Doune Bay, Knoydart, Scotland

"The Last Day - Superman Flies Again!"

by Shaun Hamilton

The ‘Doune Bay’ diving trip in Scotland August 2003 was very enjoyable – good company, excellent food, and lots of varied diving. The last day was of particular interest to me: it turned out to be the best one!

Andy the skipper had decided that the weather was good enough that we could go all the way up the Sound of Sleat towards Loch Alsh and dive the World War II minelayer Port Napier. First up though was a drift dive through Kyle Rhea, a narrow shipping channel between the Isle of Skye and the mainland. There had been talk of drift dives earlier in the week (some sounding quite adventurous) and now, psyched-up from daydreaming about it, I was really looking forward to this one.

Diving in and descending with David Bricknell and a DSMB, we quickly found the current. It was pleasantly fast at about 4-5 knots and flying by beneath us were clumps of anemones and the odd edible crab. So much like flying it seemed, I found myself doing Superman impressions (– hey, isn’t diving supposed to be fun?). I don’t know if David thought I was having too much of a good time, but I suddenly found myself having to hold on to the deployed DSMB with one hand, being encouraged to inspect and handle edible crabs with the other, and somehow also manage to keep an eye on my contents gauge and buoyancy at the same time.

Occasionally another party of divers would shoot past us or we would pass them depending on who had found the fastest current in the water, and at one point bumping into each other, we nearly got our SMB lines tangled up. (A somewhat tame version of the speeder chase in the film ‘Return of the Jedi’ comes to my [sad?] mind here).

In the afternoon David and I dived the Port Napier. Converted for mine laying in World War II, the boat was being loaded with mines one day in late 1940 when fire broke out. Towed out into the loch, there was an explosion and the boat sank. It now lies on its side in about 20m of water, breaking the surface even at high tide! We finned along the length of the boat, up and around the wheelhouse, and through the gaps in the decking into the bowels of the boat. Even inside the large holds, the light just shines in because of the sizeable holes in the side of the boat. With anemones and transparent tubular growths all over the wooden beams and urchins scattered about, the place looked like a cathedral.

Wow, what a way to finish off a dive trip! Many thanks to Martin Baker for organising the holiday, it’s one I would definitely want to do again!

Leamington and Warwick Sub Aqua Club


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