Having a go at the Dive Show 2006 February 7, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : General , 1 comment so farI have been meaning to post this on here for a while. Scott, my 7 year old has been a regular at the dive show for the last 3 years and at this last one he was tall enough to reach the bottom of the try dive pool so he could have a go. He had been gearing himself up for a year since being denied the year before for being a little too short.
As we were helping out on the Diving Daisy Stand we arrived nice and early on the Saturday of the show. Scott immediately wanted to go over and book on at the try dive pool. He could have gone in at that moment but he wanted to book on and come back so we did.
His first attempt wasn’t great as the mask supplied was far too big and so kept flooding. So we went back for another attempt in the afternoon after buying him a mask that fitted. As a keen snorkerler he already had one but we didn’t take it with us. Oh well now he has a spare.
With the new mask fitted he was much happier and shot off, he was disappointed that he didn’t get all the way around the pool because he kept falling through the Buddy Wing they were using. He had set himself a very high standard. (more…)
Diving in Washington State with Samish Divers. February 2, 2007
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Scuba diving abroad , add a commentThrough the joys of the internet, I have recently been in contact with Samish Divers in Washington State. They contacted me through my blog entries on Scapa Flow and the U90. They are based near Bellingham Washington State on the Northwestern coast of the US bordering Canada. See Multimap.
I had a quick sneek on Google Earth to have a look at the area 
and the first thing that struck me is the number of little islands and bays. Lots of exploration possible.
It seems there is a lot of decent diving up there very similar to the sort of stuff we do here To Quote Kelly from Samish Divers Dive Centre “There is awsome diving around Vancouver island and also closer to my home in the San Juan islands. The area has huge amount of diving opportunities in the San Juan islands as well as numerous excellent shore and wall dives in and around Puget Sound. The area includes some great wreck dives, The Saskatchewan in Naniamo for example, and great Canadian diving.
All cold water diving and really fun. ” (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…)
