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North, South, East and West
By Helen Hadley on 5 October 2008
Every dive is special
It’s an hour or so of my life in which nothing above the water matters, a time where I get to see animals and places few others do. Time out from life.
This is an account of four of my dives, my most northerly in Orkney, Southerly in Malta, Easterly on wrecks close to the river Tyne and Westerly off the west coast of Scotland. All of these dives were fantastic, the images fresh as if I had surfaced minutes ago, salt still drying on my skin.
Most Northerly Dive
Tommelina, Noup Head, Westray, Orkney
Slowly the boat made its way to the site, terns wheeled overhead the white stained cliffs testament to the incredible diversity of the site, both above and below the water. A small group of low rocky islands close to the headland was our destination, the warm sun on our backs.
The cry to kit up stirred us into activity and soon we entered the cool Orcadian water and descended down into the clear depths. The visibility was stunning, easily 15m of the palest vibrant green water. We passed along the rocky bottom, boulders worn smooth, here the sea took no prisoners.
We drop down into the gully, dark sheer walls close in and the stern of the wreck appears. She sits upright, with the deepest point being around 25m. Remarkably intact, protected from the full wrath of the sea by the islands, the wreck of the trawler has open holds, its propeller still attached and the porcelain toilet still in place. Glass remains in the portholes.
The vessel is a tight fit in the gully, with no space either side of her wide enough to admit a diver. There is no need for torches as the natural light is fantastic, and we penetrate deep into the holds, our confidence buoyed by the conditions.
All too soon we leave the wreck to slumber on, and head back south out of the gully and onto the reef, where lobsters, crabs and large friendly wrasse visit us as we pass through their world. We surface in the golden late afternoon sunlight, knowing that we were lucky to see the wreck and incredibly privileged to get such good conditions.
Most Easterly Dive
Oslofjord/Eugena Chandris, Just south of the Tyne Harbour wall
The Oslofjord is the largest ship ever to be wrecked on the east coast of the UK, a wartime wreck she has been heavily salvaged and little remains of the superstructure. The Eugena Chandris is a much smaller wreck, which lies on top of the Oslofjord and was carrying munitions, which now lie scattered over the seabed.
The rusted plates jut out from the coarse sandy bottom, dark recesses below them populated by common shrimp scouring out burrows and guarding them from intruders. Velvet swimming crabs look out from their holes, red eyes suspiciously following your every move, the deep green of their shells contrasting with the red rust of the plates.
Soon the bottom becomes littered with bullets, live, some still packed in wooden boxes smothered in grease. The brass cases dulled by the years in seawater, but unmistakable all the same.
I shine my torch between the plates and spot red poking out of the ochre sands, I reach in and pull out a sign with Norwegian writing on it, presumably from a door or locker, I am yet to find out what it means, but it is stowed in a pocket for further examination on the boat.
Black and white tiles show through the shifting sands, the galley floor is emerging into the light, the pounding waves of winter shifting the sands to cover and expose areas of the immense site.
We surface to find the wind has whipped the sea into a chop, and I know the long ride home 15 miles up the coast will be an unpleasant one.
Most Southerly Dive
Wied-iz-Zurrieq, Malta
I enter the silent world from the bustle of the tourist area of the steps, the relief is huge, my drysuit is uncomfortably hot in the Mediterranean sun. I signal ok to the guys onshore and head out alone, my first ever solo dive.
I follow the 5m contour out of the crowded bay, I can see other divers below me decompressing, their clouds of bubbles shimmering through the clear waters to the surface. I slow my pace, the true sense of freedom becomes apparent, I am alone except for the fish. A shoal of small orange fish swirl under an overhang, afraid of the light.
I head out, over the boulder slope and down to around 10m, where I follow the gentle curve of the headland south. Suddenly I spot movement below me among the weed, an enormous sea hare is feeding, its deep maroon mottled body almost perfectly camouflaged amongst the weeds. I hover above it and observe its gentle swaying movements in the slow rhythmic swell.
Soon I move on, and find a large boulder devoid of life. Here I make myself negatively buoyant and simply watch the fish for 10 minutes, observing their continual darting in and out of safety when a sufficiently tempting morsel of food passes them by. Soon I feel I should head back, and after 45 minutes I leave the fantastic freedom which is solo diving.
Most Westerly Dive
Bo Fascadale, Western Scotland. The sea was flat calm, the kind of calm you rarely get, where the surface is mirror flat, not even a ripple. The bow of the boat cuts through the calm, the engines and the distant call of birds the only sound. A fantastic dive awaits us and we know it. Quiet anticipation is palpable in the air, kit is checked and re-checked. No-one is surfacing until they absolutely have to.
Bo Fascadale rises from the sea bed far below us at 80m and beyond to just below the surface. This outstanding natural feature has been populated by sealife of all types and is simply breathtaking to behold. We enter the water and swim to the edge of the plateau and descend, rock faces varying in size from a few meters to well beyond the reach of our vision pass us by, boulders festooned with life loom and slowly pass.
We level out at 40m and head anti-clockwise around the stack, even at this depth there is still plenty of life, the glaring orange bodies of squat lobsters shoot back into their burrows at the sight of these alien invaders. Anemones grow to huge sizes down at this depth, their pastel pink feeding arms sensitive to the touch recoil in defence if you brush them. Looking up the thousands of tiny fish venture as far as they dare from the protective sanctuary of the rock, their dark silhouettes betraying their presence against the pale green of the water. Lobsters in their scours back away from the intruders, curiosity eventually getting the better of them and they slowly emerge, their long amber antennae cautiously feeling for movement. Kelp shrouds the upper reaches of the stack, with many species of nudibranch visible between the fronds, the sheer richness and complexity of the environment allowing them to flourish unhindered.
After an hour we reluctantly surface, to blazing sunshine and the same eerie stillness we left. A fantastic dive.
Related information
* The Tommelina can be reached by boat only. Westray is very remote, and the best way to do this is on a liveaboard such as the Jean Elaine , run by Andy Cuthbertson. * The wrecks of the Oslofjord and Eugena Chandris can dived using Deep Blue in Tynemouth who run their own RIB out of the Tyne. * Malta can be dived year round, with operators such as Maltaqua or Strand Diving running guided dives. TD does not reccomend solo diving to anyone, anywhere, anytime. * Bo Fascadale is accessable by using established charter vessels such as those running from Lochaline, the Brendan and the Peregrine, in the Sound of Mull.Contact
Author: Helen Hadley
Email: info@travel-dive.com
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