This time it went in a different direction, the North of Scotland

The goal was some little submerged wrecks to dive outside (offshore) Scapa Flow (Orkney).

Already in the preparation of the journey, the weather forecasts were mixed, but we remained optimistic

Rebreatherteam.de and Divebase U-96 made ​​a total of nine divers from three countries on the way.

Pascal with his KISS Classic from Switzerland
Michael with his rEvo from Austria
Oliver with his JJ from Austria
Albin with his JJ from Austria
Claus with his KISS Classic from Germany
Holger with his TR300c from Germany
Matthias with his Megalodon from Germany
Uwe with his SF2 from Germany
Volker with his SF2 from Germany

2. Mai:
Drive to ferry to Amsterdam. At Weinheim Claus , Holger, Matthew, Pascal and Uwe met. The dive equipment was then divided into 2 vehicles and it went quite fast within 6 hours to the ferry port. The night ferry to Newcastle was very comfortable and we had a relaxing evening on board

3. Mai:
Arrival in Newcastle in the early morning. The on travel went smoothly and we were soon in the land of the left traffic, only Claus lay a short distance to walk back to the left, he had the car deck not found 🙂
Then speedy ride to the ferry terminal to Scrapster that are repeatedly endlessly around 600km, but we all came on time. The short drive to Stromness ran without problems.
At 20:30 clock we reached Stromness and realized that it was still low tide, so that the load of the dive boat would not easily, so we waited a little longer. 23 against clock it was better and the boat was loaded quickly, unfortunately Uwe made ​​a misstep and fell so unhappy that he broke two ribs.

4. Mai:
Preparation of equipment, quite quickly the rebreather were filled and calibrated so that we could already make a first dive in Scapa Flow around noon, this time at one of the WW1 warships SMS Cöln.

5. Mai:
Unfortunately, still no good weather forecasting for an exit, so this time in the flow the ships SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm and the SMS Dresden

6. Mai:
For the next few days calmer weather will be announced yet, so we headed towards the North Sea, so we had to come closer to the wreck to sail to another port of the plan and to stay there. On the way there yet the wreck James Barrie lay off a freighter on which we publish for you took with.

7.Mai
Unfortunately, although the weather was better, but the waves and currents in the North Sea were still too strong, so we turned back to Stromness. On the way back we passed the SMS Markgraf and SMS Karlsruhe. In the evening there was a welcome change in menue Lots of scallops were but the last dive jumped into the collection netsSmiley

8. Mai:
There was good news, it is possible to drive into the North Atlantic and there to dive a submarine. Although the exit from Scapa Flow was a little rough, but then the North Atlantic from its most beautiful side showed. Calm sea, little current, and only a slight swell with long waves. After 4 hour drive we reached the position of the submarine and Andi threw the basis weight exactly on the wreck. Respect.

9. Mai:
Heute ist der letzte Tag und da unsere Fähre erst um 23 Uhr die Orkneys verlässt, hatten wir noch Zeit für einen kleinen Tauchgang. Diesmal war es die SMS Brummer. Nach Rückkehr in Stromness wurde die Ausrüstung gewaschen und verstaut. Nach einem kleinen Abendessen fuhren wir zeitig nach Kirkwall zur Nachtfähre nach Aberdeen.

10.Mai:
Arrival in Aberdeen and further drive to Newcastle. This time, only 300km we quickly put behind us. Checkin in the ferry to Amsterdam was then 17 clock, we had to purchase even a bit in a nearby shopping mall.

11.Mai:
After a short ride we arrived at Amsterdam, but the wind had picked up and we had rough seas. Therefore, the captain ordered a pilot, who was deposed in a helicopter. Thus equipped the entrance was in the harbor with no problem, so we docked with just 30 minutes late. The trip from Amsterdam to home was then accompanied by a lot of rain
15:30 clock we reached back Weinheim, the equipment was then reallocated quickly and resist all started for home.

Dives:

  • SMS Cöln, 35m 59min, 16/45
  • SMS Dresden, 38m 66min, 16/45
  • James Barry, 41m 57min, 16/45
  • SMS Markgraf, 44m 64min, 18/25
  • U-297, 84m 112min, 11/67
  • SMS Brummer, 35m 57min, 18/25
A complete group photo: (v. l. n. r.)
Oliver, Albin, Holger, Uwe, Matthias, Pascal, Claus, Volker, Michael		 img_03432
TR300c eCCR on board, ready to dive IMG_0539
A “small” selection of our scooters, my little ECOS is left IMG_0540
The delicious scallops IMG_0560
Exit from Scapa Flow in the North Atlantic to the submarine U297, very calm sea IMG_0572