|
Scuba in ScotlandScuttling through the North Sea - Kirkwal, ScotlandBy Sarah Reed Bargren
I wasn’t so sure, however, that this was true. Wearing a full body dry-suit and standing on the edge of a green covered Scottish field – while looking at both the North Sea and the long rocky hill I would have to hike with what felt like 1,000 lbs strapped on my body to get there – I had conflicting thoughts. A.) I pass out hiking to get to the water due to the oxygen being cutoff by the rubber collar buckled round my neck. Or B.) I pass out once I emerge into the freezing ocean due to the water flooding my dry suit.
For days we had been roaming through the island visiting all the fantastic sites the place has to offer.
That’s where we found ourselves on that Scottish summer day. You can see the sunken ships from above the water as you drive up, masts and hulls poking half out of the sea. And we had come to get a closer look.
Within an hour we had circled two boats, skimming over the great big coal-fired engines and past the large turbines to finish off with a never to be forgotten, National Geographic-like dive through the steps of one boat, swimming through the black hull to the light and seaweeds at the end of the tunnel. The more experienced dry-suit diver can also try his hand at diving the Scapa Flow, a 24-46 meter dive to look at the scuttled German fleet sunk at the end of WWI to prevent them falling into allied hands.
And if you’re as lucky as us you may even stumble onto the Stromness Shopping Week, a local summer festival where Scots come from all over the islands to listen to traditional Scottish music, bagpipers, and the comedy of 10-foot tall Scottish giants. For Information: Flights…
From London catch a short flight to Kirkwall daily except Sundays Boats…
Or you can hire a car or take a bus to the northern tip of the country and see a
little of the countryside on your way. The easiest and most convenient ferry
route is from John O’Groats T: 44-1955-611353 Bikes… Ask around, there are several rental companies on the island. Scuba
info… There are a few dive organizations on the island. We used Scapa
Scuba. (They run dives for both the experienced and never-used-a-dry-suit diver. Where
to stay… Contact the Orkney Tourist Board they will book
accommodation for you. |
|
TM
"I
It
was actually a warm summer day on Orkney Island, the major island north of
mainland Scotland. It had been raining for days and the clouds that morning
threatened the same. But when we drove up to the meeting point the sky broke and
the temperature soared to a balmy 11 degrees C (about 52 F), the same as the
ocean water below.
The
favorite attraction, Skara Brae, sums up the Orkney experience. The island is
old: Skara Brae is a 5,000-year-old settlement ruin. Older than both the Great
Wall of China and the great pyramids of Egypt, it lay undiscovered until a
nearby landowner stumbled onto it in 1850 after a particularly wicked winter
storm. It is the best-preserved Stone Age village in northern Europe, containing
stone furniture, fireplaces, hidden rooms, beds, dressers, and the most
unbelievable underground plumbing system you could imagine for people in B.C.
3000 (complete with large, round flat stones, the toilet-seat covers of the
Neolithic Age).
And
scattered throughout the island are the remains of these Skara Brae inhabitants.
The Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness are a short 8 miles (a nice
bicycle ride) from Skara Brae. These stones stand about 10 feet in the air with
a width of close to 3 feet and are placed in a circle (the Ring) and in a
smaller clump (the Stones) on a small mound. No one knows exactly why they were
built but one theory suggests that these communities worshiped the sun and
measurements have been made that correlate the placement of the stones with the
rising and the setting of the sun according to the lunar seasons. In fact, a
tomb lies on a piece of earth across the loch from the Ring. Called Mae’s
Howe, it’s 100-yard tunnel entrance lights completely up by the setting sun
during the winter equinox.
But
if you want more than ancient history forget the stones and look towards the
water. World War I and II cling to Orkney. In the mid-1900s when Europe was
embroiled in the first and second Great Wars Orkney was a key location.
Submarines from the German side sought to sneak through the channels and British
fleets struggled to block their way.
In
an attempt to foil the Germans the British command sank a fleet of fishing boats
between a few of the smaller islands off Orkney and then, years later, had
Italian prisoners of war construct the Churchhill Barriers, a series of four
causeways, to protect the important Scapa Bay nearby. 
Once
you walk to the edge of the shore and kur-plunk into the water, buoyed up with
the air you pump into your suit, things get much better. You can breathe. You
forget the strap around your neck and paddle out into the bay. You have to sort
of kick and pull your way through the water past tons of seaweed to the great
hulking boats.
Once
you’re done with your dive you can cruise past the sunken ships back to your
B&B or local pub for a little something to warm you up while you plan your
next move. (We nearly planned to buy a small stone cottage and move in
permanently.) And if you’ve got the energy, or want to wait till the following
day, you can search out all the crafts so abundant throughout the island. More
than a few pottery bowls, silver brooches, and fine merino wool sweaters coat
Orkney.