One more diving post, this time July 1997, a live-aboard, ten-day diving holiday to St Kilda aboard the dive boat MV Chalice. We were a party of 12 divers. Bunk beds in tiny cabins and if I remember rightly we were asked not to be extravagant with the water!
The archipelago of St Kilda, the remotest part of the British Isles, lies 41 miles (66 kilometres) west of Benbecula in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. You can read more about St Kilda which is a National Trust site here: http://www.kilda.org.uk/
There was much to see diving St Kilda, and we were extremely lucky with the weather http://www.kilda.org.uk/weekildaguide/guide12.htm which can change very suddenly. Big squally winds can come in and rattle across the islands at all times of the year. Our skipper told us it was most unusual to get the perfect weather window that we did.
The diving itself offered great variety, including scenic dives, wall dives, an arch, a cave, and a number of wrecks. I still have my dive logs and recorded the wrecks of the Chadwick, Doris, Nevada II, Tapti, Aurania, and S.S Breda. I try to picture myself back there in that wonderfully clear water, and imagine some of the scenes from my notes: ‘lots of dogfish and a big blue lobster, lovely anemones with orange centres‘, ‘pretty purple fish sat in my hand‘, ‘spectacular tiny anemones, orange, purple, and blue, crabs in cracks in the cliff, big cave – quite a current‘, ‘crabs caught in fishing nets, freed them with my scissors’. There was much more, but now a few photos from the trip.
Oban, in mainland Scotland, where we pick up our dive boat
Along for the ride
St Kilda in the distance
Getting closer
Looming in the evening mist
Old habitations, no one lives here now
Going in
Coming out
Another in
Another out
You need to be fit to haul yourself up the ladder!
Diver says ‘OK’
A great trip
And as I was putting this post together I suddenly thought to check the date and realised that exactly 20 years ago today I was diving the Tapti and the Aurania at St Kilda! Time has flown far too fast!
The Writer in the Woods 
What a neat island, it didn’t look that big from the photo in the eve. and the cloud on top is cool! That must of been fun other than the hauling yourself out of the water 10 ft and not being extravagant with the water! What the heck does that mean anyways??
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The boat can only carry so much water which has to serve 15 people – for washing, toilets, cooking etc. So you can’t have a ten minute shower – in fact I’m not sure if we had showers! It was all pretty ‘basic’ on dive boats. Didn’t dare fart in your cabin – it was too small!! 🙂
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Oooh; no one lives there anymore? Curious minds are wondering… did they overpopulate and destroy the ecosystem? Lack of food? Water? I would have wanted to explore the island as well….
The photos are great, and each one taken left you one less in the camera. Oh, the marvels of today’s technology!
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Ah yes Lisa, and what if I’d had one of today’s cameras for under water photography – my computer would have gone into melt down I’d have had so many!
We did walk round the island, but being an utter Philistine I was far more interested in the sea birds and other nature than the history of the island! So I’ve found this link in case you’d like a bit more info 🙂 http://www.abandonedcommunities.co.uk/page39.html
My hubby tells me the island was also used for a period of time by the military, and I read that there was a tracking station there from 1957.
It gave me strange feelings doing this post – kind of swept me back to another time in my life, and then I realised the day I was writing it was exactly twenty years on from the date I was diving there. 🙂
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This part of Scotland looks magnificent. What you doing would be so much fun especially at that island. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment! It was a fabulous trip. But then I just love being on the water, and I love Scotland! No diving near us here in France, and I’m no longer dive-fit anyway! 🙂
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With what and a place as beautiful as that, how can you resist…🙂 I don’t have a scuba license let alone have yet to ever go scuba in my lifetime.
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Oh yeah! With this beautiful water, how can one resist. No worries I’m not certified to dive, in fact I’ve never done so in my life.
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That is a awesome adventure! Beautiful scenery, Jude!
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Thanks Amy, creating the post brought back great memories for me 🙂
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What an amazing experience, Jude!! Well done.
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Thanks Dina, such a long time ago now, but wonderful memories. I swapped diving for motorcycling – a different type of thrill and easier on the body!
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