The Scilly Isles 4-11 Aug 2007

Some of the party travelled down to Penzance overnight, some stayed in B & B and six of us stayed on what can be loosely termed a campsite - if you could find it. Even Tom-Tom got it wrong at the final step. Six fields, choose your own spot and pitch your tent. Logs provided free of charge for the campfires. When we arrived, sitting outside one tent were three people - one lighting a camp fire, one strumming on a guitar and one whittling away on a piece of wood.

Saturday morning was misty and damp so the tent needed drying before packing it away for its week stored in Heather's car. Down to the dockside to wait for the ferry coming in. Luggage was left to be loaded into large metal containers, diving gear into the one for Moonshadow, and eventually we boarded the ferry for the (nearly) three-hour crossing. At the far side we left our dive gear in its container to be picked up next morning when we boarded Moonshadow, our boat for the week. The rest of the luggage was delivered to our B & B at a cost of £1.10 per bag, cash on delivery. But the luggage nearly arrived before we did. On St Mary's there is not one street sign, and all we had was the name of the B & B and had been told it was on Church Street (no number so we didn't know which end of the street). Needless to say we found our way to the two houses which were to be our digs for the week.

Sunday morning was overcast and we had to be at the boat by 8.15am to start loading all our gear on. Jo, the skipper, was very good. She'd started loading cylinders etc. We picked our spot on the boat, loaded our gear, had our safety talk and set off. The first, familiarisation dive was Higher Ridge in Crow Sound. Visibility wasn't very good so we were a bit apprehensive about the rest of the week. The second, the wreck of the Cita which had been carrying shirts, gravestones and wine, lies in about 30m. Much of the wreck was identifiable as it only went down in 1997. There were plenty of plumose anemones, jewel anemones and some pink coral fans. We were back on shore by 2.30pm, and that was more or less the pattern for the week.

We soon found out that Jo certainly knew her stuff. If she said she'd dropped the shot in a gully - it was in the gully. If she said it was near an anchor pointing NE - it was near an anchor pointing NE.

On the Monday the weather started to improve. Two dives that day, both wrecks. First, the Italia, off St Agnes, in about 34m although the stern is a bit shallower, in about 20m. Wreckage lies everywhere, but the huge boilers, engines and shafts are the most identifiable. Second dive was the Minnehaha which sank in 1874 off Penninis Head, in about 20m. We descended the corner of a rock face and after an initial swim SW (oops!!) we turned NE and followed the rock face/wall for quite a long way. There was an anchor wedged in the rocks, a small crab and a kelp forest, with a cannon at the end of the dive.

It was a lovely sunny evening - pizza, wine and a game of cards in the garden, plus impromptu entertainment when Sladey started doing his back-stretching exercises on the lawn!!

From Tuesday onwards the weather was mostly hot and sunny with calm seas. The first dive was the site of two wrecks, the Plympton and the Hathor which lie one on top of the other. The Plympton was a 2800 ton steamer which sank in 1909 on the south side of St Mary's. The Hathor struck the same rock some 11 years later. The wrecks are fairly intact and full of soft corals and plumose anemones with also quite a few pink sea fans. The second dive was a scenic at Trenamene. It took me a long time to recover from that second dive. Sladey was slightly ahead of me when we were suddenly joined by a third 'buddy' which was tugging at his fins - a great big seal!! He turned round, came face to face with the seal for a minute or so, just long enough for me to get a few distant, hazy photos, and then it swam off. We followed it to the rocks where it had disappeared and only had to wait a few seconds for it to re-emerge. For a good four minutes I was face to face with it, but so close that any photos I took were blurred.

Dive one on Wednesday was HM Fireship Firebrand which went down in 1707 in about 27m. Jo had the special permission required for us to dive this site. It was one of Admiral Sir Cloudesly Shovell's fleet of four, comprising HMS Association, the fleet's flagship, the Romney, the Eagle and the Firebrand, which all sank on the same night as the result of a navigational error when returning from Gibraltar, resulting in the loss of 1400 sailors, including the Admiral himself. The Firebrand struck the same reef as the Association. There were numerous anchors which were easy to recognise, but some of the 8 cannons, encrusted in corals etc, looked a bit like large boulders so we had to keep our eyes peeled. After a short break and something to eat we did a scenic dive at Gillstone (to 28m). That afternoon some of us hired bikes and cycled round the island, calling at Halangy Village and Bant's Carn Burial Chamber, originally established some 1700 years BC.

Thursday's first dive was the King Cadwallon which sank in 1906 in about 31m off St Martins Head. Lots of wreckage covered in plumose anemones and jewel anemones with also some soft corals and pink sea fans. A lunch break on the boat in flat calm seas was followed by a 'seal dive' at Menawethan (to about 10m) but the seals didn't seem to be playing for some of us. That evening we went by speedboat on a 10-minute journey to Tresco for a meal in a pub there. Speed boat picked us up about 5pm for the 10 minute journey and came back for us at 9.30. When we arrived on Tresco we set off for Cromwell's Castle, but somehow got separated, so one group went to King Charles' castle instead.

Other evening meals during the week included meals in pubs, take aways in the garden at the B∓B and fish and chips on the beach.

Friday's first dive was the Juno which sank in the 1780s and lies in about 28m not far from the King Cadwallon. The wreckage lies scattered in a series of gullies, with plumose anemones, deadman's fingers and sea urchins, but the most spectacular feature of this dive was the masses of very colourful jewel anemones. The final dive was Peter's Rock where we dived to some 35m. Here we found sponges, starfish, dogfish, crabs and (yawn, yawn) the ever-present deadman's fingers, plumose anemones and beautifully coloured jewel anemones.

At the end of the final day's diving we left our dive gear in the container on the quayside ready to be loaded on to the ferry on Saturday.

On the Saturday morning our other bags were picked up from outside the B&B after we'd checked out. 'Leave them near the gate with your £1.10 on each bag.' All so easy and civilised.

All in all, a most enjoyable week. Thanks again to Alan for organising it all.