7-14th May 2016
Friday morning, the coffee is hot the van is fuelled up and loaded with our kit. Time to mount up and head 739 miles north to our dive site. Everyone is bright and cheerful, the sun has come out to greet us on our journey. For some it’s our first visit to this historic site so the prospect of great dives sits in our heads.
Full steam ahead and after 14 hours of laughter and energy drinks we arrive after a short stop at John O Groats for some silly photo opportunities and to meet up with the rest of the dive club.
The morning is fresh and brisk as we set out on our first days diving. We leave the dock with the sun warming our faces through the brisk air as we motor on though the calm mill pond sea. After a briefing of the site and its history from our very knowledgeable skipper, we kit up check our gear and prepare for the plunge into the chilly water.
We struck gold with the visibility 20-25 metres, showing off the majestic site of these wrecks. The only word I can use is ore inspiring when you see a battle ship loam up as you head down. You can picture these ladies and their power cutting through the waves ready to unleash. After each dive as we were lifted out of the water we were greeted with a large hot mug of tea or coffee. Just what the doctor ordered to warm the fingers and soul.
All week the gold was there as we tucked up against these ships exploring and marvelling at the construction and the silence except for the bubbles as we breathed out. Each dive there was so much to talk about, everyone came up buzzing with excitement and joy at having had the opportunity to dive this fantastic and unique site. A site which I myself and for sure others too would jump at the chance to dive again and again.
