Back in Dover - SS Cuvier March 3, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , 1 comment so far
The weather so far this year has canned a couple of dives for me, last Saturday while the family were scattered in Scotland and Devon I decided I would take the opportunity and sneek a dive in Brighton, but alas the weather put paid to that. All the opportunities to dive in January as well were canned. So when the metoffice inshore forecast read Force 4/5 up to 6 West becoming Cyclonic Force 8 I wasn’t hopefull. But at 6pm on Thursday the skipper declared the dive was on, the forecasts showed a break in the weather up to about 6pm on Friday and we were going to take it…….. (more…)
Dover First Timer -Andaman 54m October 19, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , 1 comment so farIt’s been a very dry couple of months recently due to moving house and all that entails and then there is the weather! The last couple of weeks have not been good for getting out diving. I was due to break my Dover duck back at the beginning of the month by diving the Genemar, but the weather put paid to that but thankfully Paul Oliver put up another Dover outing this time to do the Andaman.
Diving from Dover has it’s own challenges, by reputation the vis can be challenging and the busy shipping lanes make it very interesting. The upside to Dover is that usually irrespective of the weather there is normally somewhere that can be dived. Because of the shipping lanes the amount of boat traffic means that free ascending on a SMB is not an option, the way back is back to the shot and up to the safety of the moored boat. In bad vis this means reeling off the shot onto the wreck.
Diving- a family activity? We made it so at Porthkerris. September 12, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving , add a comment
Diving- a family activity? We made it so at Porthkerris.
Diving on the whole it can be argued, is not a very child or family friendly sport. It is not easy to be able to marry the two together. Recently we have seen there are a couple of dive centres abroad that advertise crèche facilities but upon closer inspection we have found that the crèche is only available for a morning or an afternoon or the times don’t tie up with the boat times for day trips. In the UK I have not found anybody yet actively advertising facilities for children whilst parents are diving. This doesn’t however mean that there option isn’t there. (more…)
Scapa Trip Report - Final Instalment - Koenig, F2 & Barge & the Night out! September 1, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , 2commentsOur final day of diving, it had been an eventful week. For our final days diving we were going to attempt the namesake of the Konig Class battleships and finish our diving exhausting our gas supplies on the F2 & barge as we did last year.
Ian was not feeling up to this one, still suffering a bit with a dicky stomach. So again it was Steve and I for this one. The shot was supposed to be resting on the upturned hull with begins at about 18m. It wasn’t, at 38m I was a bit suspicious, turns out that the shot was right inside one of the blast holes from the salvage or possibly alongside on the holes that rips along the hull to the seabed. Steve swam off slightly from the shot and ended up swimming right inside, (more…)
Scapa Flow Trip Report Part 4 - Dresden - Coln September 1, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , add a commentAfter the previous day we decided to give the battleships a rest and go back to the cruisers, so today Thursday was the Dresden and the Coln. (more…)
Scapa Flow Trip Report Part 3 - James Barrie, Karlsruhe, Markgraf August 22, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , add a commentWe awoke to the weather starting to turn but it was still OK for diving in the flow. Ian had decided he wasn’t bothered about diving a trawler and so Steve and I went in on this one. (more…)
Scapa Flow Trip Report Part 2 Brummer, Gobernador Bories, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Tarbarka August 21, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , add a commentSMS Brummer, Max Depth 34.1m, Dive time 61 minutes.
Dimensions: 460ft x 44ft x 19ft
Launched: December 1915 4,308 tons
Scuttled: 13:05 21/6/1919
The Wreck Today: The Wreck Today: The Brummer lies on her starboard side in a depth of around 36m, surface to hull is in the region of 20m, it is arguably the most impressive of the Light Cruisers. From the bow, finning aft the 5.9 inch gun looms up at you, passing along the barrel and over the protective shield, you reach the conning tower. The armoured command centre, with horizontal viewing slits. On top sits the gun control range finder. Beyond this lies the bridge and signal deck. The mid section is blasted out but the stern is intact, the officers accommodation and the 5.9inch guns are worthy of a mention. (more…)
Scapa Flow Trip Report Part 1 - The Journey August 15, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving , 1 comment so farIt’s 698.8 miles driving direct from Romsey on the south coast of England to Scrabster on the north coast of Scotland. However take some friends and the trip is a little longer but a lot more fun. So I packed my kit into the car and trailer on Thursday evening ready for an early start on Friday morning. I left Romsey at 5am to get to North London for 6.30 to pick up Howard. After loading his stuff into the trailer and roof box we headed north to Derby to pick up Steve. Our timing was impeccable as we reached his place just as a full english breakfast was being served. Fully fed and trailer now full, we headed yet further north towards Preston where we picked up our final fellow “fun bus” member. Ian and Sue met us just off the motorway where we loaded all Ian’s gear in and the packed lunch Sue had prepared for us. By this time it was 1pm and our next stop was Scrabster, 8 hours later, well OK we did stop once for a change of driver and a wee break just short of Aviemore. (more…)
