Veteran Instructor Terry
CONGRATULATIONS TO TERRY Langford of Redditch BSAC , who is celebrating 30 years as an Advanced Instructor . Terry , left , joined the club in 1982 and was presented with a certificate to mark the achievement ; he met the BSAC team at the Go Diving show in March . He is pictured here with fellow Redditch member Graham Todd ( right ), who joined the club in 1980 , and BSAC ’ s Head of Community , Debbie Powell .
Scapa ’ s secret salvage
REPEAT VISITORS TO SCAPA FLOW WHO are familiar with the classic wrecks should consider adding the salvage sites of the High Seas Fleet to their next itinerary . These are the locations where the scuttled ships were lifted , and many remains from these salvage operations can still be found on the seafloor . The sites vary in depths from 5-45m ( with many in the 20-25m range ) and show the remnants of all manner of equipment found on the ship - from masts , guns and crows ’ nests , to smaller items such as night speed indicators , compass mounts and searchlights .
A multi-national team came together aboard MV Valhalla this winter to dive and document a number of these sites through photogrammetry , photos and videos , with the aim to create site maps for future visitors .
The process of raising of the German High Seas Fleet makes for excellent reading and I highly recommend the book Jutland to Junkyard by S C George , as well as High Seas Fleet Salvage Sites Report Phases 1 and 2 , compiled by SULA Diving and ORCA Marine , available on scapaflowwrecks . com
Further information about the salvage sites can be found by contacting : Kevin Heath ( Scapa Flow Wrecks kjh1702 @ aol . com ) or me , Laura Baker , at Orkney Sub-Aqua Club orkneysubaquaclub @ gmail . com ; also MV Valhalla liveaboard expeditions @ mv-valhalla . co . uk LAURA BAKER , Orkney Sub-Aqua Club
PHOTOS : IAN HICKS
SCUBACHAT
nitrox for 24 dives in 10 busy days .
My four-man group was led by Lucas , an Austrian , who led us on some awesome shark , manta and turtle encounters . Using a reef hook at the end of a channel facing the open ocean to watch the hundreds of sharks was dramatic , with our exhaust gas bubbles going horizontal !
One of our team managed to do a forward roll entry having caught his fin , while another forgot to secure the waist clip on his BCD prior to jumping in ; I can feel a candidate for our Wooden Spoon Award at the next AGM coming on !
One of the early dives was on the wreck of the British Loyalty in Gan Atoll . She had been torpedoed in March 1944 by the Captain of U183 . I had dived the same wreck in August 1975 , 49 years ago , much to the amusement and astonishment of all , especially of our guide Lucas .
It was a fantastic trip , challenging at times with the current but if you enjoy the spectacle of seeing hundreds of sharks swimming backwards and forwards , this is the trip not to be missed . DAVE PLUMB , Coventry 58 and Monday Club 2606 BSAC
Editor ’ s response : Very few people were visiting the Maldives in the Seventies , Dave , let alone diving such a remote wreck in the far south . Please write in again and tell us that story .
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