one!
This dive was not for the faint hearted and I am not sure if we would repeat it at that state of tide.
When the dive profiles were downloaded from our computers they were frightening, how I was not bent ill never know. Andy the Skipper told us that when he drifted down to catch us at the end he was making 10 knots with the engine off!!.

DIVE 4 THE TABARKA

Our last dive was to be the Tabarka, a Blockship sunk in the Burra Sound in 1944, built in 1909 and
weighing 2624 tons. She was originally sunk in Kirk sound in 1940, raised in 1944 moved to her present position, filled with rocks and sunk again.
It has to be done on slack water (if it is ever slack in the Burra Sound!)

After a decent surface interval we kitted up and dropped down the shot Andy had put down for us, it was quite a pull down to the wreck, as it was still running a good bit
( I dont need to tell you who was last in, you should know by now!, if youre not fast youre last)
we swam up towards the bow (or I should say crawled along the seabed) and entered the wreck through a large hole in the Hull, once inside the hull there is no current,it is very atmospheric, with piles of stones everywhere and the ribs and holes with the green light coming in after exploring the inside
of the hull Colin noticed a large piece of rusty metal on top of some stones, on closer examination
it seemed to be some kind of large knife or bayonet, well rusted but still recognisable. After Ian took some photos of us examining this we decided to ascend, we headed up the hull to where I could launch my delayed SMB, I am not sure if it hit the surface or not as it disappeared horizontally with us following.
Back on the boat it was time to pack away kit as we headed back to Stromness.

On arriving at Stromness we off loaded all the kit from the boat into a shipping box in record time, we said our farewells to Ronnie, but couldn't find the Skipper to say goodbye.
After arranging for the kit to be put on the ferry we headed for the gift shops and a quick lunch at the Ferry Inn. The Ferry left at 15:15 and we had our last view of Stromness, The Jean-Elaine and Burra Sound, I hope Andy seen us waving as we left.

The drivers all tried to get their heads down for a couple of hours kip before the long journey home, whilst the rest of sat on deck and watched the amazing scenery as we passed the Old Man of Hoy, and spotted a whale.

We arrived in Scrabster and after getting the shipping box off the ferry packed all the kit into the cars and vans, with a quick cheerio we were off down the road.
I think we all arrived home at about 10:30pm knackered after a hard weekend.


Thanks to Andy Cuthbertson and Ronnie on the Jean-Elaine,

The Manager and Staff at the Ferry Inn,

Howard and Laura and their Buddy 'Desperation's' for putting up with us.

And all the Drivers, Alan Low, Joe'le taxi' Carson and Neil Adams.

Finally thanks to Warren Izzett for organising and marshalling the weekend, seeing his plans shot down and altered, but not taking the huff.

Post Script - After the Burra Sound Drift Dive Colin Steele joked about needing Oxygen, and didnt feel well after the second Dive, on the Ferry and the way home he was very quiet (very unusual).
On Wednesday Morning he phoned to let me know he was going to Aberdeen Hyperbaric Chamber as he thought he had a bend, turned out he did, and was in the chamber for 10 hours, His Dive Profile wasnt good, but drinking until 5am had dehydrated him and caused the bend - That was a lesson to us all. ! Back to top