The SS Nar was on route from Sunderland for Burghead on the shores of the Moray Firth carrying a cargo of coal when it foundered off Garmouth on the 13th December 1904. It is well broken up now, lying in 12 metres of water on a sandy bottom where its boiler, various plates, capstans, winches and other rusting remains have become home to a large variety of marine life. This was my first opportunity to dive the Nar during a weekend of wreck diving out of Lossiemouth with North East Dive. We also dived the San Tiburcio and the Unity, both of which I hadn’t dived in 6 or 7 years at least.
Continue reading “The Wreck of the Nar, Moray Firth – June 2014”
Farne Islands – August 2013
The last time I dived the Farne Islands must have been about 7 or 8 years ago, probably the year that I started diving. The islands make frequent appearances on television programs due to their bird colonies and also due to the seal population. It is the opportunity to dive with the seals that is the draw for divers visiting the Farnes and I didn’t have to think twice when an invitation to do so came from a friend.
It was an overcast day when we arrived at Seahouses to meet up with the others and board one of Billy Shiel’s boats the Glad Tidings VII. Continue reading “Farne Islands – August 2013”
Back to Conservation Bay, Loch Carron – June 2013
We returned to Loch Carron at the end of June to dive Conservation Bay again. You can read more about our previous visit as well as where it is etc. by clicking here. We also dived Inverinate the same weekend which is the subject of another earlier post.
Having sussed out the best time to dive here we were able to relax a bit more than last time and enjoy this stunning site. We headed a good bit further along the wall to where it starts to peter out until meeting the sea bed and disappearing completely.
Continue reading “Back to Conservation Bay, Loch Carron – June 2013”
‘Unknown Wreck’, Moray Firth – July 2013
Yet another of this years dives that was a first for me, on a wreck this time and one whose identity is unknown. This is fairly unusual as most of the wrecks dived by recreational divers have been identified and it is usually possible with a bit of Googling to find out how the vessel met its fate. Not so for this particular wreck which consists of a good sized boiler and a collection of other wreckage strewn across the bottom at a depth of approximately 26m not far from Cullen.