Diary of a Deckhand - July 2008

Standing on the rear deck of the boat as it rises and falls over 15m swells the helicopter hovers seeminly only a few feet above my head.

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Things had been looking good, having left Kirkwall in Orkney for Lerwick in Shetland in thick fog (hurrah for radar) and no wind, with light winds forecast for the crossing we were hopeful for a nice smooth ride.
Getting close to Fair Isle things started to change, the wind got up and the sea started to get bigger, from a nice 1-2m swell to a 5m swell rolling in from the north east. The boat heaved and crashed through the waves and fortunatley the divers remained in their bunks as it was still early. Our progress slowed from 10 knots with the tide to 3 knots and the fridge managed to burst through its restraints and two huge cartons of milk splash onto the floor, divers emerge only to go swiftly back to their bunks.

The decision was made to call the coastguard to inform them that we were making slow progress in huge seas but were ok. The details were passed on channel 16 and then i made my way below to check the engine room and bilge.

I peered around the engine room door and the sight of two feet of water in our bilge met my eyes and i ran back up the access ladder to drop the bombshell to Hazel. Instantly the mood changed from one of resigned to a long rough crossing to dealing with a problem.

We issued a Pan Pan - one step down from a Mayday telling them that we were taking water and were starting our large bilge pumps to try to deal with the water. The coastguard launched the Lerwick Lifeboat and diverted the helicopter to stand by us until the lifeboat reached us.

I stagger my way out to the foredeck, spray and green water gushing over the deck and sit on one of the kitting up benches facing aft. At one point i actually lift over a foot off the bench being weightless from the swell. In the distance a small dot appears which quickly formed into a helicopter which hovers around 50m from our side, sending salt spray into the air.

The coastguard upgraded our situation to a Mayday which was relayed on channel 16 by the coastguard, unfortunatley meaning everyone in Scapa heard it prompting a lot of worry (thanks for being concerned guys :o) ) that we were in dire trouble.

Scotia, a fisheries research vessel had also heard our plea for help, and had diverted to our position. This huge boat was pitching and rolling so much her whole wave breaker bow came out of the water with each passing mountainous swell, now up to 15m in height (49 feet).

A pump was lifted from the Scotia and dropped to us by the helicopter. Myself and Barry wearing lifejackets and oilskins made our way slowly to the aft deck, clinging to the railings as the helicopter comes closer with the pump dangling below. Hovering what seemed like only a few feet above our mast, the skill of the pilot was breathtaking. He was close enough for me to be able to see right ino the helicopter and see the faces of the winch crew. With one final dip the pump is landed onto our aft deck, and i run back down the ladder to collect it from Barry.

Into the stifling heat of the engine room i go, and rig up the pump in the bilge to clear the remaining water. Our own pumps had slowly caught up on the water coming in and the levels had dropped significantly, but should they fail we would have been in serious trouble.

Slowly we make headway into the swell, and eventually find shelter in the lee of Bressay. We update the coastguard every 10 minutes of our position and situation, and eventually Lerwick comes into sight on the horizon.

Pulling into dock and getting our ropes sorted out finally the adrenaline leaves our systems. Collapsing into my seat i wonder how differently things could have turned out.

Calling for help is sometimes a hard decision, even though it shouldnt be. However, we are responsible for the lives and welfare of everyone aboard and at the time we could not be sure that our pumps would cope with the water coming in from what turned out to be a damaged rudder stock.
Knowing that when you call for help the coastguard will be there is a great feeling, and we are eternally grateful for their assistance. I hope they win their fight for a better pay deal.
I am also so thankful to the lifeboat for being there too, and having to suffer the same seas we were. Beer will be forthcoming, however they were re-deployed immediatley on returning to dock as a yacht had been de-masted east of Shetland.

Lerwick Lifeboat

After the drama of getting here, Shetland is proving worth it. Currently we are based in Lerwick in the Albert Dock, a beautiful harbour so tidy and organised, plus close to the wrecks we have been diving the past week or so. I do have a video which is on youtube now - not sure if island blogging will allow me to link to it though? Here is the link anyhoo

Lying at the bottom of the Bressay Sound so many of them are testament to the history of Lerwick, from the Queen of Sweden, an East Indiaman ran aground on the rocks just south of the harbour, to the recent Fraoch Ban which capsized only 10 years ago in a small bay to the south of Bressay. Fish processing vessels known as Klondykers litter the coastline having become victims of the weather.

Having Jo aboard as an extra member of crew means that i get some time to a) do some washing and b) do some diving. So i duly got wet on the Fraoch Ban (pics below) which sits in a beautiful sandy bay in around 30m of water. She sank while fishing for sand eels around 10 years ago and looks as if she went down yesterday.

I also dived the Gwladmena today, which sits in around 37m of water just outside of Lerwick. The visibility was less than i thought it would be, and there were far less fish than i hoped - but then i prefer fishies to rust *holds head in shame* what kind of diver am I? *sigh*












We had some spare time on Saturday so visited the Shetland Museum which was excellent. I took some pics, which you can find below.



















Stay tuned for the next exciting instalment of Helen in Shetland....

The DSC alarm on the VHF radio sounds its shrill beep in the wheelhouse and is followed by the coastguard announcing we are due a force 8 gale in the next few hours. This meant that diving was pretty much curtailed for the day, so we went off to see Scalloway on the west side of the islands.

Sitting in the taxi as it climbs out of Lerwick and over the hills between, the contrast between Orkney and Shetland becomes so starkly clear. Orkney is much more intensivley farmed, fields of wheat and grass for silage dot the hillsides, while in Shetland they are miles of moorland with the gray rocks poking their heads wherever the plantlife will allow. Of course the Shetland pony is in evidence, seen patiently munching the grass on hillsides.

Scalloway looks incredibly Norweigan, painted houses and a beautiful voe (inlet) dotted with islands.

One of the things i really wanted to see was the memorial to the men who died helping the Shetland Bus. During the war Norway was invaded by the Nazi's and many people fled to wherever was safe. Many ended up in Shetland where they were welcomed and cared for by the locals. Feeling grew among those who had escaped that they could do more for their countrymen left in Norway, and so a number of tiny fishing boats made their way back and forward over the north sea taking resistance members supplies for sabotage and bringing people back. The journey was frought with extra danger other than the wrath of the north sea. German aircraft regularly patrolled the skies looking for any ships they could attack and while in Norway they had to dodge German lookout posts and spies.
Many brave men lost their lives in this endeavour which was run firstly from Lunna Voe and then from Scalloway. The people of Scalloway have never forgotten their link to Norway and the beautiful memorial stands on the seafront. The stones it is made from were gathered from the homeplace of each of the men killed during the war, and the boat it is modelled from was recently in Orkney.

Here are my piccies

Dived the Lunokhods, a huge fish processing vessel that came to grief on the rocks ironically directly below a lighthouse on the island of Bressay to the south of Lerwick Harbour.

The wreck was smashed to bits by the fury of the sea, wrapping steel around rock and tearing anything that man has built to be strong like tearing tissuepaper.

The remains of the wreck are covered in fish, and I like fish.....lots.

Anyhoo, here are my piccies

Home is such a strange concept. My home is currently the boat, so technically I am always at home. However, it is also my work, so does that mean I am always at work too. Hmm. I always know somewhere needs painting, I tell you the Forth bridge has nothing on a boat. But we are back in Stromness, which is probably classed as true home.

Shetland was such a nice place, the harbour is brilliant with allocated berths and big fat tyres chained along its metal facings to protect the boats. The only downside was it was just 16amp power meaning that our showers would trip it off, but other than that, stunnning.
I remember coming to Orkney for the first time all those years ago and feeling that it was a place i could easily live, or more to the point, that I actually wanted to live in. So many folks seem to go on their holidays and fall in love with wherever they go, buy a house and find that being a tourist and living there are so very different. Orkney however seemed to be different, good thing i am right every now and again huh? Well Shetland felt the same, somewhere I could live and be happy. Who knows what the future holds (other than taxes and fuel prices going up).

Massive thanks must go to Jeemy Wiseman for coming out with us several days and telling us so much about the islands of which he is so immensley proud.

On our first day off we hired a car and went exploring, checking out places we could possibly take the boat into, piers etc. I took the camera along so here are my pics.