Come aboard the Sheila C and experience the beautiful views of the largest natural harbour in the world. From sea birds, seals and the occasional whale to the sea defenses that made Scapa Flow the ideal harbour for the Royal Navy's home fleet during both World Wars and the last resting place of the German High Sea's Fleet which were scuttled on the 21st of June 1919.
Sheila C is a 23 feet (7m) Scallop dive boat which is powered by twin 90 horsepower outboard engines and is capable of speeds of around 30 knots. She can carry up to six passengers comfortably for excursions round the Flow.
Map showing the location of the remainder of the German High Sea's Fleet where they now rest since their scuttling.
The Sheila C is available year round for site seeing or fishing trips weather permitting.
As well as working from her home port of Burray the Sheila C can also be launched from the slips at St.Mary's, Scapa, Houton or Stromness depending on which sites you wish to see.
for more informatoion and bookings please E-mail orkanadventures1@btinternet.com
or phone 01856 731 653, 0787 292 6218 mob
MAGNUS SPENCE'S WORLD FAMOUS SCAPA FLOW WHALE RESCUE
THE STORY OF A WHALE IN NEED
On Friday 18/5/2012 we were taking David and Pam Woodcock from Burray on a Scapa Flow boat trip which they had brought in a BBC Radio Orkney auction, run in aid of Children in Need they took with them Libby and Rodney Leaper, who were on holiday from their home in Staffordshire. Mr and Mrs Leaper said that they had been "rewarded with a holiday we will never forget."
Mrs Leaper said: "We had spent the day touring around Scapa Flow, viewing the gun emplacements and other attractions of the various islands and watching out for wildlife. "On our return, we were privileged to see what we thought to be a whale shark, and then between Flotta and South Ronalsay , Magnus Woolham (the skiper of the boat) drew our attention to the fluke of a Humpback Whale thrashing the water and he took us over for a closer look.
"The fluke was thrashing down repeatedly in the same patch of water, followed by the whale occasionally breaking surface to blow gentaly." as we got closer, something didn't look right. It was obviously in some distress and still flapping its tail. we were expecting it to swim off as we approched but it didn't. It was at this point that Magnus Spence of Orkan Adventures (owner of the boat) decided to take a closer look. Mr Spence said: "I jumped in with my snorkel to take a look. I could see its eye was closed and then i saw a rope hanging down from the corner of its mouth."
Mr Spence returned to his boat and donned breating apparatus which enabled him to dive deeper and with fellow diver Jonathan Wheeler on standby in case anything happened to Mr Spence. He jumped over and swam to the whale, which measured somewhere around 40-45 feet long.
"The visibility was very good - around ten metres," said Mr Spence. I could see the whale had a rope of six creels tangled in a loop in its mouth. Three of the creels were hanging by the rope and three were on the seabed. The creels had obviously been on the bottom for a long time as thay were covered in growth.
The whale was struggling to get to the surface to take a breath because of the weight of the creels. It would get to the surface and then sink back down again to rest. "I think if it would have been left it would have eventually tired and drowned. I swam over to the creels and climbed up the rope with the intetions of cutting the rope as close as i could to the mouth. I could have reached out and touched the whale, but i did not want to cause it any undue distress so i just reached up as high as I could and cut the rope. It slipped right out of its mouth like dental floss, no bother at all.
"The whale then came to the surface and swam off," he added.
looking back at the incident, Mr Spence said that he wished he could do the same thing every weekend!
He also stressed that he was thinking of his own personal saftey at all times during the encounter, and he did all he could not to distress the whale.
Mrs Leaper said: "Magnus's prompt action, with out regards to his own saftey, almost certainly saved the whale's life.
"it was a privilege to witness this encounter, while also being in the company with those able to assist the creature in its distress - a wonderfull start to our holiday in Orkney."
Story by Craig Taylor
The Orkadian news paper , Thursday 24th May
pictures by David Woodcock
bag of Scallops
On the 7 May 2010 we had a very rare site of a pod of 12 Killer Wales at Hoxa Head South Ronaldsay
On the 27 to 28 of January 2009 The Sheila C ran site seeing trips to the HMS Ark Royal (the flagship of the Royal Navy) which had dropped anchor in Scapa Flow.
The 211 metre aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal at anchor in Scapa Flow