Expedition

Summer Isles Venture 2011

Expedition Report

Expedition Leader Michael Rickard

Report fo BEGS Grant Made on behalf of:

Sub-c-Divers BS-AC Branch 1206

Bury SAC BS-AC Branch 601

Chaumont SAC BS-AC Branch 1149

& also Towards consideration for the

Peter Small Jubilee Trust Award

BY Mick Rickard

Introduction:

Some eighteen months ago Alf Draper, Bob Charles and I, got together with a view to moving on with our diver training.  As Advanced divers and open water instructors the next logical step was to look at undertaking the Advanced Instructor course as a basis for the 1^st Class Diver qualification.  

We agreed that a necessary element to our further training had to be organising an expedition. This would serve two essential purposes. Firstly, it would give us the opportunity of working together as a team to examine the logistics, enabling us to gain more practical experience in training, dive planning and organisation.  Secondly, it would give our branch a ‘blueprint’ for organizing further expeditions. 

A few problems surfaced almost immediately: where should we go; who should we take and how could we guarantee maximum safety and ensure value for money?

Alf, Bob and I (now known as the core group) could not agree on our destination. We wanted to provide good leadership and a democratic environment for our potential expedition members. Accordingly, we decided to each put together a 10 minute power point presentation of our three choices and invited an audience of divers from two different BSAC diving branches: Sub C Divers 1206 and Bury SAC 601, with whom we have enjoyed some diving activities in the past, and who like us also had a RIB. 

Following the three presentations a general discussion resulted in us deciding to opt for the Summer Isles as our 1^st expedition destination. Whilst the core group would lead the many facets of the expedition, our method of leading and decision making would be transparent and upfront and include all members with the leader overseeing and taking responsibility for settling any identifiable controversial matters. I was nominated as expedition leader.  

     The choice of destination meeting                     Loading the heavy compressor onto the truck

Members of each branch were asked to apply stating what they could bring and what they would hope to gain from the expedition. This enabled the core team to choose the final expedition team, ensuring a good balance of diving experience and life skills useful to this type of expedition.  Subsequently, Jim Donbavand from Chaumont SAC 1149 agreed to act as a mentor and join our expedition, fulfilling the criteria needed to apply for a BEGS grant. The expedition would be run over 10 days from the 8^th to 17^th July 2011 coinciding with neap tides. The expedition totaled 17 (16 divers and 1 non diver). We also had a reserve list. The decision to take 17 people caused some headaches as this was more than we had originally envisaged. However, based on the quality of the applications forms, it was clear that our expedition fulfilled a desperate need in each of the branches. The core group, although initially hesitant with the numbers, chose to see it as a challenge, a hurdle to be overcome rather than a barrier!

Purpose:

• To undertake a week of high quality, challenging and adventurous diving involving members of three BSAC clubs, Bury SAC, Sub C Divers SAC and Chaumont SAC and to provide an inclusive expedition experience for a range of divers from Trainee First Class Divers through to Sports Divers in a safe but remote and adventurous environment whilst still conforming with BSACs safe diving practices.
• To explore, identify and where relevant document details of dive sites around the Summer Isles, North West Scotland. This would include detailed documentation of the seabed, which was of interest to the Seasearch organisation. Hence, our seabed surveys would be conducted to scientific standards that could be reproduced at a later date and would add to the body of existing knowledge.
• To seek out new and old dive sites and conduct surveys on wrecks and reefs and then to document our research.
• To increase the expedition’s understanding of the group and enhance members’ diving skills in a challenging expeditionary environment whilst increasing their confidence, capability and experience.
• To assist 3 Sports Divers & 6 Dive Leaders to complete any shortages in their Diver training programme to enable them to attain their next Diver grade, a BSAC imperative, so that they could further progress in the BSAC by playing a pivotal role in their branch by cascading these skills and experiences to other branch members. This will be aided by a concentrated training programme of courses and SDCs both prior to and during the expedition.
• To learn from the type of cooperation required in such a large group to ensure success. This was particular important as we had 17 people with probably 19 different personalities. To be self-sufficient in terms of the transportation of boats, compressor gear, food and other equipment and within budget.
• To promote inter club relations between Bury SAC, Chaumont SAC and Sub C Divers SAC by the joint running of the expedition.
• To produce a methodology and standards that could be reproduced at a later date by others following our example.
• To dive with impunity and have fun!

Pre-requisites:

• All divers to be BSAC Sports Diver or above and be a current diving member of BSAC, at the time of the expedition. This included assisting Ocean Divers to reach the above.
• The expedition was open to members of Sub C Divers BSAC 1206 and Bury BSAC 601, who have had experience of UK diving.

Non-diving members:    

Non-diving members were welcome and actively involved in non-diving tasks, of which there are many. Currently, one expedition member is a non-diver. However, she is a BSAC Snorkel Diver and has attended courses in First Aid, VHF and Boat Handling. One aim of the expedition will be to increase her proficiency in boat handling.

Costs

The expedition was primarily funded by a contribution from every member of £450.  This figure was calculated to cover the major costs i.e. accommodation; vehicle hire; fuel; compressor hire; food and sundry expenses. The costs of SDC s were borne by the individual. Additional funds came later from sponsors and the interim BEGS award.

Methodology:    

We wanted to ensure that our method of planning could be replicated by those who planned expeditions after us. Regular monthly meetings commenced to enable the logistics of the trip to be discussed.  We painstakingly wrote minutes and even recorded verbal debates. Unfortunately, minutes taken from these meetings were lost through a computer crash.  Training became a key consideration. We needed to make sure that the members would be up to the grueling task of both preparing for the trip and be sufficiently resilient and dive-ready during the trip.

A table of the SDC’s needed was created following questionnaires given to expedition members to find out the existing skill base.  Training courses commenced in November 2010 and it was expected that a total of 82 SDC’s would be completed by the expedition members and a further 15 from the general population of the two branches. On the whole we successfully achieved the majority of our stated objectives.  However, due to time constraints during the expedition the planned Wreck Appreciation and Underwater Photography SDC’s were unable to be completed therefore the final figure for expedition members completed SDC’s was 64. In addition to this, Sports Divers and Dive Leaders completed a total of 9 elements towards their diver training program, which included completed qualification for three new Dive leaders and one new Sports diver. The 15 SDC’s taken by non expedition branch members took place successfully before the expedition began.

Dates:    

The expedition was scheduled to commence on 8^th July and finish on 17^th July 2011, a total of 10 days. Since October 2010 we have held monthly meetings to report on the progress of planning and logistical arrangements. At these meetings, expedition tasks were allocated, goals set and distributed to all members, who were then charged with reporting their progress at the next meeting. Prior to every monthly general meeting, the core group met to ensure focused steerage of the general meeting. All plans were finalised by the departure date. Most activities had been completed in good time but problems with van hire and the compressor meant a nail biting final few hours. We will started our journey on the 8^th July with pick ups from both Bury SAC and Sub C divers SAC.  At the final pick up I gave a briefing covering traveling and arrival procedures.  We anticipated arrival for transfer to the island at 14:30h on Saturday afternoon.  On landing on Tanera Mor all kit was stowed and checked. A full briefing outlining our accommodation and base of operations was given. 

Transport:

Months of planning for our expedition to the remote Summer Isles culminated in hiring:  a compressor; 7.5 ton truck to carry all our kit; a minibus to tow one of the two RIBs and carry our passengers, and the use of Martin Bradbury’s van to transport the food and to tow the 2^nd RIB, ready for departure on the Friday evening.

It all sounds so simple but departure day was not without its problems.  The van we had hired came without a towbar. Frantic calls were made to resolve this, together with the threat of legal action (Bob Charles our resident barrister and Steve Gaskell our transport guru) was pivotal in ensuring the correct van was delivered.  Not to be outdone, Tommy Johnson and Alf Draper (both skilled and talented mechanics) discovered that our compressor did not work! This was potentially a catastrophic disaster. Having purposefully ordered a state-of-the-art machine, we were very disappointed. However, after even more frantic phoning, we eventually had the promise of another (albeit smaller) compressor being delivered on the evening of our departure. Alf and Tommy worked their magic most of the afternoon and got the original compressor working again. We took both compressors but left the smaller unit in the truck on the mainland as a backup. Fortunately it wasn’t needed. The upshot of these problems was that we could not rest, as planned before the long night drive to Scotland. Nevertheless, it was just before midnight that the expedition started on its long journey north.

                                                                     Ready to go

275kg Compressor secured on RIB                           Luggage at Badentarbat pier

We launched the RIBs from Dawney harbour, carrying the extremely heavy and cumbersome compressor, some kit and 4 persons each. The journey to our base from here was about 2 nm. Dawney harbour was chosen because of its proximity and due to its sheltered geography, it can be accessed under conditions which would make a longer and more exposed journey, dangerous. The 2 boat trailers were left at Dawney harbour.

The other passengers and kit was transferred form Badentarbat pier by the ferry “Patricia” (supplied by the owners of the Summer Isles). The distance to our base from here was 1nm. The 7.5 tonne truck, van and the mini-bus were parked here. We obtained fuel in our 25L cans from Achiltibue, a short distance from Badentarbat.

Periodic checks were made on all the vehicles security when we visited the mainland for fuel.  It seemed a waste of resources to have the hired vehicles parked up unused for 6 days but the hire companies would not allow us to hire them just for the travelling days because of the remote location.                                                               

Accommodation:

In order to be at the heart of our intended diving region and to fully benefit from the adventurous and remote aspect of the expeditions’ objectives we were based on the sparsely inhabited Island of Tanera Mor.  We hired two main buildings still known from the names of their historical functions on the island:

The School House, comprising of a double room, a twin room (with optional extra bed) and a triple room,

The Farm House has two twin rooms and two single rooms. There was adjoining bunk bed accommodation attached to each of the two houses. This accommodation provided adequate lodgings for 18 people.  We allocated the rooms amongst the members, integrating the different branches we also took account of gender and made arrangements for the one couple on the expedition.  Being a remote island without mains electricity and many modern comforts captured the excitement and the spirit of adventure that was inherent in our expeditionary goals.

The accommodation was clean, comfortable, and fairly well equipped, one of the houses more so than the other.  They were in an amazing location, although they were situated quite a distance apart at the top of a steep hill which was a killer at the end of the diving day. 

The much smaller bunk houses were very basic and ok for one but would have been a squeeze for two.  The only real criticism was the limited drying space inside the properties, had we not had good weather this could have been more problematic. Anticipating that the weather would likely be against us, we took the branch “market stall” with us and set it up near the shore next to the compressor, facilitating a temporary filling and drying station .This proved invaluable considering the limited drying room in the accommodation.

Clean, comfortable and in an amazing location                Filling station

Food:

The remote location of the site meant we needed to take all our food and domestic supplies with us.  We circulated a food survey to the expedition members to ensure a varied and suitable menu would be available throughout which would also avoid any known allergies.  Additionally, the proprietors of the accommodation arranged to provide a set meal on the Wednesday of our stay, providing a night off from kitchen duties. Additional supplies were collected as necessary during fuel trips. The original plan was to order the food and have it delivered to an address local to Ullapool but unfortunately this wasn’t possible so plan B came into force.   We needed someone from the group to take responsibility for the organisation and planning needed to feed 17 people for 9/10 days, no mean feat.  We also had to take into account transportation. The food for the expedition was planned and organised by Hilary Boliss who everyone agreed did a fantastic job and here is her report:

“An Army Marches on its Stomach” – Hilary Boliss

When Mike asked me to take responsibility for “Food” I don’t think he realised I’d be in my element!! 

Our food budget was set at £800 and then eventually increased to £1000 for 17 people, from the evening meal on Saturday until breakfast the following Saturday and including sandwiches for the journey home if desired, a total of 21 meals plus cake, biscuits and other snacks, equivalent to 7 days worth of meals.  £15 per head (2010 price) from the budget was set aside for a meal out on the island but that rose to £20 per head (34% of the budget).  This compared favourably with 43.5% of the divers’ costs (not counting non-divers) on a model which Mike had supplied (Tyneside 114 SAC – SW Mull Expedition 2009 Page 18).

This left £660 for FEEDING THE 17.

First of all, I had to find out what the cooking facilities in the two houses were so I contacted Lizzie Williams on the island.  Then… what the dietary requirements of the group were?  One vegetarian, plus, “I don’t eat fish or chicken.”   “I don’t eat spicy food.”   “I don’t eat cooked vegetables.”   “I don’t eat pork.”   “I don’t eat prawns.”  All of these were taken into consideration and catered for in the planned menus and alternatives, then a late addition, “I don’t eat cheese.” The one thing for which I was thankful – nobody had any food allergies.  Now came the choice of tea or coffee, white bread or brown for sandwiches, how many slices each person would want per day, toast for breakfast or not (for estimating amount of toasting bread).  My one big mistake was with the questions asking about cereals and juices.  I should have asked which one cereal and juice people would have preferred instead of asking for a selection.  That way we wouldn’t have ended up with full boxes of some cereals left and running out of muesli.I ‘ventured’ into Tesco’s and explained to an Assistant Manager that I would be spending over £600 on food, explained the aims of the expedition and was eventually awarded a £50 gift voucher from their charities fund.  Looking at special offers in-store I snapped up enough crisps for one packet each per day for packed lunches plus 2 dozen individual bottles of spring water so that everyone would have their own bottle to re-fill everyday to take on the boat. 

                     A van full of food

The next few weeks were spent scouring the shelves for suitably sized packages of foodstuffs and the types of special offers available.  This was followed by hours on the Tesco website looking for any other special offers and the dates they were available, then actually keying in the orders, over 250 items on the first order and over 120 on the second, followed by double checking I hadn’t forgotten anything.  Unfortunately I ordered skimmed milk instead of semi-skimmed, hence the need to buy extra in Inverness but that then meant we could get fresh instead of UHT. Everything was falling into place.  A few visits to the store a couple of days before we left, one very large delivery on the Thursday (over 250 items which then had to be packed into crates/boxes for collection with the dive gear on Friday) followed by another large delivery of mainly fresh foods on the Friday (over 120 items which had to be packed into crates ready for departure that evening), a visit to the store in Inverness for fresh milk and fish and we were just about done!

The first thing on arrival at the accommodation was to see what the facilities were and then to separate the food for the two houses accordingly.

                      Kitchen Duties                                         A meal down at the local

Just as everyone worked as a team in all things diving related so they did their best to help with the preparation of the meals.  Later than planned return from diving made for a late meal some evenings, but once we got used to that things seemed to go OK.  The first night’s meal, a casserole, had been pre-prepared and frozen so by the time we arrived it had practically thawed out and just needed heating through whilst the jacket potatoes were cooking.  Recipes for the Spaghetti Bolognaise and Fish Pie were supplied.

The meal out was a welcome relaxation from the rush to prepare a meal.  It was also an opportunity to sample real Scottish haggis.  Alan’s vegetarian curry went down well, even with those who asked what kind of meat would be in it and the ‘barbecue’ on the last night was a way of using up the potatoes and some of the salad ingredients as accompaniments.  Some of us learned how to cook freshly caught scallops whilst the art of draining carrots before mashing them was a skill acquired by A. N. Other!  Fresh ingredients, which wouldn’t fit in the fridge, were stored in cool boxes and freshly frozen freezer blocks added each day and brought in as fridge space became available. Although the water on the island was treated and perfectly suitable for all but the most sensitive of digestive systems it was decided to buy some large bottles of fresh drinking water.  As that had not been anticipated it came out of petty cash, along with a few chocolate treats.

Planned Dive sites:    

From our base on Tanera Mor, we will explore a number of the wrecks and reefs in the surrounding waters. Some planned sites include:

• Fairweather V
• Conservation Cave
• Innisjura
• Silver Reward
• Amada Wrecks! (Horse Island)
• Priest Island Caves
• Seasearch Surveys (Various Sites)

The choice of the Summer Isles as an expedition destination far exceeded our expectation in terms of the quality of the diving and the exceptionally favourable weather conditions for the area which we enjoyed for the vast majority of the week. From our list of possible dive sites we successfully completed 130 dives at the following sites including completing Dive Leader Lifting Bag Drills and Rescue Scenarios and on one evening a successful scallop dive for tea!

The Fairweather V wreck

The Jambo wreck

The Boston Stirling wreck

Tanera Mor Pier

Tanera Mor Bay/Anchorage

Conservation Cave

Sgeir Neo-Ghluasadach wall dive

15 Seasearch surveys at various locations.   

Dive Management:

All diving went to plan except on one occasion when the wreck of the Innisjura could not be located.  We then went to our scheduled Plan B and dived the scenic wall dive at Sgeir Neo-Ghluasadach.

Although the dives themselves went to plan we identified two particular problems. Firstly, we had problems fitting in scheduled dive management for the next days diving. We had not appreciated the amount of time needed for the jobs that had to be done ie filling cylinders; sorting out equipment and preparing meals and dining.  Initially this pushed the next days dive management planning late into the evening and we were going to bed not knowing what the plan for the next days diving was, the knock effect of this was delayed departures the next morning.  This was recognised and rectified by allowing the dive manager and assistant to get on with their job by excusing them from the duties of the normal routine.  Secondly, ensuring everyone had a dive, proved difficult because of the remoteness of some of the sites and the time taken to ferry divers to and from sites. Whilst we had grasped the problems intellectually before the trip and planned with daily rotas and timetables we only appreciated the interplay of tasks and their influence on each other in practice, on the island. It was a steep learning curve for the core group. We were admirably aided by our mentor Jim, who was a constant source of support with his incisive ideas.

Martin gives his marshalling brief assisted by Jim Donbavand

Backup plans:    

The expedition planned to take advantage of neap tides and the low tidal flows.   Consequently, we were hopeful of completing a full diving program.  We constantly appraised the weather and other salient conditions to ensure safe diving. The choice of dive sites ultimately depended on weather conditions.  Thus, the final choice of site was made the night preceding the dive, after the weather forecast.  The choice was monitored right up to dive time to ensure safety.  The Summer Isles has its own micro climate.  Strong winds from the west or south-west tend to create eddies and tidal flows contrary to expectations.  However, the geography of the Summer Isles is such that a sheltered dive site could always be found.

Other information: 

Many of our expedition members had become involved with the Seasearch project and this is something we also pursued during our stay.  The Summer Isles had last been surveyed over 30 years ago. We intended to record the varied and significant marine life found in the local waters, paying special attention for any outcrops of rare species of special interest such as Pink Sea Fans or Sea Grass. These are known to occur sporadically and the accurate charting of these habitats would be of significance for conservation.

Personal Equipment Required:     

All personal diving equipment was required to have been serviced recently and be fit for purpose.

The main kit that was required is outlined below:

• General Personal Diving Equipment: Drysuit, Undersuit, BCD, Regs, etc
• Cylinders: At least 2 cylinders, depending on configuration, enough for 2 dives a day.
• Alternative air source: Pony, side mounts or twins required.
• Delayed surface marker buoy x 2
• Torch and backup torch
• Knife/Line cutter/Scissors
• Foul weather clothing and Sun cream for skin protection.

Both Bury SAC and Sub C Divers SAC have club kit that could be used if required by any of the expedition members.

Other Expedition Equipment:   

   This was supplied by the expedition as a whole:

• Two RIBS: One from Bury BSAC and one from Sub C Divers BSAC
• One compressor – arrangements have been made to repair or replace the compressor if it should be faulty. The hire company has warranted replacing the compressor within 24 hours.
• 2 x 3L Emergency Oxygen kits in addition to 1 x 10L O2 cylinder fixed to a RIB, also access to one members rebreather unit
• Decompression Trapeze
• First Aid Kits
• Charts
• Tide Tables
• Tidal stream atlas
• Safety & Medical Proforma

Checklists were sent to each member, based upon the BSAC guidelines as an aide memoire for expedition members.

Friday 8^th July 2011

Months of planning for our expedition to the remote Summer Isles culminated in hiring a compressor, 7.5 ton truck for all our kit and a minibus to tow one of two club RHIBs and carry our passengers, ready for departure on the Friday evening. Despite our extensive planning we were presented by a number of challenges which threatened to derail our expedition from the outset.  The courtesy call to double check our booking for the mini bus with tow bar proved worthwhile as a change in staff at the company meant our booking was no longer honoured and we had to make hasty alternative arrangements.  The actual day of departure presented a number of other problems, and on testing the compressor a fault was discovered with the fuel system.  The hire company did react promptly, dispatching a smaller backup replacement the same day, but it was the efforts of our two mechanics Alf and Tommy that restored the unit to working order after cleaning rust from the fuel lines and tank. This set our departure back and during the protracted loading of our truck a light was accidentally left on, draining the 24v battery which we were only able to so easily restart because of the well stocked garage our RIBS were being stored in. It was therefore late in the night before we were finally under way on our long 340 mile journey to the North West Scottish coast in pouring rain, more than a little concerned that if we faced similar problems during our actual expedition we would be less well equipped to resolve them.  We passed through flooding at Inverness on our arduous journey and only arrived after mid-day on Saturday.

                               Convoy

Saturday 9^th July

Collecting some of our final supplies from a local supermarket en route, disaster was only narrowly averted with a later second stop when we learnt booze could not be bought in Scotland until after 10am! Final arrival at Dorney Harbour led to the most challenging phase of our journey as along with all our supplies the compressor needed loading on to one of our RIBs.  Although dry practise with a dummy weight had been undertaken with this exercise, with enhanced carrying handles rigged up from scaffolding poles and one side of our RIB intentionally deflated to make it easier to load, when we undertook the exercise in anger at the waterside it took considerable effort to ensure this equipment was successfully loaded safely. Achieved by a team already tired from our long journey there were moments of doubting from some members before we were finally done.

We were favoured by a break in the rain for the main part of our loading, and from the pier at Badentarbat we could see into the clear waters below, giving us the first anticipation of the excellent visibility which can be experienced in this region.

                                       Unloading at Bafdentarbat pier

Sunday 10^th July

The endurance of our long journey left most feeling weary, meaning a later start to our first days’ diving activities as we undertook our shake-down dives and got to grips with the practical arrangements on the Island of Tanera Mor. Both RIBs were moored a short way off shore each evening and accessed by the Islands tender, the compressor and dive gear were set up at the end of a fairly rugged shore, each adding to the daily work load and eating into our time schedule to a surprising extent.  Tommy gave his compressor operating induction and we were pleased to find it working properly and that the higher capacity model we had originally hired was able to fill four cylinders within 20 minutes.

Unfortunately, during the shake down dive Bob Charles our Dive Planning Manager aggravated an existing knee injury which put paid to his diving for the remainder of the week and the expedition’s wreck survey he was planning.  However, he did manage to complete his other scheduled duties as dive manager, cox’n and shore cover.  It was also at this time that Heather’s neck seal chose to tear.

We did not hit the smoothest rhythm for getting all divers through the scheduled diving, with some waiting added to ensure that the appointed Cox ‘n and deputy and Dive Marshall and deputy were not in the water at the same time. All these delays had a knock on effect and after eating late, Dive Marshall planning for the next days’ activities was forced late into the night

Monday 11^th July

After an earlier start both boats were underway with divers by 10am having already ferried Lynn and Heather back to the mainland for a seal hunting expedition (of the Latex kind).  Unfortunately no shop within a 2 hour radius would undertake the actual work but the ladies did return with the right sized neck seal and that evening our resident cobbler, (AKA Expedition leader) Mike Rickard directed a group who conducted an effective repair.

Heathers Neckseal is replaced                      Conservation Cave

Our first dive of the day was the wreck of the Boston Stirling, the co-ordinates we had researched proved accurate but tides have taken their toll and even though dived only 1 hour after low water there are no longer any features of the vessel protruding from the water as much of the dive literature had indicated.  Some good work on the echo sounder from Alan Brown saw the wreck located and shotted, and although the wreck is relatively shallow at 14m maximum it has an impressive abundance of life which put smiles on the faces of our divers.The weather was notably smooth, and a spell of fine sunny weather was beginning which was beyond our highest expectations, but one of our RIBs was evidently labouring when under a full load of 6 divers plus Cox ‘n.

The second dive was Conservation (or Cathedral) Cave, a scenic dive with excellent reputation.  The surrounding coast line with many gullies appeared to offer a wealth of diving opportunities but unfortunately diving to either side of the cave was completely dominated by thick kelp forests.  It was the cave itself here which was the true attraction and it has dramatic appeal even from above the surface, with large arched roof extending out of the water with added atmospheric lighting provided by a hole in the rear of the cave’s roof.  Our dive flags were prudently employed here as whilst we had divers down a local tourist charter pulled close to the entry to the cave to enjoy the view.

Beneath the waves the cave had varied and interesting life, but the features were not as obvious as the plentiful carpets of plumose anemones and deadmans fingers seen on the Boston Stirling, and our accompanying expedition mentor, Jim Donbavand drew our attention to more diminutive but beautiful attractions such as jewel anemones and nudibranch. We had concluded our diving slightly ahead of schedule and were feeling pleased when we set off back to base… until we were cut short by Sub C 1 running out of fuel !  So with a combination of our back up Donkey engine and a tow from Orange Peel (which though fuelled at the same time still had half a tank of fuel) we still made it back by 17:30hrs.

Tuesday 12^th July

In order to reduce the work load on our RHIBs the next day we held a split schedule of Dive Leader training and two waves out to the wreck of the Jambo, and we found multiple but compact groups of divers to be a more efficient way to structure our diving. As an inverted wreck the Jambo was not an easy wreck to detect but again our co-ordinates proved sound and after a couple of passes it was accurately shotted.  Our first dive pair went down and confirmed the location by deploying a fixed DSMB. The Jambo is an interesting wreck, still relatively young having only sunk in 2003.  The sides of the wreck are far less colonised by life than other wrecks in the area allowing the original features of the vessel to be observed, but with the stern more exposed to the current there was a very aesthetic contrast between the exposed sides of the hull and the near total encrustation of anemone and soft corals on the propeller.

All divers completed the days’ diving in good time for the weeks’ hospitality night hosted by the Islands’ landlords.  The food provided was good, in keeping with the excellent standard set by our own expedition catering manager Hilary Boliss, but where the evening really excelled and surprised was with the beautiful acapella after-dinner singing provided by a young local girl.

Wednesday 13^th July

An early start gave us plenty of time to locate the Fairweather V, a wreck already shotted with two makeshift buoys in the universal style of local divers, and we again dived the wreck in two waves.  The Fairweather is a spectacular wreck which has become totally dominated by continuous outcrops of large plumose anemones and deadmans fingers.  Descending onto the wreck with near 15m vis. it was a special sight to behold, and it was remarked by one of our most experienced divers that this wreck would not have looked out of place in the Red Sea. The wreck has some accessible entry points, notably a wheel house with slender doorway and clear window allowing a relatively tight entrance.  Some of our less charitable members took merriment from the fact our accompanying rebreather diver could not fit through.

             The Fairweather V                                                       A Minky Whale ?

We were favoured with exceptional summer weather and sunbathed between diving and there was the added treat of spotting a whale breaking the surface on our route out to the wreck, it was believed to have been a Minky Whale but with opinion divided amongst our group. Back at Tanera Mor, Dive Leader rescue management scenarios were being run, with various practical insights available to all divers such as a demonstration of lifting an unresponsive diver on board our RIB using empty weight belts to improvise a lifting harness.  Toward the end of the day there was the opportunity to enjoy some local scenic diving with some divers collected tasty scallops within sustainable guidelines, whilst others watched RAF fighter jets flash past above.

Thursday 14^th July

A brief chat was grabbed with a “local” fish-farm worker (who it turned out originated from the Bury area where one of our clubs is based) and he confirmed that the wreck of the Innisjura which we were interested in was only 100m from the Fairweather V, but being slightly deeper was reported to have markedly less life on it. The days’ diving was directed on a scenic wall dive at Sgeir Neo-Ghluasadach.  The weather turned overcast and a modest wind created the first chop we had seen on the sea in the past couple of days. Divers had mixed results in locating the wall which was a little less prominent than expected, bottoming at about 12m.  Some successful Sea Search dives were completed on a wall section with extended fissure in it which provided ideal shelter for a variety of creatures such as Velvet crabs, Squat lobster and numerous fish, where the current hit the wall, there was an interesting variety of filter feeders such as sea squirts and anemone. On the journey back we passed a basking colony of seals which had become a common sighting throughout the expedition, though the seals were seldom seen under water being less familiar with divers than in other areas of the UK. 

Having started to hit a more efficient diving routine we were back to base in good time to allow an extended program of rescue scenario training and those who had missed the original dive on the Boston Stirling were given the chance to visit it for a quick 30 min. dive.  This again proved a very enjoyable dive with a lot of prevalent life considering its relatively shallow depth.

Friday 14^th July

After Alan Brown’s hat-trick of successfully shotting our targeted wrecks we were not able to confidently locate the Innisjura which was not currently shotted as stated in some guide books.  Given the proximity of this site to the Fairweather V rather than risk disappointment we fell back on diving her again as she was an excellent wreck enjoyed by all.  Having developed some familiarity with the Fairweather V, some took the opportunity to explore some of the intrusion features the wreck presents, with our most adventurous divers reporting that the TV set in the crews’ quarters is set to BBC1. The upper level of the wheel house provided a more basic but interesting entry point complete with operating consoles and revolving crew chairs.  Whilst the lower level housed the other crew areas and has an accessible swim through to the main hold area with winch mechanism and alternative exit through hatch ways leading to the upper deck. After revisiting this fantastic dive site we were able to finish our diving in good time to make a start on the considerable task of disembarking our gear, and we were able to successfully transport the compressor back to the mainland before returning for a farewell barbeque evening, which was mainly forced in doors because of a return to more usual Scottish weather.

Re-loading the compressor

Saturday 16^th July

That morning we finished reloading our gear and departed the picturesque and serene island which had been our home for the past week. Some of our party took the opportunity to visit the imposing tall ships harboured at Ullapool on the route back, whilst others headed straight for our first scheduled stop at Inverness, citing that ships only become truly interesting if they have been scuttled to the bottom of the sea, although the other appeal on offer was the chance to order chips from a local café for the first time in over a week. Having regrouped we commenced the main part of our mammoth return journey, during which we at least had the opportunity to reflect on an extremely successful expedition. The journey home always seems the longest and we finally arrived back at base in Leigh around 2am on the Sunday.  Sorting out and unloading all the gear took another hour or so and after a few hugs and handshakes the group dispersed tired and looking forward to the comforts of their own homes.

On the whole feedback was excellent with everyone having good comments about the overall experience especially the way the group gelled together as a team. 

The more experienced divers in the group commented that the diving was perhaps not as challenging as they would have wished but none the less found the opportunity to share knowledge, brush up on skills such as boat handling, vhf radio, and chart-work and position fixing skills very useful.  On the other hand the less experienced divers, one of whom only started as an Ocean Diver 12 months ago, found the diving to be adventurous and challenging some commenting that they had learned good direct skills for the Dive Leader course and found the wide range of experience and practical knowledge of the more experienced divers invaluable.  Everyone gave positive feedback about the destination, accommodation, food and the expedition’s organisation, pre trip logistics, training and safety.  Everyone was happy with the information given in briefings but commented that late returns from diving followed by sorting out equipment, filling cylinders, cooking etc. pushed the next days scheduled dive management back to late in the evening.  This problem was addressed and improvements were made as the week progressed and a more urgent approach was adopted.

Conclusions:

In conclusion I would like to say that from the very first thoughts of organising this expedition back on 7^th April 2010 to the writing of this report some 18 months later; there have been many hurdles that we have had to overcome with each one giving rise to what sometimes seemed like 17 different points of view!  However this presented opportunities for all to learn and share diving experience, knowledge and practices. Despite enjoying a stay on Tanera Mor of more than a week, it was at times surprising how rapidly our schedule was eaten up, or complicated by various set backs. 

The proprietors of the island were initially a little taken aback by the mass of equipment and provisions a group of 16 self sufficient divers travels with, and the magnitude of the logistic exercise of transporting our gear made any prospect of diving on the days of arrival and departure impractical.  With the particular concern of the untried challenge of transporting the compressor back up the launch on the mainland on the return journey we were even eager to make a start on transporting our gear back on the day before departure.  This made us mindful of undertaking a manageable schedule for our final scheduled dives in order to be certain of having enough time.  Once the practical decision was made to have our first day’s orientation dives at the islands’ local bay, again the time available to exploring the more ambitious dive sites was significantly narrowed.

With the added complications of a series of unforeseen incidents, the schedule was put under further strain.  We were saddened to find one of the “core group” Bob was unable to dive as he was experiencing pain from a pre-existing condition after aborting his introductory dive.  Whilst we were still able to benefit from his seamanship and experience in dive planning, it meant we lost the underwater presence of the individual we had intended to head up the wreck surveying aspect of our expedition.  As this was the first expedition for the majority of our team we had been enthusiastic to set ourselves a wide variety of goals and with the loss of Bob’s participation it was decided to focus on the training, Seasearch and exploration aspects of our expedition.

Other set backs were less extreme but still led us to reassess our diving program.  A member missed a day’s diving through illness and another through kit failure.  Additionally on the 2^nd days dive we had the incident of one boat running out of fuel, which was unexpected as the other still had a half a tank remaining even after assisting with the tow.  Previous experience was that both boats had similar fuel consumption and it seemed likely it was the result of Sub C one labouring more under a full load of seven divers with kit. 

With the daily dive managers occasionally wanting to be able to give the opportunity for those divers who had previously missed out on the better dive sites the chance to experience them, the variety of the sites we could visit had to be sacrificed. This led us to favour including an additional wave of divers for many of the future dives.  In hindsight, a pre-determined list of dive sites has definite advantages and it would have assisted our time management issues if I had delegated the choice of dive sites from the available menu and asked the dive managers to research the elements of the dive planning and management process before we set off on our trip.   However, it would be a genuine shame for any diver to have missed out on some of the definitive experiences of the expedition such as the magnificent wrecks of The Jambo or Fairweather V, and the more democratic sharing of the daily dive managing has left all members with positive feedback and left lasting good relations between our dive clubs beyond the end of the expedition.  Beyond that I would be hesitant to change anything with the expedition given its success, but if the membership had been restricted in number to the capacity of our RIBs, it could have been possible to achieve an even more extended diving schedule, perhaps visiting even more remote sites. I am conflicted on this thought, however, as we would probably have sacrificed some of the great experiences we all enjoyed and this may have led to the exclusion of the more junior branch members.  As it was, we were all able to enjoy our diving, including conducting wreck, scenic and Sea Search dives and practical Diver rescue and SMB training, benefiting not only those on the Dive Leader programme but also the Open Water Instructors who gained knowledge towards their Advanced Instructor training under the guidance of Jim, giving all grades the opportunity to learn from the varied and comprehensive diving and training.

From a selfish point of view it would have been good to have done some night diving and visit Priest Island some 4NM SW of Tanera Mor which could then have included the 2 caves and the wrecks of the Guiding Star and the Silver Reward, or further afield, Isle Martin which boasts some superb wall dives, but either of these may well have been outside the scope of our most recently qualified Ocean and Sport Divers. There is in deed a trade-off between the minimum levels of driver grade allowed on an expedition and the possible aims that can be safely achieved.  In future I will be more mindful of the composition of the team and its goals.

However, as our expedition comprised a varying age group and qualification range of members from three different BSAC branches, it brought together individuals with a wealth of different abilities and experiences, showing me that there is great value in inter-branch diving, creating an excellent working team from which all learnt something and who all worked together proving the adage that we might be from different branches but we are all in the same CLUB!

Spin offs:

Beyond the expedition and as part of a sponsorship deal with Bents, a local award winning Garden Centre, we completed a survey, on their lake, with the RIB.  Here one of our newest Ocean Diver branch members was also able to master his backward roll entry for the first time.  After the survey some members’ children also enjoyed rides on the RIB watched by a crowd outside the garden centre café.  The day was a great success and provided us with an ideal opportunity to promote the club by handing out leaflets for try dives.

Completing SDC’s for the expedition also gave us the opportunity to support the local community.  As a result of Bob Charles sharing his experiences of the expedition with his children’s headmaster, we presented the 1^stAid SDC to 10 ‘Brownies’ including Bob’s daughter, modified to be suitable for this age group, this was followed by a try dive night a few weeks later for a group of 12 local ‘Girl Guides’, again due to members sharing their diving experiences.  This had a further snowball effect from a jealous Scout group who, not to be outdone by the girls, have also shown an interest in having a ‘lads’ try dive night in the future.

Finally, all the Expedition Members agreed that we should donate £100 to the RNLI. 

Janis Jackson from the fundraising and communications department of the RNLI accepted the cheque.

Not wanting to miss a further opportunity to promote the club the local press was also invited to witness the cheque presentation,  and a group photograph was taken including two new members of Sub-C-Divers (with their parents) who at 12 yrs old are some of the youngest in the country to start the Ocean Diver course.   

Acknowledgements 

• Bob & Alf, for keeping faith despite the ups and downs enroute.
• Divelife, Tesco’s & Bents Garden centre - for there sponsorship help.
• Bury SAC members - who stuck with us, when in the early days, it seemed like all around were quitting for some reason or other.
• Alan & Mike for their passage planning and wreck finding abilities
• Hilary for organising the excellent food.
• Elaine for her knowledge of Risk Assessment and her Expedition report in SCUBA magazine
• John & Wayne for the great photographs
• Heather for her work on the compressor &  with Lynn for hunting ‘seals’
• Tommy, for helping Alf repair the compressor and showing us all the joys of filling cylinders.
• Simon and Martin, for all their physical hard work during the expedition
• Nick, for his ability to capture the essence of the Expedition with his diary and his invaluable help with this report
• Steve, whose military logistical knowledge proved invaluable when arranging the transport    

And finally

• Jim, for his Knowledge and advice during the expedition.

References:

http://www.summer-isles.com/index.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanera_Mòr

http://www.divernet.com/Wrecks/wreck_tours/159405/wreck_tour_73_the_jambo.html

http://wikimapia.org/2374810/THE-Fairweather-V-Wreck

http://www.pentland-sac.ukdiver.com/psac_summerisles.htm

http://www.ukdiving.co.uk/places/coastal/articles/summer.htm

http://www.divernet.com/search.php?q=summer+isles&offset=0

Hydrographic Chart: Loch Broom & Approaches No. 2500 & 2501   1:25,000.

Ordnance Survey: Summer Isles No. NB90, 1:25,000         

http://www.flickr.com/groups/venture2011/pool/