Farnes-tastic!
The long awaited return to the Farnes Islands off the Northumberland coast took place 25 – 27 September on some of the smallest tides of 2009. 10 intrepid divers – ok the old gits, could barely contain their optimism as the run of high pressure and calm seas seemed set to continue, promising fabulous underwater visibility and the potential to be molested by several hundred hormonal seals! This was a trip tinged with some nostalgia as our trusty skipper Ian Douglas sadly passed away a few years ago. His sons Andrew and Toby have however taken the business forward with some significant investment in new and refurbished boats.
Our first evening involved sampling a wide variety of beers – if you have not been to Seahouses, the Ship is a pub to be savoured!
Day 1
Boy, were we not to be disappointed – down at the Harbour for a 9 start with sunshine, calm blue seas and a rather spacious hardboat – Serenity 2. For those of you who do not know the area, the Farnes Islands is a cluster of low lying islands several miles offshore with monasteries, treacherous reefs, large bird populations and more grey seals than you can shake a stick at! As the islands jutt out into the main tidal flows of the North Sea it has claimed more that its fair share of ship wrecks. Add to this the fabulous pubs in Seahouses (fair play to Andy and Steve for sampling all the local brews) and some pretty good chips – it’s a recipe for a top weekend and substantial calorific intake! So would it meet our exacting standards?
Dive 1 – Whirl Rocks. The clue is in the name, get the tide wrong and you don’t see a lot and it can be a bit of a roller coaster. So, gentle glide down to 20 metres in 15-20metre viz. Plenty of wreckage and wall to wall encrusting life. Add to that literally hundreds of lobsters and seemingly never ending shoals of small Pollack – a truly memorable start. An hour underwater and it was still too soon to surface.
Our surface interval was interspersed with squadrons of gannets dive-bombing the prolific fish life. We also saw the occasional guillemot / razor bill swim by chasing sand eels.
Dive 2 – The Knife Stone. Viz still spectacular around 15m, more wreckage amongst the gulleys, with the opportunity to swim against the tide in a narrow gulley encrusted with anemones and spongers. Opportunities to view the boiler and engine block were interspersed with feeding the wrasse and playing with octopus. The dive finished amongst the shallows with a couple of seals checking us out.
Clearly the marine conservation status of the area is doing a great job for conservation.
Dive 3 – we headed north west for 20 minutes to an unknown wreck in 7metres. The grey water was not that inviting but as Andy the Skipper said – don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. Apart from hitting your head on the boilers as you jumped in this dive turned out to be a delight with much life and a large wreck in kit form. Ideal for training and early wreck dives.
The end of a most satisfying day, so spirits were high in the pub. The evening was spent in part recounting tales of previous Farne Islands trips when we were diving the deep wrecks and filling our (car) boots with treasure….. In those day’s it was our current skipper’s father Ian who had all the local knowledge and boy did we have some adventures, but that’s for another day!
Day 2
Dive 4 – after a full breakfast we were in the water for 9 on the Crumpstone and greeted by literally 30 – 40 playful and vocal seals. High speed swimpasts were just a prelude to the following sequence of nibbling, cuddling, scratching and much tugging of fins. This time of year is the time to for the seal to get up close and personal – after all it is nearly breeding season! Add to this a spectacular gulley with sheer sides, a dead man’s fingers encrusted cliff face, boulders, crevices with all manner of marine life and 15m viz, it all amounted to a spectacular dive!! My favourite moment was when a particularly inquisitive seal cuddled my head and then proceeded to nudge my drysuit dump valve, releasing cloud of bubbles. I think every diver had a different story to tell about our sealy friends and the chaps from Bristol could not really believe the quality!
Dive 5 – Could it get any better? The banter and buzz on the boat was great and yes it was flat calm and the sun was beaming down (again). So, Andy had a little experiment for us – a cliff face from 40m rising to 15 m running towards the Knifestone. 20m viz in a deep gulley led to another spectacular cliff – pure joy interspersed with the odd seal, octopus and grandad lobster.
Several crabs and lobsters were liberated from lost lobster pots that were still ghost fishing – to a large degree divers can help to reduce this loss by recovering /decommissioning the pots or a least freeing the incumbents but only after checking that the pots are indeed lost!
We said cheerio to Steve M and Damien as well as the boys from Bristol who were sharing the boat.
So the end of day 2 at lunchtime saw us all trying to stay out of the pub, with little success – walking, sleeping and buying kiddies presents from the local tat shops reduced the alcohol intake somewhat! A lovely curry simply added to the buoyancy problems for the next day.
Day 3
Dive 6 – A hearty breakfast tinged with the occasional handover from last night’s curry was followed by an early dive on the Crumpstone again. The seals performed again – fabulous though the lower light level was noticeable as the sun failed to peek out for the first time this weekend. Not to worry spirits were still sky high.
Dive 7 – The Abessinia, Knifestone. I thought I had dived this wreck – I now think I have only dived the bow section on the other side of the rock. It’s a 5,000 tonner so that’s feasible as all I saw on this dive was the aft of the boilers / engines. So, 15 – 20 viz, a fabulous carpet of anemones and sponges – more like a scene out of the lion, the witch and the wardrobe rather than a UK diving scene. True quality – 4 boilers, engine block, prop shaft, huge winches, big stern post with monster (& I mean monster) lobster as well as numerous box sections, ribs, plates and mooring bollards. Add to this a huge diversity of anemones, crustaceans, fishlife and pelagic octopush, this dive was top draw and typical of a high energy tidal site. The quality ranks with the Runnel Stone and Manacles Reef in Cornwall.
On the surface a gale had blown up, not that it bothered our skipper. The stern lift made exit almost too easy – are the days gone of aching shoulders pulling up on a ladder?
Dive 8 – Blue Caps. This was the most sheltered dive site we did but still good in terms of seals, underwater topography (including a small cave) and the macro action – squat lobsters, shrimps and the odd lobster popping up between Pete’s legs. A good dive to finish a top-drawer weekend.
Thanks to Andy and Pete on the Serenity 2. Good banter from the Bristol boys and good accommodation. Even the cow pie on the way home was exactly what the doctor ordered.
The crew – Marc, Pete, Rimmer, Sticky, Bren, Andy, Iain, Sean, Damien and Bendy Bob (better luck next time Debby).
Hats off to the Farnetastic Islands and let’s not stay away so long. The marine life, especially the lobsters, was more prolific than I remembered so it is not a bad trade off between one for the pot and 50 for the shot!
Bobbit.
Sean hovers by a wall of dead man's fingers
A lobster emerging from its hole
An inquisitive seal
And one who looked pleased to see us!
Some videos by Steve Millard: