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Cold
water diving is not everyone's cup of tea. Those of you based
in Scotland and the north of England and northern Ireland,
however, undoubtedly appreciate the benefits of the clearer
water and generally more profuse marine life to be found in
northern waters. Although we have visited numerous tropical
locations around the globe we have never neglected our own
British waters, having dived around much of the coast. We
have also dived in the very cold waters of British Columbia,
Canada.
As
part of a forthcoming book on northern waters Linda's publishers
wanted some photographs taken from other parts of northern
Europe. After some discussion we opted for Norway, about which
friend and fellow underwater photographer Nils Aukan, Norway's
top photographer, enthused at great length. He recommended
we stay at the Stromsholmen Sjosportsenter near Kristiansund
on the west coast, near Trondheim and arranged that we stay
there for a week in early August.
We
flew from Heathrow to Bergen and then north to Kristiansund
on Norway's national airline Braathens Safe. Nils was at the
airport to meet us and quickly whisked us off to his home
to meet his charming wife and children and enjoy a meal before
setting off by road and car ferry for Stromsholmen.
After
a short ferry ride in fresh breezy conditions and an attractive
drive through Averoy, we embarked on the recently completed
Atlanterhavsveien or Atlantic Ocean Road, which links Averoy
and Eide via the outer islands of the Komstadflordes, and
obviously served as the model for our own road link to Skye,
hopping from island to island until we reached our destination.
The
Stromsholmen Diving Centre is situated on the westerly end
of the small island of Stromsholmen, facing Komstadflordes,
but immediately surrounded on three of its sides by water.
The well equipped centre overhangs the fjord. A broad gang
plank leads down to a floating jetty which slowly and almost
imperceptibly rises and falls with the tide. There is a bar
and meeting room on the first floor where we were entertained
one evening, when we weren't underwater, by a splendid audio-visual.
Accomodation
at the centre is provided either in a very grand two storied
house (with dormitories, two large lounges, two kitchens and
a sauna) facing the fjord or in a far smaller, cosier, house
standing on stone piers, over the water at high tide. Although
not all that inviting from the outside, due in part to the
traditional grass covered roof providing thermal insulation,
the inside was a delight with pine everywhere, a small bathroom/shower
with heated tiled floor, adequate self catering facilities,
a lounge area and sufficient space in the sloping roof's two
rooms for four to six to sleep, though barely stand up.
Nils
had arranged to stay overnight with his family, so that he
could join us for a couple of dives on our first day. He introduced
us to one of our hosts, Hilmar, and our Swedish dive guide
and Killer Whale enthusiast, Torben Larsson, that first evening.
After a good night's sleep we rose early to investigate the
possibilities. Nils suggested we start by diving from the
floating jetty and once cameras were loaded and diving equipment
assembled, the three of us slipped into the calm waters of
the fjord.
The
visibilty was not brilliant, the grey overcast sky and a plankton
bloom constrained our photography, initially at least, to
macro photography. However, there was plenty to see and photograph.
Scallops, starfish, mating sea hares and pipe-fish were encountered
in a few metres of water on the outward leg of our first dive
towards a small drop off, leading to a sandy bottom. We had
been advised to turn back once we encountered the Vevangstrommen
current, which thankfully we did, as there was no way that
we could have returned to our entry point had we pressed on.
The current builds, the nearer to the channel between the
island and the mainland one gets, until it reaches 5-8 knots,
running in or out of the fjord depending on the state of the
tide. The channel was, as we were to discover later in the
week, a brilliant drift dive and a fantastic place for underwater
photography - at slack water only. Our return to the jetty
was equally rewarding as we came across three angler fish
lying almost unseen amongst the kelp, again in just a few
metres of water.
We
repeated the dive after lunch, despite the fact that my dry
suit had leaked, taking yet more photographs of animals we
seldom see in British waters. Fortunately there is a heated
changing room, which doubles as a suit drying area, so my
suit was warm and almost dry by the time I gingerly squeezed
myself into it for the second dive. It was during this second
dive I realised that it was the automatic dump valve in my
dry suit sleeve that was causing so much of cold waters of
the fjord to migrate to the warmer regions of my body. Some
PVC electrical tape on the inside of the valve soon fixed
this and I spent the rest of the week blissfully warm and
dry during numerous 90 minute dives!
On
Sunday evening we went by boat to Höholmen Havstuer with
Hilmar's partner Olav and Torben, their friends and the Aukan
family. This small island, within the fjord, has a restauraunt
and Viking ship museum. we were introduced to Ragnor Thorseth
adventurer and Viking ship builder, who gave a presentation
on the voyage of the replica ship "Saga Sigla', which
sailed around the world arriving in Rio de Janeiro in time
for the Earth Summit to present a petition on behalf of the
children of the world to conserve our fragile planet. The
"Saga Siglar" unfortunately sunk in the Mediterranean,
but her restored remains formed the bulk of the display in
the purpose built museum. Her sister ship "Kvitser",
however, road proudly at anchor alonside the jetty, as we
retired to the restaurant for an excellent meal.
After
dinner Nils and his family took their leave and returned home
on Sunday evening, leaving us to enjoy Norway's beautiful
scenery and the fascinating marine life to which he had introduced
us. Day two saw us boarding the dive centres fast dive boat.
This can best be described as an aluminium Inflatable* with
inboard diesel engines, the large "tubes" providing
seating. Once up on the plane, it flew across the water so
that within minutes we had arrived at our destination, scarcely
having time to fit our hoods as protection against the cold
air prior to kitting up.
We
dived within the fjord during the early part of the week,
due to the strong north westerly winds. One site on the landward
side of the fjord, beyond a commercial fish farm, was an almost
vertical wall leading down to a ledge at 30 metres where we
were told we should find large sea spiders and basket stars.
Indeed, once our eyes had become accustomed to the gloom,
there they were just waiting to be photographed - the largest
sea spiders I have ever seen!
Later
in the week, as the weather slowly improved, the boat took
us out to some small offshore islands surrounded by kelp gullies
littered with hundreds of starfish. 1 found the largest and
most battle scared common lobster I have seen, plus large
numbers of tiny sea slugs browsing on the sea mats covering
the kelp fronds.
We
found a young wolf fish at one site, mistaking it for a large
unknown blenny because of its bright orange colouration. Flatfish
- plaice, top knot and norwegian haddock - and huge starfish
of several species were abundant The latter included the familar
sun stars and cushion stars of Scottish waters plus purple
sun stars, reminiscent of those found in British Columbia.
Common lobsters, edible crabs, velvet swimming crabs, shore
crabs and hermit crabs were common. At another site we encountered
rock fish and Norway lobsters, although the later were camera
shy.
At
one point, towards the end of a dive, I found myself rushing
to the surface when my direct feed free flowed into my dry
suit, due, it later transpired, to the small circlip that
secures the push button breaking. Fortunately I dumped air
from my jacket and suit to slow my progress and miraculously
stayed dry as the push button didn't actually fall out until
I was safely back on board the cover boat.
Large
squat lobsters, hidden by day, spread themselves on the flat
stone slabs forming the foundations of the dive centre by
night, unbelievably posing for several pictures before tiring
of the flash, flash, flash of our camera strobes. The only
problem of trying to photograph them was the lateness of the
hour. So far north were we that it hardly started to get dark
until nearly mid-night and we often found ourselves crawling
into bed in the wee small hours of the morning.
The
most exciting dives were those in the Vevangstrornmen channel.
We made three such dives late at night, the first from the
jetty and the others by boat. Dropping into the slack water
just as the sun was setting at about 11 one night is perhaps
one of the most memorable dives I have ever made. The clear
sky was a vivid pink colour, and, as there was not a breath
of wind, the glassy surface of the water shone with the same
beautiful hue. In the silence following my roll into the water
I remember calling out to the boat cover "I've never
dived in pink water before!". It was one of those truly
magical moments. As I descended into the mystical waters below
I felt mightily pleased to be alive. Around me the water was
moving slowly through the channel towards the fjord. On nearing
the bottom at about 18 metres, my torch light picked out a
carpet of creamy dead man's fingers which gave way on either
side of the 15 metre wide channel to walls of pink plumose
anemones. Not one piece of the rocky substrate which I knew
must lie concealed beneath this deep pile could be seen! Here
we found gobies, blennies and butterfish hiding amongst the
anemones. Larger, yet still immature, Wolf fish, and Scorpion
fish peered curiously at us from crevices in the rock, waiting
no doubt for a passing meal or the opportunity to dart out
and seize some unsuspecting prey. Poor man's cod hung effortlessly
in the water column facing out to sea. Whilst exposing several
frames of film on these creatures, the current slowly dropped
and then picked up again in the opposite, seaward, direction.
It was time to leave this wonderland. We moved upwards and
into the fjord, finishing our dive in the shallows as we made
our way back to the jetty and the Dive Centre.
By
Friday the weather had changed dramatically, the sun shone,
the bright blue sky and the clean air made the fjord and surrounding
islands appear even more beautiful. Snow peaked mountains
could be seen in the distance. The colourful houses lining
the fjord were mirrored in the calm surface. A large shoal
of small fish swirled, danced and leapt from the water in
the morning light as we set off for a deep wreck dive.
Our
route by boat took us via a string of small islands and islets
and narrow channels past the Viking ship to the open sea.
The wreck, discovered by Nils Aukan, is called the Borghild.
She lies upright on the sea bed just off shore from a lighthouse
and her decks are at 42 metres. Our group on this occasion
comprised a mixture of divers from Norway, Sweden and Germany,
almost all in dry suits. The descent to the wreck took us
out of the sunlight into darkness. Once on the deck we could
still make out the green waters above us, but there was precious
little light to take photographs. I tried a couple of long
exposures, trusting my Nikonos V to automatically close the
shutter some three seconds after pressing the release, but
the results were not good and did not do justice to this impressive
wreck. We saw ling and a few dead man's fingers on the wreck
as we made our way towards the bow and the huge winch gear.
However, as we were no stop diving on single 12 litre tanks,
we had not gone far before it was time to surface. It was
on the ascent that we had a great opportunity to photograph
divers on the shot line as they decompressed from their even
deeper dives.
Following
a shallower second dive, we washed and dried our kit in the
late afternoon sun and packed away our camera equipment ready
for the return to London.
The
next morning, after biding our farewells, we flew home from
Molde, south of Eide, on a beautiful sunny morning. As we
travelled down the coast the sun sparkled on the fjords and
glaciers below. Looking down on the rugged scenery, we recounted
the many dives and new friends we had made on a memorable
trip to one of Norway's finest diving areas.
The
dive centre's address is Stromholmen Sjosportsenter, N-6494
Vevang, Norway and they can be contacted by telephone on 47
71 29 81 74 or by fax on 47 71 29 83 18. They also organise
Killer Whale watching trips in far northern Norway.
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