Getting closer to a return to Scapa Flow. June 28, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : General, UK diving, Wreck Diving , add a commentSorting through my blog this evening, I had the opportunity to read back through the Scapa thread from last year on YD and remembered what a good craic we had up there last year. I’ve added all my dive reports to this blog now, they all appear in August 2005 Archive
Reading back through the dives again has wetted my appetite for returning and made me think what is on my to do list for the “Go with the Flow” YD gig this year.
- Having a look past the guns underneath Billy 38 - (of course finding them again first)
- The ladder on Dresden
- Staying with my buddy to explore the Koln this year
- Exploring more of the bow section of F2
- Explore some of those salvage holes on the Konig.
This should be a really excellent week again. Can’t wait.
Diving the Ashford 100 Years since she sank June 26, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving , 3comments7.30am ropes off from Brighton Marina…… ouch that meant a very early start. I rolled out of bed at 5am and dragged myself into the car. The sunny, clear morning cheered me up and I headed off down the south coast to Brighton. I pulled into the marina at 6.45am but had no idea where I was going, then I saw a couple of vehicles I recognised from other divers on the trip and made my way round to park.
By 7am I was all packed onto the boat, Nauticat and parked the car in the main car park. Unfortunately Nauticat was suffering with a busted engine, hence the earlier start so we had a nice leisurely pootle out to the mark. Steve the Skipper and proprietor of Channel Diving is an excellent chap who was very laid back on the whole day. This was my first time on board Nauticat and even with the flaggin engine I was impressed. Excellent kitting up benches with lots of space on them and around them meant that it swallowed the kit for 12 twinset/Rebreather divers with plenty of room to move around. A large canopy above the main deck kept us sheltered from the wind and the sun. We were onsite for 9am and our inwater time was 9.30am. (more…)
Selsey Lifeboat Station Shore Dive June 21, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Shore Diving , 3commentsIt is always a delicate balancing act planning dives together for Lisa and I. Having four children under 6 means that we have to get creative with the way we book our dives and sort out the babysitting duties. So an early evening dive on a neaps weekend was a good bet for us. Originally we had planned to dive Pulpit Rock from Julian Whytes shuttle rib in Portland at 6.30pm which would have been almost perfect timing for spending the day with the kids and then getting them ready for bed. (more…)
Pictures from the Crater June 5, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Pictures, Scuba diving abroad , 1 comment so farMany thanks to Ralph from the Homestead Resort Crater dive centre who not only lent me his camera but also emailed through this weekend the pictures that I took while we diving .
I was struck by the way the light streamed through the narrow opening at the top of the crater creating a pillar of light in the water column. Unfortunately my photographic skills don’t do it justice but here we go anyway.
We also got a small video clip to go with it.
Diving in the Rocky Mountains - The Crater June 2, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, Scuba diving abroad , 2commentsOur family holiday this year was a return to Utah to visit with family and friends some of whom we had not seen for 5 years and so didn’t know the children at all. We had figured this would be a no-dive holiday as hey we were going to the desert and the rocky mountains. So first tip for the scuba addict is always check the internet before you go. If I had then I would have found Utahdiving.com. which tells you there is diving to be done in Utah. Once over in Utah though we were told about The Crater, a hot spring crater formed over 10,000 years by the snow meltwater from the Wasatch Mountains which had seeped deep into the earth. Two miles below the surface, the earth’s interior heated the water and sent it skyward. As it percolated upward, it picked up minerals and they eventually formed the beehive shaped limestone deposit called the Homestead Crater. The result a 20m deep pool of 34deg C clear water which replenishes itself every 3 days.
After our trip to the water park on Friday was canned due to it not opening till Memorial day weekend we decided lets go diving. We packed ourselves in the car at Salt Lake City and headed up the Parley Canyon to Heber City and Midway to the Homestead Resort. (more…)
