~/trips/2023/scapa-flow
Scapa Flow
6 dives · 5h 22m underwater · max 42.2 m · 11–14 °C · Air
gear: Sony A7R V · Canon PowerShot G9 X Mark II · FE 70-200mm F4 Macro G OSS II · Fantasea FG9X · INON S200 · Weefine Smart Focus 5000 · Suunto EON Core
A week in Orkney diving Scapa Flow, the great natural harbour where the interned German High Seas Fleet scuttled itself in June 1919. Most of the ships were raised for scrap, but the wrecks that remain are among the best in the world. Six dives, to 42 m, in 11 °C water.
Getting there is part of it: the ferry into Stromness passes under the red sandstone cliffs of Hoy and the lighthouses on Graemsay, and the first morning brought a sunrise over Stromness harbour.
Underwater the German wrecks are huge and dark, best seen by torchlight. There were gun barrels lying along the hulls, bollards and anchor chain on the decks, slabs of armour plate furred with growth, and portholes with their glass still in.
Underwater on the Canon G9 X Mark II in its Fantasea housing, with an INON S200 and a Weefine Smart Focus 5000. Topside on the Sony A7R V.
