UKDIVING
Face-off with a scorpionfish
Orkney , Oysters and Outliers
Leo Bandurka reports on an expedition led by BSAC ’ s Andy Hunt , looking for oysters along the lonely north coast of Scotland
When I completed my CCR training over a rainy long weekend at Vobster , my goal was to start doing more technical and mentally demanding diving . Being a South Coast diver with mainly hard boat dives on wrecks or drifts under my belt , I had been solely focussed upon more kit and more depth .
I hadn ’ t considered that my next diving challenge might come in the form of ‘ expeditionary ’ diving . When Andy Hunt from VECTIS Expeditions , whom I met on a BSAC Operation Oyster trip phoned and offered me the chance to spend a week diving ‘ mid-Atlantic sites , look for oysters and maybe even find a new wreck .’ I wondered if this was just the sort of challenge I had been itching for .
Deposits paid , new Kwark undersuit ordered and copious quantities of Sofnolime packed , I set off for Stromness with Andy to meet 10 complete strangers , one of whom would be my cabin-mate ! The dive group was assembled from a variety of our contacts as well as the BSAC website , which had advertised the trip . As a result , the setups to be dived ranged from four AP Inspirations , one JJ-CCR and one
VMS RedBare to a buddy pair on 15L OC . All was set for a great trip until my cabinmate to-be started sending multiple group messages insisting he didn ’ t normally snore but …
We joined the MV Clasina under the allseeing eye of the skipper , Bob Anderson , then set off for our shakedown dive just outside Stromness . With no kit troubles identified , we steamed out to Eilan Nan Ron to begin the diving in earnest . Sites on this trip were chosen not because of named wrecks or known sites , but rather by a group of Advanced Diver / Dive Leader trainees ’ curiosity . We looked at naval charts to find interesting features underwater that might have unusual features , or were in such a position that unknown lost ships might have run aground upon them . This meant that at least once
Boiler on the North Shoal wreck
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Ordnance discovered in a gulley