Natasha Robinson, Author at Ocean View Diving Services

Ocean Views Great Galapagos Adventure

Posted on May 1, 2017

We have all been counting down to this holiday of a lifetime for over 18 months and I don’t think I even read the full itinerary before handing over my deposit to secure my place.

The Galapagos….. Ocean Views biggest dive trip yet…. 12 days experiencing all the wonderful things mother nature has created both above and below the water.

A lot has changed since paying over my deposit – Brexit, Trump and most importantly the exchange rate between the dollar and the pound meaning the price going up a bit but hey, this is a trip of a lifetime, not to be repeated so it is a sound investment. There was no way this holiday was going to be dull or mundane!

The BBC seemed to know that we had this trip planned and screened an amazing three part documentary on this unique location with the last episode showing the day before we flew……. there was the chance of schooling hammerheads, sea lions, mola mola, whale sharks, manta rays, silky sharks, mobula rays, the kitchen sink……. it promised to be THE most amazing trip.

After a long flight, we finally touched down in Guayaquil (Ecuador) on Good Friday. Tired and excited we made our way to the hotel for a good night’s sleep ready for some sightseeing on Saturday before transferring to the Galapagos Sky live aboard on Easter Sunday.

Iguana in Iguana Square

Sightseeing around Guayaquil was interesting and we visited Iguana Square and then climbed the 444 steps to the highest point to take in the 360 degree views of the city. It was a hot day wandering around what is surprisingly a very clean, modern and pretty city. The definite highlight of the day being the ‘crocodiles’ at the Isla Santa Ecological Park.

Sunday, we completed the final leg of our travel to arrive on San Christobal Island where we were greeted with the sight and smell of sea lions and pelicans!

Finally on board we set about unpacking and assembling dive kit ready for our check out dive. Our dive guides for the week would be Solan and Max. Max used the tannoy system on the boat to provide information i.e. get up, eat, dive, and signed off by giving quite a convincing impression of a sea lion just to be sure we heard him.

We backward rolled in for the check dive around 5.00pm. Not the most thrilling dive, murky, cold and not much to see but it served its purpose and we successfully adjusted our weights and checked everything worked ready for the start of the real adventure tomorrow.

Monday 17th April

Today there would be three dives with the opportunity to see the sea lions in the water and Red Lipped Bat fish. Pinson Island was our first stop and we would be diving Dumb Rock. This would be the opportunity to see the Red Lipped Bat fish. The sea bed was quite baron apart from being covered in sea stars of all shapes and sizes. There were some Red Lipped Bat fish scuttling along the sea bed but as the dive groups seemed to be travelling in packs they were scared off before I had an opportunity to get a picture.

Galapagos Shark

We then moved on to Santiago Island for two dives at Cousins Rock. The water temperature was cooler here, around 24 degrees, but as dive times are limited to 45 mins the cold wouldn’t present too much of an issue but I put my heated vest on just in case. You could clearly see and feel the thermoclines. It was another gentle drift dive where we were buzzed by a sea lion.

Later that day the crew took us through the procedure for boat evacuation and we all had to put on our life vests which caused much amusement. We were then issued with Nautilus LifeLine Marine Rescue GPS radios and Diver Alert signalling device so if we got washed away in the currents we could alert the boat easily and be picked up. This could really only mean one thing….. we were off to Wolf and Darwin!

I now had the feeling that the diving up to this point had been to check us out in the water and to gently ease us in to the diving conditions of the Galapagos.

Tuesday 18th April

Today was Wolf Island day, oh, and our dive team leader’s birthday!! Would we get the legendary schooling hammerhead show as a well-earned Birthday present?!

Hammerhead Shark

The guides gave a very comprehensive briefing explaining that the dives here would require a negative entry and a swim down to the rocks below. The guide would choose a spot and everyone would then select a rock, nook or cranny to wedge themselves into, get comfy and wait for the show. There was no coral life so touching, grabbing on to rocks was not going to be a problem. The ground was covered in huge boulders that were covered in razor sharp barnacles and moray eels. The Kevlar gloves would come in very handy as when the current is running, and the surge hits, you have to cling on so as not to be blown away!!

Our first dive was Shark Bay and we had a huge pod of Dolphins following the panga (rib). Exciting! Would they follow us in the water too?! When the BBC filmed here they had loads of sharks so expectations were high but the site only yielded sharks towards the end of the dive once some of us had started our ascent.

We then moved to Landslide and it was decided to do two dives here and the second one was AWESOME!! It has gone down in OV history just as ‘Dive 3!’

As we descended a hammerhead swam underneath us. We found a spot to settle behind some rocks and just waited. Rattle, rattle, rattle…. the dive guide furiously pointing in to the blue (murky grey)…. eventually you could see a Galapagos shark. Wow, they are huge! then another, then several hammerheads. Backwards and forwards they cruised along in front of us. I thought I could hear another divers strobes recycling behind me as they snapped away at the action. Nope. Dolphins. A whole pod of dolphins swimming right in front of us! Double Wow! This was awesome. This is what we had travelled all this way for.

Happy Birthday!

In between the boulders were numerous moray eels, sleeping groupers and Hawk fish but taking photos was really tricky. My camera was now striped down to a shadow of its former self to try and make it easier but with one hand clinging to a rock, trying to hold and operate a camera single handed, with great big thick gloves on was a nightmare!! I am really glad I had my GoPro with a wide angled INON lens to capture the action as I wasn’t going to be getting many stills on this trip.

Air running low it was time to ascend. The dolphins gave us their final pass by playing at the surface so we could see them whilst on our safety stop.

As there was a sheltered bay where we were moored this was to be the location for the only night dive of the trip. Hopefully this would be my opportunity to get some pictures. Strobes charged and remounted I was ready to go.

Brrrrr the water was cold. As soon as I was in the water the heated vest was switched to maximum heat. The site was made up of lots of huge boulders. There was the usual collection of crabs, sea urchins, shrimps and lobsters to see. Some buddy pairs saw a sleeping turtle and a shark. My view and auto focus was mainly distracted by all the plankton in the water which is why these islands are so full of life and I am so lacking in pictures!

We all had a fantastic day which was capped off with a large cake for the birthday boy too.

Wednesday 19th April

The engines started at about 5.30 am and we made the cruise from Wolf to Darwin. The famous arch came into view

Darwin Arch

just after breakfast. It really is a magnificent sight, let’s just hope the diving lives up to what we have seen on the BBC!

We would have four dives here today, all in and around the base of Darwins Arch. This is the location for the famous schooling hammerhead pictures. Would we be lucky?

It was the same dive drill as we had followed at Wolf. There was lots of surge and you were rocked back and forth as you picked your way over the rocks down to the relative shelter of the reef wall. Dive one was a bit disappointing, not a huge amount to see but dive two we saw a few hammerheads and a couple of very large turtles. At one point it got eerily dark and as you looked up there was a massive ball of fish. It was an amazing sight seeing the ball of fish expand and contract in the sunlight.

The other dives yielded Galapagos sharks, hammer heads and mobula rays but all on the edge of visibility. A few close

‘Wish you were here’ – picture postcard sunset

encounters but nothing spectacular…. which was just as well as I was still struggling with my camera. Thank goodness for video!

All safely back on board the crew had lit the BBQ and were cooking huge slabs of meat and prawns for our sunset chill out party. The sunset was fabulous, reminiscent of the Japanese flag the way the sun rays radiated out across the sky. A beautiful ‘wish you were here’ style picture postcard sunset.

Thursday 20th April

Today was the last day at Darwin Arch. Due to the viz the crew were considering return to Wolf Island a little earlier with the hope of better conditions. It was frustrating. The sharks were definitely there but right on the edge of visibility and depending where you settled you could either see them or not.

We did the first dive at Darwin and then moved back to Wolf Island for the last two. The water temperature had dropped and that combined with being stationary for a lot of the dive, it was cold. The heated vest was turned up to full power again!! The current had also picked up just to add to the excitement. Even being wedged in behind a rock I still found myself clinging on for dear life as the surge tried to lift me and send me backwards somersaulting over the rocks. I was definitely getting my money’s worth from the Kevlar gloves!!

Due to the cold and the current on the last dive I blew my air fairly quickly so my buddy and I headed off to the blue for our safety stop. As we hung in the water you could see the sharks all around which was nice although a little unnerving! We surfaced and couldn’t see our usual friendly panga driver, Christian, waiting to help us back aboard.

Marine Iguana

Normally he would follow our bubbles to be ready as we surfaced. Very odd. I launched the SMB and we waited. And we waited. And we waited a bit more. The pangas were a long way away so we decided to use the audible signalling device (Diver Alert) we had been issued with during our first briefing. Wow….. it is loud!! and immediately got our taxi drivers attention! phew! safely retrieved from the water we were amazed how far we had drifted from the rest of the group as was Christian!!. Deep respect for mother nature!

Friday 21st April

Our last full day of diving! It has all gone so quickly. Today was Mola Mola and Iguana day………. so exciting!!!

Our first dive at Cape Douglas would be the last chance to see the Red Lipped Bat Fish as well as other species like Galapagos sea lions, bull head sharks and the illusive sea horse.

We backward rolled out of the panga…… gee whizz…… the water was cold…. a good 7 degrees cooler than Wolf and Darwin. The clue should have been when our dive guides had ditched their semi dry’s for full dry suits. I borrowed an additional hooded top which was surprisingly close fitting and by rights should have prevented any water ingress. It was a chilly 21 degrees at the surface dropping to 19 at depth and after 30 mins I reluctantly signalled to my buddy that I was cold and in a short while I would need to ascend. The dive was largely uneventful which was actually quite nice after the last few days of challenging diving and all the colours of the soft corals a complete contrast.

Blue Footed Booby

Dive two was for Marine Iguanas…… we needed to be ready so didn’t really de-kit. All eyes were on the Iguanas basking on the rocks, warming themselves ready to dive in the water and feed. I must admit after the last dive I felt just like an Iguana, lying on the sun bed in my wetsuit trying to warm up ready for the next dive!

AWESOME!! is the only word to describe this dive. Max depth of about 3 metres, swaying back and forth in the surge looking for these prehistoric looking creatures. These chaps had attitude written all over their faces. They seemed to tolerate your presence for a while but eventually they seemed to flick you a look to say ‘Really. Are you still here. Seriously, just f*** off.’ My buddy and I snapped away while admiring these most amazingly out of place creatures. They were so cool. You could hear them munching on the algae and then after a while they would ascend for a breath. Everyone was buzzing and agreed that this had to be one of the best dives ever – apart from ‘dive 3’ of course!

The next dive would be the hunt for Mola Mola at Punta Vicente Roca. Our guides wanted us to wait at a cleaning station for about 15 mins to see if any Mola Mola would come along. It was cold and being still really didn’t help.

Perched on a corner the surge buffeted us up and down and periodically blew me around the corner of the reef much to my buddy’s shock! Eventually the signal to move came and we started to retrace out fin kicks back along the wall. My buddy and I started to ascend a little seeking an extra degree of warmth and then in the distance we saw a Mola Mola!!!! We screamed through our regs to try and get our dive leaders attention as he was engrossed in his camera. Eventually he spun around and saw the unmistakable outline of this enormous fish. AMAZING!

View from the top of St Bartolome Island

On surfacing most of the divers were cold and because they had seen the Mola Mola decided to skip the last dive of the day in favour of warmth and a panga ride around the bay looking at the wildlife. It was brilliant and our dive guide explained all about the different animals. There were literally piles of sleeping Marine Iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, Noddy Terns, Blue Footed Boobies, sea lions and turtles. Lots of snapping and I even managed to get some Go Pro footage of a seal playing with a puffer fish!

What a great last full day.

Saturday 22nd April

Today was the day to leave the boat which was sad but it did signal the second part of our adventure and the land tours.

We started the day with a land tour of St Bartolome Island. There was a long walk up many steps to reach a view point that opened up the most spectacular views across the islands. As we wandered Max gave lots of information about the animals, birds and the island formation. It was hot but worth the walk.

Sun bathing sea lion

Our final dive was at La Punta. It was a lovely dive, warmer than yesterday, and a very gentle drift over the reef formed by the volcano and lava flows. We saw turtles, sharks and a few mobula rays. A very pleasant, easy dive to finish our week.

Once back on board it was the usual drill of breaking down kit, washing and drying. The crew was very helpful with washing out BCDs and wet suits but there would only be a couple of hours to try and dry stuff before departing from the boat to journey to the hotel.

We said our farewells and disembarked for the Red Mangrove Hotel on Santa Cruz Island via the Giant Tortoises farm and “Los Gemelos” (The Twin Craters) which are two enormous collapsed lava chambers.

The Tortoise Farm was really interesting and a great opportunity for pictures. It is a 600-acre private reserve where differing size Tortoises roam around freely munching on plants and poisoned apples giving the occasional grunt if you got too close!

We arrived at the Red Mangrove late afternoon. The decked area outside the bar was covered in basking marine iguanas and sea lions hogging the sun beds. I got the impression that the sun beds hadn’t been used by hotel guests for some time! Pelicans bathed in the shallows and crabs scurried around the rocks… this was a great location to be staying with so many photo opportunities without straying outside the hotel bar!!

Sunday 23rd April

Remains of an Iguana

In the morning we would go kayaking and snorkelling on Santa Cruz Island. The kayaking would give the opportunity to get close to the rocky cliff face where numerous birds were nesting. Unfortunately it was quite a wet experience which was cooling but meant not suitable for cameras. We were quite uncoordinated paddlers in our two person kayak but we enjoyed ourselves and mostly saw lots of different bird life unless fellow paddlers scared them off first!!

Once dried off we wandered along the path past the salt lakes to an inlet which the locals seem to be enjoying. I was convinced to take a dip by my buddies already in the water. I jumped off the end of the jetty…… Whooooo……Cold/’refreshing’!! I immediately swam to the side and climbed out. That was too cold for me without my heated vest!

Our guide collected us again from the hotel after lunch for a trip to Tortuga Bay. It was a longish walk along a path that cut through the Candelabra Cactus forest but gave opportunities to look for more wildlife. We eventually reached the white sand of the beach and there was a surfing competition in progress. This meant the red flags were up so no swimming allowed. We wandered along a little further to a more sheltered cove and we all dived in the water to cool off. We tried to snorkel but the viz was unfortunately worse than our favourite local inland dive lake so that idea was abandoned in favour of just splashing and lounging about.

Monday 24th April

There was a muddle up with the excursions in the morning so we took the opportunity to wander around Santa Cruz

Fish Market

which is a very clean, pretty town. The fish market was especially funny with Pelicans sat on the work tops and sealions sat in between the fishmongers preparing the fish. Every now and then the scraps would be thrown to the animals and pandemonium ensued. We collected a few souvenirs from the many shops that lined the coast road and headed back to the hotel for lunch.

The afternoon tour was the Charles Darwin Research Center which was only a short walk from our hotel. Our guide explained all about Lonesome George and the breading program for the giant tortoises. It was very interesting and a nice stroll around the mangrove setting seeing many different birds and lizards along the way.

Tuesday 25th April

Giant Tortoise

Our last day of touring and we had saved the best until last! Plaza Island….. our last opportunity to get pictures of the sea lions, iguanas and varied bird life.

We left the hotel at 8.20 to take the coach to the other side of the island to meet our boat the Sea Finch.

The trip included a short snorkel around a beautiful turquoise bay and then a sixty minute sail to the Island. As we arrived on the island we were immediately greeted by baby sea lions playing on the jetty and in the shallows. We all took lots of pictures of sea lions and crabs while our guide tried to explain about the island and usher us along. It was hot and there was no real shelter. It was mostly low growing plants with the odd prickly pear. There were loads of lizards and iguanas crawling around and the guide explained that they were struggling for food so either starving to death or eating birds. He then showed us dried up remains of both!

There was loads of bird life too – Frigates, Blue-footed Booby, Swallow Tailed gulls one with a chick, Brown Noddy Terns, Red-Tailed Tropic birds. It was amazing to see all this life and it made us realise that we had only just scratched the surface of what was here in the Galapagos.

90 minutes and 668 photos later we left the island for lunch and the journey back to the hotel.

Wednesday 26th April

A sad day. The holiday was over and we would start the epic journey back to the UK at 10am Santa Cruz time.

Sea lion welcoming committee

We were all sad to be leaving as we all had the most fantastic time seeing some amazing things. There was already talk of return visits, another live aboard, more land tours. I have to say I am very tempted as there is so much to see, experience and photograph!

Maybe this IS a trip I will be repeating!! We will have to wait and see!

A HUGE thanks to Ocean View for arranging yet another stunning adventure.

Achieving My PADI Dream!

Posted on December 18, 2016

Learning to Dive

On a chilly afternoon in November 2009 I phoned a shop in Lancing to enquire about learning to dive. I spoke to a very helpful chap called Graeme and recounted the traumatic tale of when I attempted to learn in Egypt a few years earlier. I was invited to come in to the shop for a chat, so a week later I was sat with Graeme listening to him explain how Oceanview could help me overcome my fears.

After about 45 minutes I was signed up for my Open Water course + Dry Suit Specialty to start in January and reserved a place on the club liveaboard to Egypt in August to do my Advanced Open Water course!!……

discover-instructor

I have happy memories of my Open Water training in Brighton Marina, in February, the water a chilly 2 degrees and ice on the ground!!………

In January 2011, as part of an Oceanview Club event I attended a “Discover Instructor Experience” with Platinum Course Director Steve Prior and Janet Prior…… I was hooked….. I wanted to be a Scuba Instructor and I wanted Team Prior to teach me!

Starting My IDC

Nearly 6 years and 500+ dives later and with the guidance, training and support of the Oceanview team, on 10th September 2016 I started my Instructor Development Course with Steve and Janet. Also, joining me on the course were Jen and Dan but this wasn’t just an ordinary IDC…. we were among the first to participate in the new combined PADI IDC (thx to casinos-uk.org tips) and OCR Level 3 Diploma in Management! Learning to instruct AND run a dive business….. why do anything by half……

classroom

Over several days and weekends (and with lots of late nights of self-study) Team Prior coached, encouraged and guided us through all the materials, questions, standards, Physics (yuk!) and practical’s to equip us with the skills and knowledge we needed to become awesome dive instructors. We learned about teaching students to perform skills neutrally buoyant (aka swimming about), how to deliver a briefing that was …. brief…… but covered what was important, cutting out the irrelevant and focusing on the necessary.

We got to design, price and plan the marketing of our own course and really get to understand what it would be like to run a dive business ourselves. Incorporating the OCR Level 3 Diploma in Management requirements gave it a different edge and Steve was really excited about new elements we could bring to briefings, debriefing and classroom presentations etc.

The Instructor Exams

Finally the weekend of judgement had arrived….. The Instructor Exam (IE) weekend…….

Confined Water

Saturday, the official start of the IE, five candidates with associated Course Directors, Staff Instructors and general moral support teams, all sat in a room at PADI headquarters in Bristol at 7.30 am eagerly awaiting the orientation briefing!!!!! The briefing detailed the weekends schedule and I began to realise it would be a long weekend!

First up was dive theory…… The dreaded physics paper. …….. I went through the paper twice…… fresh v salt, gauge v absolute, ‘the effect’, flexible v inflexible………. all the things I needed to make sure I had doubly checked and read to ensure I answered the question correctly.

Next was the pool…….confined water briefing, skill teaching and then debriefing……. gosh the pool was cold…. I would have worn my dry suit if I had known it would be this cold……

Once complete and dried off it was back to the classroom for the Standards exam followed by a Classroom presentation scenario. Phew! It was intense but strangely good fun too.

Open Water

vobster-cold

Sunday was open water day. The brief was to be at Vobster at 7.45……… I arrived at 7.20 and one of the Course Directors and 2 candidates where already in front of me in the queue. We waited and waited…… It was cold…..the car temperature was showing 1 degree…… the frost was thick on the ground…….. brrrr….. finally the gates were opened and we got ready for the orientation briefing.

The morning started with open water briefings. As soon as people started to finish their briefings they were whisked off to do their rescue scenario demo. When everyone was finished, we descended on the platform for the in water teaching skills. It seemed to take ages and the 8 degree water was starting to freeze my fingers and toes. Finally, it was my turn…… I was the last to go….. I signalled skill 1, the students performed their skills with various problems which I identified and corrected. On to skill 2, more problems, corrections and congratulations. Finally, the cut signal came from the examiner and we were up and out of the water to warm up.

All that was left was the debrief with the examiner…… my mind was racing….. had I missed something, would I fail……… I delivered my debrief and congratulated my mythical students on doing so well. The examiner then stretched her hand out across the table towards me and with a big smile, shook my hand and said ‘Congratulations Natasha, you have passed, well done!’…….. what a rush of emotions…… I had to apologise to the examiner for blubbing like a baby……. it was over….. I had realised my long term dream of being a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor!!!!

ie-vobster

The Future

Just a few last bits to complete on the OCR Level 3 Diploma in Management and that will then hopefully give me an NVQ Level 3 in Management as well!!!!!

I am really looking forward to teaching with the fabulous Oceanview team and gaining more confidence and experience. Who knows, in a few years I could be running my own dive centre in a tropical paradise somewhere……

I look forward to seeing you on a course at Oceanview soon!!

Ocean View Adventures in Scapa Flow 2015 – Part 2

Posted on October 26, 2015

Wednesday 21st October

We gather for breakfast and to watch the weather reports. It is windy and the forecast is for this to stay and then increase further on Thursday. The BBC weather lady points to big white arrows over northern Scotland indicating the strong winds coming our way.

It is calm on the boat whilst in port but the wind would pick up as soon as we leave its shelter. The journey would be lumpier than previous days but the Huskyan could cope. Emily took us through the weather forecast and confirmed the BBC prediction is accurate and it is set to get worse. Thursday’s diving is going to be blown out unless there is a weather miracle.

With everything lashed down we head out into the Flow.

Emily briefs us whilst on the move. Our first dive will be the Markgraf. This is the big, deep, dark one I was too scared to dive last time……

Markgraf

Torpedo Box – Coln

The Markgraf is a Konig class battleship and is almost identical to the Kronprinz Wilhelm. She was launched in 1913 and formed part of the Third Battle Squadron requiring over 1100 men to keep her running. She now rests upside down at a depth of 45 metres with her shallowest depth on the top of the hull at 24 metres.

Displacement 25390 tons

Engine 3 coal/oil turbines which drove 3 propellers

Length 175 metres

Top Speed 21 knots

Emily gives us a brief overview of the wreck so we can decide what we want to do so she can focus the briefing accordingly. The options are:

The Gun Run
The Stern
The Bow
or for the techy boys all of the above!

The Gun Run – Along the side of the ship at about 39 metres is a row of 5.9 inch guns poking out from under the upturned deck. There are 6 of the original 7 still visible and make a nice dive to try and find them. You need to follow the groove where the 12 inch plate has been blown off. Just below, sticking out of the 10 inch armour plating are the guns. This route requires a good eye and enough bottom time

The Bow – The bow is still intact and makes a nice profile in the water

The Stern – The stern is beautifully curved and still has the two magnificent rudders standing proud in the water. Drop down the side of the wreck, keep the wreck on the right, pass the port holes and stay at about 35m. Round the curve of her beautiful bottom and swim up between the rudders.

We opt for the rudders as my buddy did the gun run last time. We follow the careful instructions down the side of the wreck and find the portholes. Maintaining our depth we follow the line of the hull and round the curve of her stern. The huge rudders are standing proud in front of us in the green gloom but are still impressive. We gradually shallow out following the curve of her underside up to the bottom of the hull at around 25 metres. The hull is covered with brittle stars and we watch the large star fish moving along and all the brittle stars moving hurriedly out of the way! We come back to find the shot and ascend slowly back to the surface.

Yay. I survived!

Lyness Museum

After lunch Emily drops us off at Lyness museum. The island is sheltered and the sun has come out so it makes a pleasant stroll. This is a lovely museum which is free (donations gratefully received) and has lots of artefacts covering the role of the area in both wars. Outside are some guns and a propeller from HMS Hampshire that have been recovered and the fencing is made out of submarine netting. There is information about the sinking of the Royal Oak with some interesting photos taken when she was last dived as part of the commemorations.

Our allotted time is up so we wander back to Huskyan to ready ourselves for the next dive.

F2 and YC21

Back aboard we make the very short hop across the water to the F2. It is very close to the Pier and some of the other dive boats have already been here as this is a very sheltered spot and Emily has been specifically saving it for a day like today.

The F2 is a second world war escorts vessel and sits in 18 metres of water on her port side. The area from the bow to the bridge is still intact and recognisable but aft of this the wreck is almost destroyed from blasting. Next to the wreck is a sunken barge that was used when salvaging the deck guns. The story is that they tied the barge to the wreck, loaded on the guns and then went ashore for the night only to find that a storm had pulled the barge under and sunk it!

Displacement 790 tons

Engine twin turbines and two propellers.

Length 76 metres

Top speed 26 knots

Deck Guns in the Barge Hold

Emily briefs us on the wrecks. She suggests starting on the wooden barge (YC21) to see the deck guns poking out of the hold. If you then stick your head under the deck you can see a work bench with a vice and some shelving. There is a rope that then leads you from the barge to the F2 so you can continue exploring.

The bow of the F2 is very curved and intact and there are anchor capstans and other bits and bobs to see. We did this dive two years ago and it was one of the best for viz and fish life so we are quite excited about diving it again.

We descend the line and the viz is similar to some of the inland dive lakes we normally frequent at weekends. Similar to homemade pea soup! The barge is already busy with divers so getting in to the hold is going to be tricky so I decide not to bother. The guns are visible and I try and take a couple of pictures but the water quality is such that it’s difficult to get a profile shot. We drop over the side of the wreck and admire the wooden hull that is slowly deteriorating and the massive bolts that hold it all together.

After circling the barge we come across the line that leads over to the F2 so we head over. There is lots of fish life on this wreck as it’s shallower than the others we have dived this week. We follow the deck line to the bow with its sweeping curve and then up over the side of the hull. Feeling chilly we find the line and ascend.

Large mugs of tea and warm ginger bread is waiting for us on our return.

Once everyone is back on board the shop opens. This is the lads’ opportunity to purchase something nice for their loved ones who have agreed to them being on holiday while they are left home alone. Emily has created WAG bags which contain an item of jewellery, some locally produced soap and fudge, all put together in a pretty gift bag. This gives the chaps the ability to buy something nice without leaving the dive boat and hopefully recoup some brownie points when they get home. Perfect!

We order our 1-pint tea mugs and I treat myself to a bracelet which is a very slender female diver – I can dream!

Shopping complete the conversation returns to tomorrow’s weather. There has been no weather miracle so diving is blown out. Emily agrees to recheck in the morning and call if anything changes but I get the impression that there is no chance of any change.

We decide that if we aren’t diving tomorrow we should go for a curry blow out so make plans to head in to Kirkwall for the evening.

Thursday 22nd October

Rough weather at Skara Brae

We are woken by the wind and rain battering at the windows. It doesn’t sound very nice out so we plan what to do. The consensus is to head over to Skara Brae, a Neolithic settlement which has been preserved underground for thousands of years and was exposed by a storm in 1850.

Walking to the car I am blown along by a huge gust of wind. Definitely not a day to be out in a boat The drive over to Skara Brae is exciting and when we get out of the car it’s a struggle to open the doors against the weather. We go in to pay to be told the village is closed due to the strong winds. Damn. The exhibition and replica house are still open and the ticket includes entry to Skaill House, home to the man who discovered Skara Brae, so we do this instead. There are lots of interactive displays to keep everyone amused and the replica house and talk is very informative. You get the feeling of how snug these buildings are on such a horrid day.

We head over to the Orkney Brewery for some lunch. Hot pot made with their dark ale followed by sticky toffee pudding is a winner and warms us through nicely. Last stop of the day is the Italian chapel which according to the guide book is open daily all year. It is on the next island which is connected via a Churchill Barrier built as part of the closing off of the flow and was constructed with the help of Italian POWs. The wind is gusting and the waves crashing over the road. A helpful sign warns of cross winds and wave action and another sign advises you that you use the road at your own risk! Hmmmm.

Italian Chapel

As we cross the calm water of the flow is to our left with the angry waves of the open ocean on our right. We cross steadily with wipers going until we reach the other side and the chapel is literally just off to the left.

We park the car sideways on to the wind. I can feel the wind getting underneath and trying to lift it so I re park the car so its head on to the wind hoping this will stop it being flipped. We rattle the chapel door only to find it locked. Damn.

We head back over the barrier and the waves crash over the car. It’s a little bit scary and I am pleased to reach the other side. It is mid-afternoon and the winds aren’t dropping. We check the forecast for Friday and it says it will be less windy so hopefully we will be able to dive.

Friday 23rd October

We wake to a much quieter morning. There is still a breeze and the water in the harbour is choppy but it’s business as usual on Huskyan and Emily is preparing for ropes off at 8.30 as normal.

SMS Konig

Emily has saved the Konig battleship until the end of the week as it is a more broken up wreck but it means you can see things you can’t on the other wrecks. She lays in 40 metres of water upside down with her hull at around 20 metres. Assuming the shot line is where it was before the windy weather we should drop down on the turbine which is massive. Emily shows a picture of her swimming into the hole in the centre of the turbine!

Citadel Wall – Konig

You also have the possibility of seeing the citadel wall that is exposed. This was made from 12-inch steel plate that is fitted together using tongue and groove. Amazing.

The base of one of the deck guns is also visible. It is a gigantic smooth hole where the gun used to sit. There is still a single rudder left which is standing proud of the stern but it is damaged which enables you to see the inner workings.

Displacement 25,388 tons

Engine 3 oil/coal fired turbines, her three propellers

Length 175 metres

Top speed 23 knots

The wind is dropping and the waves getting smaller. We jump in and descend the shot line hoping it is in the correct place. There are other divers milling about at the bottom of the shot so I miss the turbine but we easily find the citadel wall. We swim further along the wreckage until we get to the smooth hole for the gun and then try and make our way back to the shot as we haven’t much bottom time left.

Due to the quality of the briefing we manage to identify most of the things Emily has pointed out so we are happy divers as we ascend the line.

Lunch is a warming chilli followed by FAOC which is delicious. F* Awesome Orange Cake – I can confirm it was awesome!

The 3 people who are flying home tomorrow are keen to get back in the water. They are right on the cusp of whether they can squeeze in the last dive and still meet the no fly time limits so Emily begins the final briefing for this trip.

SMS Coln

Tripod Gun Mount – Coln

We all enjoyed the Coln earlier in the week so we have decided to make this our last dive of the holiday. Emily briefs us on the bow section that we haven’t dived this trip. We will get the opportunity to try and find the torpedo box, gun and torpedo tube which we didn’t get to last time. From there we need to drop down the deck and follow the wreckage and silt past the salvage damage until reaching the more intact bow. This needs bravery and you have to resist the urge to swim back to the ship deck otherwise you will get lost. You will be rewarded with brass triangles on the deck that supported the machine gun tripods and another bigger deck gun. Continue on to the bow to see the anchor still in place. If you have enough bottom time you can then head to the rudder. Tucked under the rudder is the propeller cone and then slowly up to peer in some holes to find the auxiliary steering gears.

Wow. A lot to see and so little bottom time…. we need to be on our toes (fins)!

We are last to jump in the water. As I reach back to take my camera I can see a black strap flapping in front of my eyes. I grab the camera with one hand, hold my mask with the other and swim for the shot and the help of my buddy. Mask firmly secured, camera clipped on we descend for our last dive at Scapa Flow.

Torpedo Tube – Coln

The viz is still really bad with lots of green stuff in the water. It is dark as we get to the wreck but we quickly orientate ourselves and head along the deck line to find the torpedo box. Tick. We cross down the deck to find the gun and torpedo tube and exactly as described I spy a white blob which is the end of the torpedo tube and my buddy spots the gun next to it. Tick.

Now the tricky bit. We want to get to the bow but need to negotiate all the salvage damage so follow the twisted metal and seabed in and out for a few minutes. We are trying to conserve bottom time so are as shallow as we dare be without losing sight of the sea bed. Finally, we come across the mast post and head into the wreck to see the big deck gun and the brass triangles. Tick. Round the bow to see the anchor and onwards, and slightly upwards, to see if we can find the right hole to look in to see the auxiliary steering. We fall at the final test and can’t find the right hole and we are down to 2 minutes bottom time so my buddy signals to deploy our SMB and slowly ascend.

A fantastic dive to finish the week on. Awesome!

With everyone back on board we set back to Stromness and start breaking down our kit and repacking our crates.

The shopping delivery has arrived and WAG bags, t-shirts and hoodies are handed out. Final bills are paid as the boat docks and the handy crane is used to lift everything back off the boat. The only thing left to do now is pack and go down the pub!

It has been a great week of diving and MV Huskyan is a brilliant boat to dive from. It’s a shame the viz has been a little poor but we still got to dive these impressive wrecks and with the help of Emily’s excellent, descriptive briefings we see all the key features.

Thanks to Emily, Ross, MV Huskyan and the OV team for a fantastic week of diving!

Scapa Map – The wrecks OV dived on this trip

Ocean View Adventures in Scapa Flow 2015 – Part 1

Posted on October 22, 2015

Saturday 17th October

After 2 days, 758 miles and an overnight stop in Inverness we finally arrive in Stromness. The journey has been good and we even saw dolphins on the ferry crossing from Scrabster to Stromness.

MV Huskyan

We collected the car, left the ferry and drove round to the quayside for our first look at MV Huskyan. We passed Radiant Queen (our dive boat in 2013) on the way and then saw the new boat…….

Awesome!

She is a VERY big boat.

Emily is waiting for us and we are invited on board to start loading our kit. The handy new crane is used to bring all the techy boys’ cylinders and stages on-board. Crates are lowered and spots on the dive deck chosen. We received a quick briefing on what goes where and which lockers are whose. The full briefing will happen in the morning but for now everything is tidied away and we can now go and settle into the accommodation for the week.

The house is very spacious and Emily has got in a few essentials for us to get us settled in. Room-mates are negotiated, bags unpacked so the only thing left to do is relax and find the pub! Which is actually conveniently located directly opposite the house. Perfect!

Sunday 18th October

We gather on the boat at 8.00 am to finish the last bits of faffing and allow those that flew in to set up their kit. At 8.30 sharp Emily gives us the full boat briefing, dive procedures and most importantly the codes for the post dive drinks order. TM – tea with milk, TMS – tea with milk and sugar! All very easy.

9.10 the ropes are cast off and we set out into the Flow………..

Dresden

Our first dive of the trip is the Dresden. She is a light cruiser launched in April 1917 and went into service in 1918.

Displacement 5,531 tons

Engine 2 coal/oil fired turbines

Length 153 metres

Top speed 28 knots

She was built very close to the end of the war when resources were scarce so was constructed on a bit of a shoe string – no brass or bronze here. She broke down en route to Scapa as a testament to the quality of her build. As a result though, there is very little salvage damage. When the hole was blown in her deck to retrieve the turbines the low quality was discovered and no further salvage was done.

She now rests on her port side at 34 metres and is slowly turning turtle. She is definitely more over than when we saw her 2 years ago.

Emily gives us our first history lesson/briefing. These have been further improved with the use of the Epic Pen! Which means Emily can annotate the wreck drawings and 3D images highlighting exactly what is where. Photographs are then used to show what you are looking for. This is all really useful stuff as the ships are so big, it’s a little dark and you have limited time!

We are to lookout for the deck peeling away from the hull exposing the deck beams, 5.9 inch deck guns and the ship’s crest on the bow.

Gun on the Karlsruhe

We dive as a group of 4 as we are the only recreational divers, mostly on single 15 litre cylinders, in the group, which is fine as the cold generally will finish our dives before lack of bottom time. We had a 30% mix so a reasonable stay at depth.

We descend the stern shot and when we hit about 10 metres someone turns the lights out! I don’t remember it being this dark before.

Every time I equalised my ears water ran in to my mask so when I finally find the wreck at 27 metres I can hardly see. I cleared my mask just for it to slowly refill again. Seeing my gauges and computer is a bit of a struggle so adds to the stress levels somewhat. A wriggle of the hood seems to sort the mask out so I settle into the dive a bit more but not enough to use my camera.

We follow the edge of the wreck which is covered in life. We see the large railings of the bridge and then come to where the deck is peeling away showing all the deck beams like ribs. We reach the bow shot with 80 bar so decide to swim forward a little more to see if we can find the crest. The silt has been kicked up a bit so we may well have passed over the crest but it wasn’t visible to us.

We see crabs, wrasse, velvet swimming crabs, loads of star fish of all shapes and sizes and a sea scorpion sitting perfectly still on the hull. A very nice first dive but a little on the dark side.

Lunch!

Everyone safely back on board, lunch is served. It is pasta which is scrumptious and warming followed by ice cream. Baskets of various decorations and sauces are produced so we can create our own toppings. A bit like being a kid again! Yum.

During our surface interval Emily shouts from the wheel house “WHALE”……… we all run up to the bow to see. We wait patiently and sure enough, in the distance there is a spurt of water and then a dorsal fin…… we think it was a minke whale.

Karlsruhe

Our second dive of the day is the Karlsruhe which is another light cruiser. She was launched in 1916 and built to a higher spec than the Dresden. She lays on her starboard side in 28 metres of water on a slight slope. She is very broken up from the salvage of her engine turbines, condensers, the brass bridge and the cast bronze torpedo tubes.

Displacement 5,354

Engine 2 coal/oil fired turbines

Top speed 28 knots

Length 150.8 metres

During the briefing Emily shares more information about the salvaging of the ships and points out the areas of interest. 5.9 inch guns, anchor capstan and the conning tower. She draws on the maps her suggested route and what to look out for……. fabulous.

We descend the line in our buddy two for this dive. The viz is much better and you could make out the dark shape of the wreck as you descended. I decide to try and get some pictures on this dive. The use of the strobe is still new to me so hopefully by the end of the week I should have some half decent pictures.

Capstan on the Karlsruhe

We see the 3 deck guns and one of the brass plates has been rubbed clean so it shines. We pass round the conning tower, pass the lifeboat davits on the sea bed and along to the capstans. Again we see loads of star fish, crabs, and lots of fish life.

A lovely dive and a great first day.

Monday 19th October 2015

We gather promptly at 8.00 again ready for ropes off at 8.30. There is a slight breeze today so not the flat calm waters we enjoyed yesterday but the Huskyan is still a very smooth sail. It was easy to forget you were on a boat as it’s so spacious and comfortable.

There is some debate on what to dive. The Kronprinz is an option or the Coln. The decider is that the Valkyrie dive boat has got to the Kronprinz first so we decide to dive the Coln.

SMS Coln

The Coln is a light cruiser launched in October 1916. She lays in 35 metres of water on her starboard side, her topside at 20 metres with her bow tip clear of the sea bed. She is still in relatively good condition and has an almost complete range finder still in place on the conning tower.

Displacement 5,531

Engine 2 sets of coal/oil fired turbines and twin propellers

Length 155.5 metres

Top Speed 29 knots

Emily once again gives us a very comprehensive briefing. The shot line is tied around a piece of the bridge mid ship and the recommendation is to head to the bow. Following the centre line of the deck there is the bridge structure, conning tower, two gun mounts left after the guns were salvaged, anchor capstans, the hawse chain hole and then over the top to follow the line of the deck back to the shot. If you have enough time and air then forward of the shot is the torpedo box (the only complete one left in Scapa) and diagonally down from there is a smallish gun.

Gun Mounts – Coln

We descend the line in our buddy 2 again and the viz is good. The Coln is a lovely wreck which I enjoyed very much last time we were here. We follow the briefing instructions and head along the centre line of the ship keeping the deck on our left shoulder. The conning tower is huge! The gap between the range finder and the tower top is quite small so having seen the photos during the briefing really helps us identify what we were looking at. The ship is covered in brittle stars….. Everywhere seems to wriggle and writhe with legs, shoals of fish, anemones and more starfish….. Lots of life on these monsters of destruction!

Back aboard another fantastic feast is waiting. Jacket spud, beans and cheese. My favourite! Pudding today is warm ginger cake which is gorgeous.

Warmed up and refuelled we headed to Burra Sound to see one of the block ships. These ships were sunk on purpose to block some of the entrances and exits to Scapa Flow. The main entrances were blocked with chain link metal curtains pulled across by boats but the small gaps were filled with sunken boats or had roads built between them to close the gaps.

Gobernador Bories

We would be diving Gobernador Bories wich was a 2,332 ton steamer that worked as a whaling ship in Chile, Argentina and the Falklands. She was bought by the British Admiralty to sink at Scapa Flow but this didn’t run smoothly and she sank in the wrong place. She now lies on her port side between 13 – 17 metres.

We have to wait for slack water as this area is tidal and we have strict instructions to be ready to jump at 1.55. We could have anything up to an hour in the water before the current starts to run again back out to the Atlantic. The briefing is brief as this is only a small, broken up wreck sitting at about 16 metres but the viz should be excellent. There will be kelp, lots of fish and an intact propeller.

We busy ourselves with kitting up and are obediently ready at 1.55, sitting at on the benches waiting for orders.

Fighting Butterfish

Finally, the signal to jump is given and we drop in to the water, swim for the shot and descend. You can see the sea bed coming into view quite quickly and the green clears to beautiful clear water. The wreck structure is visible but very broken up and there is plenty of fish and crabs. The water feels definitely cooler than this morning. A chilly 11 degrees. Brrrrrr.

We swim slowly towards the stern, picking our way through the kelp, watching the fish and crabs going about their business. I spy 2 butterfish having a fight, trying to bite lumps out of each other. The current is starting to pick up so we peer round the stern to see the propeller and rudder and then retrace our fin kicks to the bow.

Cold getting the better of us we inflate the SMB and gradually make our way to the surface.

A huge mug of tea and cheesy puffs are waiting for us and we then head back to Stromness.

Tuesday 20th October

Kronprinz Wilhelm

Today we will start with the Kronprinz Wilhelm

Displacement 25,388 tons

Engine 46,000 horsepower turbines, 3 propellers

Length 175 metres

Top Speed 23 knots

The Kronprinz was a Konig class battleship and sits virtually upturned on the sea bed, resting on her starboard deck at about 38 metres. Her super structure is buried in the seabed but there is a lip that can be swum under to see two of the 10 inch guns, upside down on the sea bed. They are huge. It took 75 men to operate one of these guns and the shells were nearly a ton in weight.

Emily clearly explains the layout and how to find the guns – just follow the shot all the way to the seabed. Head towards the stern and you will find the huge rudders sticking up. There is a lot of salvage damage. The engines, the 5 torpedo tubes and the armoured plating from along the hull edge have all been blown off the ship. So once passed the rudders bear right to follow the line of the hull up to about 15 metres to avoid getting lost in the salvage damage.

Life on the Karlsruhe

I’m sure I we can manage that!

We wait patiently for the techy boys to kit up, clip on their different stages and jump in the water. The boat circles round again and we jump in the water. As instructed we follow the line all the way down, past where it is tied into the wreck down towards the sea bed. We peer under the lip and can see the metal sides of the guns. Another diver is heading towards me and as I turn I realise I have inadvertently swum under the lip down the side of the ship. Eek. It is dark and the viz not at its best so making out what is what is a little tricky even after a fantastic briefing.

We follow the deck line to the stern and are greeted by the huge rudders. Aahh, I remember these! They are still just as impressive even in the limited light that we have. We swim between these huge structures up on to the hull which is covered in white plumose anemones and allows us to shallow out the dive to about 18 metres to properly enjoy the white carpet beneath us. Starting to feeling cold we send up the SMB after 30 minutes and slowly ascend.

Lunch today is a lovely beef curry followed by a choice of banana cake or lemon drizzle cake. Yum. Weight will need to be removed from my BC at this rate!

Brummer

Displacement 4,308 tons

Engine twin turbine

Length 139 metres

Top Speed 34 knots

The Brummer was a fast mine layer launched in 1915. As a mine layer she was constructed longer, thinner and lighter than the cruisers and could carry 360 mines. The mines were rolled off the back of the ship in trolleys which became the mine’s anchor and the mine itself would then float up and become operational. She was armed but not as heavily as the other ships as she was never intended to be in the thick of fighting. More a nip in, drop mines, nip out kinda boat. She was also a sneaky ship with a mast that could be lowered to mimic the silhouette of the Aurora, a British ship – I remember this from the briefing 2 years ago.

Her lighter construction means she has deteriorated more than some of the other wrecks. She now rests on her starboard side at 36m with the side of her hull at 24m. The deck is slowly peeling away and only held in place by the capstans on the bow. The key things to look out for are a deck gun, the bridge structure, the conning tower upside down on the sea bed and an iris from the large flash lights used to open and close the light for signalling – I also remember we found this by chance last time.

Life on the Karlsruhe

We kit up and wait patiently again for the techy boys to attach all their bits and bobs. I sit marvelling at the amount of kit one diver can carry and pondered whether it is worth all that extra faff. Finally it is our buddy 3’s turn and we wait for the shout to giant stride in to the water. Splash. Splash. Splash….. Followed by furious paddling back again to collect my camera being passed down to me. By the time I get to the shot line I am out of puff.

We are a buddy three as another buddy pair had a couple of problems with their ascents on the last dive so one of our divers is taking a well-earned rest. We descend the line slowly, stopping to check our new buddy’s cuff dump is now working correctly and then continue down the line.

Dark, dark, dark!

We are about 1.5 – 2 metres above the wreck before we can see it. We can see the techy boys’ torches flicking around below us. We follow the deck line with the wreck on our right looking for the gun. Fin. Fin. Fin. We must have missed it. Eventually we turn back towards the shot and the bridge structure. Just as we are getting low on bottom time the iris comes in to view. I try to take a couple of rushed pictures and then we head up trying to shallow the dive. The edge of the deck is at about 25 metres so didn’t help overly with buying back some bottom time. We hit 2 mins remaining so signal to ascend.

Post dive snacks!

Back on board there is cheese and biscuits waiting with some rather tasty local cheeses.

As we sail back to Stromness the conversation turns to the weather. We are due to have some bad weather but the forecast keeps moving when it will arrive. It is now looking like Thursday could be at risk from the weather gods. Emily says she will keep us informed as things can change very quickly up here.

We will have to wait and see……

Oceanview – Going Deep, DEEP, South….. (Deep South Borderlands – Part 2)

Posted on August 9, 2015

Tuesday

We sailed back north towards the St. John’s area for our fourth day of diving – fourth day already…. Only 1 more full day of diving left…… Where has the week gone?!……
Our first dive is Gota Kabir aka Big Gota. The wind has picked up a little so there are some waves and the boat is swaying at its moorings. Big Gotta is a reef with a small plateau which has some coral blocks on it. Either side there are sheer walls with a couple of cracks in the coral that apparently form great swim throughs. We are briefed on the dive plan, what to look out for, and importantly, the swim through one way system! It all sounds lovely!

My buddy has more camera related exercises to complete on this dive so I can also practice with mine. We are jumping in group 2 today so plenty of time to get ready.

We giant stride into the water and our gangly legged cameras are passed down….. Ok, down. We descend on the reef wall and the visibility is amazing…. The best so far this week…. It must be 20 – 30m……. We amble along the wall admiring the beautiful colours of the soft corals and the abundant fish life. Today’s exercises require a model and I am the slightly unwilling volunteer….. Click, click, click….. Twiddle shutter speed, adjust aperture, click, flash…..(Hurry up!)….

One of the dive guides passes by leading a group back to the boat and gives me a long description in sign language which I guess as being ‘baby sharks, sleeping, under ledge, that way’……. But we are nearly at half time so need to turn…….

We surface dot on 60 mins with big smiles on our faces……What a gorgeous dive!

The breakfast bell rings almost immediately (the down side of being second group and last out) so we rush to dry so we can tuck in to yet more eggs.

After a short sail we arrive at Umm Orouk which is a site made up of lots of pinnacles of different sizes. They make a kind of pinnacle forest that when you swim through you can get disoriented and a little bit lost!

The briefing explains to zig zag through the pinnacles and then head over to the reef returning to the boat with reef on right. Simples!

More camera skills and drills so I am free to paddle about slowly with my camera and admire the scenery……. This is an amazing dive site….. Huge pinnacles relatively close together that you can weave in and out and round and round. Some are quite close together which need good buoyancy, some are small so you can swim over them, round and round….. We click and snap until it is time for the safety stop……where is the boat? Fortunately one of the group has taken a bearing so we duly follow completing our safety stop on the way.

Another amazing dive which I would happily do all over again right now!
The journey ever Northwards continues after lunch and we arrive at St John’s Caves after a fairly short motor…….

The one we have been waiting for!

St. John’s Caves (Um Kharadhim) – is a number of inter interlocking pinnacles which when drawn on the dive plan resembles Lego blocks. There is room between the blocks to swim but because some are so close together give the impression of a cave (but without being a proper overhead environment). This is a shallowish dive so should be really relaxing.

The dive guide describes this as an exciting opportunity to explore so we choose to brave the labyrinth by ourselves and head off through the big opening in the reef wall. The light streams through the cracks between the reef and you can see the surface rippling in the sun light….. Really, really pretty.

We try taking some creative shots capturing the blue of the water and the sun’s rays breaking through the surface with mixed success and pootle about viewing the marine life.

As we emerge from the reef we pass another small group heading in the opposite direction asking for directions to the boat…… I signal the way we are heading but they are not convinced so carry on following their current course.

We paddle on and emerge into the blue through clouds of tiny fish. A quick check on the compass and we head south, as per the briefing, with reef on the left…. A little further on the ‘lost’ group re appear and follow on behind us.

As we near the boat there are a number of divers below watching a Napoleon Wrasse. It is huge and attracting quite a crowd!

The whole dive is AWESOME!

We continue sailing further north and there is some doubt on whether there will be a night dive today. We lounge around the deck nattering and napping, generally enjoying the sunshine and the welcome breeze. Finally the confirmation of the night dive arrives and it will be at Sarnka Island.

After cruising for a while a sandy Island comes into view with lots of bird life flying about. You can see the reef from the surface. This would be a good location for my first night dive of the holiday and my first night dive with a camera!

How exciting!
Just by the boat there are a number of coral blocks and then the edge of the reef. You can navigate reef on left or right so all nice and simple. My buddy offers to be spotter and we giant stride in to the dark water. We opt for reef on left and find a nice coral block to explore.

One of the things they don’t teach you on the camera course is how to have more than one pair of hands….. I have my torch strapped to one hand as normal and then trying to hold the camera with both hands. This means the torch beam is shining diagonally across my picture, hmmm. What’s my depth, hmmm, I need to shine the torch on my computer to see…… This isn’t working very well…. I manage to work out how to get the spotting light on the strobe to stay on so the torch is now only needed for reading my computer…. Oh, and signals…… Definitely need to review my set up for night diving……

I get into a rhythm of dangling the torch when it’s not needed and start trying to take photos of tiny things that hide in crevices and seem not to like bright light. We slowly bimble around seeing banded shrimps, squat lobsters, basket stars and even a snake eel slithering across the reef. The site is big enough for everyone to have their own little area so you aren’t blinded by other divers or bathed in torch light so it appears like more of a day dive.

We surface after 45 mins after a beautiful dive with plenty of things to see. Others have seen rays and even a Spanish Dancer…… Damn. I so want to see one of those……

The dinner bell is chiming so we race to shower and get cleaned up ready to refuel. The crew are busying themselves preparing to sail again whilst we eat. Over dinner the guides break the news about the morning wake up time. 5.00am…ahhhh ….. But we are on holiday……..we need to sail further north so the deal is to split the sailing up so that we don’t have to travel through the night….. The trade off is the early start so we can cover the miles but still squeeze in four dives.
One last drink on the deck before bed and one of the OV crew brings along his copy of Viz to amuse us with excerpts….. I didn’t realise they still printed it!

Wednesday
The knock at the door comes at 5.20am, they forgot to knock on our door! Yay, and an extra 20 mins sleep!
We are moored up next to another shallow reef. This is Malahi in the Fury Shoals area. The dive map shows another Lego brick reef system similar to St John’s Wood so is another opportunity to explore.

We are the first group today so we kit up and jump in the warm water so we can get into the passageways before the crowd. The reef is a little bit broken up but the lighting through the swim throughs is beautiful, cue more arty photos! We turn left and right and eventually emerge out of the reef into the blue. The current has picked up a little but fortunately in our favour so we drift gently along the outer reef wall through shoals of fish, expanding and contracting in the sun light.

Once everyone is back on board we set sail heading further north and we can for the first time in days see other boats on the horizon. We are getting closer to civilisation and the dreaded end of the holiday…… I can’t believe tomorrow is kit washing day.
Phone reception is also back so I’d better text home to advise that we haven’t been captured by pirates!

Our next dive will be earlier than normal and the briefing will be at about 9.15 so that we can continue the trek back towards Port Ghalib.

The next dive is Small Abu Galawa which is one of Scuba Girls favourite sites. The reef has a large crack in the middle which you can swim through, there is a tiny wreck and some pinnacles – something for everyone! The highlight for me though is a red bubble anemone over on the far side of the little reef.

We discuss our dive plan and we are on mission ‘red anemone’! We are not interested in the little wreck so we head straight along the crack in the reef to the site of the anemone. My buddy spots it first and I settle on the sandy bottom (avoiding any marine life) and attempt to capture the perfect image….. Click, click, flash, click……. Ok I give up. The fish keep moving, my strobe isn’t firing and there is now a small queue of photographers forming behind me.

We swim round a little and gradually head back the way we have come. We give the Titan Trigger fish a wide berth and gradually shallow out to exit the crack. Between us and the boat is a pinnacle at the perfect height for a safety stop so we circle round admiring the coral and marine life.

I have to agree this is a fantastic site!

Back on board I get ready for lunch. Feeling a bit hungry and then notice the time is only 11:00……. The early start has had a knock on effect to the usual flow of the day!
The lunch bell is finally rung and the locusts descend on the food…… It seems that everyone is hungry today!

We sail further north and land starts to be visible. There are fishing boats dotted around the reefs. We sail for about 3hrs so it gives plenty of time for more snoozing and photo reviewing and editing. The pictures are getting a bit better even if I say so myself!

We arrive at Sheleniat for the afternoon and night dive. It’s an easy briefing – jump off the back of the boat, reef on right, turn at half time/half tank, reef on left……… Easy peasy!
We giant stride into the water and gradually descend to the sandy bottom which is littered with coral blocks. The fish life is good and as we swim slowly along we see a large Napoleon wrasse mooching about. The sandy area seems to be home to lots of baby fish, goat fish that are a quarter of the size you normally see. Jacks are hunting so the peace and calm is occasionally interrupted as a Jack charges at a shoal of fish sending them scattering. We pass a large group of Masked Puffer fish, 6 or 7 – I have never see so many all in one place.

We turn after 30 minutes and head slowly back up along the reef admiring the hard corals and the reflection of the reef in the water surface. A lovely amble along, not bucket loads to see but a restful, chilled out dive.

Only an hour or so to kill until the night dive so we lounge around eating, cake, popcorn and crisps!

I have a new buddy for this dive. A newbie night diver so we plan for a bimble on the coral blocks under the boat. Everyone else heads over to the reef wall so we have the blocks almost to ourselves. Perfect!

We bimble around the rocks shining our torches in lots of nooks and crannies looking for shrimps and crabs. As I shine my torch across the sandy bottom a huge moray eel swims past. I wave my torch frantically under my buddy to get their attention….. Wow!

We turn a little to the left and there is another free swimming moray weaving in and out of the blocks hunting for its tea……Double Wow! If there are morays there must be Banded Shrimps about so we set off searching and find one hiding in a small crevice.

A lovely night dive and hopefully a new keen night diver too!

As this is the last night on the boat before we get back to port it is always a special night and chef pulls out all the stops with a massive roast turkey and more trimmings than there is room for on the table. We have been sailing for a large part of the day, rocking and swaying on the waves, and the chef has cooked up a fabulous treat! Amazing!

The other great thing about tonight is that it’s ladies first…….. We get the pick of the best bits while the lads have to sit and wait!

Whilst eating, the briefing for tomorrow, our last day (sniff), is given. We are trying for Elphinston….. Depending on the weather……. It’s supposed to get windy tomorrow so it may not be possible. Everything is crossed.

We set sail after dinner and sail through the night to a sheltered mooring ready for, hopefully, a short hop to Elphinston in the morning

Thursday

The knock at the door comes at 5.30 and we are already moored up at a good spot on the south of Elphinston reef. The winds haven’t arrived yet, phew!

The briefing gives two options:

Rib ride to the north of the reef to look for sharks
Giant stride off the back of the boat for a small pootle round.

My buddy’s back is still delicate so a rib ride probably isn’t the best idea so we choose option 2.
We watch the rest of the group kit up, safely negotiate the rib entry and then speed off to the northern point of the reef….. I hope they see sharks…….
There are a few others that choose option 2 as well so we giant stride into the water, follow the surface line to the reef and then drop down to the southern plateau. There’s no current and we meander down the reef to 28 metres. I am keeping half an eye on the blue just in case, you never know! I then notice a turtle heading up the side of the reef making a break for the surface and a breath of air. I try to signal to my buddy but he has his head buried in the reef taking pictures. I take a quick snap just for proof…

The visibility is brilliant again and we gently fin along the reef wall watching the fish and looking for nudibranchs…… I find a Phyllidia Elegans nudibranch hiding under a ledge and a Freckled Hawkfish that is happy to pose for photos.

A couple of other divers pass us but apart from that we have the reef to ourselves. What a lovely penultimate dive. We swim back to the boat to see a rib full of tankless divers jump into the water and swim for the ladder. We wait patiently and then ascend ready for breakfast.

The briefing at breakfast is long covering bill paying, tipping, kit washing, feedback forms, collecting passports… Phew loads to remember.

After breakfast we duly follow our instructions and complete all the admin tasks. While this is going on our OV leader shares the video he has been creating of the team, crew and holiday highlights….. Lots of giggles and a lovely summary of the trip (available here).

After sailing for over an hour we finally reach our last dive site of the holiday which is Marsa Shouna. The sandy bay is already full of day boats loaded with snorkelers. There is lots of splashing and screaming coming from the water as some people are clearly on their first ever snorkel. The Dugong is obviously not about as there aren’t loads of boats zipping about frantically chasing something which is good to see.

We have decided to finish the navigation course that we started last year. I still need to complete the 5 point navigation exercise. Last year I seemed to get in a right pickle with it and abandoned the task. I remind myself of the use of a compass and walk around on the deck navigating the 5 points. I think I can remember this all now!

The briefing gives us a number of options:

1) try the sea grass and look for Dugongs, Turtles and Guitar Rays,

2) head to the reef and see the ‘usual Red Sea life’,

3) swim around all over until you get lost and then put up your SMB.
A new species of fish can apparently been seen here too – a bikini fish! As this is our last dive we have been granted 75 minutes….. Woo hoo!
We jump in the water and I find a rock to signify my start (and hopefully end) point. I set off with compass in hand (strapped to my arm as per the PADI book of course!) 0, 10 fin kicks, turn to 60, 10 more fin kicks, 120, 180, 240, 300…… Yay. Back to my rock! Job done! After a congratulatory handshake from my instructor we crack on with the final dive……

We initially head over to the grassy area but the vis is rubbish, it’s quite deep too so we head back over to the reef instead. We shallow out to make sure our air lasts the full 75 minutes and scour the rocks looking at the marine life. As well as the ‘usual reef life’ we are entertained by passing discover scuba divers being dragged round the reef by their tank valves too.
There is a noise similar to what I imagine a drowning duck would make…. Honk, quack, honk….. Ahead is another group of divers rushing over to their guide who has spotted a turtle!

We saunter over casually and the turtle is ushered our way allowing my fellow buddies to take a few close up shots!

DSCF8827 After 45 mins we turn around and navigate back to the boat. We count the mooring lines and turn left in to the ‘blue’ when we get to the second set. The vis is awful and reminds me of one of our favourite inland dive sites in the UK. You can’t see the boat let alone the flag under it so we have to trust the compass and eventually we see the familiar white flag rippling under the boat.

72 minutes! We could have hung out under the boat for the extract 3 but with nothing to see we didn’t bother. As we surface and head up the ladder the kit washing commotion is already underway. Divers and kit are scattered all around and we pick our way back to our spot for the final time.

My buddy’s back is still delicate so I offer to wash the kit and hang it out to dry.

It is only a short sail back to Port Ghalib from here via the petrol station so we settle down on the back deck to enjoy the last few hours of our holiday. As soon as the boat is moored there is a hive of activity as the crew start to prepare the boat for the next guests. Supplies are thrown on and empties thrown off… we create a little line to help on-board the fresh supply of soft drinks.

We have opted to eat out tonight and generally stretch our legs so once the shopping has been delivered we head out. Port Ghalib is a pretty port and a nicer spot to moor up than in Hurghada. We find a restaurant and settle down for a bit of people watching and reflect on an amazing week!

Back on board the traditional last night ceremony of emptying the duty free bottles begins, followed by various dancing and agility demonstrations! Thank goodness it’s not an early start in the morning!

Friday arrives all too soon and we gather for the final group photo, collect up our bags, say our goodbyes and board the coach heading further north, back to Hurghada and then home……..
As always the guides and crew on the boat have done everything to make our trip an enjoyable and memorable one. Thank you!
Yet another great OV holiday!
Only 68 more days to our next club dive trip……. North east coast of Scotland to Scapa Flow but I’m doubtful we will have 30 degree water with 30 metre plus vis but it too will be EPIC………..
group photo