John Heinrichs
Thilo getting used to his rental gear. Did I mention that British Air decided not to transfer his dive bag onto out island charter?
One of the zillions of beautiful sea anemones that cover the wrecks.
June 5 -10, 2005
Trip Summary
We did 12 dives during the week, with about 11 hours total dive time. We were able to dive all 4 of the remaining German WWI cruisers and 1 of the 3 battleships. The diving was very enjoyable with good vis, and 49-50 degree temperatures. Most of the dives were 50 to 100 ft deep, and our deepest dive was only 120 fsw. Aside from the historic wrecks, we did some nature dives during which we shot some great video and still pictures. We ran across a colony of seals late one afternoon, so we quietly settled in the water to see if we could get close to some. This turned out to be the highlight of the trip, as two of the seals turned out to be quite inquisitive.
Day 1: 5 June
Karlshrue
German WWI cruiser
Divers: Mike and Thilo
Max Depth: 79 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 32 min
F2 & Barge
WW2 escort boat, the barge sank in 1968 while trying to salvage the F2
Divers: Mike, Thilo, and John
Max Depth: 53 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 59 min
Collected some scallops for dinner.
Doyle
1,761 ton single-screw steamer. Purposely sunk in 1944 to block German warships from passing through Burra Sound.
Divers: Mike, Thilo, and John
Max Depth: 50 fsw
Water Temperature: 48F
Run Time: 24 min
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John Heinrichs |
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Thilo getting used to his rental gear. Did I mention that British Air decided not to transfer his dive bag onto out island charter? |
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One of the zillions of beautiful sea anemones that cover the wrecks. |
Cöln
German WWI cruiser
Divers: Mike, John and Thilo
Max Depth: 99 fsw
Water Temperature: 48F
Run Time: 58 min
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| British Airways finally came through with Thilo’s dive gear. Now can we dive a battleship? | Nudibranch (aka sea slug) on the deck. |
Tabarka
Another block ship sunk in 1944.
2,624 ton steamer
Divers: Mike, John and Thilo
Max Depth: 47 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 58 min
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| John exploring inside the Tabarka | Sea anemones cover the outside of the wreck |
James Barrie
Icelandic Trawler
Sank: 1969
Divers: Mike and Thilo
Max Depth: 122 fsw
Water Temperature: 48F
Run Time: 38 min
Stiff current, but really good visibility. Beautiful dive. Despite being narced, Thilo managed to shoot some nice video footage of the wreck.
Seal Dive near Switha
Divers: Mike, John and Thilo
Max Depth: 20 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 94 min
What can I say? I’ll just let the incredible pictures and video footage tell the story.
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| Thilo finally figures out how to shoot video of these wily critters. |
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| Note to Self: “Next time, don’t wear my spear fishing gloves.” | |
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Kronprinz Wilhelm
German WWI Battleship
Divers: Mike and Thilo
Max Depth: 120 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 64 min
Wow! The battleships are really BIG!! Like the other two battleships (König and Markgraf), she lies upside down. We dove the stern section in search of the 12-inch guns that lie partly buried in the sandy bottom.
Brummer
German WWI cruiser
Divers: Mike, John and Thilo
Max Depth: 102 fsw
Water Temperature: 48F
Run Time: 50 min
Dresden – bow section
German WWI cruiser
Divers: Mike and Thilo
Max Depth: 99 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 67 min
F2 & Barge
Our second dive on this WW2 escort boat.
Divers: Mike, Thilo, and John
Max Depth: 55 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 76 min
V83 Destroyer
British WWII destroyer
Divers: Mike, John, and Thilo
Max Depth: 51 fsw
Water Temperature: 49F
Run Time: 66 min
Thilo bumped into an intern from DAN who was doing a study on the apparent high incidence of DCI in Scapa Flow. Always eager to further the advance of science, we volunteered to collect some data for the study.
