Friday
Friday 2nd June
At 07:30, we headed out of Longhope with the vibrations of the diesel engines rousing the last of our late sleepers better than any alarm clock. Soon we were heading for the German cruisers, which have lain oblivious to the Orkney weather for ninety years. As the force 5 storm began to break over the wheelhouse, the crew snatched moments between the waves and spray in a game of ‘don the suit’ which the weather clearly won.
Arriving on site we fell into the familiar routine, and were swiftly kitted up, gear checked, and overboard heading for the security of the flailing shot line. Dropping down, we were returned to the familiar world of the calm sub aqua realm, with the wreck of the Koln, offering herself to our descending party like a dockside harlot. After the turbulence of the surface the contrast underwater was almost tangible and allowed us to relax for the first time that morning. The wreck was as spectacular as the one in our memories and the marine life watched us perambulate the wreck in the clumsy fashion adopted by mammon in the underwater world. All too soon we headed back up the line and remade our acquaintance with the Orkney summer.
Dive #2 Karlsruhe
After a bacchanalian feast in the lee of the harbour at Lyness, we set of once again into the overpowering Orkney swells for the short ride to the shot line. Bob, the skipper was able to indulge in his hobby of ‘candid camera’ as the waves and spray lashed the crew on the foredeck. Once again we dropped down into the calm of the flow and swam over the crumpled remains left both by salvage attempts and the ravages of time. The final dive went well and with a safe pickup we were finished both our 13th dive and our Orkney experience, our crew in unison eager to repeat the experience on the best boat in Scapa Flow.
IB
