Corryvreckan

[Rupert Bear]

Looking for info from someone who has dived it. Have most onfo but looking for some of the quirks from someone who has actually done it.

[steve anderson]

Looking for info from someone who has dived it. Have most onfo but looking for some of the quirks from someone who has actually done it.

The best person to talk to is David Ainsley. He runs the Porpoise II charter that regularly dives that area. He is an excellent skipper (one of the best I've been with)and probably knows the Corryvreckan better than just about anybody. He has an ad in "Dive".

Steve

[Snash]

:=Looking for info from someone who has dived it. Have most onfo but looking for some of the quirks from someone who has actually done it.

The best person to talk to is David Ainsley. He runs the Porpoise II charter that regularly dives that area. He is an excellent skipper (one of the best I've been with)and probably knows the Corryvreckan better than just about anybody. He has an ad in "Dive".

Steve


Well, it?s been a long time since I?ve dived Corryvreckan (August 1987 in fact) but it does remain one of the highlights of the dives I?ve done. We did it from a club squidgy as opposed to a hard boat

It was on a trip to celebrate graduation from Edinburgh Uni and included dives such as Cuan Sound, the Falls of Lora, the Marble Madness (aka Madam Alice) the Helena Faulbaums and Little Corryvreckan. Not bad as a series of warm up dives!

Although not much of a pointer for planning, you may be interested in my log book entry for that day.


I didn?t think at the beginning of the trip we would actually do it or the sheer awesomeness of the place. To quote Ridley ?many consider it to be the most serious undertaking in British waters?.

Meant to find the pinnacle at 29m but soon realised this was asking a lot with our echo sounder and a bottom at over 200m. Chucked in and pulled out the grapnel (with two large buoys attached) twice as it went in too deep. Eventually settled for about 38m, but we had to wait for it to slacken off. Eventually got tired of waiting and Phil and I headed in? still a bit of a current running so it was a real overarm pull down the line paused at 20m to see a Lion?s Mane flying by at a great rate of knots. Headed on down, started to get a bit narked. Eventually hit the bottom at 42m?. the line was 75m long? Shook hands; had a quick look around down to 45m, but did not venture too far, soon time to come back up. What a dive!

Due to our plans we could only put 1 pair down on the first slack so to put next 2 pairs down we had to wait 6 hoursish in the cold and the rain on Scarba watching Corryvreckan grow and grow in power and noise.

Eventually headed off to get the next two pairs in, but disaster, Eric (the echo sounder) did not want to work. Chucked in line closer to shore but amazingly the 2 buoys went under water and did not appear for another 20 minutes. Dropped another shot close to Scarba and put the others in near the shore. Just before they went in a dead seagull went floating by?. Not very auspicious. Whilst Geoff and Mary and Sarah and Jocks were in we went to pull up the line, however it was stuck fast and when we tried to motor it out, we soon had water coming over the transom. Hmm, not good, so we had to cut it free losing the grapnel and line.

What a day; we left the Gulf to the sound of hissing ring-pulls and feeling pretty high. However the sight of buoys going under proved a very clear indication of the power of the place (even at slackish!) and prevented us from becoming blas? about the place and the dive!




We used Gordon Ridley?s Dive Scotland book and relied on an old echo sounder (one of the spinning orange dot variety). I think the best advice I can give is don?t follow what we did; speak with Dave Ainsley! Interestingly Dave sought us out to get advice from us when he had heard we had knocked it off.

Would I dive it again?..? The answer is yes, but not the way we approached it back then.

Cheers

Simon Nash

[Rupert Bear]

That seems to be th last question answered, you did it when the tide was turning to flood and ebb directions.
I don't intend to use a hardboat, just pick the days with the best tides and if the weather happens to be good and the wind in the right direction, go for it with the RIB. I can leave my house and be there above it in the boat in an hour.
The tides are only good around every two months at the weekend so it make take a while to get all the factors at the the same time.

[Graeme Bruce]

Hi

Not wanting to put a damper on things, but!

I think you should be a little more cautious Corryvreckan is a serious undertaking.

You have to have slack as the down currents are tremendously strong its not a forgiving place

The shallowest you will get on the pinicle is 27m however the wall to the south is shear and overhung past 60m
The wall to the east is just as steep (vertical) and seams to just keep going
The west side is a stepped decent to 70+m

A small rib in corryvreckan is not the place to be (Seafari imobilised a 10m rib full of tourists)

Take a bit of advice and go and see Mr Ainsley he has been to Corryvreckan on numerous occations over the past 12 years. We even made a television progran for Channel 4

Feel free to email me if you need more advice

That seems to be th last question answered, you did it when the tide was turning to flood and ebb directions.
I don't intend to use a hardboat, just pick the days with the best tides and if the weather happens to be good and the wind in the right direction, go for it with the RIB. I can leave my house and be there above it in the boat in an hour.
The tides are only good around every two months at the weekend so it make take a while to get all the factors at the the same time.

[Andrew Hunt]

For some piccys of Corrywreckan and Firth of Lorn Area see related link. I have only dived the site twice (and watched the tide change direction and not stop a third time).

This is a serious dive, although throughly enjoyable if you listen and follow the advise of others who have dived it more e.g. Graeme and David.

Give this site the respect it deserves.
Going with the flow in the 'The Falls of Lora' is nothing in comparison as it has a bottom.

Andy

That seems to be th last question answered, you did it when the tide was turning to flood and ebb directions.
I don't intend to use a hardboat, just pick the days with the best tides and if the weather happens to be good and the wind in the right direction, go for it with the RIB. I can leave my house and be there above it in the boat in an hour.
The tides are only good around every two months at the weekend so it make take a while to get all the factors at the the same time.

[TSAC]

David Ainsley is the person you want to speak to about it. Our Club has ran at least two succesful trips there, one of which is reported on our website.