Diving in Burra Sound, Orkney.© Gareth Lock - www.imagesoflife.co.uk

Here are a few of the Features we think make our services stand out from the crowd.

Diver lift

When we took over the boat we asked around every diver we knew about what they would like us to do with it. Each and every one of them said they wanted a diverlift, so with the usual amount of swearing and fiddling about, our diverlift was born. Specially designed and constructed for our curved hull shape, its cantilever design, personnel rated winch and sturdy platform can safely lift a diver out of the water in a comfortable 7 seconds.

Food

Food, food glorious food!

Helen made the mistake of discovering she could cook in 2007. She maintains she has no idea where this ability came from, possibly by osmosis from her mum. Her food has become legendary in the diving world, with a huge variety of meals being produced from a very small galley.

We source most of our ingredients fresh each day and try to use local suppliers for all our vegetables and meat. Indeed, our lamb, pork, eggs and venison (yes venison) are all bred by us on our farm on the mainland of Orkney or from other local producers.

Meals tend to be large and filling, with the evening meal being two courses. Typical meals are:

• Home bred venison, diced into chunks cooked in rich red wine and caramelised onion gravy, served with seasonal vegetables and creamy mash.
• Shepherds pie made with home bred Orkney lamb, Orkney potatoes and topped with Orkney cheese, served with vegetables.
• Made from scratch Thai Green curry, with lemongrass, nam pla, palm sugar and coconut milk.
• Chilli con carne, a rich smoky sauce (not too hot) with lots of Orkney beef, chilli beans and diced peppers.
• Chicken breasts stuffed with smoked cheese, diced spring onions and topped with bacon. Served with a creamy leek and mushroom sauce and tagliatelle.
• Baked lime cheesecake, made with mascarpone cheese, double cream and fresh limes.
• Banoffee pie 2 inches thick, loaded with cream and chocolate shavings.
• Chocolate cheesecake. Should possibly be illegal. Made with mascarpone cheese, best quality dark chocolate, double cream, sugar and bourbon biscuits. A secret ingredient makes it even more indulgent and possibly a touch fattening.

Stop drooling into your keyboard!

This is just a small sample of the meals provided aboard, with various catering packages available to guests. Food allergies and major dislikes are easily catered for.

Breakfast and lunch

Woz going for a dive

Breakfast is a self service toast and cereal affair. Real coffee from a cafetiere, steaming hot tea and as much toast as you can eat. A large selection of jam, honey and gods forbid marmite is always available.

Lunch is served between the two dives and can be tailored to suit everyone’s stomach. Not all groups wish to eat a heavy lunch, so lighter options can be arranged.

Dinner is served generally at around 7pm and is normally a two course meal, consisting of a main course and pudding.

Mixed gasses

Nitrox is ideal for use in the recreational, repetitive diving found in Scapa Flow and Shetland, meaning more time on the wreck and less time on the line. We carry up to 16 J cylinders of oxygen or helium and mix gas to your requirements. As with all our filling, you don’t need to shift your kit around to get a fill, we all know heavy lifting is no good for us, so we have long whips for ease. Trimix can be blended onboard to your specification. If you require lots of trimix please let us know in advance so we can stock up on Js. We also have a small booster pump for those all important 200bar oxygen fills if you are diving a rebreather.

Scooters

Enjoying scooters on the F2!© Gareth Lock - www.imagesoflife.co.uk

Have you ever looked at something and thought “wow, I really would love to play with one of them?” Well…one of our scooters is probably something you have said this about. We carry three x-scooters which are the real deal. You will spend the entire dive giggling like a 12 year old.

 The X-Scooter is super lightweight at only 15kgs, yet is the most powerful scooter presently available, with a brushless motor providing plenty of power for fun or serious diving. They use a 24V Nickel Metal Hydride battery and are perfectly balanced in saltwater via the integrated weighting system.

Booster

Cowering innocently in the compressor area, an innocuous bit of kit is just waiting to be useful. The booster is really not a lot to look at, but its ability to boost the pressure of gas from one cylinder to another is really handy. This means higher pressure 100% fills especially for those all important rebreather bottles.

Dunk tank

Vastly improved from previous seasons, we now have a purpose made fresh water dunk tank for cameras. Situated undercover in the whaleback, it offers an excellent place to rinse off your housings and strobes between dives.

Virgins

Virgins? No, not that kind of virgin… Scapa virgins. People always seem to get the impression that Scapa Flow is deep dark and scary. However, if you can comfortably dive to 30m, you can dive Scapa Flow. We specialise in less experienced or confident groups. Starting shallow and working our way up to the deeper stuff, we can also arrange for guides to dive with you.

Photography

In my experience there seem to be two kinds of underwater photographer. There are those of us who simply clip off a small digital camera and take snaps. Then there are those of us who grapple with something like a drunken octopus every dive, strobe arms, dome ports and housings are our buddies. We cater for each, with a camera box available for everyone. Inside is a huge supply of absorbent blue paper, spare silicone grease, a fettling mat (so you don’t bash your camera on the table). Lowering cameras to you is not normally a problem, however it cannot be guaranteed as the weather or dive site might cause us problems if we have to stop.

Guiding

Things always seem better when you know what they are. Local guides can be arranged so you get the best out of your diving.