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Our plan for this trip was a little controversial. We planned to travel all the way to Scapa Flow, a must dive site for most British Divers, arrive in Stromness, board our liveaboard and have the boat immediately leave the Flow. However, there was some sense in this madness. Most of us had done Scapa Flow at least once before and were looking for something a bit different. We planned on diving around the northern Orkney Isles. Only occasionally ventured to by the skippers of Scapa Flow’s sizeable diving fleet. The vis was supposedly brilliant with some vibrant sites and a chance to explore the beautiful Northern Isles before returning to Scapa Flow.
Our route
Travelling up to the Orkneys can be an adventure in of itself. Including stops the journey takes around 12 hours. Getting to Scotland is the easy bit. Twisting through the Highlands the initial excitement of stunning views gives way to the tedium of a very long journey. Eventually we arrived at the ferry terminal in Scrabster which has a very end of the earth quality. Will and Peter were a bit early and able to visit John O’Groats for an important Instagram opportunity.
We made the ferry with ease for a calm crossing. On the other side Bob has put his boat, the MV Clasina, as close as possible to the ferry. Once we had decanted the contents of the cars onto the boat we had a wander around, claimed our bunks and started stocking the galley with single malt.
We headed out of Stromness. Instead of turning east to the wrecks in the flow we headed west out to some incredible scenic diving. Dive one was a rock imaginatively named Nipple Rock (guess what it looks like). This was a good warm up dive, the vis was good and plenty of life around the rock. Dive two was on the Standard, a sea stack off the Orkney mainland. We had a pleasant motor along the coast past Marwick Head and the resting spot of HMS Hampshire.
Clasina passing Marwick Head
The Standard is a huge hunk of rock that sits just away from the cliff. We went in on the seaward side of the stack and swam around. The visibility was even better than the morning and as we passed through the gap between stack and cliff the depth increased and we were swimming next to a sheer cliff covered in life. Back on the Clasina we cruised around to our first stop point of the trip, Pierowall on Westray island. Stepping off the boat for a wander around it was clear this was far more remote than Stromness. Not quite the Wickerman but the village seemed to have scarecrows dressed as Disney characters. This gave a slightly surreal quality on our walk to the pub.
Elsa from Frozen
Leaving Westray behind for our first dive of the day. The Clasina headed down to the Sound of Eday to dive the HM Tug Oceana. There was a slight current running through the sound but on the wreck we were sheltered enough to see the huge boiler and some of the engine. The visibility continued to be amazing and the life on the wreck made this a great dive. We drifted off the wreck once we had seen all we wanted. There were still some sights to see on what became a scenic drift dive with a few scallops found.
Dive two was another small wreck, HM Trawler Endeavour which sits in The String a passage between Mainland and Shapinsay which we were gently warned was a shipping lane. This was slightly larger than the Oceana siting upright. We were able to do a couple of circuits of the wreck seeing the prop, boilers, Conger Eel hiding in the depths of the wreck. This was one of my favourite dives of the week, this was a bit of a different wreck than we usually dived and made a welcome change. For the night we were tied up alongside Balfour the small village on Shapinsay Island. No pub here, not much of anything, so we had a peaceful wander around.
For more information on the HMT Oceana and HMT Endeavour have a look at the excellent website Lost in Waters Deep, link here.
We were settling into our routine by this point in the week. Day starts with motor to dive site while going past spectacular scenery. Go underwater, see brilliant stuff, return to the boat. Have lunch and repeat in the afternoon. Dive one consisted of a steep wall off the small island of Copinsay on the East side of the Orkneys. The dive can best be summed up as having: lots of life, lots of vis and lots of rock. The Clasina continued around the Orkneys while we had lunch. In the closing days of World War One the German submarine UB116 attempted to enter the fortified harbour of Scapa Flow, this would be our second dive. While the U-Boat is very broken up, the conning tower can be clearly seen and made a very good dive. We headed off to Lyness to tie up for the night. We had a wander around, the deficit of pub now becoming a serious issue.
This marked the end of the first half of the trip exploring the outer Orkneys the next few days would be in Scapa Flow and would have a different feel to them. The first half of the week we were mostly visiting sites none of us had been to before and we were treated to a mix of scenic and wreck. The second half was a trip to old favourite wrecks.
Lyness has a raw and industrial feel to the place, not surprising as a decommissioned navy fuelling depot. Departing therefore not unwelcome. We were heading to the SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm which was a favourite last time I’d been to Scapa as pretty much the only place to see a gun fired at the Battle of Jutland. This time however I’d a bit more kit and a bit more knowhow and able to appreciate the wreck a little more. We saw the big guns hiding under the upturned wreck and many of the casemate guns. My buddy and I made it to the spotting tower before we had to ascend. I’d seen more than last time on the wreck and a bit more understanding of how it is laid out.
Before lunch we headed back to Lyness as we’d been too late to visit the newly renovated Scapa Flow Museum. This was well worth the visit. The former pumping station now tells the story of Scapa Flow as an anchorage in both world wars. Dive two was on the SMS Karlsruhe. A cruiser lying on her side, smaller than the Kronprinz this was a chance to get our eye in a bit. Taking our time for a good look at the gun at the bow and the armoured control tower. We had traded the scale of the wrecks for reduced visibility, but we had been spoilt at the start of our week. The night was spent alongside at Burray having dinner at the Sands hotel, this was also a chance to look around the Churchill Barriers and walk to the beach.
Our penultimate day on the trip. Heading out of Burray for the SMS Coln a cruiser similar to the Karlsruhe but with a few differences like the extended salvage work on the engines and the larger armoured control tower. Ross was able to use this dive to finish off his final dive leader lesson by launching a DSMB mid water.
Dive two was the Tabarka, a blockship sunk on purpose to seal up channels into Scapa Flow and help protect the anchorage during war. She is on a channel which experiences significant current so slack water is essential as is hiding in the wreck from the current. We went down and allowed the current to sweep us onto the wreck, fortunately Bob’s timings were spot on, and the water movement was slow. We had been told the wreck had collapsed a little in recent years and sure enough the gap between the hull and boilers was not as large as I remembered. The wreck was as beautiful as ever, the water was clear and the wreck covered in life. We tentatively left the wreck allowing the current to drift us off the Tabarka. We returned to Stromness where Amanda and Ross packed up as they had to leave a day early.
Amanda and Ross got the early ferry and unfortunately missed out on the days diving which started off with a dive on the SMS Markgraf, sister ship of the Kronprinz. The ships were identical but as wrecks they are a little different. Markgraf is slightly deeper, and the huge rudders are a landmark in Scapa Flow. On our dive on the Markgraf we saw the casemate guns and around to the rudders swimming between them. Going along the spine of the hull is covered in brittlestars so a great dive in of itself.
Dive brief
After lunch we headed to dive the F2 and barge. The F2 is a bit of an odd wreck in Scapa Flow, not one of the German World War One fleet but in British hands following World War Two. She was an experimental ship design and altered a couple of times in her life. She sunk in 1946 in a gale, in the ’60s salvage work was being undertaken when the barge holding items from the wreck sank. An interesting dive if for no other reason it is a little different to the usual wrecks.
We headed back to Stromness and started packing up, we then headed into Kirkwall for the traditional end of trip curry. It was quite pleasant driving across the mainland after a week on the boat but definitely approaching some end of trip blues. We went out for a drink in Stromness when we got back, we found out that due to some roads closed and poor traffic Amanda and Ross were still stuck in Scotland more than twelve hours after setting off. We went back to the boat for our last night hoping the traffic gods would be kinder for our return journey.
We had the early ferry so up before dawn had cracked. Breakfast on the ferry was good but just the start of a very long journey back. Fortunately, our journey was uneventful and the chance to reflect on a great trip. I very much enjoyed our Not Scapa trip, we had given ourselves a chance to dive in places rarely visited, a reminder that there are still places to venture to not yet explored and the old favourites still have secrets to give up.
Thanks to for Don for organising, Bob for skippering, Matt for cylinder filling and Tasha for diver feeding.
Front row L-R: Will, Sally, Peter, Don, Ross, Ed. Back Row: L-R Ben, Katie, Anna, Amanda. Window of Scorn: Bob.
Written by Peter Dix
Photos stolen from the participants:
